Alumni Interviews - Lack of Consistency and Quality

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best not to participate.

I have interviewed for my HPY for about 28 years. The local admissions
Rep responsible for the area knows most of the long term Alumni
Interviewers. Admissions often calls with follow up questions and kids regularly get admitted.

I am not a recent grad but I am the parent of a recent grad so I am relatively up to date. I don’t think skipping an interview or opting out is an option. Those kids are automatic rejects, at least at my HPY. If the alumni interview seems off base admissions will follow up or offer another interview.

What qualifications do you possess to identify, evaluate and assess a 17/18 year old in approximately 30 min? Do you have a Psych degree or background in behavior assessment. Perhaps admissions strategies for assessing talent, ambition or potential.

Im going to be you have none of these and therefore are entirely unqualified to determine the fate of someone who spent years with teachers and a school that already provides a full picture.

This is an outdated practice and should go away. You arent qualified to assess these candidates.

Wow! You are excitable. I don’t have to have any qualifications. It’s the system. I set up a meeting, go to annual training and fill out the interview grid. I respond to follow up inquiries. I respond to the local alumni coordinator that sends recommendations to the school. The school makes a decision. When kids opt out you forward the email to the powers that be so they stop sending emails about why you have not completed the interview. What happens then is that the school moves onto the thousands of applicants that fully participate in the process. I don’t think the schools run after kids that choose not to participate in the process when they are in such great demand.

[Anonymous]

If a student received an email stating an alumnus will be in touch to set up an interview, can student decline? From the previous posts it sounds like an interview can only hurt, not help, their chances. My DC is socially awkward but a good conversationalist if the conditions are right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best not to participate.

I have interviewed for my HPY for about 28 years. The local admissions
Rep responsible for the area knows most of the long term Alumni
Interviewers. Admissions often calls with follow up questions and kids regularly get admitted.

I am not a recent grad but I am the parent of a recent grad so I am relatively up to date. I don’t think skipping an interview or opting out is an option. Those kids are automatic rejects, at least at my HPY. If the alumni interview seems off base admissions will follow up or offer another interview.

What qualifications do you possess to identify, evaluate and assess a 17/18 year old in approximately 30 min? Do you have a Psych degree or background in behavior assessment. Perhaps admissions strategies for assessing talent, ambition or potential.

Im going to be you have none of these and therefore are entirely unqualified to determine the fate of someone who spent years with teachers and a school that already provides a full picture.

This is an outdated practice and should go away. You arent qualified to assess these candidates.

Sorry your kid got dinged and you blame the interviewer for that.

DC is at one of the following: HYPMS. Good try. Its just a silly outdated practice. Alumni arent qualified to assess a high school senior. Tell me otherwise and what gives them this ability?

Like punctuation?

So then don't interview. No need to get all worked up over it.

Way to dodge the question. What gives you the qualifications to evaluate this talent. Nothing. Thank you. Mic Dropped. It's clear the argument is over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best not to participate.

I have interviewed for my HPY for about 28 years. The local admissions
Rep responsible for the area knows most of the long term Alumni
Interviewers. Admissions often calls with follow up questions and kids regularly get admitted.

I am not a recent grad but I am the parent of a recent grad so I am relatively up to date. I don’t think skipping an interview or opting out is an option. Those kids are automatic rejects, at least at my HPY. If the alumni interview seems off base admissions will follow up or offer another interview.

That is crazy. If not doing an alumni interview is an automatic reject that message is not getting out there at all. That is not at all how the alumni interviews are described during campus visits.

It is not an automatic reject. HYP mentions several times during visits to not stress if they do not schedule an alumni interview. It is optional.

If they don’t but once your contacted you are scheduled and rejected/ not making time whatever is not for the faint of heart. Try it on your kid and repot back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best not to participate.

I have interviewed for my HPY for about 28 years. The local admissions
Rep responsible for the area knows most of the long term Alumni
Interviewers. Admissions often calls with follow up questions and kids regularly get admitted.

