<p>If you haven’t heard by Monday, yes I would contact Brown. (Weekend is a good “catch up” time for otherwise busy alums, so wait until Monday to see.) If you hear from the alum who is assigned to interview you from now til end of November, I would try very hard to be flexible in meeting times so you can get the interview done. Some alums will be working hard to get last minute, rescheduled interviews in to Brown by the December 1 deadline for ED applicants. Sometimes that means that a Regional Chair (the person who organizes a regions interviews) may be having to do lots of interviews last minute themselves when things fell through from other assignments, or may be reassigning them to someone who is just getting your contact info this week. You are not required to have an interview. However turning down multiple time slots for “minimal” reasons is going to be perceived as lack of interest.</p>
<p>Hi everyone! I just completed my interview today and thought I’d share my experience. Keep in mind that this information is specific to my experience and may or may not apply to you. Take it as a heads-up, not as law.
My interviewer told me she had been doing the interviewing process for 7 years. She let me know it was casual and to wear jeans if I wanted, so I picked a really nice pair and a nice sweater. I feel like she didn’t care at all what I was wearing. This took place at a Starbucks.
So far I have interviewed for Rice, UChicago, and Georgetown, and while I knew this interview would be the most challenging thus far (I’ve heard that top tier interviews are the worst; heard a horror story about an MIT interview from a friend and would be happy to share if anyone cares).
Some things that caught me off guard but probably wouldn’t have if the previous interviews had been more challenging:
- She really grilled me on my community service when I talked about how much I loved it. I was able to list things in correlation to Key Club and she asked for stuff outside of it. So make sure you have plenty to talk about when you say “I’m passionate in -blank-.” Doing club service won’t cut it if you say you love community service. You’ll need stuff outside of school, too. I’m glad I had more than just school requirements to discuss.
- She asked me what other classes I would take outside of my concentration and explained Brown wants people to take advantage of the liberal, rounding education. I was unable to list specific course names and went with interests outside of my concentration (which is premed; at first I talked about taking some psych and health care system courses in addition to my neuroscience concentration but added African Studies when I realized she wanted to know what I would do outside of just premed).
- I was asked about what I would do in a situation with a rowdy, conflicting roommate. I’m not sure what she was looking for because she didn’t seem impressed when I said I was a good communicator and would be able to reach a compromise or involve an RA/person in charge, but I’m not that worried. She later explained that those situations do arise at Brown and Brown wants to know that their students can handle it when the situation arises.
- She asked me multiple times about how my parents feel about me applying out of state, going away, applying to an expensive school, ect. Easy answers, but still surprising that she asked.
- “You’re in the Dean’s office and he asks you ‘Why should I accept you? How are you different from every other applicant?’ what do you say?” This took me a bit to formulate an answer. Be prepared to explain how you’re unique and unlike anyone else they’ve met.
- “Can you tell me about a time you solved a conflict creatively, overcame a situation, or met a goal during a challenge?” That’s paraphrasing. The actual question was crazy weird and took me awhile to grasp. I didn’t like my answer.
- She liked that I had questions already written down in my spiral. Obviously, have questions prepared.
- Have a final statement prepared. “Is there any last thing you’d like to say to Brown?”
- Know what you’ll be involved in if you go to Brown. Kudos to you if you can list specific clubs, bonus points if they’re the funny/weird/social ones.
- Reflect diversity. My interviewer and I talked about how Brown is filled to the brim with wealthy kids and those who were well-prepared to get into the Ivies, and how my financial and social background would bring diversity but would present a challenge in terms of dealing with such an affluent school. Be honest. You don’t have to come off as “I’ll perfectly fit right in.”
- Have your “Why Brown?” answer well-prepared, and make it good. There is no right answer but there are bad ones (ones too generic and could apply to any school, ones that conflict with the aura of the school, ect.). I was prepared for this thanks to past interviews. </p>
<p>I hope this helps, despite how long and drawn-out this was. I apologize for that. This was my first Ivy interview, so if you haven’t had one yet (which most of you probably have not, as I think most of the Ivies are ED or RD?), just know who you are as a student and person and come prepared. Try not to be surprised by anything; I know I was a couple of times and it impacted my answers. Be interesting though, especially if you’ve had an interviewer who’s been doing interviews for awhile. Mine repeatedly said “I usually get some interesting answers.” at times, and not to snub me, but it worried me that I might’ve not been one of those people.</p>
<p>Goodluck all!</p>
<p>wow, that interview sounds a lot more difficult than the ones i’ve had so far (reed, georgetown, and occidental).</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure my son’s Brown interview wasn’t anywhere near that harsh. Sounds like a job interview for an investment bank or Silicon Valley!</p>
<p>Even I havent been contacted for an Interview yet.</p>
<p>Also I just wanted to know what the application status page is supposed to say.</p>
<p><a href=“https://selfservice.brown.edu/ss/twbkwbis.P_WWWLogin[/url]”>https://selfservice.brown.edu/ss/twbkwbis.P_WWWLogin</a></p>
<p>Mine says that they have received all my stuff but the status column is blank for everything except SAT subject tests where it says requirement fulfilled. </p>
<p>Also I had requested an Application fee waiver but in the same table mentioned above the status is Fee waiver requested. What does this mean? Have they accepted orare they still deciding?</p>
<p>And there are only 12 days left for Dec. 1 and my exams start from the 21st. </p>
<p>What will happen to my Interview?</p>
<p>@jackrabbit</p>
