<p>Thank you AA. I do understand that the interview is perhaps the least important in the whole admission process.</p>
<p>Just because the on campus was before my app. was submitted and self scheduled I thought that maybe the alumni one in comparison would carry a bit more weight. But well...</p>
<p>My interviewer was an old school guy in his 70s. He was a bit stiff at first, but after hitting me with some very tough questions and receiving "some very impressive and insightful" answers, he really opened up and told me some really amusing stories of his old days at Yale! I loved him, he was such a great guy. He told me he was impressed that I was able to answer some of his tougher questions that most people blank out on, and he also said he appreciated my honesty. I liked that he listened to me and came up with some very interesting questions from the things I said. I really enjoyed it :]</p>
<p>hello again! i don't think my yale interview went well. My interviewer was from the class of '61, and he wasn't too familiar with Yale nowadays. Thus, he couldn't answer my questions too well. Also, I was really offended by one of his comments - it was quite racist. I know he's old fashioned, but that comment was out of the line. Should i contact someone about this?</p>
<p>ewi--What was the comment? PM if you want to and I can help assess if it's worth letting Yale know.</p>
<p>AA,
i just got an email from my local yale alumni.
He said he would like schedule an interview with me.
But I'm not comfortable at speaking, then should I not respond to the email? since college interview is optional...isn't it?</p>
<p>The interview is optional and you should decline it if you don't think it would enhance your application.</p>
<p>what would be the polite way of declining the interview?</p>
<p>i just had my interview with a yale alumni. it was fantastic! my interviewer is exactly the person i want to be after i graduate college. she was funny, approachable, and had a massive funky art collection. she went to yale in the 80s. altho she had unbounded enthusiasm for yale, she understood that there is more to life than going to yale. (read: not pompous)</p>
<p>my interview took place at her house. she asked me the conventional questions (why yale, what can i offer, what extracurriculars i hope to participate in) she also asked me to pick some adjectives that i'd use to describe myself to a perfect stranger (aka the yale adcom.) i scheduled two interviews in one day (the other being dartmouth) and while the first went horribly wrong, the second was AMAZING. interview with yale, if you can! i ge the impression most yale interviews work in your favor...</p>
<p>just had my interview, it went really well and I enjoyed it. There was a few awkward moments at the end especially, I was going down the street from the interview, it was at night, and I was pretty loud on the cellphone because the other side couldn't hear me... and I'm afraid it might have sounded as if I was yelling. ohh my, he might have heard it too because I was maybe 10 feet away from the door...</p>
<p>My dd's interviewer from Yale was in her 60's and attended as a graduate student. Therefore, she was not able to address any contemporary u/g questions.</p>
<p>Aside from that, my dd felt that the interviewer asked inappropriate questions. It's one thing to see if applicant is aware of current events; it's another to probe for personal political beliefs. It's none of her business how we intend to pay for Yale or whether or not we can afford to pay for Yale. etc etc etc</p>
<p>My dd is not concerned that this 'off' interview will affect her chances for Yale. She has tremendous self-confidence and has already received a likely letter from Dartmouth.</p>
<p>However, we do intend to write to the admissions office, as we feel they should receive feedback about the interviewer. We plan to send the notice in April, after receiving acceptance/rejection notification.</p>
<p>Is there any reason to send a note to admissions now?</p>
<p>I'm soooo happy! My interviewer called me a few minutes ago and read his letter to Yale to me. It was ridiculously good. Like, he talked about how I am a 9 on the academic and EC scales, that I would be Rhode's-worthy at Yale, and how he is usually a total cynic and a very tough evaluator of applicants. AND he was very Republican, and one of my main EC's is related to me being very Democratic. Gosh, I am just soooo humbled by what he said. I'm like, "Wait, was he just talking about ME? No, he must have meant to call someone else and dialed my number instead." Seriously.</p>
<p>How much does Yale take interviews into account?</p>
<p>mtpaper: I think it shows maturity to wait until after the decision, to show that you weren't just fishing for some way to put another word in to Yale to try and sway the decision. Also, if, come April, she doesn't receive an acceptance, make sure you don't sound bitter (I doubt you would). I mean, at that point it won't help with the decision, but Yale will respect your interviewer review. I'm sure Yale gets some angry letters, and I would imagine it being a breath of fresh air to receive an objective comment and constructive criticism on an interviewer amongst the bitterness.</p>
<p>mtpaper--The financial questions are inappropriate. The political question depend on your daughter's ECs. If her ECs are political then asking her about her personal stance is fair game in my stance. As for the interviewer being a grad student, some ASCs don't use graduate students because there are enough undergrads around to serve as interviewers. It seems that in more sparsely populated area there are people who went to Yale professional and graduate schools interviewing out of necessity. I don't think that point is your problem or the interviewer's age, but I'd leave those items out of any complaint.</p>
<p>Agree with Eravial that it's best to wait for all the same reasons, although it probably doesn't matter at all.</p>
