<p>What, if any, benefit or perk an interview get ? I mean does college pay in cash or kind to find right type of students ? It is becoming slaughtering business anyway ? :)</p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t think the interview is going to do much at all. Really in most cases, it’a big fat nothing. And for my DH if an interviewer got a whiff of the commode and saw the appalling mess of how he had to live, it would have probably been a plus on his file, but he and his mom didn’t look at it that way. What the interview does, is , most of the time provide a bit of the personal touch, and give the kid a chance to ask some questions from the alum. It also allows the interviewer to maybe see some personal things that will put some things in the app in perspective.</p>
<p>It can also tank a candidate. I do know kids who just don’t interview well at all. LIke terribly. On paper—great. In person, umm… What the heck is an interviewer supposed to do when a kid can’t look the interviewer in the eye, can’t say much, has short answers and just wants out of there and the interview is a failure by any measure? </p>
<p>I can’t swear to it, but I don’t think HPY, care if the interview happens or not, and seriously if I had a kid like that, who takes a long time to get to know, and is beloved and appreciated at his school and the recs may not reflect the fact that he is socially, completey unadept, has the test scores grades, intellectual curiousity for top school, I would not have him interview. I personally know kids who were accepted to a number of these schools without an interview. None that I know deliberately did this Something happened to the scheduled interview and the make up couldn’t be scheduled. In each of these cases, parents and kid were in agony trying to get a make up and sure that the kid would be penalized. Nope. Accepted. I also know kids who had A-1 interviews and the interviewer so said, yet they were not accepted. They do not have a big say in who gets accepted. A selective school alum that i know who interviews told me that he never has given anyone a bad write up, some over the top, and there is no correspondence between that and who is accepted, and they are told so right out.</p>
<p>I’ve been Brown interviewer for 10+ years. In the old days, I used to go to kids’ houses. Sometimes they even came to my house. These days the instructions recommend a neutral place, so that’s what I do. The kids I’ve got don’t seem to have any problem suggesting alternate times and places and I certainly don’t hold it against them. If 8 pm is too late and you don’t want them to come to your house, then say so. You don’t have to apologize for either thing. My preference is weekend afternoons, and at least up to this point, I haven’t had any problems coming up with a mutually agreeable time and a quiet enough coffee shop.</p>
<p>I believe Harvard interview matters.</p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>Harvard’s position is that no candidate is at a disadvantage if an interview cannot be set up. Based on a few accounts of successful H applicants that appears to be true as none of them ended up going through the interview process. </p>
<p>Based on contributions by Harvard’s interviewers on this site, I believe that the interview has few benefits but comes with considerable risk, especially when meeting one of those interviewers from hell who erroneously believed their job included googling the applicant to death to uncover possible fibs in the application. </p>
<p>It is good to remember that interviewers do NOT have access to the application file before or after the interview, and have no decision power. And for very good reasons, including neither be qualified nor trained to evaluate applications, except for the rare exceptions of former admissions’ officers.</p>
<p>Interviewers are people with all the foibles attached. Some are terrilbe. Most are great, but the bad eggs can really stink it up. Yeah, maybe, you, Quiala don;t take offence but there are folks out there with Napoleon complexes and are doing this thing as part of an ego trip too. As I mentioned earlier, my son had an interview while the guy was packing for a trip with his kids running around and with the interviewer yelling at them, and apologizing even as he was going ahead with his task. Someone here mentioned having interviews at the house because he was stuck with the kids. Well, I blasted a doctor who gave me an info session and had his sick kid in the office. After the third interruption, I walked out. But I was in position to do that. A kid going for a college interview feels he has to make good. </p>
<p>So it’s not the great interviewers that are the issue; it’s the ones that are not. My SIL was WLed due to an interview. Found out because she had an inside prof who had put the word in to get her specifically and he went and found out why she was not accepted. She cleared the waitlist immediately with the prof standing there. All done in real time via cell phone and computer. </p>
<p>For schools that look for reasons to cull the herd, not reasons to accept a student, and the accept rate will clearly tell you which schools those are, a bad interview or bad writeup or bad interviewer can be a disadvantage. A good interview isn’ tlikely to do squat unless something truly amazing comes out during that interview that isn’t already in the file. I don’t know a single school that will say the interview with an alumis going to count for anything in the admissions process and they say that it is informational.</p>
<p>
FYI - this <em>75 page</em> thread was pretty interesting (IMO)</p>
<p>Didn’t read through whole thread but did anyone suggest asking the interviewer if it would be convenient to meet at HIS house (which reminds me of my husband’s response when telemarketers call…" give me YOUR home phone number, I will call you back"). I do think it is presumptuous of him, bordering unprofessional, will create unfair judgement of the student based on what kind of home he resides in.</p>
<p>Lisa, my daughter was interviewed for Duke at the alumni’s house…that was five years ago, rules may have changed (I am a Duke alum as well, do not interview so was not familiar with the rules).</p>
