Important question about college interview

<p>So, I had one of my college interviews this summer at an ivy-leage (on-campus). It was with a senior student, and he was very nice. Asked me a lot of questions, seemed relatively interested in by background, school, ec's...etc. However, when he asked me what i wanted to study in his college, I told him I was very interested in a specific major (physics) but was also interested in minoring in something, as I was aware that the school offered great programs in literature as well. However, it turned out that the school didn't offer minors! </p>

<p>So, I know this sounds dumb, but are you supposed to know EVERYTHING about a college by the time you do an interview. I did show that I knew a lot about the environment, academics, etc. about the school, but will not having known that the school didn't offer minors make interviewers think you know NOTHING about the school? Personally, I think it's silly to hold someone over for such a thing, but that's what a couple of my past teachers are saying. </p>

<p>Plus, how important really are on-campus interviews with a senior student? Can a not-so-amazing one be made up for by other things?</p>

<p>

No. Your error was not a biggie, and interviewers know that you are interviewing at other places, too and may have gotten some facts confused.

Subtantively, not very. Their major importance is that you have shown interest in the school and can put two sentences together.</p>

<p>^chedva, I hope you are right! some people make it seem like you must become an EXPERT on the college way before you get in, but I do hope he did not think I was stupid or something, as I did mention many times that i would really benefit from the broad academic fields offered at the school.</p>

<p>"So, I had one of my college interviews this summer at an ivy-leage (on-campus). It was with a senior student, and he was very nice. "</p>

<p>Since it was an interview with a student, sounds to me like it was an informational interview – a chance for you to find out about the school, not an opportunity for the school to evaluate you. However, if you say what college it was, people here may be able to weigh in accurately on my perception of the purpose of that interview.</p>

<p>I used to do alumni interviews for my LAC. I think they really served 2 purposes:

  1. Show the college you are interested in them by taking the time to do one.
  2. A chance for the college to “sell” itself to the student, and for the student to get their questions answered.</p>

<p>The college provided long feedback forms for us to send them after the interview, but frankly I don’t think they put much weight on what I wrote, if any. I’m not the only person at my school who felt that way either, which is why I eventually stopped doing interviews. </p>

<p>So I wouldn’t worry about it. If you had said you wanted to major in something the school doesn’t offer, that would be a different story, but not knowing that the school didn’t offer minors isn’t too big a deal.</p>

<p>Have you written a follow-up thank you to the person who interviewed you? You might be able to say something that clarifies your comment. Don’t make a big deal of it but say that even though you want to major in A, you would also like to take as many courses as possible in B. Otherwise, don’t worry about it.</p>

<p>Yah…i guess I should have been clearer. It was at Yale (w/ the senior student.). I’ve been told different things about it…some people are saying that for Yale senior students have a LOT of power in admissions (in my opinion, that’s…just wrong…). I felt like the experiences were completely different for different people. My friend (WHO’S AMAZING and said he had a far more fluent interview with H adcom), who had one the day before me, said his was only 15 minutes, the interviewer (also a young man) was unfriendly, and seemed unwilling to answer questions about Yale (i thought the whole point was to get to know the school.) If what people say about senior students and their admissions power is true, I’m guessing he’s screwed?
Another question would be this. For my Yale interview, I gave the girl a resume, but now that my new school year is starting at a very financially-strained school, a lot of the things in my resume which I had assumed and was elected for (prez of math club, ex.) is just not going to happen. Are they going to use that resume for admissions, or should I clarify that later on?</p>

<p>You might want to clarify that on your app if there is an “extra info” section - just a brief note: I gave my student interviewer a resume based on activities I had hoped to participate in senior year, but due to budget cuts at my school, X was eliminated." Just in case the resume makes it into your file, so it doesn’t look like you were “padding” it.</p>

<p>Thanks. So exactly how important are Yale senior student on-campus interviews? Are they for the sole purpose of expressing interest, or are they hard-core evaluative and seriously considered by adcoms?
ANY feedback on someone with experience or knows about Yale interview stuff/any interview stuff would be appreciated. People have told me that Harvard on-campus adcom interviews are “unofficial” in that they are used to show interest rather than be evaluative. Is this true as well?</p>

<p>OP: I don’t know the answer to your questions but you are not alone. I have heard of several other students (on C.C and IRL) who had on-campus interviews at Yale in which the interviewer wasn’t exactly warm and fuzzy.</p>

<p>Yale alumni interviewer here. The on-campus interviews with seniors are evaluative and are par with alumni interviews in terms of impact (they can’t give more weight to on-campus interviews b/c lots of people don’t have the time or money to go to New Haven). The interview is by far the least important part of the application, but they wouldn’t have the process if it carried no weight. Yale doesn’t care about demonstrated interest, that’s not what the interview is about. Go to the Yale forum on CC and find the stickied thread RD Applicants: Interview Advice. It’s really long thread, so just look for posts by T26 (another alumni interviewer) and me. The thread mostly relates to alumni interviews, but will answer many of your questions.</p>

<p>Harvard doesn’t care about demonstrating interest. They assume you are interested and they know most kids who apply and get accepted won’t turn them down. Like at Yale, interviews count, but it’s the rare interview that will make or break an application. (BTW mathson told his Harvard interviewer that it wasn’t his first choice, and that didn’t stop them from accepting him. Presumably they found his honesty refreshing.)</p>

<p>I wouldn’t say anything else about it on your application or anywhere else. It’s not a big deal. While Yale doesn’t have minors, you can still take lots of courses in an area that isn’t your major (effectively a minor), you can double major, and you can create your own interdisciplinary major. I’ll bet the interviewer told you something along those lines, right? Don’t worry about it.</p>