RD Applicants: Interview Advice - Page 4

damiensdogs · 01-19-2007, 05:51 PM

My interviewer just emailed me and told me he would be wearing jeans and a peacoat so i could recognize him. could i stay with my more formal outfit, or should i too wear jeans?

AdmissionsAddict · 01-19-2007, 06:05 PM

If he's wearing jeans, you're free to wear jeans.

ungst · 01-19-2007, 06:07 PM

I just had my interview. I showed up about 7 minutes late, because the roads were so bad. She said no biggie, and that she had just got there. I think it went very well. She told me that would be writing an essay about me, so to tell me anything that I didn't say on my application (which was very little). I thought it went well, it was about 50-55 minutes long and she was great. I wore khakis and a sweater with a collared shirt. I thought that I made a good impression.

hellohi · 01-19-2007, 08:10 PM

ok so i really dont understand how the interviewers choose which applicants to interview. i live in a suburb of a major city, and theres probably about 8-10 kids from my school who applied to Yale. I applied about a month earlier than another guy in my school, but he managed to get an interview and i havent been contacted yet.
i feel like that's not "fair" since I took the initiative to apply much earlier. why don't they just do interviews in the order of when the application is processed?

AdmissionsAddict · 01-19-2007, 08:22 PM

While I don't know what happens in other areas, in mine they do offer interviews in the order that Yale processes names to our ASC director. Are you sure you weren't contacted by email, that you didn't look carefully enough at your junk mail, and that you didn't delete an interview offer? Not saying that is what happened, but it's a possibility.

hellohi · 01-19-2007, 08:26 PM

i'm pretty sure i wasnt contacted by email cuz i've been keeping an eye on my junk mail folder...i dont know its all very strange. and the kid in my school who got the interview was contacted by phone, anyways.

AdmissionsAddict · 01-19-2007, 11:11 PM

hellohi--You can always call the ASC director for your area and request an interview. How to do this is discussed either on this thread or another recent thread on interviews.

vieestbelle · 01-20-2007, 01:51 PM

My interviewer emailed me back as well and told me he would be wearing his Yale sweatshirt so I could recognize him. I assume that means he is going casual. I was planning on wearing something that was formal, but not too formal - dress slacks, a long sleeved blouse underneath a vest, and boots. Would that be too dressy though? Our meeting will be at Starbucks. I'm not sure if I want to take the risk with wearing jeans, but I also don't want to feel out of place either. What do you suggest?

AdmissionsAddict · 01-20-2007, 02:03 PM

vieestbelle--If he's wearing a Yale sweatshirt, it sounds like he's casual. Wear what makes you feel comfortable.

KCSly · 01-20-2007, 04:58 PM

AdmissionsAddict,

Could you give us a few examples of questions you've asked before?

I was also wondering if it would be all right if I engaged the interviewer in a more casual conversation, i.e. NFL divisional playoffs, like's and dislikes, or will the questions be more formal and direct, "What are your strengths/weakness, why yale? etc.."

From your experience, do you prefer it when the interviewee guides the conversation or just sits back and answers the questions you've preselected?

Thanks for taking the time to answer all these questions!

AdmissionsAddict · 01-20-2007, 05:18 PM

Tell me about your most important extracurricular activity. What is your favorite class and why? What are some of your favorite books? I ask really generic, predictable questions and follow up on whatever the student says, so each interview is really different.

I would NOT like it if the interviewee tried to control and direct the interview. It's fine to be confident and to have things that you want to discuss but it's not your place to guide the conversation. Your best bet would be to let the interviewer do his/her thing in the beginning. I ask applicants if there is anything they want to discuss mid-way through the interview, so they can take over and direct things at that point if they want to.

I do discuss pop culture and stuff that isn't traditional interview conversation if the conversation veers that way; I don't think the interview has to be serious.

Happy to answer questions on interviews. It's the reasons I got a CC account. People seemed to be confused and have questions and I wanted to show the Yale spirit and help out.

vieestbelle · 01-20-2007, 09:20 PM

Thanks for your response to my question, AdmissionsAddict. I've read through this whole thread and your advice is really helpful. I have my interview tomorrow afternoon, and I feel a lot more confident after reading these posts. Thank you for all the suggestions!

oasis · 01-21-2007, 04:18 AM

I had my interview yesterday and it went really well.

We discussed everything from Chinese politics to the war in Iraq to Southeast Asia affairs.

We had our interview in a McDonalds in rural Central Taiwan...pretty interesting.

Marsden · 01-21-2007, 03:59 PM

AA, I wish you had been my interviewer for Harvard. The guy found out I was interested in architecture, so he tried to get me to give him specific & structural advice on the renovation and expansion of his home (where the interview was held) and that was about all he'd talk about. I was 17 for God's sake!

AdmissionsAddict · 01-21-2007, 05:47 PM

Me? Interview for Harvard? The horror!