<p>In reading Harvard’s website, it does say that an applicant is not at a disadvantage by not having an interview, BUT:
</p>
<p>I would read that as alumni interviews do matter.</p>
<p>I will tell you, as an interviewer of several decades, that the standard is to meet at a public place (library, place of business, coffee shop). I used to do them at my home until somewhere in the US a parent complained about their child going to an interviewers home and the rules changed for everyone in the system. </p>
<p>Also, take it for what it is worth - parents who get involved in the process tend to hurt the student’s chances more than help them. The assessment is that if a student needs a parent to help with their schedule, etc, then they’re not ready to go to college no matter how smart they are. And there are too many students in the pile who do go the extra mile to show interest, can set their own schedules, can flex when needed and accommodate what are often very full schedules for the interviewers who are trying to squeeze in other students at the same time…</p>
<p>So know - when you make a demand, most interviewers are not on the payroll, and are juggling their personal and work schedules to accommodate the student and many (many) others over what is - for most of us - busy the holiday season. Be respectful.</p>
<p>Xiggi: if the powers that be in the admissions office don’t weigh the opinions of the interviewers, than why waste the time of the alum and put the prospective student through the torture?</p>
<p>Seahorse: Why scoff at early bed times? It’s great that your family has later hours and or needs fewer hours of sleep. We live in the country and my kids have real chores – bucking hay, feeding animals, hauling water, chopping wood. And my daughter drives 40 miles one way to school. And is involved in two sports. She’s bone tired when she gets home as are the rest of us. She’s usually in bed by 9:30 and is up by 5:30 a.m. </p>
<p>I hardly think she’s going to be a drag in college just because she goes to bed early.</p>
<p>My D had her Harvard interview at her school. Her interviewer was very conscious of her school/rowing schedule and suggested meeting during D’s lunch time. The interviewer arranged with her school(private) to use a conference room to conduct the meeting. My D was very comfortable at her school and really appreciated the interviewer’s effort to accommodate D’s schedule</p>
<p>I’m saying if you can’t adjust for one night to an 8pm meeting then college is gonna be rough.</p>
<p>fidoprincess wrote:
</p>
<p>Forty plus years ago I had four alumni interviews. Princeton and Harvard were at the interviewers’ homes. Yale and Dartmouth were in the living room at my house. This was normal. As far as I know, my parents had no qualms and made no special preparations for our visitors.</p>
<p>The current practice of holding college interviews at Starbucks seems unfortunate. It is way too noisy and too public.</p>
<p>Serving as a volunteer alumni interviewer can be a lot of work, requiring detailed written reports as well as the time actually meeting with applicants. Applicants should be accommodating to the interviewer’s preferences for a meeting place.</p>
<p>No one is saying that the interview doesn’t count for anything. It rarely will be even a tip factor to get you in even if it is outstanding. Only in very rare cases, if some asounding piece of info comes out that is not already noticed by Admissions would it make a difference for an in. For a “thumbs down”, well, I discussed that already. Though I don’t think you’ll find an admissions office who will tell you that a bad interview will keep you out. Also, I know kids who have gotten into to HPY and other highly selective schools that have interviews and they were not able to get one. The problem with dealing iwth these ueber selective schools is that you feel that any little thing can be a negative to get disqualifiied.</p>
<p>Now why would a parent being involved be a minus in the interview? Has nothing to do with the kid that he has an overbearing parent? You’re telling me that an interviewer, a jerk of a parent is going to give the kid a neg review ? There could be just one car (like with me) and other pick ups and things needed that night, so mom might well drive the kid there. I did a few times, I know. Also if you are going to schedule the interveiw at the home, you dang well better involve the parents. Making remarks like that make me wonder about the interviewer.</p>
<p>Also, the fact that things have been done a certain way for so long does not mean they were done right. If you can’t see why some families may not want the interview done in their home, you are being insensitive. I think the OP just doesn’t like the idea. Too small a house, too much going on, too disruptive. The time, etc all start coming to mind because s/he doesn’t want it in the house. Period. </p>
<p>As far as I’m concerned they should not even have the danged things unless the kid wants one for informational purposes and no write up of one should be sent forth. Who knows much about the interviewers? Just about anyone can be one that is an alum. Not much training and no overseeing and not much evaluating of the interviewer. Causes more stress and trouble in the process.</p>
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<p>I pretty much agree with this. I don’t feel like I have gotten great training (although there is a pretty extensive handbook, but most of it deals with how to write the report), and I don’t know how much my experiences from 20+ years ago at Duke are really relevant to kids applying today. And I am 99% sure that none of my write-ups have ever had any effect on an admissions decision. This is based on the fact that in 6 years of interviewing, despite evaluations ranging from average to excellent, I have only had one kid accepted, and he was a crazy superstar kid that got in everywhere he applied. To be honest, many of my Duke alum friends have stopped interviewing because it’s just too depressing when nobody gets in.</p>
<p>For future reference, I do like the idea of interviewing at the high school if I can set that up. The Starbucks I generally use has an upstairs lounge that is very quiet and cozy, so the noise isn’t an issue, although I guess privacy still is.</p>