I am not a recent grad but I am the parent of a recent grad so I am relatively up to date. I don’t think skipping an interview or opting out is an option. Those kids are automatic rejects, at least at my HPY. If the alumni interview seems off base admissions will follow up or offer another interview.

What qualifications do you possess to identify, evaluate and assess a 17/18 year old in approximately 30 min? Do you have a Psych degree or background in behavior assessment. Perhaps admissions strategies for assessing talent, ambition or potential.

Im going to be you have none of these and therefore are entirely unqualified to determine the fate of someone who spent years with teachers and a school that already provides a full picture.

This is an outdated practice and should go away. You arent qualified to assess these candidates.

Wow! You are excitable. I don’t have to have any qualifications. It’s the system. I set up a meeting, go to annual training and fill out the interview grid. I respond to follow up inquiries. I respond to the local alumni coordinator that sends recommendations to the school. The school makes a decision. When kids opt out you forward the email to the powers that be so they stop sending emails about why you have not completed the interview. What happens then is that the school moves onto the thousands of applicants that fully participate in the process. I don’t think the schools run after kids that choose not to participate in the process when they are in such great demand.

Your third sentence says it all. Why would you participate and sponsor such an activity when you aren't qualified?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If a student received an email stating an alumnus will be in touch to set up an interview, can student decline? From the previous posts it sounds like an interview can only hurt, not help, their chances. My DC is socially awkward but a good conversationalist if the conditions are right.

I would use your best judgement. If some the posters on here are actual interviewers as they claim, I wold be concerned. Some of them seem to be arrogant dismissive people and I would hesitate to respect their judgment of a socially awkward teen. They may flag that DC as disastrous for being awkward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best not to participate.

I have interviewed for my HPY for about 28 years. The local admissions
Rep responsible for the area knows most of the long term Alumni
Interviewers. Admissions often calls with follow up questions and kids regularly get admitted.

I am not a recent grad but I am the parent of a recent grad so I am relatively up to date. I don’t think skipping an interview or opting out is an option. Those kids are automatic rejects, at least at my HPY. If the alumni interview seems off base admissions will follow up or offer another interview.

What qualifications do you possess to identify, evaluate and assess a 17/18 year old in approximately 30 min? Do you have a Psych degree or background in behavior assessment. Perhaps admissions strategies for assessing talent, ambition or potential.

Im going to be you have none of these and therefore are entirely unqualified to determine the fate of someone who spent years with teachers and a school that already provides a full picture.

This is an outdated practice and should go away. You arent qualified to assess these candidates.

Sorry your kid got dinged and you blame the interviewer for that.

DC is at one of the following: HYPMS. Good try. Its just a silly outdated practice. Alumni arent qualified to assess a high school senior. Tell me otherwise and what gives them this ability?

DC is at M or S if he did not do the interview!!! Or DC did the interview if you live in an area that has 100% coverage like DC, NY or Boston.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best not to participate.

I have interviewed for my HPY for about 28 years. The local admissions
Rep responsible for the area knows most of the long term Alumni
Interviewers. Admissions often calls with follow up questions and kids regularly get admitted.

I am not a recent grad but I am the parent of a recent grad so I am relatively up to date. I don’t think skipping an interview or opting out is an option. Those kids are automatic rejects, at least at my HPY. If the alumni interview seems off base admissions will follow up or offer another interview.

What qualifications do you possess to identify, evaluate and assess a 17/18 year old in approximately 30 min? Do you have a Psych degree or background in behavior assessment. Perhaps admissions strategies for assessing talent, ambition or potential.

Im going to be you have none of these and therefore are entirely unqualified to determine the fate of someone who spent years with teachers and a school that already provides a full picture.

This is an outdated practice and should go away. You arent qualified to assess these candidates.

Sorry your kid got dinged and you blame the interviewer for that.

DC is at one of the following: HYPMS. Good try. Its just a silly outdated practice. Alumni arent qualified to assess a high school senior. Tell me otherwise and what gives them this ability?

