<p>1moremom:</p>
<p>Good luck to your S at the interview!</p>
<p>D has her first interview this weekend. It is in a large city 2 hours from our home at a hotel near the airport. From what she has read it sounds like it is a panel of interviewers that can include alumni, admissions reps. and others. They are interviewing all day sort of a traveling interview team. I would assume that they will have plenty of information on her as it is not a typical alumni interview. Should she still bring a resume? Has anyone had this sort of interview?
She has never driven outside of our town so I am nervous about her driving so far alone and she has not had the experience of big city driving and traffic. I am still thinking that I will drive her down. But maybe I need to start to let go a bit.</p>
<p>I went with my son to one interview in town because it was in a very confusing place, it was right after school and he didn't have time to get lost, and I knew exactly where it was. We parked away from the door (so no one would see me) and I sat in the car and read a book. I don't have any advice about the letting go part, but the driving could really add unnecessary stress right before her interview. I don't see a problem if you want to drive her or ride with her. This might be a good practice drive for her with you along, but less stressful than driving alone. </p>
<p>My son's interview was for a scholarship/honors program, although he hadn't officially been admitted yet. There were 3 interviewers (all alums). He said he was a little nervous at first, but relaxed quickly as they were very nice and really seemed to want to get to know him, not trip him up. </p>
<p>Mine took a resume and a one page abstract of a research project he did to all of his interviews. Some asked if he brought a resume, some didn't want to see it. I think taking one can't hurt. She can get a feel for if they would like to see it, or just ask if they want it when she gets there. </p>
<p>I know there are interviewers here who may have differing advice, but this worked fine for my son. Good luck to her.</p>
<p>Question for interviewers: What do you do with the resume once the interview is over? Do you trash it, turn it into the school with your report, review it and then turn it in or trash it?....</p>
<p>I agree that it might be best to drive or riide with a student going to an interview far from home or in a big city. My son's interview was in downtown Philadelphia and he isn't familiar with parking garages in the area. On the day of his interview, his familiar route to the city was closed off for a regatta (the regatta is common on weekends, but I forgot to warn him about it!). He had to detour...got a little lost and then drove around looking for a metered parking sport for 15 minutes before locating a lot. The entire journey took him more than an hour - center city Philadelphia is 20 minutes from our home. He said he walked through the door at the exact time of his interview and his interviewer was waiting for him in the lobby. It wasn't a good start and he was frazzled.</p>
<p>Mom60, I would definitely drive her. It will be one less thing for you both to worry about, and you'll be able to "prep" or distract her as needed on the way. I think arriving as relaxed as possible is a big help. There will be plenty of time later for letting go.</p>
<p>Marite, I sent you a private message.</p>
<p>Thank you all for confirming what I was feeling. I didn't know if I was being the over protective Mom. She might feel I am but I think in the long run she will be glad I drove her. She has the SAT 2's in the morning in our town that should finish about 12 and then her interview is at 3:30 2 hours from home and I know I would be worried the whole time till she got there. There are freeway changes involved (and she is used to driving in a town that has only 1 freeway) and she has little time to spare for mistakes or traffic.</p>
<p>Momsdream:</p>
<p>I must have put this on a different thread but will repeat here:</p>
<p>I have interviewed for about 15 years for Brown and have only been given one resume (which I gave back unread.) Like SoozieVt, I just have the bare bones info: possible intended majors, ECs & sports (from a list on app of that might be pursued in college.) No scores, tests, GPA or rank. I use the EC or sports info as a jumping off point and try to have a good wide ranging conversation and draw the student out.</p>
<p>I really feel that the academic evaluation is up to the AdCom and that the teachers' comments would be much more meaningful than mine in this regard. </p>
<p>My job is to be the human face of the institution, connect on a personal level, and maybe find out a thing or two about the student NOT on the app. or resume. I can evaluate (1) how interested and knowledgeable is this kid re Brown? (2) How is their poise, sense of humor, expressive ability? And if lucky (3) What really makes them tick or is their unique passion? </p>
<p>I realize that shy kids are at a disadvantage in this process and that is why I think the interview counts for very little for most colleges. A good teacher rec and a good essay really tell you more about a person than whether or not he/she clicked with an assigned interviewer.</p>
<p>In 15 years there have been a handful of absolutely outstanding interviews, and a few that I remember thinking simply would not make it at Brown. </p>
<p>The vast majority are the big middle: great, interesting, fun, smart kids who would probably do just fine at Brown. I love meeting them & talking to them-- and I am glad it is not me who has to hand out so many denials in April!</p>
<p>SBMom, like you, I am glad it is NOT me that hands out the denials in April. I have met so many really great sounding kids at the interviews who then do not get accepted, in fact, that is the case of the majority, unfortunately, due to selective admissions. </p>
