<p>My daughters recently received a call from an alumni interviewer from an Ivy League school to set up an interview. He asked them to come to his home in a nearby town one evening next week. The daughter who took the call was surprised by the venue (so am I!) but said nothing, just wrote down all the information. This is the last college inteview; all the other alumni interviews they have had have taken place in Starbucks or similar public places.</p>
<p>My daughter says she feels awkward and uncomfortable calling the guy back and asking him to meet in a more neutral setting. She says she wants to call the Admissions Office to see what they say. Any comments or suggestions??</p>
<p>I'm an alumni interviewer and I have done interviews in my home or in the student's home on occasion. I have done many in public places and I find they are the worst places to have interviews. There are many distractions and the interviews aren't as relaxed becasue you are always aware that your conversation is being overheard by others. Would you want to have a job interview in Starbucks?</p>
<p>The best place for an interview is a quiet room in the student's school, but that is not an option in the evening; and many interviewers are only available in the eveing.</p>
<p>Both of my kids have had several interviews in their interviewers' homes. None of them have been a problem - though I do understand your concern. I would have your daughter call the Admissions Office to verify that this is a reputable person who has interviewed for the school in the past.</p>
<p>When I was applying to college, interviews were either at the admissions office of the college itself or at the alumni interviewer's home. The Starbucks phenomenon is a relatively recent thing - some alumni also use their work offices as a venue. At many of the local info sessions S and I attended, the local alumni were there as well, and many of them still do at home interviews. Some reasons alumni give for doing the Starbucks ones are convenience to their offices and their own privacy and security.</p>
<p>I agree 100% with cookiemom as to how I, personally, would feel about a Starbucks interview. Many of the kids don't seem to feel that way, although I can't understand why. I would also point out that an evaluative interview is not by definition a neutral situation, despite the fact that most interviewers attempt to make the student feel quite comfortable. Twinmom's suggestion is excellent if your daughter's main concern is her own security, but if that's not her issue, I'd recommend against complaining about this.</p>
<p>I've been doing alumni interviews for 25 years, and almost always do it from my home. Public places can be loud and crowded and uncomfortable; for years I worked out of my house and that was the most convenient place for me. It still is. I've never had anyone question the location, and never had a parent come closer than my driveway.</p>
<p>I do interviews both ways, and the setting is more determined by logistics. I have held many interviews in my own home and did a couple very recently here and when nobody else was home. Many kids drive themselves over but sometimes a parent drops them off or even waits in the car. Because I interview kids from a wide area (rural state), sometimes I have met up with them where we meet part way in a nearby "city" and this also was due to the fact that seniors are available after school or in the evenings which was when I was driving my OWN kids to their activities and not really home and so what I often did was when I normally would be sitting at my child's dance studio doing nothing in a city about 25 miles from home every evening or late afternoon, I'd use that time to meet with a student in a nearby cafe. The distance was a factor as well. Now that I am not going to that city regularly as my kids graduated, I'm back to meeting most kids at my house for interviews which is a little nicer, by the way. </p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>PS...here is a funny coincidence...but I can "vouch" for Sly_VT who posted above my post, who says she interviews in her home. We recently "met" on CC, only to discover that she interviewed my daughter two years ago for the college that she ended up going to! So, I like her...:D</p>
<p>Adad says, "When I interviewed at my home, parents would wait in the next room." Great! Much better than waiting in the car as I suggested. </p>
<p>Look, my wife does alumni interviews in our home. What we are tiptoeing about is the fact that if I had a daughter I would feel awkward about her going to be interviewed by a man in his home. Girl or boy going to woman's home = no problem.</p>
<p>I used to interview students in my home until we got two Jack Russell terriers. I knew I would have to find some other place to talk with students after one applicant nearly jumped out of his skin when the dogs started barking in the next room. It also didn't help that his suit (yes, a suit!) was covered in white dog hair by the time he left - no amount of vacuuming can get rid of that JRT hair. Starbucks on the busiest day is still calmer that a house with two Jacks bouncing around....</p>
<p>My Dartmouth interview took place in the interviewer's home. I certainly never felt unsafe, because the son of the interviewer was a bit of a legend who had graduated from my school a few years earlier, so I'd heard of the family. What was very awkward was that I had 3 interviewers, all men, all sprawled out on a couch facing me. I was sitting in a hardbacked chair- luckily my skirt was long enough not to be a problem. </p>
<p>Furthermore, this guy's dog kept jumping into my lap and barking. He said, "Oh, I hope you don't mind dogs". </p>
<p>Anyway, if your daughter is uncomfortable with it, drive her and wait in the car. I know of some very awkward interviews conducted at coffee shops and some very good ones conducted in private homes- so as long as your daughter feels reasonably secure with whatever you decide to do, I wouldn't worry.</p>
<p>I'd go with the waiting in the car plan. It has been awkward the two times parents have shown up at the door of my house with the applicant. I have a living room and a family room, so there is a comfortable place for the parent to sit, but not every interviewer will have that arrangement. What has been uncomfortable for me is that when I'm not expecting the parent, the room where I have the parent sit may be messy and I'm the type who likes my house to be pristine when people come over. I also feel like I need to offer the parent some refreshment, reading material, etc. which may not always be on hand.</p>
<p>It would be very awkward for me if a parent showed up expecting to come into my house. We have an open floor plan on the first floor, and there's nowhere for them to sit without their being in sight of me. I'd have to send them to the basement, and that would be strange. </p>
<p>This does remind me of one of the oddest TV moments, when Rory on the Gilmore Girls had her Harvard interview at the alum's house. Her mom came, she had lunch not only with the interviewer but his entire family, and ended up wandering around the house. Totally unrealistic, but that was true-to-form for the whole show.</p>
<p>Waves to Soozie: hi! Yet it is bizarre how we "met" here.</p>
<p>I agree that it is awkward if a parent shows up expecting to come into the house. My house is also an open floor plan (maybe it is a Vermont thing, lol). When a parent has driven a kid, they have either dropped them off and gone into town to kill time or sat in the driveway which may sound awkward but their place is not at the interview and frankly there is no place in the home to accomodate them without them hearing the interview. </p>
<p>My younger kid had an interview situation that I thought was not set up so great. It was for Carnegie Mellon and the admissions officer had come to our state to hold the interviews at a hotel close to 50 miles from us, so I had to drive my D as she did not yet have her license, and had to stay on site given the great distance. But she did not reserve a space to hold the interviews (as others had in my other D's case) and so there was one interview after another and you had to wait in the hotel lobby's sitting area and then she was sitting in one corner where there were two chairs and in full view of those of us waiting in the general seating area. I thought it was rather strange in a way, I mean I could see my D being interviewed, as could any of those also waiting. When the interview was over, the adcom came over to me to greet me and ask if I had any questions, etc. Normally, however, as parent, I haven't been part of any aspect of the interview process. </p>