<p>My son got an email from a Brown alumna, saying that while she was not involved in admissions decisions she would be happy to meet with him to answer any questions he had about Brown. Is this common? Have other people received more formal interview invitations? He will take the opportunity but we were both unsure of what this was or meant. Any information welcomed.</p>
<p>This is basically how it works. They do have some form of formal interview, but they really are essentially meaningless and are typically just a reason to meet and answer questions.</p>
<p>This may have been outside of the official interview, or it may have just been a very honest view of how it actually works.</p>
<p>LOL. Honesty works...</p>
<p>Maybe I am totally deluding myself, but I really don't think that the interview process at Brown is "essentially meaningless."</p>
<p>There is a significant amount of time, money and effort put into coordinating the process; thousands of alumni are involved and spend hours interviewing and writing about applicants. There's a pretty large staff at Brown coordinating this, too. I've been doing interviews for 27 years, I've got plenty of other things to do in my life, and if I thought my effort was meaningless I would have stopped years ago.</p>
<p>My understanding from admissions is that these write-ups are read and taken into account when admissions decisions are being made. Perhaps they are lying through their teeth, but I choose to believe otherwise.</p>
<p>The interviewer does not sit in on the committee, and so is not directly "involved in admissions decisions." Almost all Brown applicants are offered the opportunity to meet with an alumni interviewer, like your son has. There are no on-campus interviews. The interviews are not mandatory, but most kids do have one.</p>
<p>My understanding from the admissions department is the interviewing is largely a way to get alumni involved and feeling involved with the process. It accounts for very little except in cases where people are very much on the fence, where a fantastic interview can push you over the edge.</p>