I did interviews at Cornell, Washington University in St. Louis, Carnegie-Mellon and University of Chicago. With the exception of U of Chicago (done by undergraduate), the rest of my interviews was done by counselors or alums.
The interviews mostly centered around academics and extracurricular life and did not focus on too much of anything else.
^This is a little late, but I recently had my interview at USCā¦ it was pretty chill; my interviewer (an admissions counselor) talked about his background a little and then started asking me a few conventional questions (tell me about your school, what do you like/not like about it, what do you do outside of class, etc.) and then a few ādifferentā ones (my favorite was the āwhat would you do if you werenāt going to collegeā question). Overall, I really enjoyed it and learned quite a bit.
I also had an interview with Case Western back in October. It was very, very short, and I had the admissions counselor for my area. She mainly wanted to know about my passions and what I could contribute to the uni.
Of course, for both I prepped questions 
I think they like that.
does anyone know how much impact a Cornell interview with an alum would have on my application? i just had my interview today. it went well i just want to know if it will effect my acceptance or rejection.
So I have been lurking here some, and will continue before I go to my interview tomorrow, since I have not had the time to read everything, but had a few questions. How long did your interviews usually last? What kind of questions did you ask your interviewer? How long were your responses? I think of Academic Decathlon interviews where each answer is about 1-1.5 minutes, is that a good idea, or should I just answer the question adequately without rambling? I am set for Starbucks this Tuesday with a Princeton alumni, so any help would be appreciated - thanks.
Interviews with Alumni for most schools last about 30 mins, pending on the interviewer and his/her number of interviewees. You should not worry about length of answer as long as it answering their question completely. The biggest mistake I see in students is they give responses they believe an interviewer or the college wants to hear instead of how it pertains to them. Be yourself, donāt ramble, just have a āconversationā and it will be fine. Also, make sure you have questions for them. They went to school there and have fond memories of their alma mater and love to field questions you may have to ask.
i have an interview with Wake Forest (over skype) and an interview for Vanderbilt with my Calculus teacher when school resumes. Any advice for either of these? Thanks!
Wake Forest is known for asking very different questions in addition to the norm. So you may get questions similar to:
What was your favorite toy as a child?
Who is your closest friend and why?
What do you struggle with in life?
These are only a few examples, no one knows the exact ones. Wake is great at not asking the same questions over and over for each applicant.
Be prepared to answer the regular ones too, such as:
What extra-curricular activity do you enjoy most?
They like out of the box answers so do not be afraid to answer as it pertains to you even if it is a little different than what they would expect.
Make sure you dress appropriately-at least from the cam view. Refresh your memory with your resume just prior to it. If you need some extra time just say, āgreat question, let me think about that for a moment.ā Have a couple of questions for them prepared to ask when they say do you have any questions.
Most importantly be yourself : )
As far as your interview with your Calc instructor this will probably be more of a conversation. I would bring your resume with you so they can look at it if they want. Also, be ready to ask them some questions about Vandy.
Right before the holidays, my daughter had an interview scheduled with an alumnus from Brandeis University. Due to stress and a whole bunch of things, she missed it. It was getting into the holidays and she had just finished doing the school play (intense few weeks) with a funeral in the middle of it of one of her peers on the tech crew. When she realized she missed the interview, she called the alumna who said that she did not know if she would be able to reschedule it. This seems to be a bit harsh and I donāt want my daughter to ruin her chances at a college that otherwise matches her qualifications perfectly. Originally, my idea was to have her call again after the beginning of the yearāthat the woman was obviously busy (she was in a rush when my daughter called). But a good friend of mine who is a Brandeis alum, suggested that my daughter write a letter that we could e mail to the school about rescheduling and taking responsibility for the missed interview. What do people think?
bUMP BUMP BUMP???
First, let me say my condolences for the loss of her peer. It sounds as if there was a lot going on for your daughter at this time and when she contacted the alumna to reschedule she was not able to convey all that had taken place. With that said, interviewers also have a time frame to do interviews. Some are on their own schedule, some will gladly go to the deadline the school sets forth. They have separate lives and carve out a niche of time just for interviewing potential students. I know you are frustrated with the way the alumna handled your daughters call but you need to keep in mind your daughter left someone waiting for her and she did not show. I would have her email (as your friend suggested) or call Brandies and explain the situation. If she calls, have her script it out so she does not get flustered. She definitely needs to take responsibility for missing the interview because the alumna is going to let Brandies know she did not show up. When she emails or calls she needs to own up to the fact she made a mistake and should have contacted the interviewer to reschedule when she knew she was in over-her-head for time. However, with that said she loves Brandies and really wants to attend and would appreciate another chance to interview and she is truly sorry for missing the first one. Best of luck to her!
I am having her work on a letterā¦I think she is likely to become flustered if she actually calls. It really is unusual for her to have missed thisā¦she rarely misses anythingā¦if it were my son, on other handā¦I guess my mistake was not keeping on top of it. I was making the assumption that she would be as responsible about this as about everything else.
Even the best and most organized students have something go amiss during this process. I am sure she will write a wonderful email/letter explaining the situation.
Does anyone know if requesting interviews after regular decision deadline is worth a shot? D did not request any until after the deadlines passed for Wesleyan, Bowdoin, Oberlin and some others. Thanks for any suggestions.
It cannot hurt to ask. I think those schools do not do on campus interviews anymOre. They might still do alumni interviews. Give admissions a call
Well my interview lasted about 1.5 hours. I asked a load of questions and my interviewer seemed very happy to answer them. Just donāt ask questions that can be answered on the site. I asked personal questions that the alumni could answer based on her personal experience at Cornell. They donāt really ask much about you. the interview is to get to know the college better.
My interviewer slapped me. That prolly means Iām rejected :<
anyone attend the HKU admission interview before?
I have been asked to do an interview and Iām not sure I should. Iām afraid Iāll make an idiot out of myself, I get very nervous very quickly and it shows on my face.
I want to show them that iām interested and that this isnāt just another college iām applying to but how can i do this without hurting my chances?
They sent an email offering me one of the last couple interview days in January. It isnāt mandatory just recommended.
My grades and scores arenāt that good so i think it might help get me in. I donāt know what to do how much will this help/hurt me?
^ Turning down an interview opportunity to a school you are interested in is never a good idea.
I have my first college interview with a Duke alumnus this Sunday. From what Iāve heard, the interview process seems to be rather laid-back and conversational. Is there any merit to this assumption? Iām rather affable and collected when it comes to conversing with adults, so Iām not too worried about the interview. Still, it would be nice to have an idea of what to expect. What to wear, what to ask, etc.