<p>AdmissionsAddict,
first off, thank you so much for answering all of these questions and for such a long time! The first post in the forum was over a year ago! I really appreciate your diligence and your helpfulness.</p>
<p>second, I have an interview coming up, and I was wondering what the etiquette on piercings? I assume ear piercings are fine, but I have a rather unconventional one (eyebrow) and I'm a guy. I just got it done a month ago, so taking it out would cause it to close up. Would it be the death knell for my application if I showed up with an eyebrow piercing?</p>
<p>oclocrat: Who's to say if anyone in any setting might feel bias towards that? You aren't interviewing with Pricewaterhouse where the de rigeur applicant is conservative in appearance. In general, alum interviewers are sensitive to HS students' sense of individualism or self-expression. I'd say most alum interviewers aren't expecting each kid to be a duplicate of themselves or their circle of friends at Y.</p>
<p>If you are dressed neat otherwise, it should be okay. </p>
<p>Now your piercing doesn't jut out from your face 6 inches, right? I've seen some pretty extreme ones.... LOL</p>
<p>Agree with T26. There are probably alumni interviewers of a certain vintage who would hold the piercing against you, but I think they are a very small minority. Be yourself.</p>
<p>So i have an interview at this guys house a week from today...</p>
<p>1.should i wear like a polo and some casual pants/shoes?
2.does anyone know what the interview will ask me/ what i should read up on/be prepared for?
3. does the fact that im getting an interview mean i have a decent (or even a small) shot at getting into yale? or is it given out to as many applicants as their alumni available can handle?
4. what sort of questions/specific questions should i ask the interviewer</p>
<p>so heres the big problem...
when i talked to the alum on the phone he didnt sound nice at all, but i still remained as jovial as possible. However, today in school i was talking to my principal and mentioned the interview and she said that her daughter had an interview with the same guy... turns out as they were leaving, the interviewer says "you're a white girl from long island, do you really think you can get in to yale?"...and turns out she did not get into yale...</p>
<p>now obviously i dont have the details of the interview, but idk what to do at this point im getting really nervous!!!</p>
<p>djlobo--The answer to your four questions are all answered earlier (and probably several times over) in this thread. Just read posts by AdmissionsAddict starting on the first page.</p>
<p>As for your interview situation, if you've got a strong file, your interview won't sink you. There's not much you can do to change interviewers other than declining to interview at all. If this guy really is a problem, then you should report him to Yale after the decisions come out. I'm sure your local ASC director would want to know about a lousy interviewer.</p>
<p>i just had my interview yesterday. it went quite ok though i found it abit short (30mins) when compared to the yale interview i had last year which was about an hour and a half (but i didn't get in). </p>
<p>my interviewer was a director of a wealth management fund so i guess he was squeezed for time as he had to rush for another meeting. questions were quite few and basic (what have you been doing, why do you want to go to uni and what significant event have you experienced) and then he asked me whether i had questions for him. This took quite awhile as we discussed how he found life at yale and what i would have to expect.</p>
<p>My worry now is the fact that i missed some stuff out that i am currently involved in. it was abit messy because my equivalent of grade 9-10 and 11-12 were at different schools and i subsequently enlisted for National Service which complicated things as i had to explain to him how things work in my country ( he was asian american). i did hand him a CV in case i missed anything and i was wondering what the process is like for things in my CV that i didnt mention in the interview. thanks a bunch in advance</p>
<p>yup, my country has mandatory national service, so u had to enlist in the army and i only go to college 2 years after i finish the equivalent of high school. so, i effectively have 3 tries at applications, though i hope i wont have to use the 3rd one.</p>
<p>What would be a bad answer to the "Why Harvard" question, other than "because it's prestigious"? I have an answer in mind, but I think it's pretty generic but it is a very honest answer. Do interviewers expect you to know a lot of specific details for this type of question?</p>
<p>My son has an interview next week. 1) He has very, very mild Asperger's--think of a Bill Gates type of social awkwardness--not great with eye-contact, body language a bit stiff.. but very bright and polite. His conversation won't seem the most spontaneous or natural unless it's a subject he's very comfortable with. He could come across as a bit odd. Is this social awkwardness something the admissions people should know about in case of a comment on the interview report? or something my son could even address during the interview? 2) Also the interviewer is the VP of a hospital my husband sued in a high profile case a few years ago! hmmm. Should I be concerned about this? I'm telling my son only that the interviewer, whom I googled, looks like a friendly guy. 3) Is it common for the interviewer's personal assistant email and arrange the interview?</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry about your husband's lawsuit. I doubt the connection will register. I make my own interview arrangements but am not surprised that others use their secretaries.</p>
