<p>Hey guys :) I just got an email from Columbia saying that they wanted to set up a phone interview, since there's no alumni admissions officer who can do it in person in my area (no surprise... we're pretty out there)</p>
<p>Has anyone done one of these before? Whether it be on the phone or in person- post your thoughts/rants/raves here!</p>
<p>I had my interview in person. I quickly learned that If you can mold your schedule to meet theirs, it works much better and shows that you are mega appreciative. </p>
<p>My alum is a professor and he did not have that much free time, so I offered to leave school early and to meet him at his office during the day. He was thrilled that I was able to do that.</p>
<p>Our interview was a casual chat. My school has been in the media a lot, so we talked about that and how it has shaped me as a person. I then connected that to life at Columbia. We talked about what I thought my most noble achievement was and then I went on to discuss how that has influenced me to want to take engineering in the direction of cancer research. I asked him about Columbia’s initiatives as a growing university (there were some questions I asked they he couldn’t answer 
) </p>
<p>Also, at the end of the interview he told me that he had appreciated my tone and that the way I carried myself was inspiring. (He has a thick Chinese accent, and I guess some have yelled at him to get the point across?) He told me “get into Columbia, and forget everything else!”</p>
<p>I truly loved the interview.</p>
<p>Hey I’m from Utah too! Just got my offer of a phone interview the other day. It’s nice to finally find someone else applying back east from Utah! My interview is not for two weeks.</p>
<p>this might be a little off topic, but when did you guys who got interviews send in your applications? I heard that you have had to send it in before December 10th?</p>
<p>I sent my app in around the 29th of Dec and had the interview yesterday. It was really short-35 minutes-again short. He hardly asked me any questions & spent most of the time saying everything he disliked about Columbia rather than what he liked. And after he answered my questions (because he asked me if I had any), I asked if there was anything else he needed to know, b/c it was short and hardly covered anything. He said no, & that the interview was barely a factor in admissions, but it still went well even though I wasn;t able to say everything I wanted lol</p>
<p>I sent my app in on the 2nd, and received the interview email last week. It’s scheduled for the 23rd!</p>
<p>I had an interview in the beginning of December. It went badly–and I say this not because my interviewer had a negative impression of me, but mostly because I couldn’t stop talking. And neither could he.</p>
<p>To begin, my interviewer spoke at length (15 minutes, I counted) about the purpose of an interview, as if I didn’t know already. Spouting off the most ridiculous analogies, he bored me to tears and heightened my stress level considerably before asking me even one question. One of those analogies was, “Your application will be on the fourth story in a 10-story building, and you’ve gotta make the admissions officer reach into that story”–and here he paused to mime the action–“and the only way that will happen is if you’ve got to have something that really makes you stand out from everyone else.” Seriously. -_-</p>
<p>After that, he asked me several questions, the first of which was why I wanted to go to Columbia. First, I told him what I looked for in a school (and how Columbia met all those criteria), then I talked about how I had met a Columbia student when I was younger and my family was in dire straits financially, and how she had inspired me to think big, to take academic risks, and to remember that school was to help me become a better person, not just to stuff my head with facts. That memory, coupled with my extensive research and interest in the school approx. a decade later made me want to apply to Columbia. And then there was the matter of an incisive paper they had written on agricultural subsidies that I had read. Anything on that topic piques my interest, really, but I loved that paper.</p>
<p>But I digress.</p>
<p>After giving an unnecessarily long-winded answer (and really, the guy was bored as heck while I spoke), he then just asked a few questions about my school activities. We seemed to click on the topic of journalism and how Columbia’s school of journalism would be a great influence, even if my future career plans didn’t necessarily include it. He totally glossed over Mock Trial once I told him I had never gone to the federal court in NYC even though I’ve lived on LI for many, many years and the court is a short subway ride away. I have visited it in my dreams, though, but that probably wouldn’t have counted.</p>
