Do you feel like the interview truly helped your child's admissions?

[Anonymous]

Another Ivy interviewer weighing in. At my school there are simply too many applicants for admissions officers or faculty to do interviews so it is an alumni function. We are not gatekeepers, we are ambassadors for the school. Since we do not see grades, essays, scores, or recs, we are only providing a sense of the students' personalities and interests. Everyone applying is a great student and among the very best in their school. 95% are going to be rejected. Our interviews don't change that percentage.

First and foremost, we're trying to give the student a positive feeling of our college. If a student does not leave the interview with a good feeling, we failed. Secondarily, it is an opportunity for the student to convey something about themselves that does not show up in the written application materials. Anything that makes a file stand out is helpful to an applicant and the interviews give them a chance to do that.

[Anonymous]

Totally depends on the school. I would advise women, particularly Asian women, to stay away from MIT alumni interviews in the DMV. Biased interviewers may hurt your chances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another former Ivy alum interviewer here. The content of the interviewer's report may not affect admissions, but the fact of the student's showing up for one and showing genuine interest in that university can matter.

How many years ‘former’? Times have changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most colleges don’t do interviews anymore. So no.
Your kids’ top private should have a strong college guidance office which will have opinions that will be specific to your child - so why are you crowd sourcing this?

Disagree. Many good schools take it into consideration. Some still require it.

https://blog.prepscholar.com/full-list-of-colleges-that-require-interviews

[Anonymous]

Funny Duke recommends it, but you need to submit your app priority in Dec to have a chance at being natched with an interviewer..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another Ivy interviewer weighing in. At my school there are simply too many applicants for admissions officers or faculty to do interviews so it is an alumni function. We are not gatekeepers, we are ambassadors for the school. Since we do not see grades, essays, scores, or recs, we are only providing a sense of the students' personalities and interests. Everyone applying is a great student and among the very best in their school. 95% are going to be rejected. Our interviews don't change that percentage.

First and foremost, we're trying to give the student a positive feeling of our college. If a student does not leave the interview with a good feeling, we failed. Secondarily, it is an opportunity for the student to convey something about themselves that does not show up in the written application materials. Anything that makes a file stand out is helpful to an applicant and the interviews give them a chance to do that.

This makes perfect sense. My DS gave a lot of thought to key points to get across in his interview for a most selective ivy that were not in his application, and his interviewer actually asked whether he had made some of them in his application and, if not, she would note them in her report. He was a strong candidate by both objective (grades/test scores) and subjective (recs, essay, etc.) measures so he may have gotten in anyway, but he assumed that everything counts and his best shot at admission was to be as strong as possible across the board. When people say an interview can't help but can only hurt, that's a bit of a semantic game. If turning down an interview hurts, you have to do it if offered. At that point, some people will be dinged. That means the kid that does well -- who is not dinged -- has improved his odds of admission from that point forward in the process (if you think of the process as lineal -- with high school record, ECs, tests, etc. all coming "before" the interview.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another Ivy interviewer weighing in. At my school there are simply too many applicants for admissions officers or faculty to do interviews so it is an alumni function. We are not gatekeepers, we are ambassadors for the school. Since we do not see grades, essays, scores, or recs, we are only providing a sense of the students' personalities and interests. Everyone applying is a great student and among the very best in their school. 95% are going to be rejected. Our interviews don't change that percentage.

First and foremost, we're trying to give the student a positive feeling of our college. If a student does not leave the interview with a good feeling, we failed. Secondarily, it is an opportunity for the student to convey something about themselves that does not show up in the written application materials. Anything that makes a file stand out is helpful to an applicant and the interviews give them a chance to do that.

The OP says she was talking about actual interviews. No alum interviews. There is a huge difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most colleges don’t do interviews anymore. So no.
Your kids’ top private should have a strong college guidance office which will have opinions that will be specific to your child - so why are you crowd sourcing this?

Disagree. Many good schools take it into consideration. Some still require it.

https://blog.prepscholar.com/full-list-of-colleges-that-require-interviews

I don’t know if that’s an old list or if it’s just wildly inaccurate but DC applied to two schools on the list that say interview recommrnded’ but interviews at those schools were definitely not recommended. DC did no interviews and got into both schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most colleges don’t do interviews anymore. So no.
Your kids’ top private should have a strong college guidance office which will have opinions that will be specific to your child - so why are you crowd sourcing this?

