<p>I just received my first interview request today by email, and the alumna asked me where I'd like to have it. She offered to meet at her house or anywhere else in the area sometime next week; she lives in Georgetown, for those of you who know DC, so there are several cafes, a Starbucks, a library, and other types of places where I've heard of people having interviews. What would be proper etiquette for this situation? I don't want to come off as pushy or disrespectful of her privacy by asking to have it at her house, but I don't know if a public (and possibly loud, depending on the clientele) place like Starbucks would be the right environment to do it in. </p>
<p>I already had an interview with my regional admissions officer at Bryn Mawr during their Fall Preview Days, so I'm almost more nervous about the scheduling than about the interview itself! I know I'm overanalyzing, but this is my first off-campus interview and I'm in love with the school, so I'm anxious to do the right thing.</p>
<p>I would have it at her house. It would make it easier for her. She offered to meet you some where else, just in case if you didn't feel comfortable to go to her house. My daughter had most of interviews at her interviewer's house. You could say, "I would be happy to go to your house, but if it would be more convenient to meet at a Starbucks or cafe around where you live, I could meet you there too."</p>
<p>Most alums hold the interviews in coffee shops such as Starbucks...but after a while..that gets a little old. Meeting the alumna in their home will likely put them at ease, and in turn may put you more at ease. You will be able to see what interests them, and find common ground for your conversation-ie-books on their shelf, photos, art work. Best of luck to you!</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice! I wasn't sure if proposing to have it at her house would seem intrusive, but you're right that it's the most convenient option, and since she suggested it I'm sure it's fine.</p>
<p>If she lives in Georgetown and you love the place, I'd throw a curve ball and suggest you have it on campus--in the SFS coffee shop or some other semi-quiet place. Let her picture you in that setting to see just how well you fit in.</p>
<p>I would not allow a high school student to meet with me alone in my house! Maybe I'm paranoid. Conversely, I would not allow my child to go to an interviewer's house. Too much potential for some sort of s*** to hit the fan, so to speak. A local coffeeshop (strangely, since I go to DC maybe once every five years, I can think of two coffeeshops near Georgetown) is just fine. Or a tea shop; there used to be a lovely one quite close to Georgetown.</p>
<p>Not the library, it's too hard to talk freely.</p>
<p>The school is actually Middlebury, so meeting on campus isn't really an option ;), but she lives in Georgetown, which means that if I were to suggest that we meet anywhere else there are several options nearby. </p>
<p>I agree that the library seems like an odd place to do it, but someone mentioned it in one of the interview threads, so I figured I'd include it.</p>
<p>Wow, I did let S do all 3 interviews at the person's house. I gave him my cell phone. The first 2 interviewers were known well by a mutual friend. Was I naive?</p>
<p>She wouldn't have offered her house unless it was more convenient for her to have you there and she didn't have privacy/intrusion issues. She offered other places to you if YOU didn't feel comfortable being in someone's house alone with her.</p>
<p>I'd choose the house--I'd love to see the inside.</p>
<p>My son went to his MIT interviewer at the interviewer's house. It seemed very pleasant. Our Starbucks never have free seats. I was once in a library sitting in a small room when a girl and interviewer came in and I got to hear the whole interview. It seemed like an odd choice to me.</p>
<p>I think the interviewer was just being polite, understanding that some interviewees and/or their parents would be uncomfortable meeting with a stranger in a non-public setting.</p>
<p>This is obviously not a concern for you so I see no problem offering to meet at the interviewer's home. It certainly would be more convenient for her and may be more convenient for you too. Parking in some areas of G'town is difficult.</p>
<p>She offered you a choice. I agree with ellemenope that she left it in your hands as to where you'd be more comfortable and/or which was more convenient for you as all the options she gave were fine with her or she would not have offered them. So, don't read anything into the choice you make but simply choose where is easier for you to meet or which you simply prefer. She'll be happy either way or she would not offered those choices in the first place.</p>
<p>I interview candidates for my alma mater and in fact, last night was contacting several. In these cases, I offered the interview at my home. All these candidates live at least an hour from me. I have interviewed many candidates in my home and from what I can tell, they haven't hesistated or seemed to mind. </p>
<p>For many years, I interviewed lots of students in cafes/coffee places. That was mostly because for one thing, the time of day that students are available for interviews is usually after school or in the evening and I was never home at those times because I was schlepping my own kids to their activities and often just sitting around in a city waiting for them during their activities due to the distances involved where I just didn't drop my kid off. And so since I was killing a couple hours in that city, I would line up interviews in a coffee cafe (we don't have Starbucks!) in that city which in many instances, was a half way meeting point between where the student lived and where I lived. Now, with my own kids off to college, I don't wish to drive 25 or more miles just to meet up and interview a student and so I prefer them to come to where I live. My kids have met interviewers at their homes, offices, or coffee shops and I have never given the location a thought. We were fine with all those venues.</p>
<p>Come to think of it, I met my D's interviewer for the college she is now attending, AFTER she already attended, right here on CC and that interview was at the alum's (CC poster!)'s house. :D Meeting her on CC and finding out later and putting it all together that she was my D's interviewer was funny.</p>
<p>cheers, that might not be a good idea if the college she's interviewing for is not Georgetown!</p>
<p>If you're talking Georgetown, maybe you could meet in the food court of the Georgetown Park mall. If it's too noisy to talk in the food court, you could probably drift to somewhere else in the mall and still find seats, without having to go outdoors in January. (My daughter had to have an interview at one of the outdoor tables at a Starbucks on a cold day because it was too noisy inside. This is what you want to avoid.)</p>
<p>In the 25 years I've been doing interviews, I would say that 95% of them have been in my home. It's only been since I've been posting on CC that I learned that some people think that is inappropriate. Granted, I live in a small, rural state -- but I also did interviews in my home when I lived in a more urban area. No one ever questioned coming to my house (including Soozie's daughter!!) After reading the concerns here, in the future I may rephrase my initial conversation and give the student a choice.</p>
<p>My husband holds interviews in his office -- but he's got a door he can close, and his office is walking distance from the HS most of his interviewees attend.</p>