<p>MUN also occupied a good deal of time, giving me an opportunity to segue into the topic of agricultural subsidies. We also talked at great length about Haiti, agricultural subsidies and the Artibonite Valley, and how these policies had led to me sitting in the chair before him. Then, we just talked about the U.S.'s role in the world, the meaning of justice, and whether shade grown coffee was just another good-intentioned movement gone awry (since we were at Starbucks, this was doubly appropriate). He was a great guy, but I wondered why he was class of '68. At any rate, it was much better than Harvard, which gave me class of '62. I seem to have an affinity for old Jewish men–that pretty much describes every interviewer I’ve had thus far.</p>
<p>Again, another digression. But you did say rants were okay. :)</p>
<p>Pretty much, just go in there and sock it to 'em. Talk about what you like to do and what you like to think about, and if they don’t like it, well then TOO BAD. Or just delve into abstractions. Those are fun.</p>
<p>**Note: as a pending Columbia reject, my advice should be taken with a grain of salt. Or maybe a bucketful. You decide. </p>
<p>Best of luck. :D</p>
<p>I have to say my Columbia interview went fantastic. There were many reasons for this. One was because my interviewer was about 24, we had the interview in a Borders Cafe, and he started the interview off by saying “There is no need to feel tense at all, this interview is completely relaxed and informal” - definitely calmed my nerves.</p>
<p>So pretty much my interviewer came in with the list of questions and instructions Columbia had given him - i know this because he said I’m just going to ask the questions they gave me and then throw in some of my own.</p>
<p>He asked me questions like what I would change in my high school if I was the head, how I work under pressure and one example, name an article, magazine, book etc that change they way I view the world and how, my extracurricular activities, what my future goals are, my strengths and weaknesses, and other questions I can’t exactly remember right now lol. I was able to answer the questions without much hesitation and with confidence, and when I did hesitate or stop to think it wasn’t long enough to be awkward or uncomfortable.</p>
<p>What really helped me is that I researched possible interview questions online and thought of answers. I didn’t memorized a mini speech for each question, I just knew what the simple answer, so I could still be natural when elaborating. It flowed really nice, and he really enjoyed my answers. He said Columbia is looking for people who are extroverted, enjoy meeting people and participate in activities, or at least aren’t always shut in their rooms studying 24-7 - my advice would be make sure you don’t just focus on your academics and how “devoted” you are. Show your personality as well. </p>
<p>The interview lasted an hour, in which about 40 minutes was the actual interview (i think), and 20 minutes was talking about his Columbia experience and any questions I had about Columbia. I think he enjoyed the fact that I had so many questions. Make sure to go in and ask questions too! It shows them you’re interested, and they loveee talking about their college years. </p>
<p>I have to say I got sort of lucky by getting a younger interviewer. I had another interview for another school two days before my Columbia interview, and it was with an alumni over 60 in his office. Definitely a different experience.</p>
<p>P.S. - This doesn’t mean I’m completely confident I’m getting in. I’d have to say the highlight of my app would be interview, considering the rest of my stats are pretty average for an applicant. But unfortunately, the interview is just one component in the array of things Columbia looks at. Won’t be too upset if I don’t get accepted, at least I had a fun hour with the interviewer lol.</p>
<p>It was my second college interview after U of C, and he bought me a cup of coffee. We just sort of chatted, except about boring school stuff. It was pretty chill.</p>
<p>U of C? I vividly remember that one being the most awkward of my interviews. The woman doing the interviewing was a nervous wreck. She’d scripted everything in an attempt to control the pace and the dialogue as carefully as possible - chatting, as I understand it, wasn’t an option.</p>
<p>Near the end she nervously asked if I had any unanswered questions. Yes, I had one about the Chicago-metro area. When leaving the city, were there any good day-trip excursions she could recommend?</p>
