<p>My son received a call this evening from an alumni interviewer for one of the Ivy League schools. The person wants to meet with him next week.</p>
<p>When my son applied to Yale EA this past October, he was not granted an interview because the school said that it did not have anyone in this area. We live in an area quite far from the majority of schools to which he’s applied, so this will be his first college interview ever.</p>
<p>I realize that this subject has been covered ad nauseum, but if some of you would be so kind as to give some advice to a busy mom who currently has two girls in three plays, another audition next week, a son in basketball, and THREE, count ‘em THREE kids’ birthdays this week, I’d be very grateful. I just don’t have the time to go and hunt all of the old posts down right now.</p>
<p>What I basically want to know is:</p>
<li> Generally what to expect in terms of questions</li>
<li> Dress (for meeting at a Starbucks!)</li>
<li> What the interviewer is generally looking for</li>
<li> General length of these interviews</li>
<li> Anything else you think would be helpful</li>
</ol>
<p>My S wore khaki trousers, a polo shirt, and shoes that were shined. Quite unlike his usual appearance. This is definitely good enough for a meeting at Starbucks, though my S met at one interviewer's work place.</p>
<p>My S brought along his resume, and both interviewers looked at it, talked a bit about the courses he'd taken in college and asked about his hobbies (the Rubik's Cube is one of them). In one case, my S had to rush back for a college class, so the interview lasted 45 minutes. The other lasted for about one hour.</p>
<p>Some of the parents are themselves alumni interviewers so they can address question 3 better than I. I would hazard that the interviewer is trying to explore the candidate's personality rather than achievements. What excites your S? what interests does he have outside the classroom? It is also an opportunity to ask questions about the school: housing, advising, work load, extracurriculars, work and internship opportunities, etc... </p>
<p>I have interviewed for Brown--several successful applicants. I look for individuality --a sense of purpose or well-defined interests, curiosity, flexibility, something that shows me this is not just a well-prepped high achiever but an interesting person who will be open to the advantages the school has to offer. I am less impressed when I get just an oral recitation of what was on the student's written aplication. I try to see if this kid would be an asset to a seminar conversation, or an enthusiastic participant in good conversation with fellow students and energetically involved in some activities he/she cares about for their own sake--not for how impressive they are. Also important is how specific their wish to attend THIS school is and why.</p>
<p>Dress , as long as they look neat and clean and respectable enough, is unimportant.</p>
<p>Berurah, if it happens to be Dartmouth, there are some interview threads on the Dartmouth board that have links an enterprising student found, that link back to a prep website for the interviewers - it gives a list of suggested questions for the interviewers. Might want to glance at that because a few of the questions - what would you change about your school? - aren't the first ones I would think of. Nothing difficult, just a few different ones. The only "factual" things my daughter was asked was why do you want to go to X, needs a more specific answer than "I liked it" and questions about school and ECs, where, as has been said, you want to give some life to the resume.</p>
<p>My daughter, the minx, wants to add a practical tip - if you are at an office (I know he won't be, but, anyway) look around at the interviwer's pictures, etc, for something to spark a question and get him talking about his experiences (sports team, in her case), gives you, the kid, a chance to breathe, and learn something about the school.</p>
<p>I would do a search for Northstarmom's posts on this subject. (Even though you've got a busy week - yikes! THREE birthdays?) As a Harvard alum interviewer, her insights are terrific. She's very straightforward about the process, what's expected of an applicant to an elite institution, what might create a poor impression, etc.</p>
<p>My d had two alum interviews this year, and the question she wishes she had known she'd be asked was "What will you contribute to the **** community?"</p>
<p>Good luck to your s! A good interviewer will put him at ease, and it should go well from there.</p>
<p>Good luck! My son has a scholarship interview today.
