<p>I'm a junior this year applying to Rice ED next fall. I wad just curious whether or not any of you guys interviewed and if so how it went. Was it with a student, alumni, or ad officer? Any tough questions? Any answer is helpful thanks.</p>
<p>I had an on campus interview with a senior student. it is really really chill…no pressure. It was basically a conversation about yourself and a time to ask them about their experience with the school. There wasn’t a lot of typical interview questions except she told me she was told to always ask “Why Rice?”. I was also asked the “Whats your favorite book and why?” so although I would prepare the typical questions ahead of time, don’t expect to use but a minute amount of them. </p>
<p>Don’t stress about it it is actually quite enjoyable. Good luck on admissions!</p>
<p>Just as a second opinion - I agree with aufossil. I interviewed with an alumna off-campus, and it was very relaxed. After she asked a bit about me (what I liked to do, what I wanted in an education, why Rice), she mostly asked if I had any questions (I did, and you probably should as well). </p>
<p>Honestly, I think the interviews are mostly to weed out the very few people who are, say, complete sociopaths.</p>
<p>I’ve yet to find out if I got in or not, but I did do an on-campus interview with an admissions officer. And as the others said, it is completely relaxed. My interviewer was still pretty fresh out of college (but not Rice, which did prove limiting in conversation) and it was just an easy flow of questions. Seriously, I don’t think I even received any direct Rice question, though for safe measure I did weaved my Rice love in. </p>
<p>Just be prepared to be you, which hopefully shouldn’t be hard. Know your interests, school, favorite things, but just say what you feel. We talked about my hometown, which I wasn’t too kind about. We talked about music I hated and shared what we loved. Interviews don’t have too much of an impact, so just go in there like you’re talking with an old friend. And of course, as mentioned, have questions ready! You want to at least appear interested. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I had an interview with an alumni. It was very nice, no pressure, really. Although he did ask me some questions, ex: tell me about oyurself, why Rice? what do you wanna do, etc… we mostly just talked.</p>
<p>I had an interview with an alumnus. I go to a boarding school so he came over and we had our meeting in the library boardroom. I didn’t really feel that my interview was particularly significant. He seemed kind of confused when I tried to explain my research to him, but other than that everything was okay. He was kind of awkward, haha! I didn’t really have any questions about Rice because it was before I was really that interested in it… But, I mean, I got invited to Vision weekend, so I guess I did better than I thought?</p>
<p>or at least it didn’t matter too much</p>
<p>I had an interview in China. The woman was really cool and we just met at a starbucks. She explained alot about the oppurtunities at Rice and was a recent graduate (but already really successful). </p>
<p>She worked for a media broadcasting company and so we ended up talking alot about issues/current events within China. I think she was just trying to gauge how aware of the world I was. Luckily I read BBC/listen to NPR/watch the news everyday.</p>
<p>I had a wonderful interview off-campus with an alumnus. We met at a Starbucks and it was all quite casual. I actually over-dressed! I had on business casual, but she had on a t-shirt and sweats! However, I would suggest you wear something kind of formal, but not too ‘snazzy’. </p>
<p>She really appreciated that I was early (by about half an hour). We ended up talking about what I wanted to do in the future, why I would be a good fit for Rice, etc. It would behoove you to do a bit of research about Rice. They want to know how interested you are and having a little background information about the school impresses them. </p>
<p>Other than that it went pretty smoothly. We talked about an hour or so. I would DEFINITELY recommend doing the interview. Competition is high for a great school like Rice no matter how ‘good’ you are. Good luck!</p>
<p>The interview is more about you learning about Rice and having questions answered, than them evaluating you. Go in to your interviews with confidence. :)</p>
<p>Actually my interview seemed pretty evaluative. My interviewer was taking notes the entire time. </p>
<p>But tip, DON’T BRING YOUR PARENTS. I felt sorry for the kid that went after me, since he was really underdressed (sweats from chinese uniform) and his mom basically took over the interview and placed this huge stack of documents in front of my interviewer. </p>
<p>Be sure to bring a resume, just in case though. I was glad I did, because the alumnus ended up asking for it.</p>
<p>^ewwwww I would NEVER go to my kid’s interview!!!</p>
<p>My son tried to get an alumni interview, and Rice set it up, but the alumnus never called back. GeekSon called Rice a couple times to get it going, but ended up not getting the interview.</p>
<p>I had an alumni interview at the person’s office and it was probably the best one of all the interviews I had. He basically just asked “why Rice”, “what are your interests/ what do you do for fun”, and then we went into a conversation about his experiences at Rice. Definitely sign up for an interview if you have the chance.</p>
<p>Yes, my interviewer took notes the entire time as well. Also, if you are involved in your school’s newspaper or something, you should bring a copy. I spoke a lot about my passion for my school literary magazine and didn’t even think to bring a previous issue. </p>
<p>I really don’t think the purpose of the interview is to ask questions. That is, in fact, the reason you are the interviewee. The alumni volunteer to represent Rice and write a recommendation letter (or non-recommendation letter) on your behalf, so you should definitely think of it as a part of your application.</p>
<p>My son requested an interview online, but nobody ever contacted him. Maybe they don’t have anybody in Maine, lol.</p>
<p>how bad is it if we didn’t have an interview?</p>
<p>Will admissions officers think i haven’t shown enough interest for Rice?</p>
<p>Not necessarily. I didn’t have an interview and did fine.</p>