<p>"For those of you who have conducted interviews: would you spend 1 to 2 hours with an applicant if you were going to give a negative review of the applicant? " No. But on the other hand, that length would indicate a very unprofessional/bending the rules interview. My guidelines called for interviews to be kept to 45 minutes-1 hour. The one time I went over one hour (by 10 minutes) was because the candidate was so very impressive, I hated to cut him off.</p>
<p>Thank you for your responses and good advice. DD’s first out-of-the-box response was to talk to her GC. It seems this is the thing to do. (If she can fit it in with band and XC!!)</p>
<p>1down1togo, when I did interviews they were usually 45 min - 1 hour. I remember one that I was struggling to get to last 1/2 hour (kid was clearly uninterested in the school, admitted right off that he only applied because his sister went there and his parents made him apply, and told me what his first choice college was). There was one that seems like it went longer, because it was a girl who was the first in her family to go to college and she had a ton of questions - but I didn’t mind, because she was so nice and sincere and I really felt like I was helping her.</p>
<p>I usually did the interviews at the students’ home, occasionally at a neutral site. Never would have done one in my home, but I had a toddler at the time…</p>
<p>"For those of you who have conducted interviews: would you spend 1 to 2 hours with an applicant if you were going to give a negative review of the applicant? “”</p>
<p>I’ve done that when I’ve interviewed students who seemed terrified or just wouldn’t string more than 3 words together. It took me a long time to realize that the problems with the interview weren’t that I was doing something wrong; what was going on was that the students were extraordinarily shy or were just going through the motions of the interview because their parents made them apply to a school they had no interest in attending.</p>
<p>"And as for the suggestion that interviews be avoided, I was under the impression that it was required for H unless the candidate was applying from a country where there were no alum interviewers. "</p>
<p>Nope. Not required. Harvard tries to interview all applicants from the U.S., though given the large numbers that have been applying due to the financial aid changes, it is not possible in some areas to interview all U.S. applicants. </p>
<p>While Harvard doesn’t require interviews, I don’t think that Harvard would have a good opinion of an applicant who declined the offer of an interview in a reasonably close location.</p>
<p>My husband is an alum interviewer for an ivy league and has interviewed at our home. I’ll answer the door and offer the candidate some juice or water but then once the introductions are over, I leave our LR. For my husband, who works really long hours, doing the interview at home is convenient but also provides a more informal, gracious setting than his office. This isn’t, after all, a job interview. I think his office would be more intimidating and a coffee shop more distracting and noisy.</p>
<p>He takes great care in writing the report and tries to reveal some interesting side of the candidate that may not be already known. I’d have to imagine that the report carries some weight because he can describe the candidate in a way that probably isn’t measured any where else in the application. That said, these kids are remarkable and truly poised.</p>
<p>As an aside: I remember reading an article written by Michael Winerip of the NYTimes a few years ago. As a Harvard alum who also interviews in his home, he described how all the candidates he had seen over the years impressed him deeply but none were ever accepted. It left him wondering if he would be accepted himself if he were applying now. He wrote that when the kids were picked up in his driveway by their parents, he never failed to tell the parents what a wonderful job they had done in raising their impressive child. My husband has done the same and it’s always a genuine remark.</p>
<p>So, does getting the Harvard Book Award, mean anything?</p>
<p>Harvard book award means that your school thinks highly of you. It doesn’t mean you’ll get into Harvard.</p>
<p>For those who care to read the article I mentioned above:</p>
<p>Michael Winerip, “Young, Gifted, and Not Getting Into Harvard,” The New York Times, April 29, 2007.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t talk to the GC about it. Too risky regarding how you might come across. Take the bull by the horns and send a letter to the school with your application. Say something like:</p>
<p>I am somewhat concerned about how I might have been perceived during my alumni interview. My interviewer had his daughter present during most of the interview. She is my contemporary, but attends a local private school. At one point, he passed my statistics and activities list to her and admonished her regarding her own accomplishments. This made me feel uncomfortable, and I think it might have affected the way I carried my end of the conversation. </p>
<p>If, by some chance, the deciding factor in your admissions decision were to hinge on my comportment during the interview, I would be happy to conduct another one at your request if you felt that it would be helpful. </p>
