thanks alot liz!
lamb, consider what you want the interviewer to remember most about you. How you look might overpower what you say, but perhaps the interviewer has enough experience such that what you say will come through.
thanks so much guysâŠi didnât know this thread would be that popular! good luck to everyone.
DH9800 >>
Whyâre you going to 2 HARVARD interviews ? One in campus Today ? One with alumi interview this Friday ? Howâs going ?
Well, i wanted to visit Harvard again to take an official campus tour, and an interview in cambridge sounded like a good idea. Then, after submitting my application a month ago, an alumni contacted me.
btwâŠthe on campus one went realllly well.
i also had an on campus interview last summer at harvard.i think it went pretty well⊠but i dont know how the interviewer thoughtâŠthe interview lasted 45minutesâŠis it short? i cant read information from my interviewer 's faceâher sunny smile is not the 100% proof that sheâs also impressed yeah?
Is there anything that Yale interviewers usually ask that other schoolâs interviewers do not? What are some difficult questions that those who have had Yale interviews encountered? I have an alumni interview on Sunday and on-campus on Tuesday.<br>
Also, how important is the interview in the Yale process?
Thanks
My Wesleyan interview was last weekend, at the alumâs house (a big mansion high on a hill with a gorgeous view of all the redwoods and vineyards, BTW :-D). It went pretty well, at first it wasnât as relaxed as my Reed & Carleton ones were because #1 Wesleyan was the one I was most nervous about because that was the school I know the least about of all the ones Iâm applying to and #2 this alum was more serious than the previous 2 interviewers. I think Reed & Carleton tend to assume that if I live in this area and I was motivated enough to schedule an interview I must be a top-ranked student (this isnât Palo Alto, not a whole lot of kids around here even apply to private schools) because they mostly wanted to know if I was a personality fit for their schools, whereas Wesleyan lady was more concentrated on if I had a chance at getting in academically because she asked me about my GPA and my SAT percentile(!). At least thatâs my dadâs theory as to why she asked me those questions, I was a bit puzzled at first but it makes sense. Also I think the other interviewers felt that itâs the schoolâs job to evaluate my academics and they wanted to concentrate on other things because thatâs the whole point of an interview. Donât really know. Anyway, my Wesleyan interview still went pretty well.
At noon today: Swarthmore! The closest alum where I live was a member of the class of 1956 LOL. But I figure heâs probably not a cranky old man if heâs 70 years old and still wants to interview teenagers at his house, and he donates to the Sonoma Valley Film Festival and is a democrat and was in the foreign service way back in the day (my dad googled him :-D). So I think itâll be okay. Oh yeah, and Mr. Swarthmore also lives in a mansion on a hill 
Next Saturday- Barnard! And then 3 weeks after that - Puget Sound! And then no more interviews! woo hoo
Hey. I just had my Princeton interview yesterday, and I thought it went âprettyâ well. We talked about what I found most appealing about Princeton, what my interests were, my academics, etc. She also asked me the typical, what I would be doing 20 yrs from now, or if i could be anywhere in the world w/out any responsibilities, where would it be? I thought the conversation couldâve flowed a little better, but i got to say everything i wanted to. The one thing that killed me was when my interviewer asked me what i thought about a current event. I said a little things, but i got to a point where i had to say, âI havenât thought about that.â I have no idea how this will affect me. Have any of you experienced this situation? Will an interviewer view me negatively for not understanding a current event??
i had my brown interview yesterday, and i am so glad there was no mention of current events.
aoshi, if the current event was really major it might hurt a bit, but if it wasnât, it probably wouldnât break the whole deal (your interviewer is focusing on you as a wohle person! so dont sweat it so much) 
I just had my U of Rochester interview yesterday and it was unusually short - 20 minutes. I said everything I wanted to say in a way that I wanted to say it and was prepared for almost all of the questions. Did I not talk enough? Iâm scared. He just smiled, looked at my interview form, which listed my activities, classes, etc, and asked questions.
I was somewhat unprepared for the âWhere do you see yourself in 5 yearsâ question, but I think I did alright with that as well. He asked me if thereâs anything else Iâd like to say at the end of the interview, and I asked him about his experience at U of Rochester and what not. After that, he asked me that again, and I just kind of said âno.â He did ask where else I was applying and I said similar schools and gave the example of NYU, not saying my top choice (Cornell).
o crap, the current event was kind of major lol shoot. but she said that itâs fine i couldnt answer it, it was just not my thing. dam i hope she doesnt write a negative rec!
I had my interview with JHU on Friday. I hoped we would talk about some current events and stuff, but we stuck mostly to academics, extracurriculars and what I planned to do at the university.