My feelings on this are, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. Put him in the right clothing, teach him respect and manners, as we should have been doing all these years anyway, prep him on honesty, integrity, ethics, and morals, - that's it! It's now in HIS hands. The best thing I can do after an interview is comfort him if he doesn't make it. Facts are, like a job interview the slots open are limited and one may not be accepted for purely arbitrary reasons. So relax and not make it a life or death matter, because that will make it harder on your student if he doesn't make it.</p>
<p>Berurah:
My D's interviews ranged from 20 minutes to 1 1/2 hrs. Based on limited discussions she had with friends who interviewed at some of the same schools, it seems that the "content" of the interview depended more on the interviewer than the school, i.e., there were no "scripted" interviews. Makes sense. All of the interviews were very relaxed, conversational, etc. For what it's worth, though, the following were some of the questions that she and/or her friends were asked in interviews that didn't immediately veer off into some particular interest/activity of the student: What 3 words would a friend (variation: classmate) use to describe you; what 3 words would you use to describe yourself; who was your favorite h.s. teacher and why (variation: what h.s. teacher had the biggest impact on you; describe); what do you like most about your high school; if you could change one thing about your high school, what would that be; how do you balance your academic and extracurricular activities; what are you interested in studying when you get to college and why. Having said that, most of the interviews didn't really center on these sorts of "scripted" questions.<br>
Good luck to your son!</p>
<p>Good luck to your son. I'd say the key is not to stress about it too much, be himself, be quick on his feet, wear something neat but casual (khakis and a polo shirt, turtleneck, sweater, whatever is weather apropriate). As you'll see from some of the older threads, alum interviews vary a lot. Your son might want to have a mental list of things he'd like to know about the school or that he'd like the interviewer to know about himself. Also keep in mind that the interviews generally do not carry much weight; one of my husband's colleagues is an interviewer for one of the Ivys and is always impressed by his applicants and is not aware of any of them having been admitted in the years he's been doing these interviews:) Starbucks is a nice, neutral setting--much better than the interviewers home or office.</p>
<p>My children (this is secondhand information of course, since I was not present at the itnerviews) found that alumni interviewers, Ivy or otherwise, could be all over the place in terms personal warmth, articulateness, comfort level with the interview process and so on. They had both done on-campus interviews at some schools before having local almuini interviews with others, so they were pretty familiar with the general drill, but still found the alumni questions had varying degrees of relevance to their specific interests, and that some interviewers had a sense of how to conduct an itneresting and revealing conversation and others did not. For example, our local Dartmouth interviewer (it's a school we know well and my child had already done an on-campus interviewer but requested an alum interview as well because she felt the student-intern interviewer in Hanover hadn't been quite on-target) asked about little beyond classes and grades (which the high school's college counselor had always indicated the interviewers aren't supposed to ask). Our local Princeton interviewer was delightful, however, and focused on specific areas of extracurricular interest; he does a lot of interviews for kids at my chidlren's high school and has a good reputation for conducting interviews that leave applicants feeling they had a chance to present themselves well. Our local Kenyon interviewer was really nice and wanted to know what made the applicant interested in Kenyon, among other things; this interviewer did a great job selling the school and also probably found out quite a lot about the applicant--though she did ask what other schools were on the application list, which is an uncomfortable quesiton when you are talking to the safety-school interviewer.</p>
<p>Berurah--
1. In terms of questions, your S can expect the usual: Why do you want to attend X? What have you found challenging? Is there anything else I should know before I end this interview? (That is the best opportunity for your S to mention anything of important including that this college, if relevant, is his number one choice.)
2. D had an alumni interview at the Starbuck's down the street. The interviewer suggested that she wear comfortable clothing since it's such a casual location. She wore nice corduroy pants, boots (she walked the few blocks there), and a nice top.
