Alumni Interview (Stanford) - How important is it?

[Anonymous]

Stanford web site seems to imply it's not important at all. I think it is (or should be) a pretty important aspect of admission process. Anybody care to comment? TIA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stanford web site seems to imply it's not important at all. I think it is (or should be) a pretty important aspect of admission process. Anybody care to comment? TIA

Why do you think it is an important aspect of the admission process?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stanford web site seems to imply it's not important at all. I think it is (or should be) a pretty important aspect of admission process. Anybody care to comment? TIA

Why do you think it is an important aspect of the admission process?

Why? I thought I read it somewhere it is very important aspect of the admission process. Maybe I misunderstood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stanford web site seems to imply it's not important at all. I think it is (or should be) a pretty important aspect of admission process. Anybody care to comment? TIA

Why do you think it is an important aspect of the admission process?

Why? I thought I read it somewhere it is very important aspect of the admission process. Maybe I misunderstood.

Don't know about Stanford but it seems like there are 4 broad categories of interviews:

1. Schools that don't do them at all (Boston College, Colgate, Virginia, Michigan)
2. Schools that do alumni interviews that are really more informational and to make the alums feel connected (most Ivies)
3. Schools that do alumni interviews that have some influence (Georgetown, Vanderbilt)
4. Schools that really prefer on campus/Skype interviews (Trinity College, Wake Forest)

If Stanford says they aren't important then they are probably in the second category.

My view was that DC should always request the interview if it was offered. It showed interest in the school, and doing the interviews was good experience for DC.

[Anonymous]

What's important is to show interest in the school. Requesting an interview if you're offered the choice, and attending an interview if you're offered one, help to show interest.

Whether the alum's impression factors into the admissions decision is a separate question. PP did a really good job summarizing the way different schools handle this. I'd only add for #2 that it is possible to blow an informational interview if you do something really egregious, like make racist comments.

[Anonymous]

I used to interview for my old SLAC. I was able to give the school a perspective on their personality and answer questions from the students. Around here, I typically ran into TJ-type kids who took 6 AP classes and wrote fascinating papers that went to international news journals. Basically, I wasn't trying to question whether they had the grades/test scores. I felt like my job was to determine what actually interested the kids. I wanted to hear about something that excited them, what they do in their "spare" time when they aren't studying for hours on end because they have to. Some kids made it clear that they had no idea why they were applying to my school. They didn't have questions, they didn't ask about certain majors/extracurricular activities/social activities or anything that might make them single out my school over any others. I was able to relay this to the school, whether this kid seemed interested in our school, what they were involved with that wasn't just padding a resume, about their family, whether going to college was a stretch and a dream, or something they were not very excited about but that was expected, etc. I have no idea if it made any difference in admissions, but I did feel it gave more personality to the application.

[Anonymous]

For top schools, alumni interviews count for basically nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For top schools, alumni interviews count for basically nothing.

Then why do schools even bother doing it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For top schools, alumni interviews count for basically nothing.

Then why do schools even bother doing it?

Same reason my nonprofit gives "pro bono opportunities" to big firms: helps them feel useful, so they donate more come Christmas.

[Anonymous]

For top schools, alumni interviews count for basically nothing.


Then why do schools even bother doing it?

For one thing, it can be informational for the student--give them an idea of whether or not the school would be a good fit.

[Anonymous]

I conduct these interviews for an Ivy college I attended. No matter how glowing my review, no one ever gets in. It is depressing. Maybe two kids out of fifty or sixty over the course of 15 years. I still do it as a service to the school, but I have concluded that it is just p.r. It makes the alums feel useful, makes the process feel more personal to the applicant, and probably helps with alumni donations and ultimate yield of applicants who are in fact accepted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I conduct these interviews for an Ivy college I attended. No matter how glowing my review, no one ever gets in. It is depressing. Maybe two kids out of fifty or sixty over the course of 15 years. I still do it as a service to the school, but I have concluded that it is just p.r. It makes the alums feel useful, makes the process feel more personal to the applicant, and probably helps with alumni donations and ultimate yield of applicants who are in fact accepted.

You're just watching the admissions rates in action. It IS depressing.

[Anonymous]

Alums are meant to act as ambassadors for the colleges and to provide a human connection between the applicant and the school, especially when students cannot make it to campus.
I have interviewed many students for my Ivy League college, and while the details of my report may not affect their admission standing, it would be a red flag to the admissions office if I reported that the student showed no interest in the interview or flaked out on meeting with me. An emailed thank you from the student, BTW, is also a nice touch.

[Anonymous]

This is why I stopped doing the interviews for Columbia a few years ago. Decided it was a waste of my time.

[Anonymous]

I also stopped doing interviews for my Ivy because it seemed like a waste of time (also, while I understand why the school advised us to no longer interview in our homes, it's actually a PITA to find a public location that is private enough to have a conversation in winter).