<p>A Rice alumni in Toronto contacted me last week about an interview, which confused me a little. I thought they said interviews had to be conducted before you submit your application...and I requested the interview all the way back in December so I was quite surprised. Anyhow, I won't ponder any more...deal with the current.</p>
<p>Basically I just want to know what to expect in terms of what she'll say/ask and the length of the interview. We're meeting at a local Starbucks so I'm assuming it won't be too formal. Do alumni interviewers have access to the application we've submitted? So will she have some info on file or not?</p>
<p>All of mine at places like starbucks have not been that formal. They have asked me questions and respond in relation to the college and then they give you a chance to ask questions. None of mine have had access to my apps. If they need stats to get a feel for you, they may ask you your SATS and GPA, other than that they ask typical get to know you questions and its really low key. Good luck!</p>
<p>I don’t think they do, or even need to… they’re probably just trying to get a first-hand impression of who you are. All you need to do is relax and be yourself. Cheers :)</p>
<p>Thanks guys for the input!
So should I expect something around 20-30 mins long? I think if it gets any longer I’ll run out of things to say, lol. </p>
<p>@chronicfuture: I’m not a huge fan of Starbucks in the winter 'cause that means hot coffee and I only ever order frappuccinos at Starbucks…I guess you could go with a nice hot chocolate?</p>
<p>One key moment is when they ask you if you’ve got any questions for them. This isn’t a time filler, its an important point in the interview. Your answer shows if you’ve done your homework about the school, if you’ve spent some time thinking about what it would be like for YOU (with your particular interests and talents) to be a student at that college. That’s why you can’t find generic “good” questions on the internet; they have to be something clearly meaningful for you. An answer of “no, not really…” or something readily answered from looking on the school website shows you’ve spent some time really thinking about what it would be like for you to attend.</p>
<p>If I had a bunch of questions about specific things would she be able to answer me? Considering how she’s not an actual admissions counselor but just alumni…</p>
<p>Is there anything I should bring to the interview? Besides maybe a small notepad and a pen? Since my first choice major is architecture, should I bring a few samples of my work along? :S</p>
<p>Yes! Especially alumni, they will ask and WaNT you to ask questions. Just dont ask obvious ones you could find out yourself.</p>
<p>And you can bring your work, but more than likely they wont have majored in what you want to, so they might not be able to apprciate it as much (then agian it could be in your benifit that they dont know your major)…but it cannot hurt, bring them!</p>
<p>Yea, I guess it never hurts to ask. There’s nothing to lose :)</p>
<p>She’s an English teacher at one of the best girls’ private schools in the city, so she definitely won’t have any architectural background I presume. It’d probably be a tough interview if I wanted to major in English :P</p>
<p>Noooo. sry I was saying It would suck if you were an english major, b/c one of mine was the same major as I wanted and it was intimidating. but yea Specific questions=GOOD.</p>
A big part of the alumni interview, outside of perhaps the top-5 schools, is acting as a liaison between students and the school. Schools know many of their applicants will have other options and are applying elsewhere, so a big part of the alumni interview is to help applicants get the answer to questions that can lead to a decision to attend this school and not some other one. I’ve known people who are alumni interviewers, and they have people back at their college who they can contact to get answers to questions they don’t know the answers to themselves. A sign of a well-prepared alum interviewer, in fact, is one that promises to get back to you on your open question and later does so.</p>
<p>That said, use common sense. Don’t ask incredibly detailed questions that would only matter to a current student; if your question won’t be seen as helping you decide between this school and some other school, then don’t ask it.</p>
thanks for clarifying.</p>