<p>Our son did a number of interviews and each time we waited in the lounge or waiting room. However several interviewers invited us in for a few minutes after the interview and we accepted the invitation. Each one was quite short, not more than 10 mins.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Alums aren't as up to date on their information anyway.
[/quote]
Well, some of us certainly try to be!</p>
<p>thanks to everyone for all the great posts. very helpful:)</p>
<p>This is terrific: I was looking for a thread on this topic. My S's first alum interview is next week. Good information.</p>
<p>One additional question -- Will DS seem less mature/self-reliant if my husband or I drive with him (but drop him off and disappear/run errands/sit in the car during the interview time)? The interview will be in the alum's office. S can drive himself, but it's about half an hour each way, and I get the feeling he wants company on the ride. What's your take on this?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>semamom - that's a very good question. some interviews may be a good distance away from home.</p>
<p>naneth: "It was our experience that the interviewers were not interested in the parents."</p>
<p>Well, that is sort of true. I definitely felt like a couple of the interviewers (all my son interviewed with were admissions people, no alum) wanted to use the time afterwards to sort of "sell" the school a bit to us. You know, it sort of started with, "Do you have any questions," and turned into a very soft sales pitch. One school came right out and basically told me he was in (but don't expect that).</p>
<p>semamom:
I don't think it matters. They would probably assume you came along to see the campus. I drove my son to one that was here in our town at a hotel because he didn't have a car and he had to go right from school. I waited outside. All other interviews we just waited in the waiting room because we were on campus tours.</p>
<p>I do alumni interviews for an ivy league school. I think it is best if the student comes alone. After all, this student is supposed to be on their own next year and be able to handle a very competitive college. If the student cannot drive and the parents come, I think it is best just to drop the student off. I don't count it as a negative if a parent comes, although I don't allow them to sit in on the interview. I am definitely not impressed, however, if a parent starts asking lots of questions - the student should come prepared with questions and the student should be making the college decision, not the parents (or at least they should be smart enough to make it seem that way!).</p>
<p>weenie --</p>
<p>Well, we've already seen the campus (which is several hours from our home). This interview is at the workplace of an alum in our area -- About 25 miles from our home -- not a difficult drive, but S has never driven the route by himself. I'm thinking it's good insurance to have one of us as backup navigators.</p>
<p>semamom,
The only interviews my son drove himself to were those within a 10 mile radius. There were a couple that were in towns a little further away, and difficult to find without a GPS system -- if you've ever spent time north of Boston, you'll know what I mean. In those cases, though, we were careful to keep the facade up that he didn't have any parents in the vicinity. I just knew it would make him uncomfortable to meet an alumnus in the presence of me or his dad. I don't think it matters how they get there, as long as they present themselves for the interview by themselves. I would never have accompanied him at all -- it was up to him to approach the house, coffee place or whatever by himself.</p>
<p>sjmom2329 --</p>
<p>Thanks. Your 10-mile radius seems to make sense. I certainly was planning to be as invisible as possible.</p>
<p>me too. i had always thought it would be best for the parent to not be at the interview.......but i had gotten confused by the differences in the e-mails from the two interviewers. invisible........i can do that. thanks everyone:)</p>
<p>"About 25 miles from our home -- not a difficult drive, but S has never driven the route by himself. I'm thinking it's good insurance to have one of us as backup navigators."</p>
<p>Another option would be to do a dry run with him beforehand and to have him set off for the real interview an hour and a half early, and have a back-up plan of a place to go to waste time if he ends up getting there very early.</p>
<p>A 25-mile drive is not a big deal. This time next year, he'll be likely driving much farther on his own or with friends. Also, in some cities, driving 25 miles would not even mean getting to the opposite side of the city. New drivers do things like that routinely. As a high school senior, it's time for him to learn to navigate on his own.</p>
<p>(I know your area and the difficulty getting around, but if he doesn't learn how to do that now, when will he?)</p>
<p>I know alums try to be up to date, but many are miles and years removed from the experience - that adds a useful perspective, but might mean an alum can't tell you if there's a Starbucks next to campus, to use a lame example.</p>
<p>My alumni interview was held at a La Madeleine near my house. I don't think it occured to my parents to accompany me. For my interviews at the colleges themselves, the interviewers made it clear that parents weren't welcome, but could ask questions afterwards. My dad didn't even come with me to my Scripps interview and tour because he felt like he wouldn't be welcome on the campus (its a girls school), hehe.</p>
<p>I'm an alum interviewer who agrees with lefthandofdog.
For the many specific questions students have about coursework, extracurriculars, it's better for students to go to the college web site and connect directly with professors or students involved in the EC. Going to the livejournal web site and checking out the interest groups related to the college are other ways of getting specifics about what life is like now at the college.</p>
<p>Alums can give general info about what the majors are, what kind of ECs are available, what the coursework is like in general, how attending the college affects one's life, but even recent alums usually can't tell students about the current party life, what specific professors' assignments are or where students hang out to get coffee.</p>
<p>But alums can provide information (and perspective) about how having attending those schools have affected their and their classmates' lives. Because kids (and parents) are interested in how graduates benefit from X school, that information can prove beneficial.</p>
<p>We wandered around campus, had coffee, went to bookstore etc. while D interviewed on campuses. D told interviewer that parents were "around somewhere"--it was fine with them. I think being there just throws in more uncalculable variables-- how you happen to strike the interviewer, etc. Just let your kid give it his/her best shot.</p>
<p>weenie- My D only did 2 on-campus (with actual admissions people) interviews, both at schools 500 miles away from home, and both involved scholarship competitions. One was at a school where she had already been accepted. The actual interviews were private and parents were not invited. They had other events where the admissions staff intermingle with the parents and sort of "sold" the school.
The other school included no events for parents, so I dropped her off and picked her up 2 days later. I spent my time doing the tourist thing by myself and I rather enjoyed it. Of course she did the interviews and after one, she called me in tears talking about how bad one of the interviews went.
The funny thing is she won a scholarship at that school and it is where she is going, so you certainly can't predict acceptance by the way the interviews go.</p>
<p>quick report on how things went. d drove but i rode along since it was well over an hour drive and held in a metro area. we made 2 trips, 2 days. i was "invisible" both times. i just went to a coffee shop while she went to the interview.
d seemed to appreciate having me along for company. we had the opportunity to talk on the drives........... and for her to share her thoughts about likes and dislikes of some of the schools she's considering. she seemed very willing to talk and often does on drives with just the two of us.
after interviews, did some shopping and dining.......so that was a plus too. if some of the readers here are in similar situations -- a good distance to drive -- then i'd recommend riding along. be sure to include dining and shopping:)thanks everyone.</p>