Alumni Interview (Stanford) - How important is it?

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

It is easy to understand that the interviews are unlikely to count for much -- not everyone will have the opportunity to do an interview, in many places, there will be no alum nearby and those students cannot be penalized. Also, it is very difficult to ensure any consistency among the interviewers and it would be wrong to penalize or reward a student because of the qualities of the interviewer. But as others have noted, if offered, a student should do them if for no other reason than to show interest, which for many schools is an important factor related to their yield. But students should also be prepared because the interviews can hurt you (uninformed, uninterested, boring) and that would be the worst of all outcomes.

[Anonymous]

My DC has had two Ivy League interviews. They each lasted an hour and the discussions ranged from constitutional law to the economic policies of several foreign countries. Is this typical? I did not attend an ivy.

[Anonymous]

My DC has had two Ivy League interviews. They each lasted an hour and the discussions ranged from constitutional law to the economic policies of several foreign countries. Is this typical? I did not attend an ivy.

[Anonymous]

Another Ivy interviewer here. Our rule is under an hour with the goal of giving a sense of personality and intellectual orientation. It's not supposed to be a test of knowledge. The topics should flow from the applicant's interests. If someone says they went on a service trip to Haiti and really care about international development, I will ask about the debate about whether aid and philanthropy has helped or hurt to check if they have bothered reading and thinking about the issue. Con law and economic policy would only come up if the applicant said those were her interests to make sure she didn't just pick those subjects to seem prestigious. It's better to say your passion is cooking than make up an interest in a serious, prestigious topic. We're generally able to see through all but the most sociopathic teenagers.

Lying just isn't necessary because the interview is super low stakes. A great interview will provide only a little boost for an applicant. However, declining an interview is a good indication that interest in the school is low and can't help. Recruited athletes, are sometimes told to decline interviews by their coaches to avoid giving admissions additional reasons to reject the applicant.

A typical interview confirms what's in the file - whether its average applicant/average interview or strong candidate/strong interview. My sense is that a poor interview will do little to harm a strong candidate because it might be a reflection of the interviewer. But, a strong interview may give the admissions officer pause before rejecting a borderline applicant.

[Anonymous]

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

Depends upon the school. An alumni interview won't get you in but it can indeed keep you out.

[Anonymous]

Another Ivy alum who stopped doing alumni interviews because just about no one was getting admitted (two accepted, two wait-listed out of over 50 interviews). It was a waste of my time and their time. No point in stirring up false hopes.

I did put in effort in the early years to get to know the student and their interests and whether they genuinely had an interest in my alma mater but when everyone was getting rejected left and right it felt pointless.

I have no real idea how the admissions committee make their pick.

[Anonymous]

SLAC interviewer - our emphasis, per the admissions office, should be to (1) evaluate the candidate's ability to be successful (and give meaningful examples of why/why not) on a more subjective/personality basis than the objectiveness of the application allows, (2) provide the candidate an opportunity to further highlight and/or explain a part of their application (and give them a chance to explain away an extenuating circumstance), and (3) at the end, meet with any other family members and answer any questions etc on an informal basis.

The parents almost always are interested in some aspect of the school that the candidate never mentions, but it's important for the family to be supportive of the candidate and we try to make them as comfortable and positive about their child's choice to apply. My "personal" acceptance rate is almost identical to the overall acceptance rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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).

My daughter recently had an interview at Starbucks which went well (according to her).

I would never allow my daughter to interview in the home of a stranger. Why would anyone trust you or someone they don't know to meet in your private home? DD's Ivy recommended a public meeting place for everyone's comfort. Too bad you think it's a PITA because a kid doesn't want to come to your private home. Smart kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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).

I'm a Stanford alum and also stopped doing interviews because it was a waste of my time. Although I enjoyed meeting the students, interviews have zero impact on admissions decisions in 99.9% of cases. (The interview nightmare scenario just never happens with these kids -- they're really well-prepared.) With regard to interview location, that was never a problem -- why can't you have a conversation at Panera, LPQ, etc?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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).

I'm a Stanford alum and also stopped doing interviews because it was a waste of my time. Although I enjoyed meeting the students, interviews have zero impact on admissions decisions in 99.9% of cases. (The interview nightmare scenario just never happens with these kids -- they're really well-prepared.) With regard to interview location, that was never a problem -- why can't you have a conversation at Panera, LPQ, etc?

+1. My DC absolutely refused to go the interviewer's house. Still got in.

[Anonymous]

In my day I had a number of alumni interviews and all were at the homes of the interviewers.

My mother waited in the car outside.

Let's put it this way, I had confidence that the Ivy/SLAC alum wasn't going to attack me, bind me up and stuff me in the closet and do all sorts of nasty things to me.... the very thought never even occurred to me. A real shame that it's a sign of our time when we can no longer trust people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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).

My daughter recently had an interview at Starbucks which went well (according to her).

I would never allow my daughter to interview in the home of a stranger. Why would anyone trust you or someone they don't know to meet in your private home? DD's Ivy recommended a public meeting place for everyone's comfort. Too bad you think it's a PITA because a kid doesn't want to come to your private home. Smart kids.

[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 you know about Stanford admissions better than Stanford, OP?

Very funny.

Now, please tell us, what would you do if you were the Pope? Or, the Rolling Stones

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

Depends upon the school. An alumni interview won't get you in but it can indeed keep you out.

+1. This is the bottom line. It won't get you in but it will certainly keep you out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my day I had a number of alumni interviews and all were at the homes of the interviewers.

My mother waited in the car outside.

Let's put it this way, I had confidence that the Ivy/SLAC alum wasn't going to attack me, bind me up and stuff me in the closet and do all sorts of nasty things to me.... the very thought never even occurred to me. A real shame that it's a sign of our time when we can no longer trust people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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).

My daughter recently had an interview at Starbucks which went well (according to her).

I would never allow my daughter to interview in the home of a stranger. Why would anyone trust you or someone they don't know to meet in your private home? DD's Ivy recommended a public meeting place for everyone's comfort. Too bad you think it's a PITA because a kid doesn't want to come to your private home. Smart kids.

That's not the only reason why alums shouldn't conduct interviews in their own homes. I've interviewed students from a range of SES backgrounds, and meeting at a coffee shop feels more appropriate than meeting at my home or office. Even better, I've booked study rooms at public libraries or have met students at their schools to interview them in a place where they'll feel most comfortable.