How much does the interviewer know about you?

<p>Hey I got an email from my interviewer today…which is a bit surprising since I just sent in my whole application on Monday, but I was wondering, how much does the interviewer know about you? Has he read a copy of your essays and your resume, and asks you questions based on what you have put on paper? Just wondering to see what kinds of questions he would ask</p>

<p>im sure they wont mind answering your questions but i doubt they copy your whole app and mail it to the interviewer. they might see it all if the app is on the internet however.</p>

<p>My S is a freshman who went ED last year (I wish you guys the best of luck, I remember being in this position last year). From my recollection, the interviewer knew very little about my Son. He was given a list of people to contact who apparently lived near him. My Son met him in the public library (we live on Long Island) for an informal "meeting". The whole thing lasted about 20 minutes. He told my Son about his experiences at Brown, what he studied, what career paths he choose etc. Then he asked my Son about what he intended to study and do as a career, he offered some advice and asked my Son about some extra curricular activities he might want to persue. He was there really to answer questions my Son had. He didn't ask about GPA, SAT scores, anything academic about course load in high school. This particular interviewer had taken an engineering path and took alot of math and science. My son was more into humanities-organizational management, sociology, psych. They didn't share common interests in extra curriculars either so there was very little he could tell my son about those types of things at Brown. It was informal and I have been told that the interviews do not weigh heavily in the admission process. I suppose if someone was competely rude and said or did something that was very inappropriate, the interviewer could write about that, but in general it is really for the applicant to get to know something about the school. I don't think it has that much weight so don't stress about it. You want to think about a few questions that you could ask the interviewer to demonstrate a real interest in that school but please do not assume that these people are really having that much of an affect on your admission. Perhaps it is done differently elsewhere but I have a friend who interviews for Princeton, and she said it is really a service that alums offer for the school to personalize aspects of that school. She said she writes a small paragragh up on her impressions but she does not feel it has that much imput.</p>

<p>I'm an interviewer for Brown. We know your name, address, school, email address, phone number, degree program/major (i.e. ScB Bio), 1-3 extra curricular activities and 1-3 sports. That's it.</p>

<p>sly_vt -- hi :) as an interviewer, would you prefer students to provide you a copy of their transcript, essays, and resume?</p>

<p>I prefer to see nothing. The handful of times students have brought stuff, I didn't even look at it. Brown sees your transcripts, essays, resume, etc. I'm supposed to meet the person behind the stats. I'd rather you come with a bunch of good questions that can't be found easily on the website.</p>

<p>Hey sly_vt,</p>

<p>Would you mind telling us how much of an effect the interview has on the decisions made? Do you write up a paragraph back to Brown or such? Is there any perference for dress? </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>I am a fellow interviewer. Agree 100% with sly_vt. We're the human face of Brown. Relax. Chat. Have fun! The interview is not important, except insofar as it helps you know if Brown is right for you.</p>

<p>Dress: I tell my interviewees to dress casually. I can't imagine any interviewer expecting to see suits or dresses (although I do live in a rural state). Clean casual should be fine. Be comfortable. </p>

<p>I probably write 200-500 words on each student I meet. A write-up is never going to determine whether a kid gets in or not. The interview is just another piece of the jigsaw puzzle that is your application file. Ideally all the pieces -- teacher recs, essays, interview, etc. -- fit together to draw a complete picture of you. If the interview is dramatically different than the rest of the file, that may be a red flag for admissions to look closer at the file and even call the HS for questions.</p>