<p>Era--The interviews don't count for much. More discussion on that earlier in this thread.</p>
<p>the interviewer's age was not an issue... aside from the fact that she was too out-of-touch with contemporary college life to be helpful.</p>
<p>There is nothing about my dd's ECs to indicate an interest in politics. The interviewer was basically using this as a moment to push her candidate!</p>
<p>Yes, we'll wait, send a note. It will not be bitter, as we feel no bitterness.</p>
<p>I interviewed high school seniors for four years on behalf of the Yale Alumni Schools Committee. No applicant need lose a moment's sleep over these interviews. They play a minor part in the Admissions Committee's decisions. If Admissions has its eye on a great soccer player or a talented violinist, a lackluster interview makes no difference. It works both ways: If the interviewer finds that a candidate with lopsided test scores (some very high, some not very) turns out in person to have exceptional charm, insight, imagination and perserverance -- way beyond the average Yale applicant -- it doesn't make much difference to Admissions.</p>
<p>Some factors that do affect your chances, all other things (grades, test scores) being equal:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>How many kids from your school or your geographic region applied to Yale this year? (The fewer the better for you. Yale makes room for a certain number of Andover grads, for example, but will save room for the corn-fed debating genius from Kansas, the politics and theater geek from Portland and the peripatetic U.S. diplomat's daughter who never attended school on American soil.)</p></li>
<li><p>How many students with your particular scholarly and/or extra-curricular strengths applied? (Again, the fewer the better for you.).</p></li>
<li><p>How many kids with your ethnic background applied? (The more under-represented your ethnic group, the better for you.)</p></li>
<li><p>Are you a recruitment-quality athlete or musician? (If so, your chances skyrocket.)</p></li>
<li><p>Are your parents eminent in their field? (Also a big boost to your chances.)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>As best I could discern, the candidates I interviewed who were eventually accepted had two or more of these factors going for them.</p>
<p>AdmissionsAddict, do international students get interviews? I am applying from Madrid, Spain, so if I do get an interview, will I have to go to the States myself or will the interview take place here?</p>
<p>There are alumni interviewers abroad. I would expect there to be interviewers in Madrid. However, if there are tons of applicants from Spain and only a couple interviewers, I doubt everyone would get an interview. As stated many times in this thread, not having an alumni interview won't hurt you.</p>
<p>I am from Stockholm, Sweden and I'm right now in the middle of the application process.. Next week I'll be going to the US for a 1 wk college tour.. I will visit Yale for an information session, tour and an on-campus interview, which I am terribly nervous about. Well, I've practised a lot of some of those typical interview questions and I know what message I would like to convey about myself so I really have no reasons for being nervous. I don't have that much pressure either, especially considering the fact that not a single Swedish student was accepted to Yale last year, and that there rarely are any who are! So I will just try to be relaxed and do my best, that's all I can do. </p>
<p>However, I was wondering about what these typical on-campus interviews are like, are they often conducted by students? Or by admissions officers? of course I would like, apart from more specific questions, ask generals such as "what made your college experience unique?" etc. and it would be really embarrassing if the person in question never even went to yale... how can I tell? should I ask them? or will they tell me whether they did? Im not as familiar with the American college system as probably most other US high school seniors are, which is why I'm asking..</p>
<p>another thing, regarding clothing, are black jeans and a button down fine?</p>
<p>AA, I wanted to ask you what are some of the nonobvious ways that interviewees, who are on track to get a 6, maybe 7, butcher something, and you just dock them to 5. </p>
<p>Or maybe an applicant is average, its a decent conversation carrying on, what can the interviewee do to bump it up, and what have you seen that bumps it down to 4. </p>
<p>I won't do things like say Yale is my dream because of the ivy prestige or anything, and I can practically recite the Yale academic philosphy and history. So what are the nonobvious ways to detract from the interview, perhaps unconsciously?</p>
<p>First, an interviewers don't have any info from Yale about GPA, test scores, extracurriculars, etc. This means that it's not like the person looks like an 8 on paper and the interview brings him or her down. You may understand this, but I wanted to clarify to make sure.</p>
<p>I can't think of nonobvious ways people hurt themselves. The people who have really killed themselves have been unabashedly arrogant or had bizarre social skills. People who have done zero research (like not knowing about the residential college system) may not get marked down, but I will note it in my report. Flagrantly inappropriate attire (mainly girls who dress VERY provacatively) may earn a mark down for lacking common sense. One sentence or one word answers to every question are a problem. But that's all obvious stuff, right?</p>
<p>You can't be anyone other than who you are in an interview and it's either going to strike a high, low, or middling chord with the interviewer.</p>
<p>Here's another one AA, albeit rare: interviewees who don't even feign interest. Two years ago, I interviewed an accomplished young woman who had gotten likely letters from both Yale and Harvard. It was eminently clear that H was her goal -- I almost asked her why she bothered to take up my time.</p>