<p>Received an email from our alumni/ae organization the other day. In it they discussed the purpose/value of an alum interview for an applicant, referring to it as a "conversation" and an opportunity for the applicant to learn about the school from a different perspective. It was refreshing to see the "interview" put in terms of what it truly is. Have other schools dome likesise?</p>
<p>My child only had “real” interviews. I don’t see the point in alumni interviews, especially if it’s been quite a few years since the alum attended. Plus, do these alums get training or vetted in any way? I’d totally believe they were conversations, with no bearing on admissions. I’m guessing schools do this to throw a bone to grads to keep them attached to the school.</p>
<p>Schools have no need to “throw a bone” to alums to “keep them connected”. Alums volunteer their time, energy and effort to make themselves available to prospective students.</p>
<p>They’re throwing a bone to the applicants, to try to give them this additional opportunity for personal contact with a representative of the school, both to learn about the school and to give the school a chance to learn things about them that might not have been obvious from their applications.</p>
<p>For the alumni who participate, it is a great deal of time-consuming work. I have friends who do this, and they do it for the good of the school, not the other way around.</p>
<p>Apologies for typo in the OP. It should say “done likewise”</p>
<p>And Marian is spot on. These interviews/cnverstions/call them whichever you choose is a lot of work for the alums. I enjoy it, but it is a commitment.</p>
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<p>A number of selective colleges and universities don’t offer on-campus interviews. They offer only alumni interviews.</p>
<p>My daughter had two alumni and an on-campus interview. On campus, she interviewed with an undergraduate intern in the Admissions Office. Is that more “real”?</p>
<p>It’s true that Admissions Offices have little ability to manage or control the quality of the work done by alumni volunteers. And it’s true that in the overwhelming majority of cases, alumni interviews count for next to nothing. I’m just not persuaded that on-campus interviews count for anything more. Or should.</p>
<p>Well, there are cases where the personal contact is the only extra set of eyes and ears- and where it does help round out the picture of the kid. I worried more about the student interviewers. Jym, did they train you and does admissions stay in touch?</p>
<p>Whether an alumni interview is serious or not varies by school and to some extent, the interviewer. Some of my HS classmates who were Ivy/elite school alums and volunteer as alumni interviewers did conduct serious interviews. </p>
<p>In a few cases, they’ve factored in the candidate’s rejection because of certain negative factors only manifested themselves in an interview…such as interviewees openly bragging about slacking off/cutting his classes without having his grades suffer or disdaining students with LD. </p>
<p>Yes, they’ve had interviewees who were that morally obtuse and oblivious enough to make such statements to the alum interviewer for an elite/Ivy college.</p>
<p>I’m going to agree with Cobrat (shocking, I know! 
). An interview, on campus or off, alumni or undergraduate intern, has one of two outcomes… a) neutral, absolutely zero difference no matter how well it goes, or how much the interviewer promotes the applicant, or b) red flags raised due to poor behavior/presentation that could very possibly result in the applicant being denied. So, do they matter? Yes. A good one is not going to increase your chances, but a bad one can certainly hurt your chances.</p>
<p>As an interviewing alumnus, I only ever had one really bad interview. But I strongly suspect that particular applicant never had a chance in the first place.</p>
<p>I’ve had no-shows. I believe that hurt the candidate, though I can’t ever really know.</p>
<p>MIT strongly urges you to have an (alumni) interview. Their acceptance rates are about double if you do an interview vs if you don’t.</p>
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<p>I’ve only had one really bad interview as well, yet that student still got in. Not surprisingly to me, she chose not to attend (pretty much what she was telegraphing me the entire time we were talking).</p>
<p>I had one applicant who obviously didnt know diddly squat about the school. I asked her a very basic question like "what about the school attracted you to it? And all she could repeat, no matter what I asked , was a generic, canned response that was applicable to any school.</p>
<p>Long time interviewer/recruiter here. In my experience, two strong reasons for alumni interviews</p>
<p>1) it’s good PR for the college. alum volunteer interviewers generally show a good face to the applicant. Even though my alma mater has single digit admit rates, we still are courting the students. Having a real person connected means a lot when it comes to getting admitted students to matriculate.</p>
