<p>We had an interesting experience yesterday that I thought I would share for discussion.</p>
<p>S had two interviews yesterday afternoon/evening from two selective LAC's that we are interested in.</p>
<p>First representative was a recent grad, not experienced, but S went into the interview really interested in the school.</p>
<p>He emerged completely turned off. The Rep did not answer questions, instead, constantly pulling up the college website and spinning the laptop around to show our S. S attempted to follow up, to no avail. He asked for a Professor contact in his area of interest, and was told she did not have anyone in mind. </p>
<p>Second interview was a couple hours later. Mature, what I would call a "career" Rep. Knew and answered every possible question. Enthusiastic. Engaging. Went 20 minutes over allotted time, making sure S had all the information. Gave him name of Professor, his card, asked him to email, etc.</p>
<p>S is pretty mature for his age. His comment: "I sure hope I like that school as much as I liked Mr. ______. I don't want to get my hopes too high, but it sure sounds perfect."</p>
<p>Going into the interviews, on paper, first school was clear leader. Not any more.</p>
<p>We will visit both in October. </p>
<p>I though this was an intriguing example of how the people skills are oh so important in our lives.</p>
<p>It’s a shame that schools that require interviews don’t do more to ensure that the interviewers are actually good at their jobs. Being an alum of the school shouldn’t be the sole qualifying characteristic needed for the job!</p>
<p>We thought the same about school tours. One was so bad people started walking away. No way, imo, the school would want representation like this.A good tour could certainly make one like a school more.</p>
<p>We felt the same about the tours too. We didn’t actually have any BAD guides, but one who was a bit too “rah-rah” for D’s tastes. Most, even the current students, were incredibly well-versed about the school and the major and if they didn’t know an answer, went and found someone who did for us. I think touring in the middle of summer solo or in very small groups (save one) made this possible.</p>
<p>We actually started critiquing the tour guide as well as the tour. At first it was a way to put my impressions into context. D realized how she was being affected by the personality of the guide. </p>
<p>If one school was the clear winner beforehand I would in no way let a random interview (or interviewer) sway my decision. But you’ll visit both and that will be the deciding factor.</p>
<p>As to tours–we visited a top 10 college and while the student-led tour and the campus was great the initial impression left by the administration in charge was dismal. The program started 20 min late, was in an auditorium that obviously was in major disarray (renovation, repairs–something anyway–sort of gross to be exact–you can’t tell me they only had one spot to hold an event) and led by an admissions rep who didn’t seem to have answers to anything and really didn’t care. My son was totally turned off to the point of no return. I tend to discount first impressions sometimes but they really matter.</p>
<p>If your son was asking questions the answers to which were found on the school’s website, this may be part of the problem. Although I wouldn’t react the same way that interviewer #1 did, if I was interviewing a prospective applicant who asked questions that could have been self-answered by spending a few minutes looking through the website, I would make a mental note of that and consider it as a negative.</p>
<p>Before making that judgement, you might want to consider that different people like to take in information in different ways. I’d be willing to bet that virtually ANY question about most colleges <em>could</em> be answered somewhere on the website. Especially if one were willing to take the website at face value. I think it is reasonable for people to want to know what a real person thinks about things, in a conversational setting, not what the college PR people have to say.</p>
<p>I think there are only a handful of schools where the interview actually can have an impact on an admissions decision. And really there are only a handful of schools that require or strongly recommend them. So my feeling is that the quality of who does the interview on behalf of the school is not of too much concern to the vast majority of colleges. It’s an “extra” for the benefit of the applicant. Although I agree that they should want to present a professional image in every interaction with applicants. But in today’s college process it’s not a buyers market and the colleges have an over abundance of applications. So I think sometimes things like optional interview quality might reflect that.</p>
<p>On the info sessions and tours I agree totally that the colleges don’t “get” how important these are to applicants and their families. We have been lucky and our experiences were generally good ones, but I have heard some horror stories. How hard is it to find a decent comfortable space on these luxury laden campuses to hold an info session? And how hard is it to find students who know something about the school which they attend? I have always said these positions should have a small stipend attached to them. The colleges would make it up in application fees.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s a good idea to ask an obvious and clear answer that could be found on the website, but I think we can give the kids some slack. They are young and possibly intimidated by a rep from a college. It could be used as a taking point. </p>
