<p>I'm planning to apply RD for U of Rochester, and since I'm in California, I'm planning to contact a "local" alumni here in the state.</p>
<p>But one thing I'm wondering is, there are two options in the tab "Best Way to contact you" : by phone or by email</p>
<p>Does this mean they also conduct interviews through email?</p>
<p>This may seem like a dumb question to people who've done college interviews, but I am somewhat paranoid that I might miss the "Preferred Contact Time" I put down, and the email interview (if this exists) seems to be the safest way.</p>
<p>UR doesn’t do interviews by email; email is used to set up a time & place for a in-person, phone or Skype interview.</p>
<p>Don’t contact the alumni unless you know them well (too stalker-y!). Also there is good chance that any particular alumni is not an authorized UR interviewer. (Alumni interviewers are volunteers who get some training on the process and are known to the admission office, not just any random UR grad.)</p>
<p>RE: phone contact–the person calling knows how to leave a voicemail message….</p>
<p>@WayOutWestMom I used the MyROC interviewer search to see which Alumni are near my zipcode and there are 4 of them I could email or call, but of course I dont know any of them.</p>
<p>Since getting a face-to-face interview at the university is impractical, would it be ok if I emailed an interviewer using the MyROC account template?</p>
<p>Lastly, how long is a U of Rochestor interview… around 20-30 minutes by phone?</p>
<p>You first need to request an interview thru your MyROC portal. Admission will then assign one of its volunteers to conduct the interview; the alumnus will contact you. You just don’t randomly contact an interviewer out of the blue and ask them to interview you! That’s not how the process works.</p>
<p>I have no idea how long a phone interview lasts. D2 interviewed in person with a traveling UR admission officer in the lobby of a local hotel and she participated in an group interview with the same rep the next day at her high school. </p>
<p>I don’t remember exactly how long my guy’s phone interview was, but he was on the phone for quite a while. He and his interviewer seemed to hit it off nicely (all professional, of course, but quite varied topics came up when he gave us highlights later). My best guess would be closer to 45 minutes.</p>
<p>This does NOT mean all of them are that way, of course.</p>
<p>@Creekland oh wow… so the interviewer wasnt being formal, as in asking you 1 question after another? Was it a lot like talking with a close acquaintance? </p>
<p>Remember this was my son on the phone, not me, and we weren’t in the same room stalking. ;)</p>
<p>From what I recall that he told us it started off with typical interview questions and he wasn’t really sure how he was doing with his answers, but then the two seemed to connect and ended up talking for a decent amount of time. When he hung up and came in to us he was quite satisfied with the conversation (and the alumni). One of the first things he wanted to do when he decided to go there was let her know.</p>
<p>Kid, don’t over-think this. It’s an interview. You’ll be asked questions and you’ll talk. If you work yourself up, you’ll come across worse than if you just relax and be yourself - unless of course yourself is overly worked up and nervous, in which I’d tone yourself tone a bit.</p>