<p>I have only had one student hand me a resume and I found it very helpful. No, I did not send it into the school. But it was a resource for me when writing my narrative report. I do take notes on these sorts of activities but this helped to have all organized without having to take as many notes. I never discarded it as I keep all my notes and reports. My own kids do take their resumes to interviews. One interview my younger D had this fall was with an admissions officer. I thought it was odd that she held it in the hotel lobby, and not a room rented for this purpose as has been the case for my other D on occasion. It was out in the open and in fact, I sat far away in a lounge area in the lobby but I still could see what was going on and the adcom did look at the resume and used it as a jump off point to some questions. She actually came over to chat with me after the whole interview was over. </p>
<p>I agree with the others in this one instance to NOT have your D drive to that interview because she has never driven that route or that far or in that sort of type of driving. This is not the time to try that out. She should arrive on time and unfettered. You can use the drive together to chat about her "agenda" of things she might bring up in the interview. If the interview is closer by, her taking herself certainly works and we've done that (first kid, but second kid only has permit right now). </p>
<p>Good luck to her. </p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>Mom 60,</p>
<p>Good idea to drive. After the SAT 2s their minds are like jelly and it is not the time to have to navigate. She should eat something and space out for the ride, just regroup & refresh herslef to do the interview!</p>
<p>I ask students to bring resumes with them as well as any other things that they think would help me learn about them. That could include their art work, articles about themselves, published writings, good term papers, etc. </p>
<p>I find it very helpful to have such information during the interview because it not only helps me keep the facts straight, but it also helps me know what questions to ask. It also saves a lot of time. By looking at the resume, I can get a quick overview about the student's background, faster than would occur if the student had to do this at the beginning. This leaves more time for a student to talk in depth about their passions or concerns.</p>
<p>It can be very easy for students to neglect to mention something about themselves that is very important or meaningful. In my professional life, I have done a lot of work helping students prepare for things like jobs and internships, and I have found that students frequently don't realize how important are some things that they have done. These include things that they have a longtime, passionate involvement with, but that were perhaps regarded as odd pastimes by their peers. That "odd pastime" may be exactly the type of thing that is highly regarded by an interviewer or by a college. </p>
<p>I also find that having a resume or activity sheet helps me get students' off their programmed answers. A lot of students seem to come to interviews prepared to launch into discussing exactly what they highlighted on their college essays. A good interview allows students to reveal a different dimension of themselves than they were able to put on their application. </p>
<p>In addition, it can help the students open up if they have something to show. This particularly is true in the case of students whose passion is art. I would not want to see their art to judge it, something that I have no ability to do anyway, but to hear what it means to them and how they went about the process of producing a creative work.</p>
<p>At the end of the interview, I return everything except the resume to the students. I use the resume to write my interview report, and I keep it with my notes. The resume is useful because it helps me get things like dates correct or award names correct when I am referring to activities and honors that the student described in the interview. I do not send the resume to the college. My only "job" is to write an interview report, not to send materials on the student's behalf to the college.</p>
<p>It's set I will drive her to the interview. She came home for lunch today and pretty much agreed that I would drive her. Should I drop her at the hotel and then have her call me when she is done. If it has a self park I would just bring a book and wait in the car if it is valet I would maybe wait in the lobby. I am assuming they have a conference room booked for the interviews and would not be doing them in the lobby.
She is not the least bit nervous about this one as she feels it is a safety and they should be the ones selling her on their school. Let's hope she is right. </p>
<p>Her concession for allowing me to drive her to the interview is that I let her drive Wed. to the same city alone to visit her boyfriend who will be in the hospital. I had planned on taking her and dropping her off at the hospital and then doing some holiday shopping. She has some good arguments. She will have no time constrants so she can drive carefully and slowly. She will be going away to school soon and how will she ever get practice driving distances if we never let her. She would really like to do this on her own. I guess I don't have to many reasons other then the overprotective mother in me to not let her go alone. I had hoped the bribe of some good shopping would sway her but she is not taking that bait. Ultimately it is our decision as her parents if she goes. Reading this I probably am making a bigger deal out of this then it needs to be. I am one of those parents who can't go to sleep at night till all my kids are safely home and in their beds. Also this is Ca. so she would only be dealing with traffic not any type of weather.
