<p>Slumom, that’s the thing. I have felt that I have been very flexible to work things out with students who I am assigned to interview. I am cognizant of their busy schedules having had kids that age and try to work around their extracurriculars and so forth (or exam week). I try to make it work for them and ask them to give me some days and times that they could get here. That is why it is hard to take the criticism of alum interviewers on this thread, on top of the fact that we are volunteers. If a student asked me about a different venue, I’d likely accommodate that too. I can do so because I am self employed and work out of my home and am now an empty nester. I had less flexibility when my kids were living at home and so I met students in another city sometimes when my own kids were in an activity in that city. I do prefer students to come to my home so that I don’t have to travel and add time to this volunteer work. </p>
<p>However, like NSM mentions, I realize that not every interviewer can be as flexible as me since they may work full time at an office away from the home, have their own kids’ schedules to maintain, and so forth. That is why that even though I think I am very flexible as an interviewer, I still believe the interviewer has the final say or upper hand in the arrangements since they are the one providing the service (though still can’t get over posts earlier on this thread that the students are doing the interviewers a favor!).</p>
<p>My 17 year old daughter was interviewed numerous times by males at their home, also a few females. It seems to be normal operating procedure. Most the colleges have some sort of training and screening process for the interviewer. It never even occurred to me that there could be a problem. We knew the identity of the interviewer, the neighborhoods were very nice, if something illegal happened, there would be repercussions. </p>
<p>My child had her cell phone with her at all times. If she was worried, I would have parked right outside the home and waited in my car. I did usually come back early and wait in front of the house or just wait outside the whole time. Once my daughter went to a female alumn’s house by herself, and again there was no problem. </p>
<p>My daughter was interviewed several times in public places. We actually thought those interviews were wierd, it is a little strange to sit at a StarBucks and answer personal questions. A few times my daughter was interviewed at a diner or restaurant and those interviews were probably better, in that the next candidate wasn’t staring at her back and standing next to her.</p>
<p>It is a good idea to prepare your child to handle interviews, including what to say to questions that she thinks are inappropriate. I guess we have to also prepare our children what to do if the situation becomes unsafe–get out and keep the cell phone handy. My daughter is a second degree black belt in a martial art, so we always joke about how if she can’t run away, she will just kick anyone who gets physical with her. Fortunatley, nothing has ever happened. </p>
<p>FYI, in college, my daughter is often alone in an office with a male teacher and I guess you will have the same concerns, although getting out of an office should be easier than out of a home.</p>
<p>LOL, the alum interviewer who I thought was a “young woman” turned out to be in her late 30’s with two small children! Yet her emails and her voice on the phone made her seem much younger to me! Here I was thinking she had graduated from college about 5 years ago! Interview went well, my S said.</p>
<p>The title of this Thread woke up some old memories:</p>
<p>Back in the Dark Ages (1969) I had a interview at the Home of a Dartmouth Alum.</p>
<p>I showed up at his home and was surprised to discover that there was not just one interviewer but a panel of three alumni. </p>
<p>All sitting across from me, shooting questions at me, one after the other with a hostility and intensity that was obviously intended to see if they could rattle me.</p>
<p>I did not get offered admission, but after that experience with the Alumni Interviewers, I didn’t want to attend there anyway, if that was what their students turned out to be like.</p>
<p>As a local alumni interviewer for my alma mater I conducted my first interview this season yesterday. The candidate was a young man who attends a well-regarded private school in the area. He lives in my town. He is a legacy candidate whose parent attended school around the same time that I did.</p>
<p>We met as pre-planned at my home. I had called him in advance to set the date, time and to give him some preliminary information about what the interview would entail. During that call I offered him the option of meeting in a public venue which he declined. I let him know that casual dress would be fine and that the main purpose of the interview was information exchange. I made sure my wife was at home during the interview and I even introduced the candidate to her. The cadidate drove himself to our home. We sat in my well-lit living room with undraped windows facing the street while there was still daylight. He remarked at how comfortable the chairs were. </p>
<p>The interview lasted exactly an hour. It was very relaxed and low-key. The focus was mostly on providing him with information about the school and addressing any specific questions that he had. Since he was a legacy he knew quite a bit about the school already. He had a few questions that I couldn’t answer so I followed up today with an email providing him with specific answers as well as links on the college website that would address those questions. </p>
<p>One of the most helpful parts of the discussion was when I asked him specifically what he wanted the admissions committee to know about him that might not be reflected in any other part of his application. This allowed him to provide me with some important personal information about some life circumstances.</p>
<p>I have already forwarded my report on to the school. I felt very comfortable about the interview and I believe he did, too. I really believe my living room was a very nice, appropriate place to conduct the interview. A public place like a Starbucks would not have been conducive for the sharing of personal information.</p>
<p>Clark, thank you for your thoughtful report. I have notified the sex offender registry in your jurisdiction just in case. The comfortable chairs in your living room are of great concern to the PC police. It’s folks like you who give alumni interviewers a bad name. (removes tongue from cheek.)</p>
<p>blossom, LOLOL!
