Georgetown alumni interview

[Anonymous]

Way back when I was applying, I did an alumni interview with a Georgetown grad. I think it def depends on the person but it was mostly a fluff interview about my resume, activities, why Georgetown, etc. Kind of like a law firm interview - they have your credentials, so show them your personality (not too out there, but agreeable). Best interview is when the interviewer talks the most!

Was accepted to Georgetown but didn't attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly I stopped interviewing for my Ivy alma mater because the school told us the most important thing was to leave a good impression on the kid because the interview mattered very little and chances are it would be the last impression they had of the school (since no one I interviewed ever got in).

I also have to say that it's not that easy as an interviewer to find a semi-public location where you can interview people. For understandable reasons you can't have them over your house anymore so you end up trying to do it in a Starbucks or something which is awkward for everyone.

Excellent point re the Starbucks. I remember my Dad freaking out when he took me (30+ years ago) to my interview for an Ivy and I had to walk into some stranger's house alone. Poor guy (my dad) just about had a coronary. And, honestly, it was a little unnerving for me, too.

In any event, I am 5:45. We just wish that our child's interview had been set up there first rather than the hoops the kid had to jump through for the prior 2 weeks. The junkie fix poster was really spot on in the description.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly I stopped interviewing for my Ivy alma mater because the school told us the most important thing was to leave a good impression on the kid because the interview mattered very little and chances are it would be the last impression they had of the school (since no one I interviewed ever got in).

I also have to say that it's not that easy as an interviewer to find a semi-public location where you can interview people. For understandable reasons you can't have them over your house anymore so you end up trying to do it in a Starbucks or something which is awkward for everyone.

Excellent point re the Starbucks. I remember my Dad freaking out when he took me (30+ years ago) to my interview for an Ivy and I had to walk into some stranger's house alone. Poor guy (my dad) just about had a coronary. And, honestly, it was a little unnerving for me, too.

In any event, I am 5:45. We just wish that our child's interview had been set up there first rather than the hoops the kid had to jump through for the prior 2 weeks. The junkie fix poster was really spot on in the description.

yeah, that's weird/inconsiderate. I used email to set up interviews and tried to make them on weekends (or by phone if nothing else worked).

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure the alumni interviews have any impact on someone's acceptance. I always thought they were a way to market a school and possibly keep alumni engaged.

As far as prepping, just be nice and polite. The interviewers are often given little guidance and it's more a chance to just talk about the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm an interviewer.

What do you want to know?

I guess since this is my first college kid, and this is his first choice school-any tips?
My son is quite shy, and I'm wondering how to help him prep, if that's even possible.
Should he wear a suit? Shirt and tie but not a full suit?
And how much influence is the interview in the bigger scheme of admissions?

Sorry, I forgot to come back and check this thread. As an interviewer, we are given guidelines but there are no specific questions that we have to ask. I don't think there is any way to prep since every interviewer will ask different questions. He needs to be able to hold a conversation and tell the interviewer about himself.

Since I'm local, I get a lot of TJ applicants in my pile. Statistically, they all look the same. Multiple APs high SAT/ACT scores and significant extracurricular activities. My role as the interviewer is to find out something about the candidate that isn't conveyed on paper. When I interview, I try and set up a mutually convenient time or a time that is more convenient to the student. I try for Sunday mornings but that's not always possible. Unlike the other interviewer, I don't like to interview during the work day. I'm pretty casual and I won't be showing up in a suit or in heels. I'll be in jeans and a nice top with flats. It doesn't phase me one way or another if a student shows up in a suit or in cut offs---again, I'm trying to provide insight into who this person is. If they normally wear a suit to church on Sunday mornings, then that's who they are. If they normally, roll out of bed, and throw on a wrinkled shirt, cutoffs, and flip flops, then that's who they are.

I don't ask questions about course work. I do ask what is the most interesting project you have worked on---some kids tell me about a school group project and others kids tell me about the project they're working at NIH. I also ask what the kid did on Sat night---I want to know if they are social or if they spend all their time studying. I ask about the the last book they read. Some kids can only tell me about school reading and other kids tell me about the latest teen vampire book. I ask about the interesting extras on their resume---how long have they been involved in the chess club, band, SGA etc. I want to know if they're really involved or if it was just a college resume building activity.

The other, probably pretty standard questions, I ask is why Georgetown and why should Georgetown want you? I tell the story of why I picked the school....I toured the school on a Wed afternoon. It was a beautiful spring day--warm and sunny. The tour guide took us up to Village A. The students were on the rooftop desk bbq and having a keg party at 2 in the afternoon. Yep---that's why I picked Georgetown. Good atmosphere. Then I listen to why they want to go--some say mom and dad think it's a good idea, some talk about SFS, others talk about having always seen the spires as they drove down the parkway. Everyone has a reason. What I'm not looking for is its the best blah blah blah.

