I’m a little concerned about some of the questions my interviewer asked as well as some of the opinions that he expressed.
It started off with him asking me about extracurricular activities, and in my reply I mentioned volunteer work with refugees. From there he asked me about safety concerns and how I felt about the acceptance of refugees into western countries. Since I know that this is a big topic of discussion at the moment, I started off thinking it was a sort of test. That seems completely acceptable to me. What I felt was inappropriate was when he started talking about the human rights issues and morals of non-westerners in a way that made it very obvious that he felt all westerners are right and good, and all non-westerners are not. I then attempted to bring that part of our conversation to a close three times, but he kept on going back to it. I have a very strong feeling if he was to interview someone wearing a headscarf, that they may not receive the fairest interview.
Whoa. Not okay. Was this an alumni interviewer? Or someone on the admissions staff? Was it an evaluative interview? Or more of an informational interview?
Hey… you just met someone from the other political party that you don’t belong to! And while I tend to agree with your position, likely you will meet some more of them in college. I would not tell the university. Alumni interviews mean little in the process.
I don’t think the issue is that the interviewer is on the opposite end of the political spectrum from the OP (and I tend to agree with OPs position). I think the issue is the interview decided to discuss politics, which has no business in an alumni college interview. When the OP mentioned volunteering with refugees, the interviewer should have asked questions directly pertaining to OPs experience and not asked questions to start a political debate. The fact that they kept bringing the conversation back to the topic says a lot. If it were me, I would probably tell the school.
It’s possible the interviewer wanted to see how you handled an opinion different than your own or how you handle confrontation. If in fact the guy gives you a bad review based on your opinions it’s highly unlike that the school will pay attention to it. I wouldn’t worry b
If it’s just an alumni interview, you don’t have to worry about its effect on your admissions chances. However, I would report it to the local alumni association (not to the school’s admissions office). It’s the alumni association that organizes the local interviewers.
No, the questions were not appropriate, but there isn’t much you can do about it. I probably would send AO an email, to say the qeuestions made you uncomfortable, but only in the hopes that they may want to consider not using this person for interviews anymore. However, don’t sound whiny or complaining. In fact, let them know after decisions. Then they will learn the terviewer isn’t appropriate, and you won’t feel like you are jeopardizing your chances.
While I absolutely feel the interviewer asked inappropriate questions, I also think more context is needed. How did you initially phrase your extracurricular work with the refugees? By no means am I suggesting the interviewer was correct, but the flow of discussion may have, for some odd reason, prompted him to ask a question like that.
Regarding what you should do: If you feel your interview went POORLY, then maybe sending a short, polite email to the Alumni organization could be helpful. If it was just AVERAGE and you didn’t feel you conveyed your accomplishments as well as you would have liked, I’d leave it alone. I doubt many admissions decisions come down to an interview.