Should I interview with an older or a younger alumnus?

Applying to College
1

<p>In signing up for my interviews for several schools, I have many alumni to choose from. Their graduation years are displayed, and I was trying to decide whether it would be better to have an older or a younger interviewer.</p>

<p>The benefits I see of each:
Younger: As some of these alumni are quite young (Classes of 2011 and 2013), I think it would be easier to connect with them than with an older alum.</p>

<p>Older: They might have more sway in the admission consideration because they are more experienced.</p>

<p>I know that in the grand scheme of things this is trivial, but I figured I might as well see what you guys think and figure out if it even matters at all.</p>

2

<p>There’s no gaming this IMHO. A younger person may enthusiastic endorse every person they meet – watering down his/her credibility.</p>

<p>An older alum, who may parse out his/her praise for extraordinary few cases, may catch the home office’s attention if you merit it. The question is* will you?* </p>

<p>And don’t discount connecting or not connecting with a person regardless of age. You shouldn’t necessarily assume the younger person is better than the older or vice versa.</p>

<p>But know this: the interview is the tiniest portion of your evaluation and rightly so.</p>

<p>Good luck</p>

3

<p>T26E4 has hit the nail squarely on the head, as he usually does.</p>

4

<p>Here’s another way to look at an interviewer who is a recent alum: if your interviewer was a campus leader or worked in the admissions office, he or she may be well-known to and respected by admissions staff and thus be someone whose input is taken quite seriously.</p>

<p>There’s really no way to predict how you’ll connect with someone knowing only their graduation year, so you’re right, it’s trivial. T26E4’s point about you being worthy of the admissions office’s attention is spot-on.</p>

5

<p>Thank you guys so much for your help.</p>

6

<p>Perhaps the most important aspect of the interview is the information you are able to glean from the interviewer. A younger alum is likely to have more recent information, although an older alum might have children who are current students.</p>

<p>As T26E4 notes, the actual impact of the interview on your application is minimal.</p>