<p>Hunt, you left out, “The sky is falling!”</p>
<p>I have to agree. As I’ve said elsewhere in this thread, I can think of several good reasons not to conduct an interview in the home of the alumnus or alumna. But the possibility that “Buffalo Bill” is going to confine you in a dry well in his basement really isn’t one of them.</p>
<p>Right. I can see a male interviewer not wanting to do interviews in his home for fear of liability / being accused of something he didn’t do (the same way my OB-GYN husband always has a nurse with him when he does examinations - though the potential for accusations are just a <em>tad</em> larger when the agenda at hand is about examining naked body parts).</p>
<p>But has anyone actually ever heard of a circumstance in which something untoward happened? If it were my daughter, I’d have to let her go and do it, because, well, the whole point is in preparation for her to go off to college and be in plenty of situations where she’s going to have to learn how to handle herself. The absolute risk is so low here it’s not worth worrying about. And the “parent show up at the front door” is hardly going to make our hypothetical Evil Predator think twice. </p>
<p>OTOH, if the interviewer mumbles something about bringing lotion so you can put it in the basket, then I think it’s ok to request to go to Starbucks instead :-)</p>
<p>As others have pointed out, this isn’t extremely unusual. Meeting at Starbucks, etc. may be more common, but meeting at the interviewers home or office isn’t unheard of. My husband interviewed for our college for many years. He usually interviewed at Starbucks, or occasionally at his office. One year, due to the number of interviews he was asked to do (more than he had indicated he could do, but application numbers were very high and there weren’t enough interviewers in our area), he decided to do a few at our home. He made sure the students knew that his wife and teenage daughter would be home at the time. One student’s mother came with her to the door, which I thought was perfectly fine. I figured she wanted to verify someone else was home. I introduced myself and daughter and invited her in. It then became clear that she had no intention of leaving, so I offered her something to eat and drink and asked if she would like to go to another area of the house, watch TV etc, so H and her daughter could have the interview in private. She insisted on staying in the exact room where her daughter was interviewing. I thought that was weird.</p>
<p>There are lots of reasons why your interviewer may want to interview at his home. Nothing wrong with at least having your parent come to the door with you and meet the interviewer if that will make you feel better.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You were right: that was weird. Also presumptuous, intrusive and rude.</p>
<p>To be really honest, this fear or anxiety of going to an alum’s house for an interview really seems to be a very recent phenomenon. I’ve been out of school for less than a half-decade, and when I did my interviews back in the mid-2000s (not yet a decade ago), I basically did them all at the interviewer’s home. In one case, she was the only person there, but for the others, either their spouse or kids (or both) were present in a different room. Neither my parents nor I had any reservations about it. These were reputable schools, and the chances of something bad happening were pretty slim. When’s the last time you read “Ivy alum murders high school senior” in the news? </p>
<p>I’ve been doing interviews for my alma mater in the past few years and I always hold them at a nearby cafe because that’s more convenient for me. I actually don’t live near where I interview anymore–I take a quick trip home to do them on the weekends and I hardly want to inconvenience my parents at their place. Lots of younger alum…esp those with jobs in big cities where the cost of living is very high…rarely have dwellings that would be convenient or comfortable to invite complete strangers in…at least for the case of interviews. This has to be an older/younger alum, and urban/suburban divide here…</p>
<p>
It’s because the terrorists have won. We have gone too far–in my opinion–into a culture of fear. To be fair, when we parents were kids, there wasn’t enough fear about child molestation, but we’re talking here about 17-year-olds.</p>
<p>Agree that this isn’t unusual - I’m an alum interviewer for my liberal arts college, and the college actually suggests that I go to the prospie’s house. I find that super-weird, so prefer to go the coffee shop route.</p>
<p>My dh has been interviewing for his Ivy alma mater for many years. He always interviews at a coffee shop or at his office (large busy office in a high rise with security guard, etc) if more convenient for the applicant. We’re in a big city, have a teen, and I literally have never heard of any interview being conducted at a home. I would think that interviewing at a home might make the applicant uncomfortable (makes me uncomfortable as a mom) and it’s uncomfortable enough as it is. (Even though it shouldn’t be, the interviews are not as important as applicants believe.)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is hilarious lol :)</p>
