College interviewer asked my DD her political views

[Anonymous]

DD has had a bunch of college interviews. Most questions have been the generic "Why do you want to attend xyz?," "What do you want to study and why?," Tell me a little bit about yourself," etc. The questions you would expect. However, a recent interviewer asked her about her political views, specifically the last election and whether she attended the march. How does one's political views bear in any way on one's readiness for college? It is a landmine question no matter what views you hold. She handled herself very well when answering the question, but seriously why is this anyone's business? DD is a progressive but she was very put off by the idea that students leaning conservative would perhaps be disadvantaged for their beliefs. It really turned her off the university (which admittedly skews left) as she believes a learning environment with true diversity in all areas, including thought, best prepares the student body academically and socially for the future. The idea the a university would want to create an insular political environment was disconcerting. Has anyone else's child encountered something like this? Up to this point, this university was her top choice. My guess it was a rogue interviewer and I have suggested she not factor this interview in the decision process too heavily. What do you think? I know some universities provide interviewers questions to choose from. Is it conceivable that a university would try to weed out a certain student body in this manner? If so, DD is adamant that she would not attend this university. On the one hand I am proud of DD for her openness to people of different views as maintaining a dialogue is the only hope for healing our nation. I do respect her desire to not participate in an environment that would penalize individuals for holding opposing views, but this school has a top notch program for what she wants to study and I would hate to see her cross off a school because of what may be a rogue interviewer.

[Anonymous]

You jumped to a lot of conclusions in your post.

[Anonymous]

I think it's kind of clever, as long as HOW she answers informs the admissions decision rather than WHAT she answers.

I assume this is a highly selective college, and I assume they are looking for students who care deeply about the world and are able to back up their beliefs with nuance.

Basically, I wouldn't assume this is a "rogue interviewer" weeding out conservatives. It could just be someone who wants to see what happens when a well-prepped kid is forced onto terrain they are unlikely to have been coached on.

[Anonymous]

I think you're reading too much into this. "Did you go to the march?" seems like small talk to someone who lives in this city right now. I would love to hear more of the context as to what was asked about her politics, since there are any number of ways that information could come up organically or from her application materials.

As for whether or not universities "create an insular political environment" I think that really depends on the university. That being asked one time by one person about her politics makes her think less of a university that was previously her top choice makes her sound immature and like she doesn't have great judgment.

[Anonymous]

This is a tough question. I think there will be a few schools who are actually looking to find a few good students to help bring a healthy discussion of this question to their campuses.

[Anonymous]

Not enough information about how the questions were phrased, and in what context.

Maybe she wants a passionate student body and wanted to weed out apathetic applicants.

[Anonymous]

I guess you mean alumni interviewer, not a member of the admissions staff?

I'm an alumni interviewer at a top-25 university. They don't give us any questions to ask. We just fill out a form later asking for our assessment of a candidate.

I think it's a decent question, not so much for what their views are, but how they arrive at them. Do they consider the nuances, etc.

I also interview people for jobs, and we ask crazy questions like "How many tubes of toothpaste are consumed in the US each year?" I don't care their answer, and I don't know it either -- it's to see how they approach the problem and come up with a reasonable estimate. For example, the marketing job candidate who estimated based 40 million based on there being 10 million people in the US using 4 tubes/year did not get the job. She had no concept of population size, which is key to understanding with marketing.

[Anonymous]

This is a completely inappropriate question. It does give the sense that diversity of opinion is not welcome. I hope it simply reflect's the alum's poor judgement rather than the college.

You have a right to feel it was a "push" question. Glad to know your daughter wants to be able to be surrounded by people with different opinions. You raised her well.

[Anonymous]

I'm an alumni interviewer and wouldn't ask the question because I'd be afraid a candidate would think their views would be held against them. That said, I would love to ask because I think it's a great question. I would give high marks to the kid who could defend his or her views even if they were different from my own. I've seen too few kids lately who can talk through any issues. It's depressing.

