<p>I have an interview today, and I know you're supposed to bring your resume. When should I give it to the alum? At the beginning, end, or sometime during the conversation?</p>
<p>Is there anything else I should bring?!</p>
<p>Thank you so much for helping.</p>
<p>Don’t give it to them, tell the alum you have it and he/she will then either ask you for it or let you keep it. Don’t sweat it by the way, the interview is purely informational and has little (if any) weight in the admissions process. Check out the Penn forum for more information on interviews, there are a few good threads around there.</p>
<p>I agree with all of that.</p>
<p>I have interviewed applicants (not for Penn, but for a comparable university) both with and without resumes. I think there are advantages both ways. The resume does pretty much replicate the information that Penn already has in your application. If your interviewer uses that information to elicit new information that helps Penn understand more fully who you are, that’s great! If the interviewer is drawn to that information to a moth like a flame, and all he or she does is go over ground you’ve already covered, then your interview won’t damage you at all, but it won’t help you either. </p>
<p>I’ve had both things happen to me when I’ve had applicants’ resumes in front of me. I’ve probably also had both things happen to me without resumes in hand, too, but in those cases I have less way to know whether I’ve just covered the same old ground that the student covered in the written application.</p>
<p>So, let the interviewer conduct the interview however he or she prefers, and realize that with only very rare exceptions, the alumni interview is the least weighty part of your entire application.</p>