Disagree. Many good schools take it into consideration. Some still require it.

https://blog.prepscholar.com/full-list-of-colleges-that-require-interviews

I don’t know if that’s an old list or if it’s just wildly inaccurate but DC applied to two schools on the list that say interview recommrnded’ but interviews at those schools were definitely not recommended. DC did no interviews and got into both schools.

Article is from July 2018

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS interviewed at W&M. I think it helped with his admission. W&M does not require interviews but will consider them if you do one. He's an excellent public speaker and is very polished and confident when meeting new people. His grades & SAT scores were on the low end for their admitted students. He's a non-hooked kid: caucasian, upper middle class, both parents have college degrees (one an advanced degree), not an athlete.

Your son did have a hook. If your son was a girl he wouldn’t have gotten in, interview or not.

[Anonymous]

There is a whole class of high stats students who advocate against doing interviews. They say the alumni interviews are a waste of time. And essentially all of the interviews of the elite schools are done by alumni. They don't need to learn more about the college because all they care about is the brand name. They think they can hack college admissions as if it was a video game. It seems as as if they are trying to avoid any personal interactions so there is nothing to consider besides their scores and grades and hide their shallowness. It's almost an entire philosophy built up around feeling victimized when they end up among the 95% who don't get in, rather than developing solid life skills and values that would serve them well at the excellent colleges they end up at.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another Ivy interviewer weighing in. At my school there are simply too many applicants for admissions officers or faculty to do interviews so it is an alumni function. We are not gatekeepers, we are ambassadors for the school. Since we do not see grades, essays, scores, or recs, we are only providing a sense of the students' personalities and interests. Everyone applying is a great student and among the very best in their school. 95% are going to be rejected. Our interviews don't change that percentage.

First and foremost, we're trying to give the student a positive feeling of our college. If a student does not leave the interview with a good feeling, we failed. Secondarily, it is an opportunity for the student to convey something about themselves that does not show up in the written application materials. Anything that makes a file stand out is helpful to an applicant and the interviews give them a chance to do that.

The OP says she was talking about actual interviews. No alum interviews. There is a huge difference.

Yes there is a difference, however for most of the Ivy schools these interviews are done by alums and not admissions staff. The one school that is different is Yale where you can make an appointment for an on-campus interview done by a current student. From our experience if your student is offered an interview they should do it. One reason is that it is just good to practice talking about yourself and your accomplishments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another Ivy interviewer weighing in. At my school there are simply too many applicants for admissions officers or faculty to do interviews so it is an alumni function. We are not gatekeepers, we are ambassadors for the school. Since we do not see grades, essays, scores, or recs, we are only providing a sense of the students' personalities and interests. Everyone applying is a great student and among the very best in their school. 95% are going to be rejected. Our interviews don't change that percentage.

First and foremost, we're trying to give the student a positive feeling of our college. If a student does not leave the interview with a good feeling, we failed. Secondarily, it is an opportunity for the student to convey something about themselves that does not show up in the written application materials. Anything that makes a file stand out is helpful to an applicant and the interviews give them a chance to do that.

The OP says she was talking about actual interviews. No alum interviews. There is a huge difference.

Yes there is a difference, however for most of the Ivy schools these interviews are done by alums and not admissions staff. The one school that is different is Yale where you can make an appointment for an on-campus interview done by a current student. From our experience if your student is offered an interview they should do it. One reason is that it is just good to practice talking about yourself and your accomplishments.

My God people. Not every person on DCUM is looking for an Ivy. You all are just nuts.

[Anonymous]

My cousin's daughter is a freshman at U Rochester. She apparently did an on-campus interview with a faculty member in her major area of study. It was not a unique thing -- as in she sat in chairs with other applicants waiting to interview. My cousin said she was SO thankful that shed taken time to help her daughter dress professionally and practice her answers. The kid felt great about the meeting and got in early with excellent merit package -- although objectively it was a match not reach school for her; she just loved everything about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My cousin's daughter is a freshman at U Rochester. She apparently did an on-campus interview with a faculty member in her major area of study. It was not a unique thing -- as in she sat in chairs with other applicants waiting to interview. My cousin said she was SO thankful that shed taken time to help her daughter dress professionally and practice her answers. The kid felt great about the meeting and got in early with excellent merit package -- although objectively it was a match not reach school for her; she just loved everything about it.

My child had the same experience at Hamilton College. She actually sat with the admissions officer for a 45min interview. I felt like it just sealed the deal for both parties. She is in her 2nd year and loves it.