I just had an interview for one of my universities which I thought went fairly well. Though when the interviewer asked me why I wanted to attend the college, he kept asking for reasons even though I listed all the major reasons. At the end he started to give me tips about being what to do if I was waitlisted if this really was a top university I wanted to attend and started saying the admission was quite tough. Did the interview go worse than I thought?
who did you talk to? An actual admission officer at the school or an alum?
It was an alum of the school. The interview was recommended. He also asked me what other colleges I applied to, didn’t happen in any previous interviews, it was strange.
Do you appear “overqualified” for that college, and does that college consider level of interest? Did you say that you were applying to similar but more selective colleges?
Perhaps he thought that your reasons are not the ones that the college’s admission people would consider as expressing sufficient interest beyond applying.
I usually ask where else the applicant applied-it can lead to interesting insights, like this college being the only out of state school on the list, or tbe applicant just randomly applying to all ivies, for example. Sometimes an applicant will mention a major my college doesn’t have but another one does, which can be illuminating.
The college I was just interviewed for was a top 20 college so I don’t think I came over as overqualified. The other colleges I applied to included some that were about the same level and 1 ivy.
If it’s a top 20, the interviewer probably wanted you to dig deeper. Maybe you did, who knows. Nothing to do but wait, and understand that at super selective schools, the interview doesn’t count for that much, unless it’s really bad.
what you got was a poorly trained alum (or one that didn’t learn what they were told). Asking where else you applied is is both unprofessional and a tip-off; it’s nobody’s business but yours. See the Chronicle of Education article https://www.chronicle.com/article/Where-Else-Are-You-Applying-/233626 It sounds like this guy likes to play freelance college consultant by giving you “tips” on what to do if waitlisted and other advice. And being an alum interviewer sends him a steady stream of students.
The good news is alum interviews count for little. Unless you do something to raise red flags like admit you are only applying to see if you could get in or show some obvious issues like making racist comments then the interview with an alum isn’t likely to make a difference. Schools know that a few hours of training don’t turn someone into a skilled interviewer and what you got shows what happens when someone decides they know best no matter what they were told to do.
Nor were his comments a reflection of your chances. This guy isn’t an adcom, he doesn’t know what the applicant pool looks like or where you fall in it. It’s going to be hard to do, but put this out of your mind.
And in the spring, once decisions are out one way or another, you might want to send a brief email to admissions recounting your meeting and asking why he was asking where else you applied.
Top Universities have many qualified candidates…he may have seen that many of the people he interviews get waitlisted, so he was trying to share what you should do in that case. I do alumni interviews as well and often think that 80% of the people that apply could get in and do well…but they can’t take everyone.
I have also never seen an interview go “badly”…we just keep asking questions…it maybe that he had an idea of a unique aspect of the University that you didn’t mention or he was really try to get an idea of your level of interest in this University.
One is free to ask in an interview, not in formal written communication. And the applicant is always free to decline to answer any questions, or even decline the entire interview.
I suppose I ask in part because I have had an applicant candidly tell me about her violation of the SCEA terms in applying to other schools. Somewhat taken aback at the time I merely forwarded the info to the admissions office without comment.
Odd about the inverviewer asking about OP’s colleges. I volunteer to help with interviews/open houses for my son’s school and the training document explicitly states that parent volunteers/alumni interviewers are not allowed to ask potential students what other schools they are considering to avoid any bias creeping in.