<p>Hi everyone, </p>
<p>I was wondering if anybody has any ideas as to how important interviews are in the admissions process. Does it make a difference who the interviewer is or where it is taking place?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Know that your alumni interview is meaningless. Did you really think Admissions cares about the opinion of some old guy who blathers about his roles in the campus comedy troupe and how much ass he got in college? Alumni interviews serve two purposes:
- Weed out total psychos (so avoid brandishing lethal objects and keep that theory about being the second coming of Jesus to yourself)
- Keep alumni enthusiastically involved (and paying their dues) in Alumni Clubs
In theory, an exceptionally glowing review could make a difference. In practice, alumni interviewers always give glowing reviews, because people who voluntarily spend their free time querying high school seniors about their hopes and dreams are also the ones who find stories about your high school debate team utterly fascinating. They think everyone and their three-legged dogs would benefit from a Cornell education. They’re like The X-Files: They want to believe.-from Ivygateblog.com</p>
<p>They’re not extremely important but they could help push you into the Accepted pool. Just go to it, be yourself, and relax. They appreciate candor and they’re there to help you get in. Try and let your personality shine through; show that you are a unique person. It doesn’t matter who it is or where it takes place.</p>
<p>Captain–I take issue with what snuffy writes about alumni interviews, many of which are conducted by recent graduates and alumni who give less than stellar reports when they are warranted. Please see the stickied thread RD Applicants: Interview Advice and pay attention to threads by me and T26, both of alumni interviewers of many years standing. If you’ve got interview questions, please post them on that thread so everyone can benefit from the answers.</p>
<p>I only have my own experience to go on, but my Yale interview was stellar (while my Princeton/Harvard interviews were lackluster) and Yale was the only one of those three to admit me.</p>
<p>Put simply, EVERYTHING is important in this process. You need to exploit every opportunity you can get to blow away the adcoms. When you are competing with 30,000 (think about that number for a second…) qualified applicants for spots, even the comparatively least important part of the process (the interview, according to most sources) can be the tipping point. </p>
<p>Make sure to practice interviewing with a family member or something, I only really found my “groove” in these interviews after I’d done a few.</p>
<p>I’m curious as to the source of Snuffy’s comments. Snuffy being only an admitted freshman, I’m curious to the source of the speculation. I disagree with about 90% of his/her comments. </p>
<p>1) Are they meaningless? Sometimes yes. Many candidates are quickly weeded out so any interview, although read, won’t save a sinking/sunk ship.</p>
<p>2) weed out psychos: I suppose a one hour face to face can tell some things. Mostly, the teacher recs will already state serious deficiencies</p>
<p>3) Keep the old blue sated: I can see how but snuffy assumes that alum are just a pack of cheerleaders who want to “keep themselves young” and “nostalgic” by connecting with the young 'uns. I don’t doubt this does occur. I was Pres of my Alumni club for about 5 years and the largest participation of alum was thru ASC (Alumni Schools Commitee) work. However, they’d be pretty foolish to think that we hold so much sway – this just isn’t any sort of widely held belief. Yale tells us and we believe, that we MIGHT be able to add something to the candidate’s file BOTH GOOD AND BAD. I’d definitely say more than half my writeups are neutral to bad. I’m not a cheerleader for them – I’m a representative of Yale and Yale wants to know on outside observer’s casual thoughts about them. I’m under NO ILLUSION whatsoever about the crushing odds that every applicant faces. I interviewed 14 kids last season including what I thought was the single best interview in almost 20 years: 13 rejects, 1 WL and then reject. And I wasn’t surprised or upset. Those are just the numbers and I’m 100% fine with it. Those are just the numbers.</p>
<p>To CaptainChemistry: Here’s the kinda situation where it can help: a top performing urban HS in my area had 3 strong applications. One was a shoo-in Questbridger. There
were 2 other guys who, on paper, looked very solid and had created very positive impressions on the file readers. However, their teacher recs were supportive but formulaic and while the committee was leaning towards accept, they held off until the alum writeups came in: both of which supported the other statements and with thoughtful comments included. These ideas filled in for what was lacking in the teacher recs (chalked off to the teacher’s abilities frankly). These last two were offered admission. And if you know the numbers, for a single urban HS to get 3 admits in one year, you know the mathematical improbability of that occurring.</p>
<p>Last note to Snuffy: congrats. I hope you get involved in recruiting for Yale as an undergrad and after. Yale needs you (yes, drink this Kool-Aid)</p>
<p>D applied to 3 ivies - admitted to 2 out of the 3. The school that rejected her was also the interview that made her uneasy. Coincidence? Maybe but I doubt it. A few words about the interview. The two interviews that went well for D felt more like friendly conversations than the “interrogation” she got from third one. This interview revolved around GPA, class rank, what other schools she was applying to, etc. D felt “put on the spot” with a lot of the questions she was asked by this man including one about her religious affiliations because she goes to a small Catholic school. Unfortunately, it comes down to a bit of luck with who you’re assigned to and what tone they set for the hour.</p>
<p>I would say it doesnt really have an impact because a large majority of the interviews go well, so even if it is a factor it wont help to sort anything out too much. So if you bum the interview it will probably hurt you but if you do well i doubt it will help you.</p>
<p>Whoa guys, that was from IvyGateBlog.com, NOT me. I credited them in my post. I apologize for the anger and discontent that my quoted comment, meant to alleviate pressure, caused. I assumed that everyone was familiar with the blog and their “Admissions Guide”, which just pokes fun at the whole process. Again, I apologize for quoting the blog.</p>
<p>My comments were:
“They’re not extremely important but they could help push you into the Accepted pool. Just go to it, be yourself, and relax. They appreciate candor and they’re there to help you get in. Try and let your personality shine through; show that you are a unique person. It doesn’t matter who it is or where it takes place.” </p>
<p>I feel that it’s important to go to those interviews and be yourself. I feel as if my alumni interview helped me get accepted to Yale; I really connected with her and it was a lot of fun. But I clearly shouldn’t have voiced my opinion or attempted to inject some humor in the thread, as it was misconstrued as an attack on the interviewers. Once again, I felt as if the OP would know that the quote was just a joke.</p>
<p>OP, follow AdmissionsAddicts advice and go to that thread, I read it before my interviews and it really helped.</p>