<p>2) in rare situations, an alum report can make a difference. Posters previously have written how negative reports can influence things. Here is how it can be a positive:</p>
<p>Two solid applicants from my nearby large urban district applied a few yrs ago. On paper, they looked very good and caught peoples’ attention – but the teacher recs were bland – not negative but just poorly written as can be the case w/schools unaccustomed to writing rec letters to Ivy-type schools. Without this being a strong positive, the admissions committee remained non-committal. But both guys had great interview write ups. Based on those, the committee was tipped fwd and decided to offer admits to both guys.</p>
<p>I went to an interview that the e-mail called a “conversation” with an alum. At the end, she was all like “yeah, I’m the regional admissions officer for your area! So i’ll be the first one to read your essay!” I was like 0_0</p>
<p>But, it was a great interview and I felt less nervous because they called it a conversation :). It seemed more casual</p>
<p>Just wanted to throw in another perspective from an alum who conducts interviews for her alma mater. I’m also an SAT/ACT tutor so I try to keep myself informed about all things college admissions. As others have already stated, doing the interviews is a ton of work, and there aren’t nearly enough volunteers to offer interviews to every applicant in the area. I love talking up my school, so it’s fun, and a great way to keep up with what’s happening on campus. We do receive information every year re: admission requirements and cool programs to talk up to applicants. We also get strict instructions about what NOT to cover, specifically any of the candidate’s numbers. The interview is intended to be a fact finding process for both sides. It’s also a casual conversation, so please don’t show up in a suit with your resume (yeah, that happens). </p>
<p>Do my comments really make a difference? I can’t say with certainty, but I can say that none of the applicants to whom I gave a low interview score were admitted. I can also say that not every one to whom I gave a high score WAS admitted. </p>
<p>A few tips…I have had more than my fair share of “bad” interviews. The girl who brought her mother, the one who was an hour late because she got “lost” (in her new BMW), the few who take weeks to respond to my attempts to contact them, and every one who shows up to the interview with absolutely no knowledge of the school aren’t going to score well. That last one happens much more now with the common app - without exception these kids have applied to 20+ schools. But the good interviews are so much fun (for both parties I hope!). I love talking about my school, so show up with good questions and varied interests and things will go swimmingly 
I want to be your advocate for admission (it’s more fun for me, too, when my interviewees are accepted), so just give me good reasons to do so.</p>
<p>Apologies, lookingforward- missed your question above.</p>
<p>Yes the school keeps in touch (ergo the email that prompted this thread in the firstplace). There is a pretty stong alum neswork and a helpful website and email newsletter. </p>
<p>As for “training”, there is a pretty throrough set of instructions provided for alum interviewers as well as a list of helpful important info/facts to know or to have handy that are things prospies may commonly ask. There is a form that the alum fills out on the student after the interview and sends back to the school. It becomes part of the students file. And interviewers are encouraged to contact the school if they have any questions or concerns. I have contacted the admissions folks and gotten prompt and helpful responses.</p>
<p>Most of the schools where D has interviewed called it a ‘conversation’. Almost all have been with seniors at the school; some seemed better at the job than others. A few have been with adult admission reps, those have been good experiences. There was one senior who grilled her on specifics from classes she took a year ago. She was caught off-guard by that and stumbled a bit. Then there was the LAC that had a local alum contact her as soon as she opened up an admissions account. They don’t get many kids from our area, or maybe the fact that she named them as one of her 2 schools last spring through the nat’l merit program was responsible for that.</p>
<p>We do get to see the interviewer comments. Though they’re “officially” not supposed to weigh heavily, there they are. I agree the alums do a huge service to the school–sometimes, they pick up on assets that didn’t come through on the app. And what’s interesting is so many of them are so busy in their own lives, but make the commitment. Real enthusiasm from a respected alum interviewer is hard to ignore. (And, we do get write-ups that honestly reflect the alum’s concerns about a kid’s interest or fit.)</p>