To your last question---how much influence does the interviewer have---I don't think much. I get a summary after admissions of the student decisions. One kid I interviewed dropped out of Harvard 2 months in. I had to ask about that decision. I was really hoping he was going to say something along the lines of my family circumstances changed or he had to come back to the DC area for some reason. But nope, he just said he wasn't "feeling Harvard" and he left. Certainly that's his right. But who doesn't at least finish out the semester? His HS grades and scores were amazing. Personality wise, he was a dud. I didn't recommend him but he was accepted. I suspect the interview reports are only important if a student is on the bubble.

Good luck to your son. Just tell him to be himself. That's the best prep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly I stopped interviewing for my Ivy alma mater because the school told us the most important thing was to leave a good impression on the kid because the interview mattered very little and chances are it would be the last impression they had of the school (since no one I interviewed ever got in).

I also have to say that it's not that easy as an interviewer to find a semi-public location where you can interview people. For understandable reasons you can't have them over your house anymore so you end up trying to do it in a Starbucks or something which is awkward for everyone.

Excellent point re the Starbucks. I remember my Dad freaking out when he took me (30+ years ago) to my interview for an Ivy and I had to walk into some stranger's house alone. Poor guy (my dad) just about had a coronary. And, honestly, it was a little unnerving for me, too.

In any event, I am 5:45. We just wish that our child's interview had been set up there first rather than the hoops the kid had to jump through for the prior 2 weeks. The junkie fix poster was really spot on in the description.

My Georgetown alumni interview was at the interviewers home, which was a small efficiency apartment in Adams Morgan. Interviewer was a young guy in his 20s. He sat on his bed and I sat on a chair. I went by myself, my parents had no idea. It was perfectly fine, but it's a good thing times have changed.

[Anonymous]

The demographics at Georgetown have changed so much in a generation that, more likely than not, your DC will face a demographic mismatch if your DC is not a white Catholic. I understand that there are limits to what the admissions office can do, but it would be nice to see more interviewers of color, especially with regard to applicants from groups Georgetown now admits that it has discriminated against or exploited in the past. Interviews are tough enough without having to face someone incapable of understanding your perspective. That is, of course, a generalization, but it is clearly a concern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm an interviewer.

What do you want to know?

I guess since this is my first college kid, and this is his first choice school-any tips?
My son is quite shy, and I'm wondering how to help him prep, if that's even possible.
Should he wear a suit? Shirt and tie but not a full suit?
And how much influence is the interview in the bigger scheme of admissions?

Sorry, I forgot to come back and check this thread. As an interviewer, we are given guidelines but there are no specific questions that we have to ask. I don't think there is any way to prep since every interviewer will ask different questions. He needs to be able to hold a conversation and tell the interviewer about himself.

Since I'm local, I get a lot of TJ applicants in my pile. Statistically, they all look the same. Multiple APs high SAT/ACT scores and significant extracurricular activities. My role as the interviewer is to find out something about the candidate that isn't conveyed on paper. When I interview, I try and set up a mutually convenient time or a time that is more convenient to the student. I try for Sunday mornings but that's not always possible. Unlike the other interviewer, I don't like to interview during the work day. I'm pretty casual and I won't be showing up in a suit or in heels. I'll be in jeans and a nice top with flats. It doesn't phase me one way or another if a student shows up in a suit or in cut offs---again, I'm trying to provide insight into who this person is. If they normally wear a suit to church on Sunday mornings, then that's who they are. If they normally, roll out of bed, and throw on a wrinkled shirt, cutoffs, and flip flops, then that's who they are.

I don't ask questions about course work. I do ask what is the most interesting project you have worked on---some kids tell me about a school group project and others kids tell me about the project they're working at NIH. I also ask what the kid did on Sat night---I want to know if they are social or if they spend all their time studying. I ask about the the last book they read. Some kids can only tell me about school reading and other kids tell me about the latest teen vampire book. I ask about the interesting extras on their resume---how long have they been involved in the chess club, band, SGA etc. I want to know if they're really involved or if it was just a college resume building activity.

The other, probably pretty standard questions, I ask is why Georgetown and why should Georgetown want you? I tell the story of why I picked the school....I toured the school on a Wed afternoon. It was a beautiful spring day--warm and sunny. The tour guide took us up to Village A. The students were on the rooftop desk bbq and having a keg party at 2 in the afternoon. Yep---that's why I picked Georgetown. Good atmosphere. Then I listen to why they want to go--some say mom and dad think it's a good idea, some talk about SFS, others talk about having always seen the spires as they drove down the parkway. Everyone has a reason. What I'm not looking for is its the best blah blah blah.