<p>One rep from a college on my child’s list showed little interest in her. She was very brief, to the point, and not interested in talking much beyond the basics. We knew it was not an interview and had no impact on admissions. That wasn’t why my child was meeting with her. She really did just want to learn more about the college. Other reps were more welcoming. It did make a difference in how the colleges were perceived. </p>
<p>I would try to discount the lameness of the 1st interviewer. It’s harder to do quality control on alums who are volunteering their time to do interviews for their alma mater off campus and it might have been the first time that this interviewer has conducted an interview. In fact, I could spin it to say that the career interviewer is merely a great salesman to get kids interested in the college and may have oversold it with his engaging enthusiasm.</p>
<p>However, the other poster’s experience doing a campus info session in a Reno job site of an auditorium makes me think the admissions committee does not care one bit about marketing nor comfort of its guests and should be viewed in a much more negative light.</p>
<p>This was not an alumn, for either school. These were the regional admissions folks, that will do the “first read” of S’s application.</p>
<p>MiddKid, he was not asking generic questions easily ascertained from the website. He was asking more open-ended questions, like, tell me a bit more about your program in _____. The response was, well, on the website, you can see that the following classes are offered in that major.</p>
<p>Rhandco, I am not sure what type of interview you are referring to. S is a prospective applicant to both schools, and they notified us that the regional admissions person would be X location, and invited us to sign up for an interview slot. </p>
<p>So we did.</p>
<p>Again, this is hardly dispositive. But I thought it was interesting to note the vast disparity in the quality of the two admissions people, and the impressions they left on at least one prospective student–and family.</p>
<p>I think we are talking about 2 different things. There are alum interviews strongly suggested by a few schools and other schools who offer interviews by alum if the applicant requests it. What you describe does not fall into either category but rather appears to be a local visit by a college rep from the admissions office. They usually have many of these individuals traveling around the country to promote the school. I guess it is handled differently by each school, but I have never heard of these reps offering “interviews”. Usually you sign up along with everyone else and then it is kind of a round table open discussion with the rep fielding questions from everyone. Not sure what format this particular college was using, but with the format I am familiar with it would be hard to give too much attention to one applicant.</p>
<p>I do know that the high school college counselors warn the students not to ask questions that can be found on the website. Not that your child did this, but the rep might have thought so and used the computer as a message that it could be found there. Rep probably didn’t understand that your child was looking for more depth about a particular program than the website could offer.</p>
<p>Yes, for better or worse people’s views are impacted by those we meet at the college be it interviewers, admissions reps, tour guides etc. Just no getting around it.</p>
<p>Lewis & Clark sent my D a letter in the mail signed by the (an?) assistant dean of admissions specifically stating that “I will be offering opportunities for interviews” in various locations in our area. She will also be visiting high schools, including D’s school – I assume this will be more like the round-table discussion you mention. </p>
<p>Reed College also contacted D to schedule an interview with the/an assistant dean of admissions, and in the email it specifically refers to it as an interview, and says “If you arrive early, please wait until the previous prospective student has finished their interview.”</p>
<p>So at least those two schools are sending actual admissions staff out on the road to conduct actual one-on-one interviews with prospective students.</p>
<p>Remind your son (and you may have to keep saying it): “You will never see the admissions people again after you are admitted.” We met some GREAT admissions people, and some not-so-great ones. But that was our mantra. Now – the students that give tours and work in admissions, that is fair game. They would be peers/roommates/classmates if your kid attends. Still don’t want to let one person drive the whole decision, but at least the students are people your student might interact with.</p>
<p>I agree Dustypig and noted that the format might be different for each school. But in my experience, the interview format for regional rep visits is the exception rather than the rule. My D has attended many local rep gatherings and it has always been the open discussion format with a few students grabbing the reps attention at the end for a one on one.</p>
<p>Why shouldn’t we take the websites at face value? Are we to question every piece of information there, under the assumption that it’s all some kind of PR spin? Notice that I said “If your son was asking questions… that could have been self-answered by spending a few minutes looking through the website…” I’m not talking about stuff that’s buried on some seldom-seen web page; I’m talking about basic information that should be easily found with a cursory examination. And I’m not saying that this is what happened with OP’s son; that’s why my post begins with the word “if.”</p>
<p>My kids had one-on-one interviews with regional reps when they were on our town, interviews with senior students or admission reps on campus before they applied, and alumni interviews in our area, all different experiences and some went better than others. I would try not to let it color you child’s view of the school if you can.</p>