AdmissionsAddict

I am a longtime alumni interviewer. Every year, I see kids on CC worry about not having been offered an alumni interview. I am concerned that some applicants are offered an interview via email, but they don't look at their junk emails closely enough or they don't check the email account that they gave Yale on their applications. Alumni interview reports are due to Yale on February 15. Over the next six weeks, please keep a close eye on your email.

Some of you will not be offered an alumni interview because you live in a area without alumi resources. Those of you who live in metropolitan areas may also not receive interviews because there are so many applicants from your area that the alumni can't cover all of you (only a very small percentage of alumni volunteer as interviewers). The admissions office is aware of these problems and won't think that you are disinterested because there isn't an interview report in your file. Also, while some students who have interviewed on campus will participate in alumni interviews, in some regions they are given lowest priority because it's more important to interview applicants who haven't already been interviewed.

I am happy to answer any questions you have. CC posters have asked me what they should expect at their interview and I can only say that every interviewer has a different style. I suspect most interviewers are low-key and ask fairly predictable questions about academic and extracurricular interests.

BingCold

thanks for the words of advice

AdmissionsAddict

bump b/c people seem to be posting questions I answer here

meadweb

Thank you AdmissionsAddict!

I actually already did my Yale interview and it was AWESOME!

maddy_01

thanks for the info.

oldfort

How does Yale decide who gets interviewed? Do you get a list of everyone in your area and you decide who you want to interview? How important is the interview? If you really didn't like the candidate and the candidate looks great on paper, would the candidate still be admitted?

Soryusen

How important is the interview to admissions? Can a stellar interview significantly increase your chances, and vice-versa?

Also, is there something specific you're looking for from an interview other than to hear all about the EC's and interests? It seems as if it wouldn't actually add to the application if the student merely tells you all the things that are already on his application.

jaymay1290

what happens if an alumnus requests an interview during a weekend that i will definitely be out of town (in another state)? I would feel horrible telling him (or maybe her)that there is no way I can go....would he be willing to schedule another one with me (perhaps switching with another student), or would he/she write me off completely? would hewrite a bad report about me?

It's a rhetorical question, since i havent been contacted yet, but i am will be out of town for an entire weekend in early february..

PS thanks so much for the info, as well as taking the actual time to be an alumni interviewer!

MyChainDownLow

Is the interview used as a significant part in your evaluation or only a minor part?

Also do they use the interview to compare the interview results with resumes/essays?

AdmissionsAddict

Let me try to answer all your question.

1. How do interviews get assigned? I don't know how it works in other areas, but in mine, a person called the Alumni School Committee director gets the names of all applicants in the geographic area. The ASC director then calls or emails each applicant to see if he or she wants an interview. If the answer is yes, the ASC director assigns the applicant to an interviewer. ASC directors get minimal information from the admissions office about the applicants and there is no choosing who is invited to participate in the interview process; everyone who applies get a shot, although people who have interviewed on campus may get moved to the bottom of the pile.

2. How important is the interview? Since I'm not on the admissions committee, I can't say for certain. My sense is that a really lousy interview report will cause the admissions officers to look more carefully at your application before accepting you or send you to the reject pile more quickly if you were already tending in that direction. I know of at least one applicant who got in even though his interviewer had a very poor impression of him. If your interviewer loves you, that might verify everything else that's great in your file and be the last nudge you need to be in the admit pile. That being said, lots of applicants with ecstatic reviews don't get in. The interview doesn't make or break you. It is by far the least important part of the application process, but it may be the thing that pushes an applicant over the edge into the reject or admit pile.

3. What does the admissions office get out of an interview report that they don't see on paper? A good interviewer can really read an applicant. There have been lots of applicants who have said in response to my "Why Yale?" question, "Because it's prestigious." When probed, they don't know squat about the school and don't even seem to have read basic literature provided by Yale. You can tell who has genuinely thought about the college and whether it's a good fit. You can also tell whether someone is intellectual. When I ask, "What is your favorite class?" and the student says they like class X because they get good grades in it easily and, upon further questioning, don't reveal any actual academic interest in the subject, that looks bad. Interviewers may also be able to tell what extracurriculars have been inflated or are largely parent-initiated. There are also people who have behave poorly at interviews. I've had a couple of extremely arrogant, entitled students and a couple of people who didn't appear to live on planet earth (don't want to reveal details, but you wouldn't believe them anyway). I don't judge people negatively because they are liberal or conservative, quiet or gregarious, etc. Although I'm sure some people are smart enough to snow me, I think I'm a pretty good judge of character and can add another dimension to the applicant's file.

4. What if I can't meet when the alumni interviewer wants to meet? Tell them you need to do it another time. I can't imagine they wouldn't understand. Any serious Yale applicant is overbooked with activities and school, so they won't think you're rude if you have a conflict.

Let me know if you have more questions.

Soryusen

Wait. Do people ACTUALLY say "because it's prestigious?"

...wow.

AdmissionsAddict

Yes, they actually do. More than one applicant I have every year. With no additional reasons given for being interested in Yale.

Kamikazewave

I admitted to my interviewer that part of the reason I wanted to go was because of its prestige, but then I listed the other reasons I preferred Yale.

People...it's also a sign of competence that you read the Yale brochures/propaganda etc.

Soryusen

At least that shows "honesty" :-P

sryrstress

I know firsthand everyone does NOT get a shot at an alumni interview. My son applied this year SCEA and he received a letter stating "alumni interviewers are linked to SPECIFIC schools and you school is not linked....therefore, we regret we will not be able to offer you an interview."

I found this somewhat presumptious and annoying, because we may be in a rural area, but we are within 2 hours of 2 different major US cities, and he would have been more than willing to drive to an interview. This state has very few good public and/or prep schools, but I bet they are linked. I do believe every kid who applies should have the chance to interview, if they are willing to go to the interviewer's area.

The website says the lack of an interview will not harm the candidate. For those of you not getting an interview, believe them! My S was admitted SCEA.