What information do college interviewers get about applicants beforehand? Are they also told whether we get in?
Like intended major, whether underrepresented minority/low-income, legacy, etc. I read in a book once that one school actually told alumni interviewers which students they interviewed were more desirable and likely to get in.
Very little. Yes – a few days after the student finds out. YES: Intended major. Absolutely nothing on: your race, income or legacy status (FERPA laws).
Is it possible that the college may specifically direct certain interviews (of stronger candidates)? Sure – it’s possible. Knowing that there are many more applicants than interviewers, I can see how a college would focus its resources in some circumstances. But it’s useless to speculate.
Interesting, because race/income/legacy status/etc. is asked of you by the colleges on their applications.
I cannot address these questions for all schools, but for one university I can authoritatively state that alumni volunteer interviewers:
This is speculative, but I’d suggest @bfkwofl, that the book you read may be principally garbage.
I am an alumni interviewer and all I get is name, phone, email, where they live and intended major.
I ask the students to bring a copy of their EC resume so we can use it for talking points. Nobody says anything about the students. I write up the interview report and send it in. Sometime later I see if the students were accepted/deferred or not.
It depends. It also varies as to how much of an impact the interview has on admissions. For some schools (MIT), it’s an evaluative interview. For many, it’s an informational courtesy to the applicant and would only bear effect if something truly drastic comes from it.
We get contact info, intended major, and sometimes information on ECs or hobbies.
The interviewer doesn’t really need to have ANY information. The goal is to get their opinions on the candidate, so there’s no point in helping them form a pre-interview “notion” about the student.
If I was running an admissions department and I had a tool that was in short supply (alumni interviews), I would use some judgment in how it was allocated. For example, I would only interview applicants that we weren’t otherwise able to form a solid picture of. There are going to be some applicants that are so strong, an interview isn’t likely to change the picture and the same goes for the weaker applicants. That leaves all the candidates in the middle. You can see how this complicates an observer’s attempts to make rules about how it works.
@cptofthehouse, how can you tell whether it is evaluative or a courtesy for a particular school? Is it on the Common Data Set or somewhere else?
You can ask the admissions office and yes, you can check the Common Data set. At some schools, a great interviw won’t do a thing, but a slight negative is all that is needed to keep you out since the schools are highly selective and are looking for reasons to eliminate so many great candidates, so any negatives are noted. Interviews are not always a plus, if a person does NOT interview well.