<p>
</p>
<p>That doesn’t make any sense. The interviews for selective schools are most typically conducted by local alumni in the student’s home area – mostly to keep alumni happy and engaged, to be honest – and they count for very little unless there is something really extraordinary one way or the other.</p>
<p>
Selection process and interviews are quite different things. Interviews are not a given at highly selective colleges. Stanford only started optional interviews recently . Graduates were by no means known for being less satisfied than other selective colleges that required interviews. However, I do think selection process is true to some extent. Not much more than half of students entering 4-year colleges in the United States graduate in 6 years. At some colleges, graduation rate is near 10%. In contrast HYP, have 6-year graduation rates of 97%-98%. A college were the majority fail to graduate is far more likely to have regretful students/parents than a college where 2% fail to graduation. General selectivity (not interviews) of who is accepted plays a large role in the graduation rate, as do the other issues highlighted in usbalumnus’s post above.</p>
<p>The original post talked about Malcolm Gladwell’s position, which is a different issue. In other interviews, I’ve seen him say that students should choose a college or job where most are less talented than yourself, leading to a more positive perception of yourself and as such being more likely to achieve/succeed in that field. An example interview is at [Malcolm</a> Gladwell - Zeitgeist Americas 2013 - YouTube](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UEwbRWFZVc&feature=youtu.be]Malcolm”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UEwbRWFZVc&feature=youtu.be) . He focuses on talented students at highly selective colleges that have SAT/GPA stats towards the bottom of the class tending to drop out of math/science degree programs and switch to something else. I doubt that many of these students that chose to switch majors would say they regret their college choice. </p>
<p>My stats were near the bottom of my class at Stanford (bottom 1% verbal SAT, bottom 3% HS GPA, …), so I’m sure Gladwell would have advised me to stay far away. However, I had the opposite experience. I was bored out of my mind in HS, leading to mediocre grades When attending Stanford, I was challenged academically for the first time in my life, leading to better grades and generally enjoying school & learning more than any other time in my life. In several classes that interested me, I went above and beyond the curriculum with support from professors, in a way that would not have been possible in HS (or at least in the one I attended). The experience also opened my eyes to new possibilities and inspired me to pursue many areas that I never would have considered otherwise. Some were not successful. Others were, such as later starting an online company. There were countless opportunities. I truly believe it was the best college in the world for me. I obviously do not my regret my choice and certainly do not wish I had chosen a low stat college in an attempt to stand out, as Gladwell advises.</p>
<p>What thumper said. If a college is a good fit, graduation is going to be bittersweet (obviously!).</p>
<p>My kid doesn’t really like Yale and is looking to transfer. My Kid and I know a few people who were at Harvard and didn’t really like it, but parents didn’t allow kids transfer out.</p>
<p>Data…I believe most of the Ivy League schools, as well as other selective schools, provide alumni interviews if a student wants one. However, they have no bearing on acceptance at all. I know that alum interviewers at some of these schools are asked to give feedback forms to the school. BUT the alum interviewers I know often found that acceptances did not align with their opinions about the students.</p>
<p>Has the skyrocketing number of applications affected the importance of an interview? Back in the old days, I thought an interview was mandatory for Harvard applicants (I don’t think I would have volunteered). But it seems near impossible to organize the alumni needed and completed interview forms for the number of applicants now. </p>
<p>I’ve heard from friends that they no longer interview for their alma mater because they didn’t think their opinion counted for anything in the admission decision.</p>
<p>I’m an alumni interviewer. While I don’t think my write up is key to an admissions decision, I think it is read and evaluated in the context of the whole app. Sure there’s benefit to maximizing warm, fuzzy alumni feelings, but I think it’s overly cynical to say the write ups don’t count for anything or don’t improve the selection process at all.</p>
<p>It’s also possible that the alumni interview gives the child a better feel for the school, and can therefore make a better choice as to whether it’s the right fit. I’m in CA interviewing for an East Coast school. Virtually none of the kids I interview have visited the campus.</p>
<p>I am an alum interviewer too. I don’t recall hearing back on the outcome of the students I interview.</p>
<p>
It depends on the college. Some selective colleges rank interviews as one of the “important” categories in the CDS rankings, not just “considered”. For example, MIT’s CDS ranks interviews as “important” – the same ranking they give to stats. . The only criteria that is higher is character / personal qualities. MIT admissions says they have an 11x greater admit rate for applicants who chose to interview than those who chose not to interview . Each year, the NACAS does a survey asking a large number of college admissions what factors are “considerable importance” in admissions decision. In their most recent free to download survey, about 1/3 choose “considerable” or “moderate” importance for interviews.</p>
<p>Honestly…does it matter about what WE think about alumni interviews? Not sure it pertains at all to regretting sending a kid to an Ivy League school.</p>
<p>Jym…some alum interviewers do hear about student acceptances. I know a couple who have. I don’t know whether the alum interviewer inquired or whether the school just let them know. </p>
<p>I do know one person who used to do alum interviews for an Ivy League school and stopped. The school made it very clear that these interviews didn’t have any impact on student admissions at all. Even though they asked for a feedback form from the interviewer, apparently the interview had no Impact on admissions. The feedback form was as time consuming to complete as the interview…so the person just stopped doing the interviews. He enjoyed meeting with the students, but could not continue doing so through the school without completing the time consuming form.</p>