My DS had an alumni interview two days ago in a Federal District Court Judge’s chambers. I neglected to ask if anyone else was watching from a peephole…</p>
<p>I just completed an alum interview at my home an hour ago. I was thinking of this thread here when I lined it up. I accommodated this student to provide an early morning appointment, which wasn’t that convenient for me but was what worked for her. She doesn’t drive. She lives 40 min. from me. She is only attending her HS part time this year and had no early morning classes and is taking courses at State U an hour from here as well. Her younger brother, however, is attending our local HS (not the one in their town…not sure how that is arranged) and so the dad has to drive him each morning closer to where I live (about ten min. from my house) and so I agreed to have her come in with her dad after dropping brother off at the local HS and the dad dropped this girl at my house and went off somewhere during the interview and was gonna take her back to her HS and onto his job after that (which is in yet another area). The interview lasted 75 minutes. There were no questions raised on her end as to the location of the interview. I feel I accommodated her as to the time and the day. When her dad came to pick her up afterward, we waved and said hello from a distance when I opened the door and he was in the driveway. He said he came back (I think she had planned to call him when done) as he was a little worried at the time that had gone by. I guess he expected it to be shorter and am sure he wanted to get to work. Now, I have to write up the report. This will cut into my work time for my real job and I also have to go out of town the next 2 days. </p>
<p>Hint to all students who go to interviews…when the interviewer asks at the end if there is anything the student would like us to pass onto the admissions committee, don’t have NOTHING to say. (this is a friendly public service announcement from a scary at home alum interviewer :rolleyes: )</p>
<p>Sounds like Clarkalum was very thoughtful and courteous in that first interview, particularly, offering the interviewee some options. Clarkalum really thought ahead to make the interview comfortable for both. Luckily for all, a reasonable meeting place and time was agreed upon. That is so much nicer than any interviewer that would say- “It’s my way or attend school somewhere else.”</p>
<p>I thought of y’all and this thread at my book group last week. </p>
<p>One of my friends told a story of a friend of her daughter’s who went for a college interview. She agreed to go to the interviewer’s house at 8:30 p.m. so that the interviewer could put her kids to bed first. </p>
<p>We live in a very dark-in-the-winter, snowy, mountainous town with lots of houses way up on the hillside. The mom kept driving up, up, up, road got worse and worse, and the daughter said, “Well, she asked me if we have four-wheel-drive.” The mom said “WE DON’T!” And the daughter replied, “Well, the gearshift knob has 4 settings on it”.</p>
<p>I thought of this thread when I read that Stabuck’s does not use its option to ban handguns in the store. That could make for an interesting interview.</p>
<p>I thought of this thread, too, when I was reading another thread by a kid who had an interview disaster – he went to the wrong Starbucks, and wound up missing his interview altogether. If you’re meeting “at Starbucks”, you have to make sure that you agree on which of the five possible Starbucks that is.</p>
