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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Not sure I'm buying the above, not here in the Information Age.  These days, a really determined, super hard-working, bright kid from a middle-class family can learn a great deal from the Internet, on-line libraries, and enrichment camps during school breaks.  I've done a lot of volunteer interviewing for my Ivy in the DC area in the last 20 years, interviewed many applicants from DC's most expensive private schools, WIS, Sidwell, Maret, NCS, St. Albans, GDS etc. Few of these applicants blew me away, or got stellar write-ups from me, but some of the applicants I've interviewed from Walls, BASIS, Wilson/JR and Latin did. When a kid is spoon fed excellent academics at a tony private from a young age, chances are good that said applicant is only so thoughtful, interesting and resourceful by senior year in HS. Hint: colleges admitting in the single digits in this country are seeking the intellectually entrepreneurial.[/quote]

Real question - do you think perhaps, you might be biased towards public schools?  We are considering switching from BASIS to private for various reasons.  [/quote]

Yes, no question that I'm biased toward public school applicants. But that's my prerogative as a public high school and Ivy League grad who interviews applicants to be of service to my alma mater.

When I attended my Ivy, in the late 80s, graduates of ordinary public schools (vs. Stuyvesant, Boston Latin etc.) on a great deal of fi aid like me were just starting to become a force on Ivy campuses. We were Pell Grant recipients, not legacies. Now we're in our 50s, and we get a little bit of say in who's admitted.

My particular Ivy seems to rely on interview reports in making admissions decisions to a greater extent than some of our sister schools.  Of the roughly DC 150 applicants I've interviewed over a 25-year period, I can't think of an applicant who has been admitted after I urged admissions officers not to admit him or her in no uncertain terms.  That said, I used to work at BASIS and do not send my children there.  I don't care for their one-size fits all approach to education, their top down management, the way they hit parents up to finance teachers' bonuses, or their aversion to PTAs/PTOs and parental involvement in the school in general.[/quote]

Being biased is not your prerogative as an Ivy League alumni interviewer.  Worse, it is a violation of the rules and guidelines governing such interviews.

Shame on you.

-Long-time Ivy interviewer

[/quote]

NP. It is an interview. By definition the interviewer brings into the room all of their life experience and provides some sort of judgement on the interviewee. It is a subjective exercise. The interviewer is human which means they of course have their own biases into the room. The fact that you seem to think you are engaging in an objective exercise and that your assessment of candidates is fact or truth is frightening.

-Someone without an Ivy league degree who thinks you should take your sanctimonious garbage somewhere else [/quote]

Since you have no knowledge of the process, keep your irrelevant views and biases to yourself. [/quote]

Do you think the way the Ivey leagues do interviews is any different than how any other college does them? Or any other interview? Do you think Ivy grads are so special don' brig subjectivity into a room?

My brother-in-law used to work as a senior level admissions officer for an Ivy university in New Haven. He and his colleagues used to laugh at and about the alums who would volunteer to do interviews. These people were so thirsty to continue to be affiliated with the Ivy that they'd do almost anything. Grown adults who peaked at 18 and wanted every opportunity to let everyone they knew know they went to an Ivy. Sound familiar?   [/quote]

Sorry, to summarize: Your BIL whose entire not very impressive career was linked to retaining an affiliation with his alma mater laughed at doctors & lawyers who interview for fun 5ish hours/year… because they’re pathetic and desperate to maintain an affiliation with their alma mater. Yeah, OK.[/quote]

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