For Hopkins, you have to tell them about yourself, your town, your school, etc. and then say how you would contribute to the school.
I just had my interview for Bryn Mawr today and it went SPLENDIDLY Much better than my Reed one, in any case. This time it was in home territory and so I got there about 20 minutes earlier than I was supposed to and my interviewer was a bit late anyway so yeah It was at Starbucks and I offered her coffee and all that lovely stuff (she declined but the thought was a good one lol). She brought her baby which was why she was late and I played with her a bit and that was good My interview went for about hmm 2+ hours and it was basically a conversation. She asked me the typical interviewer questions like, âwhatâs your favorite subject this year?â and âhow are your ecs?â and âwhat other schools are you applying to?â and all that but it was really relaxed and she did a fair share of talking as well. I feel much more confident about my application to Bryn Mawr now, knowing that I definitely am suited for the environment Yay <em>is dancing on air</em>
How did your Yale alumni interview go? My D has her interview later this week. Was yours at the interviewerâs house? Did your mom or dad come along to meet the interviewer? Iâm sure my D would appreciate any info youâd like to share. She is very nervous. How long did your interview last? Good luck to you. JC Mom
When it comes to Ivy interviews with alum, Mom and Dad should not meet the interviewer. The interviewer is only interested in the student. If Mom and Dad come along, that would make the student seem less independent, and it also could lead to the interviewer talking more with Mom and Dad than the student. Mom and Dadâs presence also could add stress to the student, who may feel less comfortable being their interview independent self if Mom and Dad appear to be watching over her/his shoulder so to speak.
If Mom and Dad have to drive the student to the interview, they should wait outside or drive far enough away to be out of sight, and then have the student call for a pickup after the interview.
Even with on campus Ivy interviews, itâs a good idea for Mom and Dad to let the student go into the interview situation by himself/herself. If Mom and Dad are at the interview site, the interviewer probably will shake their hands and exchange some polite words, but I think it still is best for the student to seem as independent as possible by going to the interview location without Mom and Dad in tow.
Thereâs plenty of other good advice/info about interviews, especially Ivy ones if you use CCâs search function.
Just had my Yale interview!! The interviewer was really nice, outgoing, super-friendly, and asked me about 3 basic interview questions before asking me to ask her questions about Yale. I asked her everything I could think of- good thing Iâd prepared questions, or the interview would have lasted about 5 minutesâŠ
If I could do it over again, I donât think thereâs anything I would have done differently. I prepared for a lot of questions, including some tough ones, and I think itâs good to over-prepare for interviews in case you do get thrown a curveball.
My Swarthmore interview went amazingly. The guy even told my dad that he thought Swarthmore would benefit from my presence or something like that. Iâm a bit of a cynic, but I donât think heâd say that about just anyone. I hope.
The Swat interview was the only one where I was asked about current events. He asked me what I thought about the latest elections, and I in my typical fashion rambled on about stuff. When I brought up the VA senator race he responded, âwell, I think youâre right about Jim Webb, but my friend from Swarthmore Senator Carl Levin says thatâŠâ etc etc etc. Thatâs the kind of place Swarthmore is, I guess. It tripped me out. Our interview went for an hour and then when my dad came back the three of us dicussed politics for another hour. OverallâŠyeah, it was pretty great. Maybe the best one. And I didnât have to sum up my ECs for the umpteenth time cuz Swat sends you a thing to fill out to give to the interviewer that has all that info. Yay.
SaturdayâŠBarnard! I think itâll be good.
I have my alumnus interview for dartmouth tomorrow at a coffee shop, and Iâm just wondering - who buys the coffee? Iâm not sure really what I should do. Any tips/ past experiences would be really appreciated!
I had 2 alum interviews today. It was crazy, but I didnât have much of a choice. Brown called about a week ago, and we scheduled it then, but Iâm applying RD. Then Chicago called on Wednesday, and since itâs my EA school, I needed to schedule it within the week and today was really all I could do. So I had the first at 11:30, the second at 3:00, both at their houses. Both went well, I guess. I wouldnât say amazing, but it was fun to talk about Chicago for 2 hours. I wish Iâd had more in common with the alumni (besides liking the schools). Both were econ/business guys, which Iâm not too interested in. Luckily, Iâm taking econ, so I knew a little, and I was able to talk about Milton Friedman for a couple of minutes with one. But my confession that my dream job would be as a naturalist for a travel company so I could travel to cool places for free was sort of a pleasant clash of interests. Different, but he seemed amused and interested. For Chicago, he asked barely any questions, so I just kept coming up with questions. It was a big change later when we talked mostly about me, and then he asked me once if I had any questions, I asked one, he answered and then he ended it, saying I could e-mail/call with more questions. Iâm glad I got both out of the way, though.