<p>Lisa-- why do you think Duke continues the interviewing tradition if they ignore or discount the interview summations? Just curious. It seems like a lot of wasted time for everyone.</p>
<p>Because everybody does. The alumni inteviews, that is. It’s considered part of the procedure, adds the personal touch, allows the applicant to ask someone questions. </p>
<p>But think about it. How many kids applying to these coleges? Admissions can’t interview them all. Count out the number of admiissions officers and you can see why. Plus then the kids HAVE to come visit the school for the interview. Also kids who go to certain “feeder” high schools often get the benefit of a “real” interview. This makes things look more equal. The problem is that the school has to have so many interviewers that they can’t possibly have a good handle on them, can’t vet them, can’t train them. Most interviewers have full time jobs and busy lives, so they squeeze just a few interviews in. So the mileage varies by quite a bit as to who interviews you and who is good in writing up the interviews and if they are kooks, overinflated egotists, have a chip on their shoulders, etc. In admissions, yes, there are such people too , but the enormous job of having to deal with so many applicaitons makes the process very much a routine and fair process just to frigging get through it. Not so with the interviewers. </p>
<p>Really it’s so a student has some fae to face time to personally ask someone connected to the school questions. I do believe the interviewers are given matrials that cover a lot of the usual questions and if a queation is asked that the interviewer cannot answer , he can get the answer and get back to the student. Can you imagine all of these kids calling admissions with theiir quesions when most of the quesitons are similar?</p>
<p>Also, IMO, this is a vestige from the days when students didn’t visit the school , when there were not such intensive info sessions, tours and opportunities to personally be there. It seems to me most everyone visits now days, but just like every school says their students don’t need computers but most all students do, most of these schools will say visits are not important when just about everyone does it </p>
<p>In my day, alumni interviewers or reps were often asked to visit kids who were off the beaten track and had applied to a college. My brother and his best firends were the first two from their not so great disadvantaged high school to apply to MIT, CIT. Both schools sent reps down there to personally vet the two of them… Neither of the kids visited either school or any school for that matter, to which they applied. Just wasn’t done like it is these days. Heck, few kids applied outsider the commutable distance from home except to State U.</p>
<p>cptofthehouse - your one size fits all comments about the process are someone concerning. And actually - at least in our school - applicants tend to come in with very similar stats and extracurriculars. Most of us who have been doing this “gig” for decades are pretty good at ferreting out the details that will “tip” the scales or not. And usually - when we write “no” on a report it means no. I’ve only seen that type of report reversed once in 30+ years. </p>
<p>However, if the school needs to weed 92% of the applicants out due to limited space - then a lot of well qualified students will get turned down through no fault of their own. It’s just not feasible to take them all.</p>
<p>Even so - if your specific school deems interviews as unimportant - I say that is good information for a school to post. At my alma mater - it is required and the reports are well read by a number of people. It is not uncommon for interviewers and Admissions officers to discuss them during the process - including those we think need to be flagged for various reasons. Also, only 1% of students admitted at our college did so without an interview. So - I’ll speak only from the MIT experience. I won’t presume to say it works that way at other colleges.</p>
<p>@lisa6191 - Because of low yields we at one point saw the same trend in our region. The system now allows us to note exceptional students. On some rare occasions they don’t get in (could be something in the file). But it has helped. Also, If a student was well qualified but was denied, I can call and get clarification. Perhaps you can do the same? You would be surprised at how often a good kid can be sabotaged by a recommendation that is less than stellar. My DH is on an Admissions Committee and sees it more often that you’d think. Or students who interview well to please an adult - but then has really lousy essays. Sp clarification can be a useful tool.</p>
<p>Still, if I were to see a consistent low trend of admissions, I’d probably move on to something else too. The holidays are a bear to get through when interviews are factored in. But instead I had a terse discussion about the distribution of candidates across the country and argued that geographical diversity needed to factor more keenly in the decision. If you’re from a low-yield area you should be able to make a case. If you’re from a high-yield area (near the college, east coast, west coast) then it becomes harder. </p>
<p>For cptofthehouse who said interviews should be for informational purposes - I made it clear to local schools that my interviewers have jobs and families and we aren’t “look-sees” If a student is just exploring - come to the informational meetings, or have a phone discussion. With the caveat that we meet at a public place - and given the holiday crunch, don’t waste my time otherwise. Sorry. With over a hundred requests we just don’t have enough bodies and I don’t just use “any alum” with a warm body to do it.</p>
<p>MIt is a whole other story. The interview is required for all intents and purposes, not optional unless MIT can’t get someone in the area to do one. You have about 10 times the chance of getting into MIT with an interview which means without one you are reducing your chances by about 90%, so I would say they are mandatory and are to evaluate the candidate, not just to be infromational. For some schools, they out and out say they are informational, on their websites and in the Common data set. </p>
<p>And for some schools a vistt is mandatory too. Emory will let you know that .</p>