[Anonymous]

I'm a lib and I agree with you OP, I think it's inappropriate. If I were your child I'd answer that I am very interested in politics and following what's happening in current events very carefully. That I am active in the clubs/causes that resonate with me. Then name some that are relatively innocuous, like get out the vote, vs. Women's March or Pro Life March for example. Do what politicians do - pivot. Talk about what you feel comfortable discussing in politics and avoid the inappropriate question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm an alumni interviewer and wouldn't ask the question because I'd be afraid a candidate would think their views would be held against them. That said, I would love to ask because I think it's a great question. I would give high marks to the kid who could defend his or her views even if they were different from my own. I've seen too few kids lately who can talk through any issues. It's depressing.

This is why OP. It's not a right or wrong question. You are reading too much.

[Anonymous]

When I was looking at colleges I had an interview with a student interviewer at a small, formerly all-women/now co-ed liberal arts college. It was an election year and the topic came up in our conversation, so i expressed by views on the candidates. I didn't get in and my parents found out from my school's college adviser that the student interviewer strongly recommended not admitting me because he didn't like my political views (or maybe the way I expressed them?). It was odd because the school has the reputation for having a very liberal student body, and the views I expressed were liberal. Guess I got the one conservative republican guy at the school! Oh well. I didn't want to go there anyway.

[Anonymous]

Op here. Thank you for your responses. The university in question definitely skews left by all accounts. However, DD felt a good sense of inclusivity on her tours of the campus something that is important to her as she believes human growth cannot occur if we only surround ourselves with those with whom we agree--a form of confirmation bias. At first, DD thought the interviewer was simply trying to discern if she was politically informed or if she was capable of thinking on her feet and articulating a position--although there are certainly ways to go about this without asking a stranger something as personal as political affiliation. DD did an excellent job of responding to this question and the interviewer seemed impressed although it was evident that DD and the interviewer held similar political leanings. However, it all took a turn for the worse when DD was asked and subsequently responded that she had not participated in the march. In light of how this discussion (or perhaps better phrased interrogation) transpired, it became evident to her and to those with whom she shared the conversation that this was something more than just a "test" of her ability to think on her feet. Anyone who seriously considers this university understands that it is known for being far left of center. As DD is herself a progressive she welcomes the social activism. However, she does not want to attend a university that shuts down diversity of thought and is concerned that this interviewer may be indicative of that line of thinking. The interviewer said that she had been asked to pose the question of her political leanings (although there was no indication that the follow up questions regarding the march were "official,") and DD is trying to figure out if a university would actually make this a part of their application decision or if it was simply the interviewer (alumni) taking it upon herself to insert her own standards to the process. In DD's estimation the first would be a problem and the second, while offensive would should not factor into her decision. It really has clouded her views of the university as none of us would relish being criticized in this manner especially when there is an imbalance of power between the two people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm an alumni interviewer and wouldn't ask the question because I'd be afraid a candidate would think their views would be held against them. That said, I would love to ask because I think it's a great question. I would give high marks to the kid who could defend his or her views even if they were different from my own. I've seen too few kids lately who can talk through any issues. It's depressing.

This is why OP. It's not a right or wrong question. You are reading too much.

I disagree. There are other ways of figuring out if a kid can defend views on any number of topics. This lends itself to the question of whether universities are weeding out certain groups of kids based upon political views.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a completely inappropriate question. It does give the sense that diversity of opinion is not welcome. I hope it simply reflect's the alum's poor judgement rather than the college.

You have a right to feel it was a "push" question. Glad to know your daughter wants to be able to be surrounded by people with different opinions. You raised her well.

This is the PP who said OP jumped to conclusions. I've conducted hundreds of job interviews and thousands of visa interviews. People make wrong assumptions about questions all the time. Some people's sense of intuition are frankly better (or more practiced) than others'. I wouldn't rely on an 18 year old interviewee who met with an alumni interviewer once to draw conclusions about the college's stance on diversity of opinion.