http://gawker.com/ivy-league-admissions-are-a-sham-confessions-of-a-harv-1690402410
really interesting article (though a bit redundant on what I think are the majority of the population’s thoughts on this whole process) and even more interesting comments.
The writer cites some common rigamaroles that parents and kids and schools that the keen observer of this site, will notice. But his rant is skewered by his 1) embellishments of his duties, 2) misplaced conclusions based off of small samples and 3) his over-conflated belief of his ability to affect his interviewees’ chances.
^^^
Agree completely. Did you read the 2nd to last comment on the bottom of the replies? He completely calls him out.
He gets a little big for his britches at times, but I agree about the rehearsed aspect of interviews. The only interview that I actually showed any personality in was at Smith, where my interviewer and I were essentially best friends for 45 minutes. I wish I had called out the stupid questions at Northwestern. I wish I had said exactly what I thought about my personal growth. Sadly, though, I think that’s just the nature of the thing. I don’t blame anybody for being stiff in the interview. It’s honestly terrifying.
Notice he never uses the word “interviewer” to describe himself – but a “volunteer admission officer”
Nonetheless, the issue of students obtaining the admission of an elite college the goal of their lives is indeed saddening and should be discouraged if purely for that reason of mere “name brand”.
I say BS on this. As the bottom comment person said.
I went on a few interviews including Harvard and similar schools. First they really are meaningless. As long as you do not come off as awful it does not matter. Will not help since EVERYONE, including people whose grades are too low, gets an interview unless it is geographically difficult and I know people in urban areas who did not get interviews at other HYPS and got in.
NOT A SINGLE INTERVIEWER HAD ANY IDEA ABOUT MY GRADES OR PROSPECTIVE MAJOR. All refused to look at my resume except for my one interview at a non HYP Ivy who asked me for it and I know someone else who interviews for them and she said the interviews are meaningless. As for being quizzed, quite the opposite, I had at least 3 conversations about going to college during Vietnam. Clearly I was not the one doing all the talking
I believe it depends on the region and the interviewer, actually; I was requested to submit a resume with grades, major, test scores etc. before certain college interviews.
Intersting HYPS and other Ivies? I kept bringing the resume hoping they would take it
Opening line of the essay
Interesting way for an alumni volunteer who talks to 5 kids per year (according to what is written later in the article) to describe themself, don’t you think?
If you want to see an example of the glib writing expected from a top college grad, great article! Believable? Judge for yourself. Here’s the author of the article
Here’s Hanna, longtime participant in this forum
My harvard dream is gone. I hate rich people.
Harvard’s dream is gone. It hates people who can’t sort out fact from opinion from exaggeration.
JK rigid: just poking fun at you 
Hmm. Maybe it is because of the rural nature of where I live and do alumni interviews, or maybe it is the vibe of the school I interview for–but I have never asked for a transcript or resume (we are not allowed), nor have I ever encountered a student with a rehearsed speech/answers. No student has ever offered us a resume either.
It’s all very casual. an informal Q and A session. We know going in our report won’t make much of a difference either way. We tell the kids that too.
What exactly was the author’s position? Was he just an alumni interviewer like me, or does Harvard have some other level of admissions volunteer? I saw in the comments that at least one person thought he was overstating the importance of his role in the process.
Quite a few regular CC participants interview for most-selective undergraduate schools. It’s clear to me that the author always perceived “himself” as the center of the alumni interview process – not the institution, nor (and much more important) the teenager. That is a fundamental and substantial error. Interviewing is done to assist the kids and also (occasionally) to provide one’s alma mater with some valuable information/insight, that’s not readily apparent in the admissions documentation.
In fairness to Harvard, however, no school wants to decline any alumni offer to volunteer. That means (although only rarely) an interviewer will be less than ideal. It happens to every university.
This article makes harvard look bad, but not in the way the author intended. My initial reaction was, “Are all Harvard grads such narcissists?”
What mine have seen in their interview experiences is split with about 1/3 of the selective school interviewers being very interested in the applicant and wanting to facilitate their educational goals and about 2/3 having a more personal agenda.
@JustOneDad: Can you give an example of the “personal agenda” that was espoused by some of the interviewers? Do you mean something political? A philosophy of education? I’d be curious to hear
Well, we’re just talking round numbers here, but of the 2/3 that had what I’m calling a “personal agenda”, I’d further break it down by saying that about half of them were sort of benign and about half…not so benign.
One of the things which surprised me was how willing interviewers are to tell the candidate that they are interviewing because their kid or kids are approaching the college app stage. Usually, it takes until the end of the interview for that to come out, but once, an interviewer stated it outright and up front.
Some of them seem to want to make sure that only the “proper” students get admitted to their alma mater, whatever they think that might be, I can’t say for sure. Only a couple were likely political.
Some have wanted to get a resume or printed list of stats from the student, but I don’t ever remember one of ours preparing one before the interview so it doesn’t seem like they asked in advance. A larger number get around to asking what their scores are during the interview, even though the feedback we get from interviewers we trust is that’s not really a necessary topic.
Finally, this group seems to want to steer the conversation around to some speech or topic they want to air. It usually has to do with some pretty strong awareness of the brand or prestige. Some are pleased with their elite experience, but an equal number seem almost bitter about it. They feel unhappy about it because they got the degree and it didn’t change their life in the way they thought it might. Several said they did everything the college asked and feel they didn’t get rewarded enough.
But wait…I thought URMs were taking all of the admissions slots? Now I find out it is the rich, white kids? I’m starting to feel like I can’t believe everything I read.
@ProudMomx3 URMs are hardly “taking up all of the admission slots”, they only make up about 20%-30% of any freshman class!
https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/admissions-statistics
I think not believing everything you read is the best approach, especially on the internet!!
@fizzy110 I’m sure Proudmomx3 was being sarcastic. @JustOneDad: sorry to hear that. I hopeI don’t project any agenda when I meet w/students.