<p>I had my GW interview today and it was a complete fiasco. I didn’t interview while visiting DC in the summer (no time) so I did it at their off-campus weekend interview thing today at a prep school near Boston.</p>
<p>The problems started when I was directed to the interview room. It was being used by a bunch of other people interviewing, so it was kind of hard to hear, which wasn’t disastrous but was kind of annoying. What was really weird was that when I sat down, my interviewer totally ignored me. Even when I introduced myself, she just kept writing something on a legal pad as if I weren’t there. After a few minutes, she eventually looked up, and it was clear she was totally “bored” with everything.</p>
<p>The first few minutes of the interview were about a CVS near my house that she liked. That was the most excited she got the entire interview. Then, when she asked the actual interview questions, she literally just read the questions from the sheet in a monotone voice and never once asked me to elaborate or anything. She just copied down my answers, acting extremely bored the whole time. She cut me off almost every time, so I didn’t get a chance to finish any of my answers. The only time I really got a response was when she asked what Amnesty International was and then cut me off during my explanation. She answered all my questions with “I don’t know.” It was exactly like filling out forms with a bored insurance worker or something.</p>
<p>The woman didn’t even have any connection to GW! She wasn’t an alum and didn’t work for admissions (she lives in MA). Her only “connection” was that her daughter considered GW when she was applying to college…10 years ago. The woman hadn’t been to the campus in ~10 years.</p>
<p>I’m really upset because I was actually pretty prepared for the interview and I wanted to show who I was and why I was a good fit for GW. The entire interview lasted less than 8 minutes, for god’s sake!!! And most of that time was spent with her talking about the damn CVS. I feel like I got completely ripped off and I don’t know what to do. I’m scared this will hurt my application and I feel like I didn’t get the same chance as every other applicant. Should I email a regional rep? The admissions dept? Just give up and leave it be? Any advice/opinions appreciated :/</p>
<p>Diana- Most definitely notify your admission rep. You should not have had just a horrible experience and the admissions office should know how this interviewer is representing them. My mom’s friend is an alumni interviewer and she advised that they train all interviewers and strongly emphasize that the interview should be a positive, informative experience for the student. I urge you not to let this person ruin your enthusiasm for GW or, make another person feel like you did. Best of Luck!</p>
<p>I am sorry that you did not come away with a positive experience from your GWU interview. I would probably follow up with your regional admissions adviser with an email and reiterate your desire to attend the school along with your concerns about how the interview went. Try NOT to throw the interviewer under the bus, but mention that the interview only went 8 minutes and you didn’t feel like you were able to get as much from the experience as you would have liked. If nothing else comes from it, it gives you another opportunity to reinforce your interest in the school and hopefully they might appreciate the feedback if they have someone who isn’t representing the school in a positive way.</p>
<p>My husband interviews for Harvard . ABSOLUTELY call ASAP and report this . Ask if it’s possible to have another interview . Have your guidance counselor call as well . I always thought alums did interviews . Good luck !</p>
<p>Thanks everyone, glad to see I’m not being unreasonable. So you don’t think it would come off as whiny or anything to email a rep? Just want to make sure it’s 100% OK before I do so.</p>
<p>I would take fauxmaven’s advice and try and get another interview however I would go through the regional admissions person first so they are aware of your intent and don’t feel like you went over their head. If you don’t get anywhere with them, then I would go directly to one of the heads of the admissions department. I would have to believe the school wants to make a positive impression to all its applicants and giving you a second interview is a good way to achieve this.</p>
<p>You are not alone. I attended a GW interview last month. It was a disaster. The interviewer did not seem interested in anything I had to say. He looked bored. It lasted 20 min though. I attributed his attitude to it being 5pm on a Friday. </p>
<p>It seems that many people have had a similar experience. My daughter was interviewed by the mother of a GW student who had no knowledge of the school and spent most of the interview talking about how her child got bad grades at GW. She went on to tell my daughter about her other child who liked a different university better and that my daughter should consider that other university. </p>
<p>I am alumni interviewer for a college and I was appalled by this. We are trained and we are told that alumni interviewers need to represent the school appropriately. Clearly, GW didn’t think about the implications in choice of interviewers. I think if GW gets feedback from many people on this, they may prevent others from going through the same experience. </p>
<p>Fortunately, my daughter understood that a 10 minute interview can’t possibly have much impact on her application.</p>
<p>Dear Diana: I am the Regional Director of Admissions for The George Washington University and I was directed to your comment on the College Confidential site. I cannot tell you how sorry I am that you had such a bad experience. I rarely get these kinds of comments, but this in no way degrades the accuracy of your criticism. Your experience is not typical and I want to offer you the opportunity to have another interview. I will conduct it personally and will try my best to make it at a time and place that is convenient for you. </p>
<p>Please contact me as soon as possible. I thank you in advance for your understand, Joe Greenberg</p>
<p>I am impressed that an actual regional admissions director from GW is willing to help! Gets Kudos from me!</p>
<p>Agree with musicmomz that OP should be careful when creating any online profile. If you live in boston, I understand the allure of Tufts. However, you might not want to advertise that fact to all other colleges and admission reps “watching”. This goes for Twitter, FB, 4-squared etc.</p>