<p>I just had my Yale interview today and went quite well prepared. The only thing was that my interviewer started asking me really strange questions. At first, it was the usual school/record type of questions, but then he asked about controversial subjects such as smoking and legalization of marijuana. I was dumbfounded to say the least and couldn't muster a very intelligent answer. Also, he seemed to like to find chinks in my arguments and kept asking me questions that really felt into the "what are your values type" (At some point he said "I'm asking what would YOU do?) Is this normal at all? I never had this type of interviews before. And of course, the question that I'm sure most people have in their mind: how important exactly is the interview? Right now I feel totally fried.</p>
<p>Read the directions Yale gives interviewers and you'll understand it. I don'thave the address but it on the website under "ASC" stuff. Hey, be happy they give them direction...a friend had a Harvard interview that was beyond offensive in terms of the guy's political aenda and insistence on probing personal stuff.</p>
<p>The interview actually counts for Yale (not critical but more than a lot of other alumni interviewing schools). They rank you from 1 to 9 and statistics show that 30% of people having the highest score were accepted versus 2% of the lowest score. Of course this relates to the overall quality of the student also...someone who receives a high score is more likely to be a better student I think...</p>
<p>But the admissions office MUST take reports with a grain of salt as alumni interviews are very arbitrary and subjective. </p>
<p>I did not have those questioned asked of me. The only one that surprised me was "What social issue are you most concerned with?"</p>
<p>yah..it was somewhat shocking...we talked about cigarettes and legalization of marijuana (btw i'm canadian) so that really took me off guard.. i mean..aren't they not supposed to discuss these subjects?</p>
<p>I don't think they're off limits, and a lot of people end up talking about social issues just because the conversation goes that way, but yea your interview did sound weird...was he a canadian guy? Maybe he has something against the US now and doesn't want you going to school here. lol</p>
<p>I'm a little surprised that an interviewer would ask such a loaded question, but they are just people, after all. It sounds to me like he was a bit too personal. Don't worry too much - I don't think the interviews really are all that important, but rather are used to back other impressions from your app. I know several kids that got in without any interview at all.
The general question about what issue facing the world you feel is important does seem to be very common, however. The interviewer should let the student bring up his/her own interests, not grill them on specific hot button issues.</p>
<p>Thanks for your replies guys (or girls).
To zantedeschia: Nah, he was an American who immigrated to Canada. He was a pretty relaxed guy, but he asked me so few school/EC related questions. The ASC website says they will review the interview in juxtaposition with my other recs? sigh..i'll hope for the best. Just like that, where did you get the stats for admitted students depending on their interview performance?</p>
<p>FYI, this was the first questionable Yale i-view I've read about, o don't fret...they all seem to have good perspective on your position in life ( I think that is because most of them are successful and thereby more self-actualized). They don't need to beat up on a 17 year old the way some others do...</p>
<p>I just had my Columbia interview and had a very insightful, thought-provoking conversation. My interviewer was very inquisitive, and was quick to answer follow-up questions to comments I made. I'm sure Yale's interviewers are the same way.</p>
<p>It would have been more prudent for your interviewer to ask these types of questions on topics you brought up, but I'm sure he (or she) was simply trying to encourage you to think, and to come up with a thoughtful, opinionated, and reasoned answer. </p>
<p>He brought up controversial topics most likely because many people are quite opinionated about those issues, and he was looking to see you jump at those questions.</p>
<p>I'd agree, netshark, except that the topics were beyond controversial. It shocked me that an educated guy would inject his personal issues into topics and then expect me to respond without insulting him personally. It was a lose-lose. Anyway, also a dramatic exception to all of the other i-views...a stark contrast, thankfully.</p>
<p>my friend also reported an extremely odd Yale alumni interview. It lasted about twenty minutes and, according to him, the interviewer was "really weird". And at the end he was like "Uhhhh I can't think of any more questions to ask you, so let's call it a day." Or maybe my friend just sucks at interviews and the interviewer wanted to get rid of him; he's kind of an ass lol.</p>