Question about the location of alumni interviews

Applying to College
1

<p>On Parents' Forum, parents have been discussing the location of alumni inteviews and whether certain locations are frightening or more reassuring to students. I'd love to hear students' perspective. </p>

<p>Possible locations for alum interviews are: the alum's' home, alum's office, an office at the student's school or a place like a local coffee shop or library.</p>

<p>If you have had an alum interview where was it, how did that location affect you, and would you have preferred that it have been in a different location? Would the interviewer's gender have made a difference in your comfort with the interview location?</p>

2

<p>I had my Mount Holyoke interview at my alumna’s apartment. At first it was quite frightening, as she lived on Park (in NYC), where the apartments have elevator operators and such. Coming from suburbia, I had never experienced such, so it was a tad awkward. </p>

<p>However, she was really nice, and the awkwardness faded as soon as I stepped into her apartment. =) Prior to this, I would have preferred the interview to be in a bookstore or whatnot, but it was actually quite nice.</p>

3

<p>I would appreciate more comments because this is a big issue on Parents Forum, but in general, parents including alum interviewers are saying how they think students react to the various locations, but we aren’t hearing many students discuss their reactions.</p>

4

<p>I would probably be most comfortable (in order) at the alum’s home, a quiet public place (not a bustling Starbucks), the alum’s office, then at my school.</p>

<p>Gender would not be a big issue, but if I had the choice, I would choose an interviewer of the same gender.</p>

5

<p>Then I will answer what my D said when I told her about that long thread.</p>

<p>She still has a phone interview but all others have been office or coffee shop. It’s weird, this will sound like she’s an easy going type, but she’s TOTALLY emotionally/mentally high maintenance - </p>

<p>She said she’d have no worries going to a home (but hasn’t had to yet). The ONLY problem she had at Starbucks was that she went early to eat, ordered food, and the interviewer showed up early too so she didn’t get to eat. She’s been to a local college (professor’s office), and a local hospital (doctor), the Starbucks once or twice…and has another Starbucks (in a very bad area of town) coming up. She has give no bad or good impression of any, except that it’s certainly easier to FIND your interviewer at their office (instead of watching everyone and wondering how to figure out who it is). I think she’s had 1 male and 3 female. Oddly, she has almost all MALE friends in school, loves her MALE teachers best, but seems to have liked her female interviewers more…I think that’s just a coincidence. They’ve all been about the same, one exception from a person who said she’d be a great fit for that school - which made her feel wonderful (dang…WHY aren’t these interviews worth very much?). Since she’s a nervous person I find it odd that she’s had no stress, she seems to be doing REALLY well, not having any problems.</p>

<p>Though…if she had that elevator that nighpwns mentioned - she’d probably end up late because she’d have to walk - she’s SO claustrophobic. She’s getting better, but it’s SUCH a nightmare, espec. NYC where we seem to always be on floor 20-50 (!) and even that wouldn’t be bad except that the elevators are always packed. We offended someone once when we had to exit the elevator after they got on (straw that broke the camel’s back…too crowded for my D…they thought we just didn’t want to ride with them…it’s not like you can do much in the way of explanation…awkward…she walked up 20 some flights repeatedly on that trip).</p>

<p>Best of luck to y’all…I think this is GREAT experience for you!</p>

6

<p>As for the gender, I’ve had three female and one male. It didn’t seem to make much difference to me, but then again, two of those (male and female) were senior interviewers. I would probably be a tad more nervous with an adult male interviewer, but who knows?</p>

7

<p>for me, it would depend on distance</p>

<p>If its a local alumni - someone in the (relatively small) town that I live in, I liked doing them at the alumni’s home, like the last two interviews I did were just blocks from my home. Both interviewers were really nice and tried to make you feel comfortable. I think that being at their house made it less formal/stressful than being at their office. I felt perfectly at ease the entire time, and I think I was able to express myself better because of that.</p>

<p>But if its someone further away I would rather meet in a public place, like a coffee shop. For example, if the interviewer lived downtown in Chicago. It was a bit harder to have a good conversation with the noise/other people (I felt a bit self-concious when I was describing why I love history), but I think I would feel more comfortable than going to an unfamiliar person’s home in an unfamiliar place.</p>

<p>I don’t think I really care about gender</p>

8

<p>Hi there, only had one interview so far, but have some more coming up. I know I’m not a parent =P </p>

<p>As a student I can tell you personally the most comfortable place would be the interviewers home or a public place like a bookstore. Using offices of either student’s schools or professional offices seems a little bit impersonal, which depending on the type of interview, could be more or less appropriate. </p>

<p>I can tell you that public places are excellent because it’s a common ground where neither side should feel uncomfortable because of personal surroundings. </p>

<p>However, should the interview be conducted at the interviewer’s home, I feel it affords a certain level of security and opportunity that is not always allowed in public places due to their nature. In a more personal environment both the interviewer and the interviewee are given more space to express ideas fully. For example, there are some things that I might want to say for the purposes of the interview, but in a public setting my ability to completely say it might be inappropriate for very young audiences or certain groups of people. While it would be lovely for everybody everywhere to be completely accepting of all ideas and opinions, there are simply some things that must be said discreetly.</p>

<p>These being the obvious benefits to a more intimate location, there are always subtle gestures and bits of body language that are more accessible in private places. These can be as simple as having decent posture. I mean, I don’t always sit hunched over, looking defeated and shriveled, but if it’s necessary to lean forward to engage in conversation then sometimes you must. While interviewers are definitely aware of this, it would still be nice to have the comfort of presenting yourself as you’d like to present yourself. It’s really just something to ease the awkwardness and worry many students probably feel in these situations.</p>

<p>As for gender, being a guy brought up around mostly women and having a friend base of more women than men, I would prefer the opposite gender. Of course it’s a matter of personal preference and apart from tiny changes in body language, speech and personal distinction it shouldn’t really make any difference. </p>

<p>Having two more interviews within the next two weeks, and apart from the awkward bit of scheduling it, I’d say there is no real reason to worry. Generally, if interviewers are anything like the person I spoke with, they aren’t there to write a bad review about you. They are honestly just trying to find out more about you and why you might be right for their school. I think the best thing you can do is go in and talk to them. Don’t try to impress them with tales of grandeur or horrify them with stories of who knows what; just be honest and enjoy the conversation. If you happen upon those great or terrible moments, then by all means talk about them, I’d just guess it would be awkward for both parties if anything felt really forced. </p>

<p>Just my opinion, hope it helps.</p>