Susan I don't think I could handle a drive all the way to Alaska. I am really going to have to lighten up in the next few years!</p>
<p>Why don't you let her drive home from the interview? You'll see how she handles the traffic and won't worry so much when she's off on her own.</p>
<p>NSM -
Do you eventually throw away your notes and the resume? I read where you said you keep the resume with your notes. How long do you keep that inforamtion on a student? Are you required to hold onto your notes for a certain period of time? I guess I'm just concerned about so much detail and sensitive information being in some place where it could be viewed by others unrelated to the admissions process (such as an interviewer's office or home).</p>
<p>1moremom-That is a good idea. Unfortunately the hospital visit will take place a few days before the interview.<br>
The weird thing is we normally only get down to Los Angeles a couple of times a year so to need to go twice in one week is not the usual.
I am hoping that any other interviews will take place closer to home.</p>
<p>Could Anyone just give me one page compilation on the interview questions for various ivy league universities (preferably Rice). I don't have that much time since I have an interview tommorrow therefore I can't read the intelligent and needy comments posted by all of you on this forum. Therefore could you all advise me on the question types and the responses you would suggest to them. Also I am an international student and new to the United States, therefore could you all advise me various social gesture / etiquettes during an interview-shaking hands, sitting etc.
I know I have a simple request but please help me sincerely.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for your suggestions</p>
<p>Northstarmom's post is excellent and I concur with everything she wrote in terms of my interview process as well. Momsdream, I save everything but it never goes anywhere but my "pile". All it is are my notes I took at the interview and copies of the reports I sent to colleges following the interviews. I have no "materials" belonging to the student. As an interviewer, I think it is ok if I save my own notes and reports I have drafted for my records. </p>
<p>Mom60, BELIEVE me, I am like YOU in regard to the kids driving. And it is not even just driving. Until my oldest ever drove, I would say she had never really gone anywhere truly alone much at all. There was always some form of ''supervision" even if it was not from us. The most she ever did alone in public was maybe on summer trips with programs she went on where they let the kids do some things on their own in a city for a couple of hours which was a big deal for a kid like mine from the country who had not done much of that. Of course, now in college she is very much on her own. Then driving came along. But even though that was an independent thing, she has never driven further than about 80 miles from our house, all in state. Usually her driving was within 50 miles of our house. She ALWAYS called as she left one place and as she arrived at the destination and this is even for drives that were just 15 miles away. She was so responsible in this fashion and even then I worried. If the weather was really bad, I might not have had her drive even. I also have no clue what I'm gonna do with D2 who is due to get her license in less than two months when Driver's Ed. ends. I will be a big worry wart again but worse this time as she has less the sense of responsibility with some things than I see with the older one. Ah, I can't picture her driving on her own and my nerves taking it! And she starts mid-winter no less. I am often a nervous wreck with her driving now with me in the car as she puts in her 40 hours of practice driving! lol</p>
<p>So, trust me, to let my older one take this big trip with another kid would be MAJOR for me. But I guess I am adjusting to the fact that she is now a college kid and on her own pretty much. And ya know, at that age, I was able to do stuff on my own too. When my mom heard my D explain her hopes for next summer to drive my dad's car to Alaska to give it to her other grandchild, she was surprised at first that I had OK'd the idea but admitted my D is old enough to do these sorts of things. Ya know a scary thought? I got married the summer after soph year of college....that is just ONE year older than she would be!! Shudder that thought with her but still, I have "grown" now that my child is in college and I have adjusted pretty well (still worry sometimes but it is not like i know her every move each day like before or she does not call as she walks out of the dorm and gets back in at night, lol). She did call when she arrived at her college last night as reliable as ever and I know she would do that on such a big trip. </p>
