<p>I think the interview may be over by now based on the initial post, but as a recent female college graduate and current alumni interviewer I thought I’d weigh in. When I was an applicant I had many interviews in (ivy and non-ivy) alum’s homes as well as restaurants etc. My tall, intimidating father would come in and introduce himself to the interviewer and then leave in either case. I never felt uncomfortabe in these situations. </p>
<p>As a current interviewer, to me the kids who want to keep rescheduling or switching locations are a huge pain in the ass. One student said he could only meet on a Sunday morning (when I’m in church) or midday on a weekday (when I’m at work…) due to his sports commitments, and then canceled the first one due to some other conflict (how much do you actually want to attend my school??). When I finally met the kid he seemed very intelligent and possibly a good fit for the school, however, my assesment of him was probably still affected by my initial poor impression of him.</p>
<p>My D was asked to interview at the home of a male alum. We were asked if we would like to attend, so we did.</p>
<p>We had never done this with other interviews, but I wasn’t thrilled about the concept of a man with my daughter in his home. He lives with a young family in a well known suburban town and active street. I still don’t like it. What’s interesting is that it helped us together determine that this wasn’t the school for her. I guess we heard things she would have never given a second thought to. We didn’t talk during the interview, however just being there felt good.</p>
<p>On another note, she had an interview for another school, coincidentally around the corner from the first, where I dropped her off in front of the house. Sometimes just being normal says something about yourself and the student. The interviewer was running late and wasn’t home when we got there. When she did drive up it was clear that she had young kids and apologized for running late. This led to a very casual interview for my D. I got out of the car for pick up and introduced myself. It turns out her son plays with my nephew and yatta yatta we walked away feeling like old friends. That’s the end to a great interview. </p>
<p>ps she got in EA to the second interview and with drew her app from the first.</p>
<p>Oh boy. Since I am the only person who honestly revealed my story about “hiding,” I can see this will be fun. :)</p>
<p>My S had his license at the time. I know of few kids who do not have access to their parents car when need be, if not their own cars. It was a twenty degree night. If I had been open about driving my S (in fact he did the actual driving), and obviously assuming the interviewer would be reasonably well-mannered, I assume he would have invited me in on a freezing cold night! SV doesn’t like that idea, does she? How do we know that this gentleman would? Would that reflect poorly on my S? Quite possibly judging by interviewer’s posts here. I could NOT drive around or leave the premises, because it was an isolated area and most likely I would have gotten lost! Also, I did not know when the interview would end. Should my S have told him that he had to text/call his mom to come pick him up? Would that be exhibiting the kind of independence that JHS likes to see in a young woman, let alone a young man? I think not.</p>
<p>Mummom, I simply don’t understand the need to hide. It would NOT reflect poorly on your child whatsoever that you dropped him off and the interviewer knew and could see that a parent dropped him off. I am privy to every kid who comes to my house for the itnerview as to how they arrived…either by their own driving, their parent dropping them off (I can see this as they have to drive into my long drive), or if a friend dropped them off. I don’t care one bit how they got here!! Nobody needs to hide this information. The transportation is not an issue. The issue of independence is more as to who enters the actual interview, and not how they were transported there.</p>
<p>You don’t want parents in your home, SV. Isn’t that what you said? </p>
<p>And for those who don’t mind–I agree with pg: the last thing I wanted to do, in fact, was enter that house and sit anywhere in it while my S was interviewing. I know for a fact he would have rather canceled the interview than have that happen!</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s a sign of immaturity on the child’s part if the parent comes to the interviewer door. It may be a sign of not being able to let go on the parent’s part, which isn’t the child’s doing. </p>
<p>My kids need active practice in leading the way. Therefore, my approach would be to disappear and let them own the whole thing, versus me coming to the door with them, where my natural tendency would be to start the introductions, shake hands, exchange pleasantries, etc. It’s sort of a take-away-the-training-wheels-and-let-them-ride thing.</p>
<p>biophys, I really relate to your post 681. I try hard to accommodate kids’ schedules and discuss it at length with them on the phone when we line up the interview. In other words, I don’t say, “your interview is on such and such date at such and such time.” I try to find out convenient times that work for them that would also work for me. But, I have, on occasion, had kids who were very difficult about scheduling it. They would have no times available or some such. While I try to not have them miss things, I do feel that they need to find a way to fit the interview into their schedule at a workable time for me too. The girl I interviewed the other day has a very full schedule but missed her ski team practice for the interview. (she lucked out as it ended up raining that day so she didn’t miss anything but we didn’t know that ahead of time) I agree that it can reflect poorly on a student if they reschedule MANY times (once is OK) or make it difficult to come up with any time that they can do it. That comes across as not very eager for the interview. If I have to push them to do the interview or they make it so difficult to schedule (in light of how flexible I have been), it does affect my impression.</p>
