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Archive for: College Admissions Interviews

Ivy League Admissions Interviews


It’s the season for Ivy League admissions interviews! Maybe you got a call on your cell phone, maybe there was an email in your inbox, or maybe when you got home, your mom let you know that your interviewer for Princeton called to schedule an interview. The reason we’re listing various ways you can be contacted is because we don’t want you to be surprised when your alumni interviewer reaches out to schedule your alumni interview. If you’re not surprised, you’ll handle it better. Maybe you’ll be more polite and eager. And that’s exactly how you should be.

Ivy League Interviews, Ivy Interviews, Ivy League Interview, College Admissions Interview

It's Ivy League admissions interview season. Avoid the pitfalls of so many college interviewees.

Is your Ivy League admissions interview by an alumnus or alumna the most important component of your college application? Absolutely not. It’s in fact one of the least important. The alumni interview is actually intended to satisfy alumni who want to be involved in the affairs of their alma maters. Do admissions officers read their evaluation forms? Of course. Do they sometimes sway admissions officers and give them insight into an applicant that otherwise doesn’t come through in their application? You bet. It happens. And therefore you’ve got to prepare and you’ve got to avoid the pitfalls of so many college interviewees.

To close, we’re going to give you a few quick tips. Don’t make your interviewers continually ask questions. If they ask a question, don’t respond with a “yes” or “no” but answer in a few sentences. Expand. Demonstrate your love for learning and discovery. Show how you think and craft an argument. Don’t sound or appear pompous. Arrogance in college admissions interviews is a major mistake. You can’t really think that you’ll get a positive review from your interviewer if you display arrogance. Lastly, ask questions, show your knowledge of the interviewer’s alma mater, and don’t forget to say “thank you!”

College Admissions Interviews


If you haven’t had a chance to check out our informational “how to” video on what not to do on a college admissions interview with an alumnus/alumna, check it out! And also check out our newsletter on the subject of alumni interviews.

If you still want more information on the college admissions interview with an alum, check out this video of Dartmouth’s Dean of Admissions Maria Laskaris and admissions counselor Colleen Wearn. It’s an instructional video for Dartmouth alumni interviewers that the college has posted online. By learning how alumni interviewers are instructed, you, as applicants, can gain insight into the alumni interview process and Ivy League admissions, too!

Ivy League Interviews


There was an article in yesterday’s “Bloomberg News” entitled “Ivy League Alumni Quit Admissions Interviews As Success Slips” that tells the story of alumni of Ivy League colleges disenchanted with the alumni interview process. Many alumni of Ivy League colleges and other prestigious universities across the nation sign up to interview for their alma maters because they wish to serve as ambassadors for their colleges. They want to convince high school applicants to attend their alma maters if they’re admitted by regaling them with stories of their undergraduate days and by offering insight into all of the unique academic and extracurricular activities available at their universities. And for a long time, many of the interviewers interviewed for this article did just that…until they realized that most of the people they interviewed weren’t getting in.

On staff at The Ivy Coach, we have alumni interviewers for many of the Ivy League colleges and we are not at all surprised by this article. It can be frustrating to interview applicants of your alma mater year after year only to check the admissions decisions and learn that none of the applicants whom you’ve interviewed were admitted. But these alumni interviewers are rather foolish if they think that strong alumni interview recommendations will guarantee admission of at least some of their interviewees.

According to the article by Janet Lorin, “Princeton graduate Beth Flaming, 38, met with about 15 students in more than eight years as an alumni interviewer for the school. Only one got in. Flaming, a Chicago lawyer and the mother of two young children, stopped interviewing three years ago. ’I’ve always thought it was an ambassador-type role,’ said Flaming. ‘That being said, what great purpose is being an ambassador to 20,000 people who are not going to get in?’”

Do these alumni interviewers not realize that they attended some of the most competitive colleges? Are they unaware of their alma mater’s low admissions rate? If there is an overall admissions rate of less than 12%, why should an alumni interview expect that more than 1/15 students whom they interview will get in? Is this strictly narcissism? Do alumni interviewers believe that since they interviewed these students and wrote glowing letters of recommendation on their interview forms that the students should be admitted?

The fact is that alumni interviews serve a dual purpose. Alumni interviews offer a glimpse into applicants that college admissions counselors may not otherwise gain (particularly since many highly selective colleges have eliminated on-campus interviews with admissions counselors). And alumni interviews generally satisfy alumni in that they offer alumni a chance to weigh in on the next class of students to their alma mater. These are the benefactors of their colleges and so by offering involvement in the college admissions process, they are essentially extending an olive branch to their donors.

Check out the article “Ivy League Alumni Quit Admissions Interviews as Success Slips” in “Bloomberg News” here.

And check out our recent newsletter on what applicants should not do on college interviews, our blog on college interviews, and our informational video on alumni interviews.