Reply to National Merit semi-finalist state cut offs

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Many thanks for your detailed response.  Two follow up questions, if you don't mind - 
1. You write that you are not permitted to ask about grades or test scores.  Does the interviewee file you receive from the college have those details in it already?  Or alternatively, do you not know about grades or test scores unless the interviewee volunteers them?
2. You write that most applicants don't get interviewed, and about the odds of different students being offered an interview.  I was always under the impression (likely uninformed) that all applicants who want an interview will get one.  But I gather from your post that's not correct.  Do most applicants request interviews, and only a few whose file appears promising get the opportunity?  Or do many seek interviews at all?  Is the ability to get an interview a function of the application's strength, or rather is it a function of the availability of alumni interviewers and interest in the students' schools (since all you know before you select interviewees is their high school)?

Again, I appreciate your candor.  Also, I recognize you are describing only how your university conducts its interview process, and not necessarily indicating how other universities may operate.  Thanks again.[/quote]

1) We are discouraged from asking about grades and test scores, since its not what the admissions office needs from alumni. We are not given the numbers. But 90+% of the students work it in or hand a resume with their numbers, even though I always tell the interviewee that I'm not going to ask about scores and grades.

2) Many applicants don't get offered an in-person interview. Back in the 80s, pretty much everyone was interview (required w/exceptions) but there are too many applicants now. The admissions office does not make any evaluation of applicants to decide who gets offered an interview. Alumni interviewers essentially choose blind among all applicants in their area, except for the high school, and contact the applicants themselves. To avoid conflict of interest, we take the year off if we have a child in the admissions process that year. Applicants are free to decline an interview w/o prejudice. But, applicants who schedule and flake send a different message.

As the other alumni PP commented, it is hard to say how influential these interviews are.  Principally, they should be viewed by applicants as a way to get to know the school better and I know the admissions officers that I've worked with seem genuinely pleased when my write-ups match their impressions.  But, lots of applicants that impressed me have not been admitted. A cynic could argue that alumni interviews are really about making alumni feel engaged and connected to the school in order to generate larger donations, even though there is no direct connection between the admissions and the development office. 
 [/quote]

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