How important are alumni interviews? My daughter received a call for an interview (completed the interview early Jan.) and her friend from school did not - he also applied to Yale and lives in the same town. I’m aware that everyone is supposed to get interviews when an alumni is available in your area, however that didn’t apply in this case.
I recently interviewed a young man at the local HS. I know for a fact that upwards of half his classmates who applied will not get interview offers – because they were assigned randomly and not enough volunteers to interview each applicant. Indeed, in my assignment queue, 2 students were just added and I’ve not even contacted them yet.
I wouldn’t read into this as a sign one way or another.
As to how important? My experience (as a 25+ year interviewer) is this: for most kids, it won’t make any difference. The applicants are in three groups: a) shoo-ins (recruited athletes, other “gotta haves” that, barring a felony or something, will receive an offer) – this is only a very small group (2-3%), b) the vast number who don’t get much traction past the first read. I can imagine 85%. Then there’s c) that remaining 10% or so which they need to whittle down by 3/4 — the kids in the grey area. For them, an very good interview MIGHT make a difference.
For group a) and b) – there is no affect whatsoever.
That being said, I know of students in the “c” category for whom the alumna’s report did tip the scale in the applicant’s favor in the committee’s eyes.
Two of my best friends and I applied to Yale RD last year. Friend 1 and I were contacted for alumni interviews in early January, and we both reported having great experiences. Friend 2 was never contacted for an interview and became convinced it was a sign of imminent rejection. We lived in the same town and were all top scholars with top ECs.
Come Ivy Day, we pushed the decision button and saw the following:
Me: Acceptance (had interview)
Friend 1: Rejection (had interview)
Friend 2: Acceptance (not contacted for an interview)
The wait is stressful, but reading into this for your daughter or her friend, @study222, is pointless.
Do admissions officers hire help to review applications or do they read them all themselves? I can’t imagine one admission officer reading thousands of applications without passing out…lol
Every Admissions Office, including Yale, employs part time seasonal staff called “Admissions Readers” to help them slog though the thousands of applications. These “Admissions Readers” are usually professors, teachers, lawyers, retired guidance counselors, etc who are trained by the admissions staff on what to look for.