Like punctuation?

So then don't interview. No need to get all worked up over it.

Way to dodge the question. What gives you the qualifications to evaluate this talent. Nothing. Thank you. Mic Dropped. It's clear the argument is over.

This is part of that real life thing that your young adult is going to have to deal with. I don’t have any particular qualifications to hire or fire employees for my organization, and yet I do. You have put such extreme pressure on your poor kid and have hyped up “Harvard or your future is done” so that I will get yet another applicant who is terrified of saying the wrong thing that they say nothing interesting and just give beauty pageant answers. Interviewing for something you want is part of life and you don’t get to deem the process not good enough for your kid. Your kid is special to you, but in this area a qualified candidate is a dime a dozen. The acceptance rate is about five percent, and that’s kind of what I’m tracking as well over the years. Just tell them to be themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been an HYP alumni interviewer for over 20 years. Most interviews dont make a huge difference, because they just echo the rest of the application.

The school continues to have interviews, though , because the interviewer can spot a kid who can't function, is arrogant, can't keep an appointment, or has PITA parents who try to interject themselves into the process. Admissions committees don't trust high schools to flag these sorts of kids for fear of lawsuits. Every admissions officer seems to have a horror story about a disastrous student who might have gotten in but for an interviewer who raised a concern.

Judgy much? How does functioning at a Starbucks tie in with functioning in an intellectual setting? Ever heard of an absent-minded professor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a student received an email stating an alumnus will be in touch to set up an interview, can student decline? From the previous posts it sounds like an interview can only hurt, not help, their chances. My DC is socially awkward but a good conversationalist if the conditions are right.

I would use your best judgement. If some the posters on here are actual interviewers as they claim, I wold be concerned. Some of them seem to be arrogant dismissive people and I would hesitate to respect their judgment of a socially awkward teen. They may flag that DC as disastrous for being awkward.

I know plenty of socially awkward disasters that went to ivy league schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m an interviewer for my college and have no illusions about my centrality to the process. I do it to give back to a place I love. I’ve no idea how much impact any of it has but I do take the responsibility seriously and try to be a good representative for my school. There are very specific guidelines to follow and they ask me to ‘recertify’ by keeping up on the interviewer materials. The school is a tough admit and I’ve yet to interview a kid who wasn’t a superb student and very impressive.

What concerns me most is the genuine interest in the school. Mine is rural and small. Is that a match? Or is the kid applying simply because of a high ranking and perceived value? Have they visited? Do they go on and on about some other school that’s their real love? I had one who was brilliant and really wanted an urban campus and didn’t even know where the school was exactly, so it was pretty clear it was a poor match. I’m brutally honest in my reports to the mothership.

I’m not sure how any interviewer would know if it has an impact. I don’t even see their applications so I don’t know their GPA or test scores or anything else unless they provide it (and some do).

Yeah, women's college alum here. It is EXTREMELY obvious if the girl being interviewed actually doesn't want to go to a women's college but is being coerced by a family member into applying. Seems like a good thing to share with the admissions office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They’re pointless. I quit doing them.

Ivy alum. Interviewed for 7 years circa age 26-33. Only one candidate got in and 1-2 more waitlisted. Everyone else rejected.

The interviews are boring. I got tired of hearing the same spiel over and over again. And I quickly figured out the only value of my feedback was when I clearly put down the kid was dull or if there was something off about him/her (I had one student who kept asking about how doable it was to graduate in three years instead of four).

For the parents complaining about the alum interviewers, keep in mind they have likely already interviewed many kids over the years and already know your kid has very little chance of being admitted. They probably also think it's a waste of time and do the interviews out of an obligation. And they also work! Sometimes things like traffic and deadlines at work get in the way of being on time.

You thought that was off? That seems ambitious, or thrifty, or the question or a kid who took a lot of advanced classes and genuinely wanted to get ahead. Did they ask repeatedly because they didn't get a clear answer or thought they weren't being heard? Or because they didn't understand the system like a legacy kid or non-first-gen kid would? That's a shame you marked them down for that, in any case. I'm a college professor and I would never think of that as a negative question.

