I assume that they would get your entire app, but I doubt that they would read all of it. I’ve never been an interviewee yet so I was wondering what they read on your application or put emphasis on in discussion. Do they ask lots of questions about those things (like special awards, activities, essays, etc.) they found interesting, or are the questions more open-ended where they ask broader questions in which you just fill in the details about what you did? (I guess there would be a healthy mix of both?)
I can only speak of my S’s experience but he had interviews for Vanderbilt, Duke, Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Penn, and MIT. As far as he could tell none of them had any prior information about him at all. One mentioned that he had checked him out on fb, and another said he recognized him from a local news story but none seemed to have any lead information from the colleges, at least not that they mentioned. None of them asked him to bring a resume and he didn’t offer one. They really didn’t ask resume type questions at all, the interviews were more conversational in nature. The purpose of the interview is to add insight, not to rehash your CA.
Generally, none.
It’s not about a checklist (tell me about your awards, how many hours did you X?) It’s more meant to get to know you, as a candidate for their alma mater. Know your targets well, relax, and you should be ok.
My Rice interviewer’s first comment was that he has received zero information about me. He wanted to make sure I don’t spend my time bragging about test scores or class ranks because that is not what he is looking at. He only received my email address, that’s it.
I assume we are talking about alumni interviewers and not formal admissions officers employed by the university. In the case of Harvard and Columbia, the only information the interviewer receives is the student’s name and current school. The application itself is not shared nor is any information pertaining to test scores, grades etc. I imagine it is that way for most universities since that information is considered highly confidential.
Alumni interviewers will only receive your name, your highschool and a means of contacting you. Sometimes they will request a resume from you, but most don’t. Interviews are about getting to know parts of you not in the application already, so it can add something.
My D brought her resume and offered it to her interviewers when they first met (who all took it) so they would have a springboard for conversation.