<p>By the same token, she is not that "worldly" yet. A couple weeks ago, she traveled home from college for the first time, as she came to see her sister in a major show up here. She had been on planes by herself but had always had someone take her and drop her. This time she was really on her own. So, she took a train to Boston. So far, so good. Then at the train station, she was to board a bus to Vermont. (please realize that living in a rural area as we do, the child had never done public transportation independently without someone taking her to it). In Boston, she met up with a boy we know from VT who was also traveling home from his boarding school in MA and was supposed to take that same bus. They did run into each other. That boy had done this route many times before. He is 19. So, she sat with him at the spot where the VT bus was to be. There was a bus there that said "Montreal" and the boy said that the driver always comes out and tells people to board but nobody did that and they did not think it was their bus, plus it did not say "Vermont" on it. So, the bus pulls out. They realize later that that was THEIR bus. Next bus was at 1 AM in the morning as an all nighter to VT. She was only coming home for about 36 hours as it were. I was pulling up to the stagedoor for my other D's show that night 50 miles from home when I got her call that she was stuck in Boston which is 3 1/4 hours from where we live. She was going to do the all nighter six hours later and hang at the station in Boston but instead at 7 PM that night, my hubby got in a car and drove over 6 hours to get her and this boy and bring them back to VT late that night. So, um, she learned a little on that "trip". ;-)</p>
<p>This past weekend, she managed to get to an airport and fly on her own. I have lots of confidence in her but all these experiences are new ones to be sure. And I think now that she is in college, I am doing pretty good in letting go. Ask me next June about this though, lol. </p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>"Do you eventually throw away your notes and the resume? I read where you said you keep the resume with your notes. How long do you keep that inforamtion on a student? Are you required to hold onto your notes for a certain period of time? I guess I'm just concerned about so much detail and sensitive information being in some place where it could be viewed by others unrelated to the admissions process (such as an interviewer's office or home"</p>
<p>I eventually toss the stuff out. I keep the info in case there are questions about my report or if I want to compare applicants from year to year. I find it particularly helpful to look over the resumes of applicants who eventually were admitted. It helps me figure out what the adcoms may be looking for. </p>
<p>I am curious, however, about your level of concern about these things. What is so sensitive about a resume or activity list?</p>
<p>This is the same type of info that people provide when applying for jobs or scholarships. When one applies for jobs, scholarships, other opportunities, one's info can end up in people's homes or offices, sometimes in the homes/offices of people whom the applicant has never met. In fact, having one's resume passed around could lead to unexpected good opportunities ranging from internships to jobs to awards.</p>
<p>While I have never passed a college applicant's resume on, I can imagine this happening if, for instance, an interviewer decided to nominate the student for an honor. Typically people like alumni interviewers are the type of people whom others might approach if looking for people who could suggest exemplary students to get awards or other good things.</p>
<p>Hey Soozie, how come you never comment on the Tufts board and Tufts related posts anymore? I miss the extra help :)</p>
<p>Snuffles, sorry, I ought to go visit the Tufts board again! So much to do, so little time. I already spend so much time on CC. I tend to mostly check the Parent forum and the musical theater threads and sometimes other "pockets" of interest. Last year, I probably checked the Tufts thread a lot as I had a daughter who was an applicant and it was one of her first choice schools. She did not end up going there. I am obviously still interested in Tufts as I am an alum and I do conduct interviews and JUST got my first assigned candidate this week so my mind might turn to that again. Funny but last night, my D had a ride back to college at Brown with another girl from our state who goes to Brown but her sister was driving and SHE went to Tufts and was driving these guys to Brown and then back to Tufts. She had two other Tufts students in the car and they dropped them off at Tufts enroute to Brown. My D said one guy lived right in the dorm where she had stayed for the open house last year. It must have felt funny to be back there, albeit briefly. I love Tufts and I should go check that board out. I also have a lot of work I am doing this fall and come here for "breaks" but am backlogged on my work right now from the holiday. I have a D who is applying to colleges now and so now I am apt to check forums for her list of schools, lol, which does not include Tufts. I have to travel to 8 schools over the next three months to her auditions, starting this weekend. Lots going on. I will try to come visit the Tufts board.....I should....I can't recall if you are now a student there or an applicant. I should keep a handy dandy list of posters and their "profiles" by my computer. My mind is going...
Susan</p>
<p>NSM-</p>
<p>I was concerned about the resume because my son's has his DOB and SSN on it isince the college said to have that information on every piece of paper. He formatted a header/footer background containing this data for all of his materials. It also contains his SAT scores, which I consider personal and confidential. Had it not contained scores, DOB and SSN, I wouldn't be concerned.</p>