<p>I only worried about safety initially because I’d never heard about this practice before. But I was quick to realize how negligible the danger really is, considering that this is a volunteer whom I have all of this information about. </p>
<p>My other big question was whether other applicants ever felt more pressured or nervous in this environment. I definitely see the drawbacks of a noisy coffee shop setting in the privacy and focus aspects, but do you think this private setting would be awkward? It seems like the interviewer has a lot of experience with interviews so I hope that that can make it less stressful. It’s my first interview so I don’t want to say anything stupid or make a bad impression.</p>
<p>Collegebound, you seem like a pretty level-headed kid and I suspect we parents have now beaten to death your initial question, which now that I look back, seems to have been focused more on the comfort level rather than the safety level of interviewing in the alum’s home. Go to the interview in whichever locale you feel most comfortable and knock 'em dead!!! You have all of us rooting for you :)</p>
<p>Also, for the interview, relax. No one expects you to be more than a senior in high school so be a genuine person who has potential and goals but just be who you are…and show “strong positive regard” for self and others. That is all! Listen well…write down three points you hope to get across and review them before the meeting. No adult can remember much more than 3-4 facts that distinguish you anyway.</p>
<p>I was taken aback by this question because almost every college interview I’ve done so far has been at the alum’s house. I can’t imagine asking them to change their practice.</p>
<p>You can’t be too careful.</p>
<p>
Yes you can. <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/15381874-post79.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/15381874-post79.html</a></p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Hmmmm… that’s a new one. I have had some parents sit down with us – but when I politely asked them if I could conduct the interview privately, they quickly understood what they did was improper and moved to another area of the coffee shop or restaurant we happened to be in. I didn’t make a big deal of it at all. Cultural differences, maybe 1st gen collegian applicant.</p>
<p>If someone insisted on staying at the table/in the room, I think I’d take the parent aside and try to tell them the importance of my conversation being private. If after my protestations, they refuse, then I would politely end the session. C’est fini.</p>
<p>I definitely think that, based on the responses in the thread, the overall takeaway is this: interviews at home are relatively common; if you’re concerned, it’s perfectly fine to have a parent come to the door and introduce him/herself; don’t let your parent join you IN the interview; keep calm and interview on…</p>
<p>This was actually a really informative thread, even if I’m already in college.</p>
<p>I’ve had a couple friends who had interviews at the interviewers’ houses, and they came out as different people, forever changed and scarred. </p>
<p>Nah, jk, nothing happened to them and they said the interviews were fine.</p>
<p>Call to the university ask them instead of writing on here ! This is such a stupid thing and so weird !</p>
<p>30 years ago, I had to drive thirty miles in the snow to my interview at the interviewer’s house. (True story.)</p>
<p>I think perhaps the change from interviews at home has mostly happened very recently. My son (high school class of '09) had several interviews at homes, while my daughter (high school class of '12) had all of them in public places.</p>
<p>How long do you think an alumni interview would last at this volunteer task, if he or she were molesting prospective students? </p>
<p>Once you are in college a few months from now, is your mom going to accompany you to a professor’s office during office hours?</p>
<p>Frankly if I were volunteering at least an hour of my time to interview applicants, and one asked to meet in a public place instead of my home office or living room, my answer would be “no.” Unless my alma mater had specific rules against the home interviews that used to be commonplace (I drove myself to my interview in a woman’s living room for the college I attended) – I very much doubt I would feel like investing additional time (probably double what it would take for you to come to me), gas, parking meter, and cost of a vento latte for the applicant’s comfort and conveniece.</p>
<p>It’s a trap. It’s obviously a ploy to lure you into a human trafficking ring.</p>