<p>I got the request over email. I'm overjoyed :D
It's going to be at Whole Foods of all places :P </p>
<p>How much does the interviewer know about me?
I’ll tell you how it goes </p>
<p>Your name, your contact info, and your intended majors. </p>
<p>@viphan that’s actually completely incorrect. I know a CU Alumni interviewer and he explicitly told me that they have access to your entire application excluding private information like SS# etc. It’s up to the interviewer if they want to read it all though. He said that some interviewers chose not to or don’t have enough time. </p>
<p>He also said something along the lines of “The interview won’t break you, but it can really make you” so as “relaxed” as the interview may seem, take it very seriously. </p>
<p>@ds0501 Are you absolutely sure about that? Because if that were true, there would be a HUGE outrage and protest among the applicants past and present. By submitting the application, the applicants solely allow the admission committee and them only to access sensitive data such as SSN etc, and not to the outside third party that the applicants do not even know. </p>
<p>I went through over 10 college interviews last year and none of them had more than my name and contact info. I was actually quite surprised to find out that Columbia shared intended majors with the interviewers. </p>
<p>I said excluding lol, they don’t have any of your personal info like SS number etc. And that’s what he told me. It’s not in the same format as that of what the admissions officers see I assume, but it includes ECs, supplements etc from what he explained.</p>
<p>@ds0501: your friend is lying to you or you’re misunderstanding her/him. There’s no way an alum interviewer has access to the entire application. Interview assignments are done on a website which shows applicant’s school, prospective major/academic interest areas, sports, & a couple of ECs. That’s it.</p>
<p>This list is hardly having " access to your entire application". </p>
<p>What ever you say man. @t26E4</p>
<p>I just conferred w/another poster who IS a Columbia interviewer before I posted my reply to you ds0501. I went to that trouble because what you posted is so outrageous and out of the norm of private school alumni volunteer interviewing, I had to be 100% sure of the facts. Believe what you want. Just don’t proffer that item as the gospel b/c it certainly isn’t.</p>
<p>My college (a Columbia peer) only gives out name, email, telephone no, home city, perspective major (if any) and HS. That’s how it’s been for the 25 yrs I’ve been interviewing.</p>
<p>@T26E4 Thank you for clarifying. </p>
<p>@T26E4
Thanks for the detailed response. If you get a list of prospective applicants to interview, do you choose the ones with the most interesting major or ECs? Or is it purely random for you?</p>
<p>I’m not a Columbia alum. I believe the system is set up for people to choose based on whatever criteria they set for themselves. For my alma mater, we assign based on proximity most of all (our metro area is very expansive).</p>
<p>My friend has absolutely no reason to lie, so I don’t think he would. He’s been interviewing for 5 years but that doesn’t change anything. I don’t believe he is lying at all. </p>
<p>Perhaps to intimidate the interviewees? Lots of reasons. </p>
<p>My friend isn’t really MY friend per say, he’s more of a family friend who is 30 years old. There is no reason why he would make anything up. I’m just relaying information lol. Don’t shoot the messenger.</p>
<p>@ds0501 let me retract my statement that your acquaintance Columbia alum is lying to you. Perhaps it’s a mis-communication or perhaps he’s just bragging – certainly both are very viable possibilities. In your note which caught my attention, I read from you that this alum stated that he had access to the entire application file save for the most private info such as the student’s SSAN.</p>
<p>I’ve stated (from what I heard from another verified Columbia alumnus interviewer) that the only info proffered to the alum volunteers is the following:</p>
<p>1) contact info & HS
2) potential major,
3) some ECs.<br>
4) No grades/transcript, no scores. No essays, no rec letters.</p>
<p>Yale gives this:</p>
<p>1) contact info & HS
2) potential major,
3) No grades/transcript, no scores. No essays, no rec letters.</p>
<p>Harvard gives this:</p>
<p>1) contact info & HS
2) potential major,
3) possibly some ECs.<br>
4) GPA & test scores
5) No essays, no rec letters.</p>
<p>So when you state that a completely unvetted stranger, without any training, without signing any non-disclosure agreements has access to the following:</p>
<p>1) contact info & HS
2) potential major,
3) ECs & honors
4) GPA , transcript & test scores
5) personal essays
6) Teachers rec letters
7) Secondary school report (including counselor’s notes)</p>
<p>… you can understand how I and @viphan were taken aback. Your scenario bends credulity. The idea that I can read a teacher’s private communication with a college admissions office, someone whom I might know personally, and who would be discussing private interactions with the applicants or the personal, private and intimate testimony of a student’s personal essay-- is simply sheer insanity. And we should jointly sue Columbia for such an egregious violation – yours and my kid’s tuition can be paid for from the settlement!</p>
<p>I think you’re mis-hearing what the alum is saying or he’s pulling your leg. If you’d like, I can direct you to my source Columbia alum interview.</p>