<p>I think the alum might be *accommodating * to the student, but I’m not nearly as sure about understanding the parent. </p>
<p>Here is a HS senior striving to gain admission to a highly selective college or university with a parental forced albatross around his or her neck. How can the fact that the “support team” for that student is (1) that cautious and (2) that controlling pass unnoticed? </p>
<p>I’d figure the alum would know that adding the weight of this parental anchor to the load that comes with attending the college makes the applicant different (and not in a positive way) from other applicants not so afflicted.</p>
<p>Candidates for many Washington internships are interviewed over the phone – and this is the only round of interviews included in the selection process for these internships. Government agencies and nonprofit organizations may not be able to afford to bring internship candidates to Washington for face-to-face interviews or to visit colleges for on-campus interviews in the way that corporations often do.</p>
<p>It seems to work out OK. My daughter got two Washington internships this way, and her fellow interns at both offices did not seem to be a pack of weirdos.</p>
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<p>Might a sophisticated alum realize that the degree of parental protectiveness varies drastically with cultural background? In an era when colleges seek diversity on campus, not taking cultural differences into account could be counter to the college’s needs.</p>
<p>The range of opinions on all aspects of this process are indeed fascinating. From my college’s alum interviewing page, it says “The conversation with the prospective student usually takes 45 minutes to an hour. We recommend a comfortable, convenient, public place (e.g., a cafe or a library) for a face-to-face interview, but you are welcome to do a phone interview if you wish.” </p>
<p>Personally, I agree that face-to-face is preferred, for many of the reasons mentioned above. But I think for many, if not most people, a phone interview is better than no interview at all. The interviewer is well aware that the circumstances are different, and would take that into consideration. I don’t think that many would unconsciously rate someone poorly just because it was a phone interview. In the business world (yes, not a perfect analogy, but bear with me ) many candidates are taken through several phone interviews before they are considered for a face-to-face meeting. Even without the body language or visuals, a lot can be gleaned from a conversation. And in this day and age, we can consider skyping or using the google version (I forget the name) to put a face with a voice, as p3t suggested (I missed it at first, p3t. Sorry). Lots of possibilities. </p>
<p>Note: Please, despite ellebud’s wonderful scenarios above, dont compare the video interview consideration with the film “Up in the Air”.</p>
<p>**** forgot to mention-- if you change your cc setting to get 40 posts/pg, you only have 25 pages here! – and also cross posted with marian about corporate phone interviews</p>
<p>Thanks for the name of the google video chat, Windcloud. If my alma mater will set me up on skype or google video chat, I’m all for it! I still prefer face-to-face. but I’ve been wanting to set up videoconferencing on my computer!</p>
<p>Perfect Rule oldfort:
"My company has “sexual harassment” training course for managers (I tell them that I know how to harass people already, no training necessary). We are told not to hold any meetings in our room unless it is a suite where the bedroom could be closed off. They said whenever there is a bed in sight it is not appropriate to have a business meeting. Whenever I’ve had to work with a colleague I would always meet them in a public place, even if it’s just dropping off/picking up documents. As a woman, I also never give out my room number to people I travel with. If I am to have drinks with colleagues, I always leave when there are still other colleagues around, always avoid 1:1. This is not because I would be attacked, but to avoid any unnecessary rumors. "</p>
<p>Ok–I’d assume a “sophisticated alum” could spot the situation where the request is cultural and not from some other sourse. I haven’t read more than two posts that I think address a “cultural” explanation for not having a particular situation for the interview. Are there examples on this thread that come to mind?</p>
<p>Look at the post immediately above. Rumor? That’s not a cultural issue at all.</p>
<p>“Might a sophisticated alum realize that the degree of parental protectiveness varies drastically with cultural background?”</p>
<p>Sure, but that’s why I suggest that the student say their parent is concerned, and the student offer to do a phone interview.</p>
<p>I’m not sure about what cultures you’re thinking might not want a home interview, but the students who seemed to feel literally honored to be interviewing at my home were immigrants’ kids.</p>
<p>"Don’t make unusual demands. If the admissions office doesn’t provide you with a completed application or a resume, there’s usually a reason or policy in place. Understand that policy and don’t ask students to prepare supplementary materials for your personal edification or enjoyment. "</p>
<p>Not true at all. My university thinks it’s perfectly fine for alum to ask for a resume, etc. That also can help inteviewers make best use of the limited time of the interview. Far easier and more efficient to scan an interview than to have to listen to a long list of the applicants’ ECs or of info that is extraneous. For instance, most applicants in my area participate in Model UN and Mu Alpha Theta, including having state and national awards in MAO. Consequently, those activities do not differentiate applicants. However, applicants who don’t bring in resumes tend to spend lots of time providing me with info about those activities.</p>
<p>When applicants bring in resumes, I could focus on the activities that differentiated them from the other applicants in my area and that might make them stand out in admissions.</p>
<p>Greenery–that “article” you posted is a blog piece for the services of an independent college counselor.</p>
<p>JHS–do I understand that you consider anything other than an assessment of actual risk of harm as the basis for not wanting an in-home interview to be culturally motivated (i.e., not fact or fear based)? If that is the definition that is being used, I guess I agree with you, but do not see that this type “diversity” is a need to be met or a goal for the institution.</p>
