Alumni interviews are much more about Alumni Relations than Admissions. They are intended to make graduates feel like they are important contributors to the college. If a kid has 2300 SATs, a 3.9 GPA, and three great recommendation letters from teachers and a counselor how have known him for years, what difference does the impression gleaned by some random alum over a 45-minute coffee shop discussion make? Conversely, if a kid has a 3.5 and sub-2200 SATs, there’s no alumni recommendation in the world that’s going to get him in.
The author of this article seemed to be full of the same vainglory he accuses Harvard of. Why does he need to ask the kids’ SATs and GPAs? They’re already being officially reported to the Admissions Office - they don’t need an unconfirmed corroboration from an alum. And if Harvard accepts roughly 5% of its applicants, then why should he expect more than 1 of 20 of the applicants he interviews to get in? I guess his word should carry much greater weight than that of another alumni interviewer.