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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Be careful, OP.  There are Ivy grads on here who do the alumni interviews to feed their egos and keep living their glory days who will insist that their interviews "count" when the rest of us know that they're just being indulged and they don't.[/quote]

I'm of the losers you're talking about and the admissions office showed us data that getting the highest interview score correlates with higher percentage of admission. I admit that's not necessarily causation, but when all of these kids are so impressive, there are cases when the balance can be tipped.

I do not care about this. What I enjoy most post-Covid is just getting to know these kids and telling them that they will do great things because that's who they are, not because the school might be lucky enough to choose them or not.

Having said that, it almost never moves the needle. OP, try your best, take it seriously, look for good advice online. 
It has more potential to hurt you. Adcomms can justify a Denial from a negative comment in an interview.[/quote]

Do you have examples of what applicants did during the interview that made you write negative comments?  Thanks.[/quote]

I think generally they really want kids who are motivated, curious, well spoken, make impact, etc etc

Sometimes you get kids where it's just like you are absolutely pulling teeth. I try my best to write good reviews whenever I can, and understand where they are coming from. But, for example, if they bring up the "activity that was most important to them" or their "favorite class in high school" and I asked some follow up questions, and they really have nothing to say beyond a vague sentence or two, that's not good. I probably wouldn't write anything very negative, but it won't be glowing / highlighting that this kid really has the attributes they're looking for.[/quote]

This absolutely sucks, btw.

I have two sons.  The older one turned 18 end of September of Senior year. My current Senior is 17 and he doesn’t turn 18 until August.

The older one grew in confidence so much by the start of Senior year. No longer as shy, etc.

My current Senior is vivacious, hilarious and a captain of a sports team—but still very shy with adults and a bit awkward in conversations with adults he does not know, exactly how his brother was at the same age (but brother was a junior at that age).

I have seen a lot of the same changes beginning I saw with my older kid who now is a leader on his Ivy campus, but I  really worried my current senior will blow all of his interviews because he is still shy and a bit unsure. Again—not at all with the many friends and classmates—he’s not anti-social.

I wish people interviewing understood this stuff, but most of the interviewers my other son had were younger without children or their children were very young- infants-elementary school. [/quote]

PP interviewer here. We do know that kids are in different places. They are nice kids, great kids. We see shy kids get in. You don’t have to be glib or extroverted. But quiet people are able to speak when it counts and have intelligent and interesting things to say. But you also have a duty to look at your kid and help them to find the best place for them. I have a break in interviewing this year because my kid is a senior and applying to schools. I love my Alma mater, but it was also very clear to me that even if he could get in, it’s not right for him. He would not fit in with the vibe of the place and also wouldn’t self-advocate to the level that he would need to succeed there. There are so many schools out there and if you stop looking at rankings on a list and look for the level of support, size of classes, etc where your kid will thrive, look at those. Most kids end up where they need to be.[/quote]

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