My S has received a request to meet an alumni from the school he’s applying to, from the area we live in. It’s supposed to be a ‘be yourself’ casual meet and greet! He’s applied for early restrictive action. Not sure what that means…
My question to those on here…how much are we to read into this esp given that the deadline for applications was only 6 days ago
I interview for a college that has restrictive early action. Assignments were given out 2-3 days after the apps were submitted. Everyone – from shoo ins to zero-chance/hail mary applicants are included in these assignments.
Read nothing into this. The interviews are randomly assigned. Indeed, I’ve already met with a few and they were very unremarkable.
Are you at liberty to disclose who you interview for?
Yale
When are decisions made for restrictive early action for Yale and what, if any, are the advantages as against going into the general pool?
@T26E4 Can you please also share what kind of applicant information is shared with you by the college?
Do you get to see their GPA and Test Scores? Do you get to read their essays?
Do you know about the applicant’s family situation? The major they are interested in?
Does the college give you the questions? Or do u come up with it?
If its not confidential what type of assessment do you have to fill out?
Is it a score or a rank or a qualitative one?
Do you offer feedback to the AOs after every meeting or after youve met them all (EA applicants or RD, based on whatever it is)?
Thanks for any inputs…
@mathewjn I apologize for hijacking the topic. I wont post further if you or @T26E4 believe I should not
Thanks!!
@BoiDel - not a problem. All very good questions. Has your S or D also received an interview request?
Thank you @mathewjn
She has not received a interview request yet. We live in the boonies, closest “large” city is around 500 miles away
Which part of the country? MT or WY?
For my college, we get no information whatsoever besides contact info and possible stated major. I believe Harvard gives its interviewers GPA and test scores. I prefer our method – so we don’t go in with any pre-conceived notions.
There’s a tutorial for interviewers but we’re not given pat questions. The idea is to have a conversation and explore the applicants characteristics.
We are asked to send in a write up, backing up any conclusions w/observations. We are asked to give a numerical rating at the end: 1-9. 1= completely unrealistic, 9= once in a lifetime.
Write ups are asked to be submitted right away – frankly within hours so the observations are fresh. There’s no stacking them to talk to any AOs together. Assignments are still ongoing. More may come my way.
Ironically, it’s also my belief that write ups only really matter in a very small percentage of applicants and the vast majority of them counted for nothing other than to leave the student feeling good about having spoken to an ambassador from my school.
In the vast, vast majority of cases, a great interview (even a mediocre one) will have no effect. (And again, only a few colleges even CONDUCT interviews, most don’t)
Here’s why I believe this: The applicants are in three groups: a) shoo-ins (recruited athletes, other “gotta haves” that, barring a felony or something, will receive an offer) – this is only a very small group (~2-3%), b) the vast number who don’t get much traction past the first read. I can imagine ~85%. Then there’s c) that remaining ~10% or so which they need to whittle down by 4/5 — the kids in the grey area. For them, an very good interview MIGHT make a difference.
For group a) and b) who represent the vast bulk of applicants – there is no effect whatsoever.
That being said, I know of students in the “c” category for whom the alumni report did tip the scale in the applicant’s favor in the committee’s eyes.
This is my experience with Yale and its tiny admit numbers. For other schools (MIT notably) and LACs, the interviews are very important to gauge student fit and interest.