<p>is it usual for a brandeis interview to last for fewer than ten minutes? mine did, and i’m hoping that it won’t reflect poorly on me as an applicant. my interviewer seemed distracted and kind of disinterested (her cell phone rang twice during the interview and she was sipping a coffee as we talked, which seemed unprofessional, considering that we were in the admissions office and not a restaurant or anything.) she hardly asked me any open-ended questions like “what do you like to do outside of school?” or anything. she just asked me what classes i was taking this year and other briefly-answered types of questions like that, and a few minutes later she was just like “well, that’s it, unless you have any questions.” the interviews i’ve had at other places have been way longer and involved more opportunities for me to talk at length about ECs or whatever. so, i mean, what do you make of this? it kinda worries me. when i told my aunt (who works at a college) about it, she said i should report the woman for being a bad interviewer. that seems a bit extreme… but what should i do, if anything? i really want to get into brandeis…</p>
<p>Could you request an alumni interview? You could always say you had more questions to ask and ideas you wanted to share. I honestly don't know how important the interview is. </p>
<p>I would hesitate to "report" the interviewer. This could backfire. </p>
<p>BTW, my son's interview on campus lasted about a half hour.</p>
<p>My D's interview on campus lasted 30 to 45 minutes. I agree with Cami that requesting a local alumni interview sounds like a good idea. I suspect your on-campus interviewer was just over-taxed or stressed that day, and I don't recommend that you take it personally.</p>
<p>My D had a very short interview at her "safety school"-- in that case, her stats more or less guaranteed admission so maybe the interviewer didn't need to know anymore? She had about 30 min at Brandeis. Maybe you are so well-qualified the interviewer knew they would accept you? Good idea to have an alumni interview, if possible.</p>
<p>For what it worth, my son had a short similar type of interview. It lasted 10 minutes. He was accepted to the university. BTW, the interviewer also drank coffee. Questions asked were basically about information already completely answered in the application. My son got the sense that the interview went "well". I think the biggest thing was seeing if my son would take an interview, and also to show interest by taking the steps to go to it. Just so you know, this interview was not for Brandeis.</p>
<p>My son had a similar situation to yours at Wash U. It was a hot day in mid-July and the interviewer took him outside to sit on a bench. (Given the temperature, I figured the interview would not be a long one!) She was drinking a soda and occasionally glanced at her watch. They talked about ten minutes and then she took three minutes to walk him around the particular quad they were in. He has since decided not to apply there, but it had nothing to do with the interview.</p>
<p>I think admissions officers are often under the gun in terms of their schedules, running from one thing to another. I honestly don't think it reflects on your likelihood of whether you'll get into a school. A long interview is usually a good sign, but a short interview may show nothing more than the person who's speaking with you has a busy day.</p>