<p>To answer some of the concerns:</p>
<p>To Interficio: I did not start this thread to “embarrass” applicants (or else I would have shared this on Facebook or something). On the contrary, I wrote this post out on CC in hopes of making current applicants think about the way they approach their interviews. I was in the middle of interviewing for business school last month and there were a wealth of resources on the Internet about what questions were asked. I was hoping to open up a little bit about what interviewers for Yale think about.</p>
<p>[Admittedly, the title of the post is a bit extreme. But if I’ve just titled it, “Yale Interviews” it probably would have been overlooked]</p>
<p>To gibby: I’m not going to pretend that I’m the perfect interviewer. But chances are, not every Yale alumni (or any other college alum) is going to be the perfect interviewer. The questions and answers I point out in the post is NOT the entire interview (or else they’d be over pretty quickly!). Instead, it is simply a list of questions that trip up the most candidates. I start off every interview asking students about their interests, their academics, their successes and what they love doing the most – all questions designed to make the student at ease and open up. I particularly love asking students who is the person who has had the most impact on their life. I’ve gotten really touching stories from that question.</p>
<p>The reason I ask the academic interest / failure / weakness question is not because I want to manipulate the kids into giving the wrong answer, but on the contrary – if you’re a 17-year-old with a clear sense of curiosity and self-awareness, I automatically push you into the 7 range instead of a 5 or 6. (And there are definitely kids I’ve interviewed who have answered intelligently!) Instead, I say the answers were “stupid” because most people, regardless of how great they were in their high schools, are going to find Yale challenging, so it would be good to know how they would be able to approach that. (And no, I don’t sit there awkwardly if they don’t have an answer. I ask them another question and later ask if they want to revisit the previous question.)</p>
<p>To tli83: I also cried after my Harvard interview. I felt like the whole thing was so cold and uncomfortable that I was sure I wouldn’t get in (and I didn’t). That’s why I always strive to make the kids feeling good about the interview. </p>
<p>One of the biggest differences I find between Harvard and Yale is that Harvard interviewers have access to the interviewee’s entire portfolio of scores and GPAs, whereas Yale interviewers go in blind. I make it a point to NEVER try to suss out a person’s academic eligibility because I care much more about the interviewee as a person.</p>
<p>Lastly, I’d like to point out that outside of the few times in which a candidate was obviously not interested in the school/didn’t show up for the interview, I doubt my reports actually make that much of a difference to Adcom. Unfortunately, with the way the numbers work, I know that there’s 90% chance that the person I’m talking to won’t get in. That’s why I often try to make the interview process more about helping the candidate learn about what they should be looking for in their future college.</p>