<p>where are you from? i didnt get mine either :(</p>
<p>I have not received an interview call yet either. I am from CT.</p>
<p>Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD</p>
<p>Hey guys! Just thought I’d respond to the thread to detail how my interview went (perhaps to calm the nerves of people whose interviews are coming up).</p>
<p>My interview experience was much different than tawarren95’s. I also met with my interviewer at Starbucks, but the conversation felt more like a casual chat than a grilling interview (not sure if that’s a good thing or not, haha). She began by telling me about her Brown experience and then asked if I had any questions for her. I asked the basics-- which professors stood out, which classes she took outside of her concentration requirements, etc etc. We talked about the weather (I’m from the Bay Area in California) and how east coast life is different from west coast life. We talked about the Alumni network and her life after Brown. She then asked me the basic interview questions (why I want to go to Brown, how I would benefit from the curriculum, etc.). She asked what I am involved in outside of school, but did not grill me for specifics. She asked questions as if she were curious, not because she had to report back. The whole conversation was really relaxed. There were momentary (slightly awkward) pauses at times (I blame my horrible conversation skills), but overall my experience with the interview was not nearly as horrible as I thought it would be. About 40 minutes in, she took out her phone and read me the list of questions the Alumni Network sent her, saying that she thought we touched on all of them. She then asked if I wanted to elaborate on anything we had talked about / if I wanted to mention anything else she could include in her email. I talked a bit more about some of the stuff we had mentioned before, but I also thought we had covered all the bases. She finished by saying that these things always have a way of working out for the better and that I seem like a good student who will end up at a good school, even if it’s not Brown (but she did mention that she really hopes I get in. But they all probably say that, haha), and that ten / fifteen years from now, I’ll be the one interviewing in a coffee shop telling a nervous high school student that it’ll all be okay.</p>
<p>That was my experience! Good luck to all of you!(:</p>
<p>I just got back from my interview, and it was extremely similar to hancampbell’s. </p>
<p>In case anyone’s interested: </p>
<p>We met at a local coffee shop (not Starbuck’s) and it was much more casual than I expected. The interviewer started out by asking me the “why Brown” question, took some notes on my answer, and then went on to describe his experience at Brown. He asked me if I had any questions, and glanced over the notebook I brought that had my questions handwritten inside. The rest of the interview was mostly me asking questions, with some awkward lapses in silence. At first I tried to formulate my questions so I sounded more diverse/knowledgable about the school, but it really felt like the interviewer was just asking the questions so that he could help me learn more about the school. </p>
<p>All in all, it was a lot less stressful and scripted than I had originally thought – and I wish I had known that, because I was really nervous and on edge the first few minutes. Good luck to everyone else! :)</p>
<p>We met in the typical Starbucks! The interview definitely felt more like a casual conversation, she really wanted to know “why brown” to ensure i was well aware of the school. She finished the interview after an hour and ten min by saying I hope it waal works out…</p>
<p>" @jackrabbit</p>
<p>where are you from? i didnt get mine either "</p>
<p>I live in India. </p>
<p>I wouldnt normally expect to get an interview in India but a senior from my school who applied last year was invited for an interview. </p>
<p>Anyways, I really hope I am able to get an interview. I have so many questions to ask.</p>
<p>@jackrabbit420</p>
<p>I’m from Mumbai. The two other applicants from my school have received interview calls, but I still haven’t.</p>
<p>I emailed Brown today, hopefully they’ll reply promptly.</p>
<p>I had another question. How are people considered to be athletes? In my common app i mentioned that I’ve been playing golf since 4th grade and have lots of CAS hours for it and that i intend to continue playing while in College. Is that all I have to do to be considered as an athlete? Should I get in touch with some of the golf coaches at Brown?</p>
<p>I can’t tell if one should prefer a casual interview to a grilling one or not. Casual ones will lessen the chances of “error” but I feel like the harder the questions and the more information exchanged, the more that goes on your file. I’ve been told multiple times during interviews that the purpose of interviews is to fill in gaps and “lobby” or tiebreak when admissions is deliberating between you and a file very similar to yours.
But I’m glad you guys had less stressful experiences, hopefully most of you will! </p>
<p>@jackrabbit
Is Brown a sports school? I have a friend that wants to row crew for top schools and has been contacting coaches. I would do the same and hopefully on the Common App you indicated you wanted to play in college. Did you submit a sports supplement? And make sure you mention it in your interview. My interviewer asked what I would participate in and I kind of regret not mentioning cross country in college.</p>
<p>Yes I did tick the " intend to participate in college" tickbox on the activities section and I sure will mention golf in my Interview but is all this enough? I think I should contact the coaches but what exactly do I talk to them about?</p>
<p>And I didnt fill any sports supplement.</p>
<p>If you want to play a Varsity sport, you need to contact the coach. I don’t know anything about golf recruiting, but many of the teams have already finished recruiting athletes for their teams. However, if you are an outstanding golfer you might still be able to get an interested coach say some words in support of your application. In any case, the coach could tell you if you would be a good candidate to “walk on” the team in the fall.</p>
<p>I contacted Brown and they said that they carry out interviews from early Nov to mid Dec.</p>
<p>They said its fine and I don’t need to worry about the interviews.</p>
<p>Just got my Brown interview call!</p>
<p>It’s tomorrow (short notice), but I’ll let you’ll know how it goes.</p>
<p>still no call in MA… should i assume im rejected?</p>