<p>Thanks for you consideration in this matter.</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>This handles the problem for you, and doesn’t put you in the position of shrieking around the school, which might find its way back in some harmful way to your application, or might cause the GC to think you were exaggerating. It gets the idea accross to the admissions office succinctly, and does it in a self-deprecating, non-aggressive way. I would think such a short letter would give them a good context through which to read his submitted report. </p>
<p>BTW, this is my visceral reaction without a lot of thought. I’m sure others will chime in on this suggestion, but its what I think I would ask my daughter to do in similar circumstances. (PS: Don’t mention the shoes)</p>
<p>I like dadX’s suggestion.</p>
<p>I am an alumni interviewer for an Ivy and would suggest you do nothing at this time. The alumni interview report is one piece of information that the admissions folks have. In most cases it confirms what the rest of the applicant’s record shows. In very rare instance it points something out - a positive or a negative - which warrants further follow up. If you continue to be concerned and feel this should be addressed, contact the head of alumni interviewing for this college/university for your state and let that person relay the info to admissions. You can find out who this person is with a call to admissions.</p>
<p>I like Dadx’s suggestion, but I would probably do nothing. It is often difficult to read perceptions on an interview. One of my kids had a horrid interview by an alum of a top school and he was accepted. The other left her Harvard interview and burst into tears in the parking lot where I was waiting for her because she thought it went so terribly. Not only did she get accepted early, her admissions officer made a point of telling her how well her interview went when she was at the school for accepted student days! In contrast, she thought another Ivy interview was her absolute best interview of all, and she did not get accepted. </p>
<p>My son’s Cornell interview was in the alum’s home.</p>
<p>There are too many variables that one cannot control in this admissions process. Let the chips fall and see what happens. No one should set their sights on one school, especially an Ivy. Things generally have a way of working out.</p>
<p>I do local interviewing for a well known LAC. For me, location is at my discretion - it can be in the home or office of the interviewer or at a public location. I mostly DO do them in public places (I’ve used an office a few times) , out of convenience to the students as well as my own privacy. But if you want my honest opinion, I agree with renaissancemom. I think the coffee shop setting is a compromise based on modern day concerns, but far from an ideal setting for an interview. Challenges include the potential of noisy neighbors, not being able to find a seat (I have to get there over an hour early), and identifying the student in a crowd (though I do tell them what I look like) to name a few. </p>
<p>For context, it was not that long ago that in home interviews were very much the norm for local alum Ivy regional reps. That was the case in my area when I was applying to schools and for many years after that. It’s only in recent times, with increased awareness of potential risks (for both interviewer and interviewee) that these public venues became more and more common. </p>
<p>While not condoning, I can’t help but wonder about this interviewer’s motives. Is it possible that the guy may have had his D there on purpose, similar to how a doctor arranges to have a nurse present during exams? Not to say this is a reasonable excuse at all - if fear of being alone with a female interviewee is a concern, arrange in a public place. But, perhaps none of the more public venues was a good option, either. As I said the local coffee places can be zoos, especially on weekends and after school. You can’t always park easily, and getting a table is a hit or miss thing. </p>
<p>I think it was totally inappropriate to have the D there and to show her the resume, however, since you were not there yourself, are you entirely confident that your D read the situation correctly, or that the interviewer’s D was present for the reasons you thought? Was he was really telling his D she wasn’t measuring up? For all we know, maybe the guy’s D is brilliant, and he thought that both the OP’s D as well as his own knew he was just kidding around. The competing school thing does not bother me at all - the girls are not even in the same year. In fact, usually, one is not even allowed to interview during the year their own child is applying.</p>
<p>Again, I’m just talking about the guy’s mindset - in no way do I think any of what he did was appropriate. But does ANY of this mean the write-up won’t be a positive one? Actually, I think you can make a good case for the opposite - the guy was clearly impressed with your D. If the interview is informative, then even less of a reason to be concerned. Even if there is potential for the interview to be considered, just not so sure I’d make the waves. </p>
<p>Incidentally, if the guy is really a Big Player, unconventional or not, his positive recommendation might count for more than your negative impressions.</p>
<p>So there are different standards, folks.</p>
<p>Harvard allows interviews at the alum’s home but says not to ask about other schools applied to.</p>
<p>Penn is the opposite - says they should not be at the alum’s home but doesn’t say to avoid asking about competing schools.</p>