<p>Bearpanther: thoughtful post. I didn’t attend an Ivy, my husband did, so I have attended quite a few reunions where I had the chance to talk to people I didn’t know, at a time when people get all philosophical about Life, meaning of, and Success, what does it mean? Most people have a sneaking suspicion that they have not performed as well as they might have done, and if they don’t, they tend to be fairly irritating anyway. I don’t think people who attend Ivies have any more or less reason than other graduates of our educational system to feel slightly guilty about the resources they have enjoyed. But the idea that the amount of money spent on an education ought to be justified by the amount of money or respect earned by its recipient, is as attractive to me as the idea that the amount one spends on a wedding present ought to reflect the amount of money expected to be spent on one as a guest of the wedding. I know that these ideas are increasingly current, but I still reject them.</p>
<p>On the topic itself, I do know a few people who regretted going to a particular Ivy, but that’s mainly an issue of those respective Ivy’s campus culture/academic environment. No different from students at other colleges who found the college was a poor academic and/or social fit for them. </p>
<p>A few hated it because of the then widespread social snobbery against those of lower SES and/or those who were STEM nerds at one particular Ivy. And not all of them were necessarily from the lower SES, but nonetheless felt such snobbery was wrong. </p>
<p>Another regretted her choice because she felt she made a mistake in turning down peer elite colleges with what she found were far stronger institutional support for engineering. This view was only confirmed when she to one of those peer elite colleges for grad school and found the undergrad engineering program there received much more institutional support from the university than the one at her HYP Ivy back when she attended. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I don’t blame him/her. If this was the policy at the Ivy from which a HS friend is an alum and who does alum interviews, she wouldn’t have also declined to participate. From knowing her, she’d feel such a policy was a waste her time that could be put forth to more meaningful volunteer activities.</p>
<p>
3rd hand information about one alum being told his interviews were informative, rather than evaluative, does not mean interviews have no bearing on acceptance at selective colleges, as you stated earlier. Different colleges treat interviews differently. Sometimes even the same university treats interviews differently for different groups. For example, interviews are required for admission to Cornell’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning and their School of Hotel Administration, but interviews are not even offered for some of Cornell’s other programs. The website for Cornell’s Architecture school states, *“The interviews are evaluative and carry significant weight in the admissions selection process.” * The majority of highly selective colleges claim to consider interviews in the CDS, but generally give them low importance. Harvard has said “modest importance.” As stated in my earlier post, MIT is an exception in giving higher weight to interviews and having a much higher rate of admissions among those who chose to interview than those who do not.</p>
<p>Data…the Ivy university TOLD the alum interviewers that their interviews did not count towards admission decisions. This wasn’t something my friend made up. He was told this by the office who sought folks to do alumni interviews. When he heard this, he graciously declined to continue doing the interviews for that university.</p>
<p>I expect that there is conflicting information. If you list the university name, I can give specific detail (as stated earlier, different selective colleges treat interviews differently, so name is necessary).</p>
<p>Data, I do NOT post information that is potentially identifying about my friends. Sorry…but it is one of those Ivies.</p>
<p>I personally don’t know anyone who’s regretted sending their kids to ivies. My Cousin/Step-Brother is having a wonderful time at Columbia and got his Doc last year. He loved it. And I have a bunch of friends who went to the Ivies who love it. </p>
<p>I think the only case that I’ve know of people not liking the prestigious school they’ve been to is when American kids who haven’t done their research enough go to Oxford. The structure in Oxford is totally different from anything that Americans have come to expect and not making sure that’s a good fit for you is disastrous. But, I’ve never heard of anyone with the same problems at Ivies.</p>
<p>
You said the unnamed university told the “alum interviewers” (interviewers plural, not just your friend). If they tell many interviewers that their interviews have no impact on admissions, then I don’t see how listing the name of the school would identify your friend. I also don’t see why the college and/or your friend would care if a website discussion forum knows about their interview policies, unless this is supposed to be a big secret. Maybe the unnamed university tells the CDS and students that they consider interviews in their admissions decisions, but only a select few know the hidden truth? And this hidden agenda is somehow supposed to apply across all selective universities?</p>
<p>In any case, in some of my earlier posts I’ve listed names of some selective universities that state that interviews are important for their admissions decisions, including varied acceptance rates with and without interviews. I’ve never claimed that all universities treat them as important, only that there are varied policies and interview importance at different selective universities.</p>
<p>"I’ve seen him say that students should choose a college or job where most are less talented than yourself, leading to a more positive perception of yourself and as such being more likely to achieve/succeed in that field. "</p>
<p>Everyone can’t go to a place where most are less talented, though. (Sort of Lake Wobegone in reverse) Even at Harvard, I hear that a full 25% of the class is made up of people in the upper quarter… Go figure.</p>
<p>It was my understanding that several colleges my kids applied to considered interviews to be highly important in the admissions process. Off the top of my head, Ursinus was one, Wake Forest was another. The interviews were done <em>with admissions personnel</em>. At Ursinus the interview was done on campus, during a visit. The Wake Forest interview was done via Skype, some months after a campus visit. </p>
<p>There were other colleges (Ivy and Ivy level) that offered alumni interviews. It was clear that <em>those</em> interviews had absolutely no bearing on the admissions process. I say clear, because my son was having a difficult time arranging a time to meet with one alumni interviewer, and called admissions to ask about how important the interview was. He was told directly the alumni interview had absolutely no importance at all.</p>