To your last question---how much influence does the interviewer have---I don't think much. I get a summary after admissions of the student decisions. One kid I interviewed dropped out of Harvard 2 months in. I had to ask about that decision. I was really hoping he was going to say something along the lines of my family circumstances changed or he had to come back to the DC area for some reason. But nope, he just said he wasn't "feeling Harvard" and he left. Certainly that's his right. But who doesn't at least finish out the semester? His HS grades and scores were amazing. Personality wise, he was a dud. I didn't recommend him but he was accepted. I suspect the interview reports are only important if a student is on the bubble.

Good luck to your son. Just tell him to be himself. That's the best prep.


Thank you very much!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The demographics at Georgetown have changed so much in a generation that, more likely than not, your DC will face a demographic mismatch if your DC is not a white Catholic. I understand that there are limits to what the admissions office can do, but it would be nice to see more interviewers of color, especially with regard to applicants from groups Georgetown now admits that it has discriminated against or exploited in the past. Interviews are tough enough without having to face someone incapable of understanding your perspective. That is, of course, a generalization, but it is clearly a concern.

Op here. I guess we are "lucky" my son is a white Catholic. But honestly it's a bad thing too. He's just like the rest of the hoards of good grades/athletic/white male/relatively wealthy seniors who are battling for admission. He has no story of challenges faced, his life has been easy.
He has no idea where to go with that. "Been super busy playing football year round, tried hard and got good grades in school" is all he's got....not a compelling or interesting story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The demographics at Georgetown have changed so much in a generation that, more likely than not, your DC will face a demographic mismatch if your DC is not a white Catholic. I understand that there are limits to what the admissions office can do, but it would be nice to see more interviewers of color, especially with regard to applicants from groups Georgetown now admits that it has discriminated against or exploited in the past. Interviews are tough enough without having to face someone incapable of understanding your perspective. That is, of course, a generalization, but it is clearly a concern.

NP--I'm possibly misunderstanding you here, but this statement seems somewhat contradictory. Is your perspective that Georgetown has gotten *more* white and Catholic than it was in the 80s, 90s, or aughts? Just walked around the campus last weekend with DD (who loved it, but I digress) and I was struck by how much *more* diverse it is today than it was back when I attended in the early 90s. And it's certainly less white and Catholic than the days before John Thompson (Jr., not JTIII). While the interviewers may be white and Catholic in the main, the outcomes measured by the current student population (and I admit this is only my observation) suggests otherwise--or at least that it's trending in a more diverse direction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The demographics at Georgetown have changed so much in a generation that, more likely than not, your DC will face a demographic mismatch if your DC is not a white Catholic. I understand that there are limits to what the admissions office can do, but it would be nice to see more interviewers of color, especially with regard to applicants from groups Georgetown now admits that it has discriminated against or exploited in the past. Interviews are tough enough without having to face someone incapable of understanding your perspective. That is, of course, a generalization, but it is clearly a concern.

Op here. I guess we are "lucky" my son is a white Catholic. But honestly it's a bad thing too. He's just like the rest of the hoards of good grades/athletic/white male/relatively wealthy seniors who are battling for admission. He has no story of challenges faced, his life has been easy.
He has no idea where to go with that. "Been super busy playing football year round, tried hard and got good grades in school" is all he's got....not a compelling or interesting story.

Has he sought out interests or activities outside of what has been handed to him or part of the routine within his clique? That's what differentiates an applicant. If he hasn't, it's hard to blame the fact that he had the misfortune of being born white into a wealthy upbringing. Poor people who end up being interesting candidates didn't get that way simply because they are poor or non white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The demographics at Georgetown have changed so much in a generation that, more likely than not, your DC will face a demographic mismatch if your DC is not a white Catholic. I understand that there are limits to what the admissions office can do, but it would be nice to see more interviewers of color, especially with regard to applicants from groups Georgetown now admits that it has discriminated against or exploited in the past. Interviews are tough enough without having to face someone incapable of understanding your perspective. That is, of course, a generalization, but it is clearly a concern.

Op here. I guess we are "lucky" my son is a white Catholic. But honestly it's a bad thing too. He's just like the rest of the hoards of good grades/athletic/white male/relatively wealthy seniors who are battling for admission. He has no story of challenges faced, his life has been easy.
He has no idea where to go with that. "Been super busy playing football year round, tried hard and got good grades in school" is all he's got....not a compelling or interesting story.

Has he sought out interests or activities outside of what has been handed to him or part of the routine within his clique? That's what differentiates an applicant. If he hasn't, it's hard to blame the fact that he had the misfortune of being born white into a wealthy upbringing. Poor people who end up being interesting candidates didn't get that way simply because they are poor or non white.

Unfortunately with high school football, it's year round every day including Saturday's and camps all summer. It's literally impossible to get a job or do another activity. I wish he could have. The only "free" time that exists is Sundays-and by that time he's exhausted and has homework to catch up on and projects for school etc.

Football is brutal time wise.