<p>I like DadX’s suggestion very much. I think the OP’s daughter will probably have a fine write up, but I think it would be a kindness on her part if she alerted the admissions office that this interviewer needs to be reminded of what appropriate behavior is. (I find only the presence of the daughter problematic.)</p>
<p>I’m not sure I would recommend no interviews. I think at some schools (particularly top LACs), they are looking for a fit factor. </p>
<p>My daughter once had an interview with an alumni who had been the head of admissions. He told her he was driving up the next weekend and, besides the write-up, would vouch for her personally. Since she hadn’t visited the school, he offered to take her-- along with his family-- when they went up the next weekend. She did turn that down. I have a hard time thinking his recommendation didn’t count. (Yes, she was accepted.) You just never know who the alum will be.</p>
<p>Technically interviews might not be REQUIRED for Harvard (the only US uni of which I have any knowledge) but as Northstarmom points out, the College is not likely to look favourably on a candidate who turns down the offer of one. And in my experience, the Admissions Office goes to incredible lengths to ensure that an alum is available to interview candidates. So if I had an applicant whose schedule didn’t match mine, s/he would be matched with somebody else - if THAT didn’t work out, s/he would be referred on to somebody else, etc. So, not meaning to veer too much OT, I still think the advice to avoid interviews is not going to work in every case.</p>
<p>
It us curious that Harvard allows interviews in alumni homes. You don’t see a possible issue with this (and used to do it yourself), even with your counseling background? It is also curious that Harvard places any weight at all on these interviews, considering there is no training and no selection process for interviewers.</p>
<p>Harvard expects its alum to have good sense about where and how they interview. Harvard also gets something like 25,000 applicants, the majority of which come from the U.S. Harvard attempts to have alum interview all of the U.S. applicants. For many alum interviewers – including infirm interviewers and those with busy schedules and young kids or extremely busy schedules or who live in rural areas, they wouldn’t be able to interview unless they did so at home.</p>
<p>If I had been a male interviewer, I would have made sure that someone – a teen female child or a female spouse – were obviously at home when I interviewed females. That way, I would have been unlikely to have been falsely accused of sexual harassment. That also would have made female interviewees feel more safe.</p>
<p>As a female interviewer, I didn’t worry about such accusations (though, perhaps I should have) nor that the people whom I interviewed would feel unsafe. I figured that since I am female, both male and female applicants would not have safety concerns.</p>
<p>I learned, however, that I needed to be concerned about my own safety. Learned this after an alum interviewer told me about being accosted in her home by the angry parent of a student who was rejected. I stopped interviewing at home after an applicant who had been deferred EA left a gift at my house. That creeped me out. I was afraid of what he might leave if he eventually was rejected!</p>
<p>When I was employed at a corporation, I used to interview students in my office on weekends and evenings. This may sound reassuringly safe to parents who are reading this. However, on weekends and evenings, I was the only person present usually on the entire floor that my office was on, so if I had been a bad person out to do something vile to an applicant, that would have easily been possible.</p>
<p>The problem with interviewing at coffee shops is that they can be noisy and aren’t private. it is amazing how much noise some of the smoothie makers make. It also can be very uncomfortable for students who end up being interviewed at a table next to where some of their high school friends happen to be seated.</p>
<p>Anyway, all alum interviewers are volunteers who do the best that they can.</p>
<p>“It is also curious that Harvard places any weight at all on these interviews, considering there is no training and no selection process for interviewers.”</p>
<p>Harvard gives all interviewers a 30-page or so booklet with information about how to interview and examples of useful and not useful interview reports. It also figures that it’s alum have good sense and at the very least have a good idea about what kind of personality, interests, academics would indicate a person is Harvard material. </p>
<p>Harvard also calls and e-mails interviewers to get follow-up information when it desires that. It also requests second interviews in some cases. It doesn’t tell the regional coordinator of alum interviewers why it’s requesting follow-up interviews, but I suspect it’s when applicants are on the bubble and the interview report was too vague to be helpful or when an applicant appears stellar but gets a bad interview report. </p>
<p>It will be interesting to see whether Harvard continues to try to interview all U.S. applicants. I just heard from a friend who interviews in a large city that since the financial aid changes, his area is getting more shot-in-the dark applicants. I doubt that alum will want to waste their time talking to students who are clearly unqualified for Harvard, something that alum interviewers only rarely had to do in the past. This may lead Harvard to start narrowing the list of U.S. applicants who are interviewed.</p>