<p>As for the Asperger's, that's a tough call. If an interviewee told me right off the bat, I think I'd be a little taken aback. Also, not everyone understands what Asperger's is and that it has any link to social awkwardness, so unless your son is ready to give a brief explanation, the interviewer might not get why Asperger's matters. Giving a brief explanation seems awkward and defensive. Is the Asperger's mentioned somewhere in the application so the admissions commitee will know about it when they read the interview report?</p>
<p>If you decided to take the alumn interview, which is not mandatory and the absence of which does not negatively impact your admissions chances, you must think that the positives of your son's ability to interview outweigh the negatives. I'd trust that instinct.</p>
<p>I would be curious what other Yale interviewers like T26 think as I can easily see opinions differing about how to treat this.</p>
<p>Good points. I'm just stressing. Thank you. No it wasn't mentioned in the app. His Asperger's is so very mild. The interviewer may well think it's discomfort due to shyness. Thespian that he is, he could wow the guy. Many kids are good actors in this situation. Social awkwardness is well-represented on college campuses like Yale anyway. Since autistic spectrum seems to be on rise, (or out of the closet) and many of these kids are applying to great schools like Yale, interviewers should not be phased. Oddities are part of the game and could be seen as desirable if the oddities aren't too 'out there'. Yale seems to actively not want to be a cookie-cutting factory. Hence all the 'perfect' students not getting admitted. It seems I've talked myself out of the worry!</p>
<p>AA: you're putting me on the spot! It's complex for sure. I feel that I could give correct context to crep's son's condition because I have a severely autistic nephew. Personally, the knowledge of Asperger's would be useful for me and I believe that I could give it the right write up without it coming across as an excuse.</p>
<p>Here's the thing: my son's Asperger's is so mild, that an interviewer will not have a clue that he is on the spectrum. So he could come across as evasive or disinterested, when all it is discomfort in sustaining eye contact. Another thing: people with this sort of wiring often take longer to process the question being asked, especially (and this what was so challenging,but valuable,about writing the essays for him) if the question is one that requires a SELF-REFLECTIVE answer. If there is a delay in answering -as there often is- an interviewer might think the kid is just not understanding the question! Clearly I'm obsessing here. This kind of friendly forum brings that out in people, I'm seeing! Everything will work out in the end.</p>
<p>Crepuscular--Would doing a mock interview with your son help him? If he has talked his way through some of the obvious questions--academic interests, favorite extracurricular, why Yale--would that help his pacing?</p>
<p>FYI, I had one interviewee who very obviously had some sort of medical condition that caused odd/socially inappropriate behavior during the interview (waaay beyond poor eye contact and slowness to respond). The student never explained what the problem was. It was easy for me to start off the report by matter-of-factly explaining that there was clearly an issue with a couple examples and then go about my regular interview report. The subtlety of your son's problem creates a different issue. Can you rehearse a way he can bring up his Asperger's in a seemingly offhand manner? Would the interviewer even know what to make of it if he did? I'm just rambling now, sorry.</p>
<p>Good luck to your son. I interview shy, nervous kids all the time and give them good reports, so it's not like you have to be polished and wildly charming for your interviewer to respond to you.</p>
<p>AA, That's a great idea. His forensics or drama instructor might be the perfect one to ask. I don't know how cooperative he'd be if I were to volunteer to do it. </p>
<p>I had the same thought as AA. If your son were allowed to rehearse a little, and play the part of a prospective student who was comfortable in interviews, how would he act? He'd make eye contact, smile, have relaxed body language and so on. It's intruguing to me that your son might have the theatrical ability to portray the person he may not be able to be naturally. The important part of the interview, his answers, will be his, but the mannerisms may be him playing an ideal interview candidate! Best wishes to you and your son. You are a good mom and he is very lucky.</p>
<p>You're so right, RR, the acting skills will come in handy during the interview. I think many people go in to acting-mode while chatting. btw, One reason he is so interested in Yale are the numerous EC drama and comedy troupes available to join. Thank you for your kind words and good wishes.</p>