3. The interviewer is looking for someone with whom (s)he can have a good conversation.
4. Should be about an hour. D's lasted 1h 30m.
5. Wish him luck and to have fun! And good luck to you, too!</p>
<p>I think a good way to "practice" for an interview is for your child to talk to some of your adult friends and acquaintances and ask them about their college experiences --why they liked/did not like their school, what was "special" about it. It would make him feel comfortable with how people over 30 ( or over 50) view the college experience and what issues they think are central and perhaps suggest questions he could ask the interviewer. The more the interview goes like a "natural" conversation, the better.</p>
<p>My father used to interview for Yale (he's a Law School alum but they do undergrad interviewing too) and he loved the kids who knew what was going on in the world outside of their academics and ECs. He would never throw a pop quiz on current events at a kid, but the ability to convey some sort of awareness of the larger world is a good thing. From his point of view, just about all the kids he interviewed were over-qualified on paper, but he liked the kids who could, as he puts it, connect the dots. The best way to do that is not to list all your achievements, but to discuss WHY your passions are what they are. Interviewers like to see the kids they interview be admitted, most of them aren't trying to keep you out, so try to relax, make eye contact, and don't be afraid to convey who you are beyond the numbers.</p>
<p>You have received a lot of good advice. As a Brown interviewer, I am looking for a student who is informed about the school (several have asked me, "What are Brown's required courses?") and who can talk about him or herself in ways that go beyond a list of achievements and awards. </p>
<p>We are instructed not to make the interview feel like an ordeal or test, and I think most of us do these interviews because we genuinely enjoy meeting the students.</p>
<p>At the end of the interview I'm going to ask myself, was that an interesting young person? Do I wish we had had more time to talk? Does this student seem to have the drive to use the many opportunities available at Brown? Am I excited to think about what it would be like for him or her to spend four years on the Brown campus? </p>
<p>It always makes a good impression when a student writes a short thank you note afterward.</p>
<p>I want to thank you all so very much for this help and support! I will be printing this thread out for my son to read. He wants you to know that he very much appreciates all of this wonderful advice and that he will take it to heart! :) ~berurah</p>
<p>Pyewacket & aparent5 made the basic points about Brown interviews; I agree. However I am not certain all schools view interviews the Brown way. Some schools provide SATs & GPA info; Brown does not-- we focus more on drawing out the person rather than evaluating the candidate.</p>
<p>I do not look at the resumes because I am looking for a two-way conversation between equals. Students who impress me are the ones I think would be great to have living on your hall or with you in the class room, who bring something specific. A kid that is serious and shy can still come across as a unique and interesting person of value, it is not always the high octane kids who are really interesting, genuine, or impressive. </p>
<p>Kind of like the essays I see posted here-- interviewees who are <em>trying</em> to impress me usually look phony. Interviewees who are genuine & in the moment, personable, and can participate fluidly in the conversation do better. Be honest. Sometimes I'll throw in a question that is surprising or hard to answer just to see how it is handled: thoughtful, candid answer? I don't care about the answer itself but about the thoughtfulness.</p>
<p>Conversations with interviewees that I have really enjoyed were "lost track of time" talks about poetry, backpacking, politics, whatever... conversations that were mutual.</p>
<p>I think it's a good idea to think of questions you want to ask about the college because most interviewers will give you this opportunity. (Living in Calif, most kids ask me about the snow! Though prosaic, a perfectly honest, valid question!)</p>
<p>Dress neatly - khakis and a polo are great. No baseball caps!</p>
<p>Be on time - in fact be a few minutes EARLY.</p>
<p>Look the interviewer directly in the eyes and shake the interviewer's hand firmly when you first meet.</p>
<p>Have a few questions ready about the school and its programs; at least a couple of these questions should evidence that you do know something about the school. Having the questions ready before hand should help any nervousness too.</p>
<p>Expect the interview to last 30-60 minutes. </p>
<p>Be prepared to talk enthusiastically about what you have done - your extracurricular activities, your favorite classes. No need to "prep" for this - you are just talking about yourself!</p>
<p>Enjoy the conversation. Most alumni interviewers are doing this because they love their school and they will be enthusiastic resources for you to learn more about the school. Most interviewers love to talk to teenagers too. My son really enjoyed all of his interviews.</p>
<p>(You could bring a resume or activity sheet (these might help the interviewer when they are writing up the interview), but this isn't strictly necessary.)</p>
<p>For my son's Bowdoin interview, he e-mailed the interviewer his resume as they were setting up the appointment. The interviewer was able to glance it over beforehand, but it didn't get in the way of the interview. </p>
<p>If things go very well, the interview may last more than an hour, so don't worry if DS does not reappear promptly. </p>
<p>Finally, the other question may be 'what other schools have you applied to'. There is a whole thread floating around on this topic.</p>