<p>Hi everybody,
not sure if it was just me that was terrible at answering interview questions under pressure or it was my interviewer being unfair.</p>
<p>Started off by asking about the other schools Im applying to, listed 10 of them and included northwestern saying northwestern is the school I'd want to go to the most because of x,y,z. He then asked me about how I would choose schools given decisions and I said it would have to depend based on where else I get accepted. So when explaining why I would choose to go somewhere, I started off badly and I said i would consider the location of the school at which point he cut me off and said that's not a good enough reason (I would've gone on to explain that academics and opportunities on campus are the main reaasons but again he cut me off because of my bad start). This continued for the rest of the interview, throughout which he said he was continuously confused as to why I would even apply somewhere even though I outlined why I did in the first place.</p>
<p>In the end, the conversation wasn't about northwestern at all... I told him I'd like to go to NU for HPME and after that he concentrated on why I'd want to pick to apply to other schools and asked me where Id want to go given all my options and truly I didn't know because again it would depend. He said that regardless I should know and that in the end it is clear that I do not know where I want to go, and said I don't want to go to Northwestern at all.</p>
<p>I don't know why this happened ... maybe I was just bad at answering the questions. Does anybody have any input as to why this happened? Should I do anything about this? Was it fair that it did happen, and does it have any negative effect on my application? Thanks for all the critcism/support in advance.</p>
<p>Alumni interview should really be an informational interview. It’s primarily FYI, not meant to assist the admission to make the decision. That’s why plenty of people got in WITHOUT it. It makes no sense that he tried so hard to gauge your interest. The adcom already know most of the RD applicants have competing schools in their mind. Otherwise, they would have been ED applicants. Even if he wrote that you did not want to go to NU on his sheet, common sense would prevent the adcom from taking such comment seriously. Nobody would pay the fees, write why NU essay, and arrange an alumni interview if he/she doesn’t have any interest in NU. Obviously, your action carries more weight than his words in this case. So don’t worry about it. </p>
<p>If what your described is close to what actually happened, I think the person may be one of those that get pleasure or feel powerful from giving others a hard time. After all, I can’t think of a better place where I can pick on someone and make him/her panic or feel miserable without worrying any retribution. These people are obviously not the majority but they are everywhere; while I didn’t encounter anyone like that at NU, I am sure there were some somewhere.</p>
<p>@Sam Lee Thank you for your comments, they make me feel a little more relieved.
It’s pretty close to what happened, at one part I told him I don’t want to go to one college I applied to after having an on campus interview, and after that he continued to question me about why I would apply there in the first place. Seemed like he wanted to know what I wanted out of a school but his interruptions didn’t allow me to explain myself. I wish I had a second chance because this interview didn’t tell me anything about Northwestern. When I asked him about questions in the end, his replies were very terse. He even told me that his son didn’t choose northwestern because of the location, implying that I chose to apply for the wrong reasons. Location is only one of the small factors as to why NU.</p>
<p>To calm yourself, I would also suggest that you send an email to your regional admission officer explaining the nature of your interview. Good Luck!</p>
<p>Just e-mailed the regional admission officer. I hope they don’t think anything negative of me because I complained about the interview. I’m just so nervous as to how all of this will affect my admission status in general.</p>
<p>If the rest of your credentials are fine, this interview will have no bearing. It is good that you explained the situation from your side. Good Luck!</p>
<p>I’m glad you emailed the regional officer. A grown man should not be employing those tactics on a nervous high school senior. One of my children had a similar inappropriate interview with an alum from a “Top 10 University” who asked all kinds of questions about current classmates who were being interviewed on the same day! The guidance counselor ended up calling the university, who pulled that person from his “alumni interview volunteer” position.</p>
<p>My D actually declined to set up an Alumni Interview as it said on the e-mail that it would not affect her chance if she did not choose to have one. I guess it would demonstrate your interest if you do sign up for one.</p>
<p>^^ I agree that that interviewer sounds like a bully who is ill-suited to doing these interviews and will hopefully be “relieved” of that position.
I do alumni interviews for another university and have never(and would never) conducted an interview like that.
Don’t let this one non-representative NU alum influence your thinking about the school.</p>
<p>Haven’t let this alum influence my thoughts about NU. On a good note the local admissions director allowed me to have another interview and voided my past one! I’m very happy, I wish I could’ve said a few things to him, though. Was the first and worst alumnus interview. Thank you everybody for the support and guidance, my credentials are fine so let’s hope I get accepted regardless of whether or not I do well wih the interview :)</p>
<p>To be honest the main purpose of the College interview is to sell you on the school. Sounds like your interviewer failed miserably. </p>
<p>In my opinion, the fact that you cared enough to write the local admissions director actually shows how much you are interested in the school.</p>
<p>Good Luck!!</p>
<p>I don’t know who you talked to, but your interviewer sounds ridiculous. I don’t think any of my friends even did an interview to get in, so for him to go off on a power trip is completely uncalled for. I really wouldn’t stress about that one. Sounds like it was his problem, not yours. Best of luck with your next interview.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice and comfort everybody. I had another alumnus interview which went very well and I’m satisfied. My current interviewer was best friends with the old one and he said his behavior was abnormal for him. So I’m not sure. Either way I’m happy and thanks for the support everybody!</p>