<p>I don’t think the parent should be involved at any point in the process, but that’s just my natural inclination</p>
<p>NSM: Obviously, I did not pull in the driveway, let him off and then drive off. Of course the interviewer would see that. My S parked a bit down the road (where one might reasonably park considering the area layout), exited the car, and walked to the house. I was in the passenger seat. No street lights, etc. in the area.</p>
<p>My S did not have a cell phone at the time. He asked the interviewer if he could use his phone to call his dad to come and pick him up. No problem.</p>
<p>But on a different topic, looking back, I was raised in a very sheltered environment and continue to be amazed that my parents allowed me to go off at 17 to a strange country where people spoke English instead of French. I was probably quite immature and certainly unfamiliar with lots of American customs; but immature or not, I survived my first year in an American college, and thrived the next three years. There can be too much emphasis on maturity and college-readiness.</p>
<p>What’s hostile about saying that an interviewer could become distracted after noticing a parent drive a kid to the interview and then hide in the car? The parent’s behavior would be odd. At best, the interviewer might wonder about whether the parent were ill. At worst, the interviewer might wonder about the parent’s mental stability.</p>
<p>Most parents don’t feel the need to hide in their cars after bringing their kids to an interview. They know that their kid isn’t being assessed on their driving ability or whether they have their own car.</p>
<p>mummom, I don’t mind greeting parents (though most do not approach the door but I do not mind at all if they do). I don’t think they should enter the interview venue and stay. Again, at my home that would not work as they would be able to hear the interview. </p>
<p>In no way that implies that I want them to HIDE!!! I don’t see why anyone would hide down the street so as to not let the interviewer know that they had dropped off their kid! In fact, where I live, that would be entirely odd as I would wonder how the kid got to my door as you CANNOT walk here. There is NO negative impression if the parent DROPS off the kid. They don’t have to HIDE down the street in order to not let the interviewer know they had transported the kid. What they usually do, however, is either wait in the car or go do some errands or drive around during the interview and come back to retrieve their kid either at a set time or the kid rings them when the interview is done. There is NO HIDING of this. I KNOW what they are doing. I DON"T care about this at ALL. The parent does not have to HIDE that they are bringing their kid. The parent simply should not come INTO the interview.</p>
<p>Well, I think we’re playing with semantics here, because it is “hiding” in a sense to drive a block away and just wait there. Nonetheless, I, personally, would rather drive a block away (or run an errand, go to a coffee shop, etc.) than sit in someone’s driveway for an hour or so.</p>
<p>Or by hiding are we talking about actually ducking-down out of sight?</p>
<p>On my D’s last interview, I was in a parking lot a block or two away from the Starbucks where it took place. I reclined the drivers’ seat and closed my eyes, but it wasn’t because I was explicitly hiding – I just take naps well on warm cars on sunny days! Anyway, I think this is getting a little too harsh and personal towards mummom.</p>
<p>“I agree that it can reflect poorly on a student if they reschedule MANY times (once is OK) or make it difficult to come up with any time that they can do it. That comes across as not very eager for the interview.”</p>
<p>And how they come across may indeed be the reality. From what I’ve seen on CC, some students apply to 15-20 top schools including many schools that they aren’t particularly interested in attending. After a while, such students become irritated – not delighted – when they are offered interviews, particularly when the interviews are with schools that they don’t really want to attend or that are less highly regarded than are schools that have given them EA acceptances.</p>
<p>Such students then begin to feel that they’re doing the interviewers a favor by showing up, and the students act accordingly.</p>
<p>Sorry pg–didn’t want interviewer to hear a running car. Very still and cold night. It is hilarious–please, I am the first to realize that. And you are correct, hiding is rather overstating the circumstances.</p>
<p>I also think some people who have not read carefully may be missing some of the finer points of the discussion, and the stated preferences of various interviewers. They all seem to be different. So how is the student/parent supposed to know these biases, which are actually very involved in many ways, ahead of time?</p>
<p>If “hiding” meant driving around the block and waiting there or in some other nearby location so as not to sit in the interviewer’s driveway and to possibly risk being invited in and disturbing the interview or inhibiting one’s kid, that seems like normal parental behavior to me.</p>
<p>If “hiding” meant laying down in the back seat so no one would see you (and this is what I was interpreting mummom to mean) that would be odd behavior, very different than what most parents would do.</p>