<p>I have an alumni interview coming up and wanted some advice on this matter. I have questions of my own, I'm just not sure if they're applicable to this sort of interview.</p>
<p>I feel like you can't ask them the same questions you'd ask an admissions officer, because their job isn't really to be an expert of every aspect of the school.</p>
<p>Even if my interviewer graduated over 15 years ago, would I ask them the kind of questions I would ask a current student?</p>
<p>Even older alumni will have useful answers to questions about their experiences. Leave the adcom-worthy questions at home.</p>
<p>Alum interviewers that I know try to stay abreast of current issues on campus. Ask away. If they don’t know, they probably can find out for you.</p>
<p>Ask them about their college experiences, what other colleges they’d considered, how their choice of college impacted their life and career…</p>
<p>Most alum interviewers aren’t going to know that much about current issues on campus so won’t be able to answer questions about current classes, professors, etc. Recent graduates, however, can probably answer such questions.</p>
<p>The more the alumnus talks about himself, the more impressed he’ll be with you. Ask him to “sell” the school to you.</p>
<p>"The more the alumnus talks about himself, the more impressed he’ll be with you. "</p>
<p>But, that won’t help the student if applying to a place like Harvard, which requires the alum to write a narrative that uses quotes from the student and other specifics from the interview to rate a student on how strong a candidate they are for admission.</p>
<p>“The student listened raptly while I talked about myself” isn’t going to boost an applicants’ application.</p>
<p>Well, OK, let the alumnus only talk about himself half the time. I still think most will write, “asked intelligent and probing questions.”</p>
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<p>Do they really have Harvard interviewers include quotes?</p>
<p>Yes, they ask Harvard interviewers to include quotes from the student.</p>
<p>So basically, I could ask what their favorite courses or who their favorite professors were, or what organizations they were involved with on campus, their favorite thing about attending that school, etc. but not much else?</p>
<p>If it’s a person who has recently graduated or someone who has a kid at the school, they may be able to tell you much more about current professors, clubs, dorm life, etc. However, many alum interviewers haven’t been back to their college for decades, so aren’t likely to be able to tell you that kind of info.</p>
<p>They can tell you the good and bad about their experiences in college, why they selected that college, what other colleges they considered, and how that selection impacted their life, but they aren’t going to have the inside knowledge of current things there that someone who works there or recently attended college would have.</p>
<p>Asking them their favorite professors, etc. doesn’t sound like it would be useful info to you. Finding out, however, how college has affected their life – career choice, graduate/professional school options, etc. could be useful to you.</p>