Strange Interview

<p>I just had an interview. My interviewer was super nice. He smiled a lot and even bought me lunch. What threw me off was how he didn't really seem very interested in finding out about my accomplishments, thoughts of Columbia, etc. We only discussed some of my activities (not in detail though), and then it was mostly me asking questions and him answering them. He also told me alot about school life in Columbia.
I enjoyed the interview. It was about 2 hours long. But I'm worried whether my interviewer will have enough info. about me to write about. Is this how interviews are run? It was so informal (he did tell me in his e-mail that it would be informal, but still...it was TOO informal). Should I be worried?</p>

<p>Columbia has your application. His job isn't to regurgitate it, but to tell Columbia something else that they don't already know. If he talked to you for 2 hours, he probably learned a lot about you that he can convey to Columbia in a report. If you had lots of good questions to keep the discussion going, you probably did convey an interest in Columbia even though he didn't ask you that. And he'll be able to comment on your maturity, articulateness, etc.</p>

<p>Unless you're not telling us something, I don't see anything possibly bad and anything to "worry" about. What he says about you and how much it helps convince the adcoms that you're wonderful is another story.</p>

<p>Yes, Columbia interviews are generally informal. There's no set protocol; it's totally up to the interviewer. However, 2 hours sounds like a ridiculous amount of time for an interview and, in my opinion, is totally unfair to a lot of kids.</p>

<p>My friend's dad is retired and bored at home, so he volunteers to interview for Harvard, and his interviews are up to 3 hours long.</p>

<p>3 hours... poor kids.</p>

<p>He was probably just determining what your real personality is by setting it in a normal, everyday kind of casual way. And Columbia can determine that other stuff from your application.</p>

<p>I guess 2 hours was a bit long. Originally, he told me in his e-mail that we would probably talk for about 30 minutes or so. I don't know what happened. :P As long as the interview was mainly to determine my personality, I think I'll be okay :) Thanks everyone for the replies.</p>

<p>Generally speaking, when an interview exceeds the length the interviewer originally announced, it's because he found you interesting. Think of it as a good sign. I did not say a guaranteed admission!! but possible indication that the interview went well, in the interviewer's mind.
Was the balance good between you talking vs. him? A good interview has the interviewer speaking around 25% of the time, but the person interviewed opens up and occupies around 75% of the airtime. At least that's been my experience with job interviews. (Accounting for that 3-hour Harvard interview...sometimes the interviewer talks toooo much.)</p>

<p>One thing I didn't mention is that Columbia recommends that the interviewers NOT run the interview beyond an hour because it's hard on the kids to go that long.</p>

<p>
[quote]
My friend's dad is retired and bored at home, so he volunteers to interview for Harvard, and his interviews are up to 3 hours long.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>He needs a new hobby.</p>

<p>lol. a friend of mine had a 4 hour interview with MIT</p>

<p>lol 4 hours is like the same as taking SAT all over again</p>