<p>“Yes,” she replied enthusiastically, “the church where my husband and I met!”</p>
<p>^lol.</p>
<p>My interview was a more formal, job-interview-ish one that only lasted 30 minutes because the interviewer had scheduled several itnerviews back-to-back. Mostly he asked about my activities after he started out with Why Columbia, asked some weird questions like “If you were a school administrator, what would you change about your school.” I didn’t think we talked about anything too in-depth, and certainly no current affairs. We just kept the convo centered around me :)</p>
<p>Oh! And the only question that my interviewer asked me was where did I see myself in 20 years…
I made sure and connected it to how Columbia and NYC could make me grow even more as a person.</p>
<p>I’m sort of an anomaly, as I had to switch from ED to RD because of a situation with my non-custodial parent, so we touched upon that for a while. My interviewer is a professor at a local Cal State in Carson, and he teaches a class there and wants more high school students involved so we discussed that as well.</p>
<p>We talked a LOT about vinyl music. He’s a vinyl junkie, so it was really awesome learning about a ton of 70s jazz and everything. He also had me analyze a scene from one of my favorite movies. I chose Do The Right Thing, because it was the first thing that came to mind. </p>
<p>The interview was totally chill as well, sort of like sincere up above. Mine was over two hours though. We talked a lot about different things related to my city, the environment I grew up in, personal struggles, like why I do the things that I do, things I’d like to get involved with at Columbia, etc. He was a really awesome person, and I’m actually working with him over the next few months to launch a sort of high school bridge program at my school to get kids interning at the local Cal State, possibly for college credit.</p>
<p>I just had my interview yesterday. It was in a Starbucks. I kind of knew the guy before the interview, because my dad had tried getting him to become a partner in my dad’s practice, but it never worked out.</p>
<p>My guy was pretty chill. We sat down and he kicked it off with Why Columbia. When I mentioned that Columbia had one of the most intense physics programs I’d researched, he said “Oh my God! I love physics!” and so we talked about String Theory, quantum mechanics, relativity, and Columbia professor Brian Greene. He talked at length about his own experiences with the physics department and overall, his entire experience at Columbia.</p>
<p>We talked about some other things and I mentioned the possibility of me becoming a doctor and working overseas (I believe it was after I had mentioned why I wanted to study abroad). He got really excited, told me about one of his friends whose son is establishing a program to bring healthcare to impoverished regions of Africa, and then called his friend to see if I could get in touch with him.</p>
<p>Overall, it went really well. He remarked twice about how impressed he was with my “speech and sophistication.” I found that pretty ironic - I described Einstein as a “mad chill genius” and said the String theory was “nuts.”</p>
<p>Now we’ll have to wait and see about the decision in April. I’m not confident enough to claim that my admission is guaranteed ;)</p>
<p>Sounds like we’ve definitely got both sides of the spectrum here Congrats to those whose interviews rocked, and good luck to everybody!!!</p>
<p>My interview went pretty well. We talked for about an hour about the pretty basic questions (why columbia, describe your ec’s, etc.) and eventually it turned into one of those great interview/chat things. She seemed to take a great liking to me and told me I was a great fit into Columbia. I e-mailed her back after I found out my acceptance and she told me she could tell I would be someone who would succeed at a school like Columbia. Needless to say, I was flattered (:</p>
<p>What kind of questions did they ask. I heard someone got asked something about ethical dilemma and how it was handled. Are there any other ones i should know of?</p>
<p>Okay so the phone interview I got said it would only last for 20 min.!!! A normal interview is 45 -1.30 min. Any had a phone interview? How is it different than a face to face?</p>
<p>Yeah how do they glean important information in a 20min phone interview?</p>
<p>Would Barack Obama be an alumni interviewer? Hahaha. That’d be insanely cool. Or some other alumnus… Hmm, or FDR, Allan Ginsberg or Kerouac back in the day. I wonder, would they technically be allowed to be one? </p>
<p>I hope I get offered an interview! Probably not, there can’t be too many alumni in my country.</p>