<p>I’m not being that precise, 07DAD, and I suspect if I boiled it down it would be a little more complex than that. Where I start is that I have never run across the negative attitudes reflected in this thread in real life. From the days of my youth to the days of my kids’ youth, college alumni interviews have been part of life, many of them have been in the home of the alumnus/a involved, and no one has ever questioned that. It was normal. </p>
<p>It turns out that what I have considered normal for at least 40 years – and what people on CC whose backgrounds and education are a lot like mine also consider normal – is intensely threatening to some other people. Clearly, there’s no experiential basis for a threat, and there’s not much of a logical basis that doesn’t run amok through lots of the way I live. So I concluded 40-some pages ago that this dispute was a cultural one, not one that was susceptible to logical argument. By the way, one of the things that makes that conclusion satisfactory to me is that it lets me regard the people I disagree with here with sympathy, as sort-of friends, rather than as mental defectives or people with horrible values (from my standpoint).</p>
<p>But the “cultural” difference isn’t just whether an actual risk of harm is required. It starts with who has the burden of proof. And it clearly also includes values. For me and my tribe, the colleges we’re talking about here are sacred, central institutions. Of course one would suffer personal discomfort, and even risk, to get a chance to be a student at one of them! And if you don’t like one of their customs, it’s time to take a good look at yourself and decide if YOU need to change, before you start trying to change it. Other posters here clearly start with a completely different attitude.</p>
<p>That may be true, but just to play devil’s advocate, JHS, just remember, umpteen years ago those “sacred, central institution” had as its custom rejecting people just like you for being members of the tribe. So I’d be a little careful about holding practices up as good just because they are tradition.</p>
<p>Northstarmom raised a great point - A resume, copy of application, essays previously written by the student, certificates…that’s probably fine and still some could argue why to share certain personal information with a volunteer…(applications contain social security Birthdate…)</p>
<p>Interesting: How many of the volunteers ask for the student’s resumes and copy of application? Are the schools providing those documents to the volunteers? What documents does the volunteer receives before the interview?</p>
<p>Northstarmom quote: ""Don’t make unusual demands. If the admissions office doesn’t provide you with a completed application or a resume, there’s usually a reason or policy in place. Understand that policy and don’t ask students to prepare supplementary materials for your personal edification or enjoyment. "</p>
<p>Northstarmom opined: Not true at all. My university thinks it’s perfectly fine for alum to ask for a resume, etc. That also can help inteviewers make best use of the limited time of the interview. Far easier and more efficient to scan an interview than to have to listen to a long list of the applicants’ ECs or of info that is extraneous. For instance, most applicants in my area participate in Model UN and Mu Alpha Theta, including having state and national awards in MAO. Consequently, those activities do not differentiate applicants. However, applicants who don’t bring in resumes tend to spend lots of time providing me with info about those activities.</p>
<p>When applicants bring in resumes, I could focus on the activities that differentiated them from the other applicants in my area and that might make them stand out in admissions. "</p>
<p>We do not request resumes (although some students bring them anyway) or especially anything to do with test scores or GPA. We are provided with the name, hometown, telephone number or email address,high school the student attends and whether the student is applying early or regular decision.</p>
<p>emptynester2-- the site you linked to re-posted the blogger’s position from her blog site she uses to promote her college counseling services. Look up at the top at “bio” and then at the bottom of the page with more links to the blogger’s “advice.” </p>
<p>It is NOT an article, its a form of advertisement.</p>
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<p>I am involved in an enterprise that locates unique items for resale. I recall early on that I heard people get really agitated over what someone was asking for particular items. I mean really getting up set and personalizing the anger with shots at the seller. I asked a veteran what that was all about.</p>
<p>She related that for most people there wasn’t enough time in the day to get upset over the price someone placed on something —unless the person who was upset really, really wanted the item and could not afford it.</p>
<p>Seems to have some of the same markings here. Why would some one give a hoot (much less obsess over) what a particular school requires, unless they really, really, really wanted to go there?</p>
<p>On the tradition, for tradition’s sake issue–I still get tickled when I hear people who have traveled half way around the world to experience some place or event start trying to tell the locals how they ought to change things to make it “better.” So many times it is the very fact that it is not done the “right” way that makes the experience unique and worth experiencing.</p>
<p>Greenery, I never got applications or social security numbers, date of birth, anything “personal”. But any interests that an applicant had noted during a college fair, in correspondence or a phone call, etc got noted, i.e. “hopes to participate in intramural sports esp. crew” or “passionate about modern dance” or “founder of the Native American club in HS” or whatever. The interviewer could either ignore or not. But it helped break the ice with shy kids to have something besides, “Oh you go to Shady Village High School, that’s really great” given that every third kid in the metro area also goes to Shady Village HS. So anything the college provided was useful in drawing the kid out.</p>
<p>But nothing confidential unless the student chose to share scores, GPA, rank, etc during the interview (which most did although we were instructed not to ask and in fact, I neve4r did).</p>
<p>My daughter is an alumni interviewer at an Ivy League university and the rules she follows are exactly as you describe them. If the applicant brings a resume, fine. But she is not supposed to ask for one.</p>