Alumni interviews- how much do they matter

[Anonymous]

Depends on the school obviously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know that there won't be a definitive answer on this, but DS is feeling so defeated after a not-so-great alumni interview for his top school. He is pretty shy, and the alum was a young grad, and very outgoing. He has worked so hard on his application, and of course there are thousands that are as qualified as he, so at the end of the day it is out of his hands. BUT, wanted to know if anyone knew what the deal is with alumni interviews. She said that this was actually her first interview she'd done, and ended it with , "Well, whatever school you get into will be good enough." He was pretty crushed. What do you all think?

Don't worry about it! Really doesn't matter. Goid luck to your son.

[Anonymous]

Two words: building resilience

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard friends who do alumni interviews say no one they’ve met with ever got in.

They clearly don’t hold that much sway. As pp mentioned, it’s an alumni activity, not really an admissions one.

Interviewers don't usually know if they get in or not.

They are usually told after the admissions season is over.

[Anonymous]

Correct, you know if kids were accepted or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two words: building resilience

WTF does that mean?

[Anonymous]

They do not matter. They are not trained, no vetting of qualifications to be a good interviewer, even more true with common app and test optional as they can’t keep up when demand. They are merely to keep alumni engaged and the donations flowing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They do not matter. They are not trained, no vetting of qualifications to be a good interviewer, even more true with common app and test optional as they can’t keep up when demand. They are merely to keep alumni engaged and the donations flowing.

That's not what the schools say or report on the CDS. Are they lying to dupe their alumni and waste their time?

[Anonymous]

For some schools the interviews matter, for some they do not. I used to be an alumni interviewer for Cornell but I stopped after they stopped requiring detailed reports (ie - I realized my input did not matter and my time was being wasted). I believe Cornell has stopped offering interviews - they cited the reason as “because we can’t accommodate all the students who want them” but I have a feeling it’s because most alumni realized it was a waste of time and stopped volunteering to help, and the remaining alumni who continued them had too many people to take on.

Agree with other posters that it is mostly now just a vehicle for alumni engagement. However there are a few schools left that still take interviewer notes into account.

[Anonymous]

-*to clarify they’ve stopped offering interviews to prospective students - I think accepted students can still sign up for an outreach meeting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know that there won't be a definitive answer on this, but DS is feeling so defeated after a not-so-great alumni interview for his top school. He is pretty shy, and the alum was a young grad, and very outgoing. He has worked so hard on his application, and of course there are thousands that are as qualified as he, so at the end of the day it is out of his hands. BUT, wanted to know if anyone knew what the deal is with alumni interviews. She said that this was actually her first interview she'd done, and ended it with , "Well, whatever school you get into will be good enough." He was pretty crushed. What do you all think?

Alumni interviews are almost more of an alumni outreach program than part of the admissions process.
It is a way to keep alumni involved with their alma mater.
For example, the harvard lawsuit revealed that the admissions office basically ignored the alumni interviewer's opinions unless there was a big red flag.

[Anonymous]

My kid did not interview for W&M (ED school) because of anxiety about one on one and didn’t want to risk making a negative impression when stats and application on paper was good.
DC showed demonstrated interest in other ways like campus visit/tour, Instagram follows, attended session when rep visited high school, applied ED.
DC hopes lack of interview won’t be a big deal but it’s hard to say.

[Anonymous]

Alumni interviews are all about alumni engagement and matter very little for admissions (even though the alum interviewers may think otherwise).