<p>Really interesting thread!</p>
<p>A few things…</p>
<p>You get what you get in terms of interviews. I think that having to go through an interview for any 17-18 year-old kid is stressful, whether it’s for Yale or McDonalds. Some kids are more articulate and insightful than others. Some are not. Hopefully, an interviewer can see through immaturity and anxiety and get an overall sense of the person. Some kids are prepped by parents and counselors; others go in cold. Yes, some kids are arrogant and want to go to Yale for the prestige, but others really want to go there for the academics.</p>
<p>That being said, I don’t think that interviewers are prepped on what to ask, or are screened ahead of time. A friend of mine’s son who is unemployed and graduated from another ivy last year, was invited to interview. Is he really equipped to assess future students? Maybe. Is someone in their 60’s who graduated years ago better equipped? Maybe. Who knows. </p>
<p>One of my kids interviewed for a camp counselor position last year at age 16 and could barely answer any basic question thrown out to him. He could not come up with anything to describe himself and could barely say why he wanted to work at the camp. (He did get the job, though.) Yet he is close to the top of his class at school, takes all AP, honors classes, blah blah blah. He’s just a goofy, inarticulate kid. He will probably major in math or engineering. He probably won’t apply to Yale or any ivies. However, my point is that a lot of kids are not that articulate, and hopefully an interviewer looks past that.</p>