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11-11-2012, 03:28 PM
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#1 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 286
| Very Young Alumni Interviewer...?
Hi, I recently got contacted for an interview at a school...by a graduate of the class of 2012. It seems sort of weird that I'm going to be interviewed by someone only a couple years older than me, is this normal? What should I expect?
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11-11-2012, 05:25 PM
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#2 | | Member
Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Virginia '17
Posts: 418
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Well, my assumption would be that a very young interviewer will be either understanding and personable or inexperienced and as nervous as you are.
I would think that 30 and 40 year old interviewers are not uncommon. Interviewers in their 20s may be rarer, because recent graduates tend to be busier.
Alternatively, you could have my alumni interviewer, who graduated in 1965 and didn't know about EA.
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11-11-2012, 06:03 PM
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#3 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 3,916
| Quote: |
Interviewers in their 20s may be rarer, because recent graduates tend to be busier.
| JuniorMint, you must be young yourself!
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11-11-2012, 06:16 PM
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#4 | | Member
Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Virginia '17
Posts: 418
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Lol.  I am the same age as the OP. (Although he appears to be 102.)  | |
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11-11-2012, 06:54 PM
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#5 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 3,916
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In the demographic group that would be likely alumni interviewers (i.e., college educated professionals), by their 30s and 40s many of them will have begun raising families, and they will have advanced in their careers to positions of greater responsibility than they had when they were 22 or 24. They'll have more demanding work, plus homework to supervise, kids' music lessons, travel soccer, Halloween costumes to make or buy, etc., etc.
There's no way young adults in their twenties are, on average, busier than working parents of 6- to 18-year-olds!
(But, yes, I do see that napalm's profile lists Jan. 10, 1910, as his or her date of birth. Perhaps napalm got held back a lot in elementary school?)
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11-11-2012, 08:19 PM
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#6 | | Member
Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Virginia '17
Posts: 418
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Ah, I see. I apologize for making a hasty and incorrect assumption.
I suppose I meant to say that recent graduates may or may not be less likely to participate in alumni activities. Perhaps, an alum will start donating and volunteering when they are more established. This may happen, precisely as you said, when they gain more responsibility through parenthood and increasingly demanding careers.
Again, it is not my place to comment, and I may be equally wrong in this assumption.
If Napalm is indeed 102, it is not surprising that he is worried about a young interviewer. 
Last edited by JuniorMint; 11-11-2012 at 08:27 PM.
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11-11-2012, 10:39 PM
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#7 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 3,916
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Ha!
I think it does tend to be true that younger alumni are a little less involved with their alumni clubs than older alums. I just don't think it's that way because they're busier.
Sent from my DROIDX using CC
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11-12-2012, 12:23 AM
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#8 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 189
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I just had an interview with someone from the class of 2012. It was actually very helpful, in that she was able to give better answers to my questions about the current character of the college, rather than what it was like in 1975 (or 1910, OP.)
Plus she was less scary.  | |
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11-12-2012, 02:26 PM
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#9 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 5,859
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If you interview with an adcom that is definitely evaluative, but with alums interviews are commonly more informative rather than evaluative. Interviewing is a skill, and colleges can't train a farflung network of volunteer alums to do it correctly. Sure, the interviewer has a form to fill out, but the school doesn't pay that much attention to it unless it raises a red flag. Meeting with a recent alum actually is to your advantage in finding out what it would be like to attend the school. Spend some time thinking about what you have already learned about the school thru the viewbook and online, then ask about areas of concern/interest to you.
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11-12-2012, 02:44 PM
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#10 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 5,031
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Don't assume all colleges don't pay much attention.
Btw, at many schools, an on-campus interview could be with a current senior. Depends. It's the quality of the interaction that matters, not age.
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11-12-2012, 04:18 PM
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#11 | | Junior Member
Join Date: May 2012 Location: FL --> Penn '17
Posts: 111
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I had two on campus interviews with seniors at the colleges. It's definitely less intimidating to have a younger interview who understands the college admissions process. They're also a valuable source for any questions you have about life on campus. As a rule I'd take a young interviewer over an old interviewer any day, but maybe that's just personal preference.
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11-12-2012, 04:23 PM
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#12 | | Super Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 7,621
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Originally Posted by clienk I just had an interview with someone from the class of 2012. It was actually very helpful, in that she was able to give better answers to my questions about the current character of the college, rather than what it was like in 1975 (or 1910, OP.) | Ditto this...I've found that older alums from my alma mater are far less informed about what it's like now than they think they are. I've heard the same from friends at other universities.
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11-12-2012, 05:14 PM
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#13 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 2,034
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I think it also speaks well for the college that recent alums want to donate their time to do this! They must love their school.
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