The kid kept talking about wanting to graduate in three years because he wanted to join his family business as soon as possible. He was a well off kid. It was apparent he was more interested in the school for the prestige value of the degree, seeing it as a route to something else rather than an end goal in itself and certainly not the educational experience. When you talk about graduating in three years it means you are not valuing the experience and education of the four year diploma. The Ivies and other top colleges are experiences, not just degrees.

"The Ivies and other top colleges are experiences, not just degrees." Right, only top colleges offer 'experiences'. You sound like an elitist pr*ck.

Shrugs. That's how the schools see themselves. They are elite schools and that comes with all the implications. They are not interested in students who just want to show up to class and wing the guts and graduate early and never look back. They are interested in students who can offer something meaningful as part of the student body. They are quite serious about the concept of four years of academic curiosity. They are also quite serious about getting the students out in four years too.

They certainly don't care if you think it sounds like an elitist prick. Your problem, not theirs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m an interviewer for my college and have no illusions about my centrality to the process. I do it to give back to a place I love. I’ve no idea how much impact any of it has but I do take the responsibility seriously and try to be a good representative for my school. There are very specific guidelines to follow and they ask me to ‘recertify’ by keeping up on the interviewer materials. The school is a tough admit and I’ve yet to interview a kid who wasn’t a superb student and very impressive.

What concerns me most is the genuine interest in the school. Mine is rural and small. Is that a match? Or is the kid applying simply because of a high ranking and perceived value? Have they visited? Do they go on and on about some other school that’s their real love? I had one who was brilliant and really wanted an urban campus and didn’t even know where the school was exactly, so it was pretty clear it was a poor match. I’m brutally honest in my reports to the mothership.

I’m not sure how any interviewer would know if it has an impact. I don’t even see their applications so I don’t know their GPA or test scores or anything else unless they provide it (and some do).

Yeah, women's college alum here. It is EXTREMELY obvious if the girl being interviewed actually doesn't want to go to a women's college but is being coerced by a family member into applying. Seems like a good thing to share with the admissions office.

Why? if women's colleges dig all the applicants that are encouraged by their moms to attend but are hesitant because they are 17 year old girls, you are out a lot of smart girls. Have more patience.

But above post is a good example of the perils of the alumni interview.

[Anonymous]

FWIW We have a friend who interviews for a HYPMS. Not in this area. He takes it seriously and said he only writes positive things about the studen. Wouldn’t want to be responsible for impeding their chances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m an interviewer for my college and have no illusions about my centrality to the process. I do it to give back to a place I love. I’ve no idea how much impact any of it has but I do take the responsibility seriously and try to be a good representative for my school. There are very specific guidelines to follow and they ask me to ‘recertify’ by keeping up on the interviewer materials. The school is a tough admit and I’ve yet to interview a kid who wasn’t a superb student and very impressive.

What concerns me most is the genuine interest in the school. Mine is rural and small. Is that a match? Or is the kid applying simply because of a high ranking and perceived value? Have they visited? Do they go on and on about some other school that’s their real love? I had one who was brilliant and really wanted an urban campus and didn’t even know where the school was exactly, so it was pretty clear it was a poor match. I’m brutally honest in my reports to the mothership.

I’m not sure how any interviewer would know if it has an impact. I don’t even see their applications so I don’t know their GPA or test scores or anything else unless they provide it (and some do).

Yeah, women's college alum here. It is EXTREMELY obvious if the girl being interviewed actually doesn't want to go to a women's college but is being coerced by a family member into applying. Seems like a good thing to share with the admissions office.

Why? if women's colleges dig all the applicants that are encouraged by their moms to attend but are hesitant because they are 17 year old girls, you are out a lot of smart girls. Have more patience.

But above post is a good example of the perils of the alumni interview.

Meant ding all those applicants.