<p>Hey guys! So, I sent my request for an off-campus interview on Oct. 26, which is coming up on five weeks. I still haven't received a letter from a Rice alum... Should I be worried and has anyone else had a similar situation?</p>
<p>Thanks for your help,
TechGuy</p>
<p>I’d contact admissions. My daughter sent her request back in October and had contact from a Rice alum within days. She had a scheduled interview within hours after email contact from the interviewer.</p>
<p>just email them at <a href=“mailto:admi@rice.edu”>admi@rice.edu</a> as TexaCo Mom says. They will check and let you know when your interview will be.</p>
<p>thanks guys! i appreciated it. i called the office and left a message, so hopefully they get back to me today =</p>
<p>I’m worried too, but because I’m having one in the next few days. Do the alumni interviews really count for that much?</p>
<p>they are used for evaluative purposes. An interview can help or hurt you plenty. If you come off as a smart but boring person who just studies all day long, they aren’t going to be too thrilled.</p>
<p>Don’t worry, be yourself and lend a face to your application. It is an opportunity to tell them who YOU really are.</p>
<p>Antarius is wrong. Interviews are in fact <em>not</em> evaluative. Interviewers–I am one–are directed to avoid evaluating a candidate’s intelligence, academic preparedness, &c. The purpose of the interview is (1) to color the applicant’s file with personal detail and (2) to provide the candidate with information about Rice and the application process.</p>
<p>I fail to see why rice would incur the time and expense to collect large quantities of data that they would not use. Even if the interview is just to “color the applicant’s file with personal detail” then the application is being affected and in being evaluated afterward.</p>
<p>Would you admit someone who is flat out boring, does nothing but study but otherwise looks spectacular on paper in lieu of someone more balanced and interesting but good on paper as well? If the answer is yes, then it is evaluative. If the answer is no - then you are right, but we have serious problems with our admission policies.</p>
<p>I guess the question here is what one considers “evaluative”. I had an interview less than a month ago, and the interview was more of a conversation to determine who I was as a person as opposed to a student. The questions were tailored to see how I would contribute to life on campus. While the interviewer never jotted down my GPA, he was taking notes over our discussion. He told me that he would be sending a report to Rice after the interview was over. I’m with Antarius as far as the definition of “evaluative”. Why would Rice conduct interviews if they didn’t somehow use the information gained to evaluate the applicant? I would hope that my time spent during the interview would give the admissions officers a better understanding of who I am as a person and in turn help them to fully evaluate my application.</p>
<p>I called Ms.Carrizales in the AO, and she was very helpful and called the person in charge of my area to set something up. I would definitely recommend calling to anyone in a similar situation. Thanks to everyone for your responses =]</p>
<p>The RAVA handbook says, explicitly, that “[t]he interview is not evaluative.” Rice does not incur any expense in offering interviews and the interview yields about a page of data. </p>
<p>Generally, the interviewer advocates for the applicant. A central–maybe the central–purpose of the interview is to present the university honestly and favorably. Many candidates will have met only one Rice alumnus when it comes time to make a decision about enrollment. That alumnus is the interviewer. A positive interview experience may mean that the applicant chooses Rice over a peer institution.</p>