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I posted this in another discussion, but got no answers: Are the alumni interviews informational, evaluative, or both? Does anyone (possibly ED) know?

By Voigtrob (Voigtrob) on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 - 02:01 pm: Edit

I'm ED, and I'm 99% sure they're supposed to be both, the alumni ones that is. The on-campus ones are supposedly non-evaluative.

By Nutmag345 (Nutmag345) on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 - 02:44 pm: Edit

My alumni interview did not seem evaluative. It was just a casual conversation where I found about more about Princeton, while also expressing some of my interests. The Harvard and Yale interviews seemed much more evaluative, but I think that it all just depends on the particular interviewer.

By Elgorila (Elgorila) on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 - 03:51 pm: Edit

Mine was purely evaluative. My interviewer didn't have anything to say about Princeton. She basically asked me a bunch of questions about activities, hobbies, even my grades and the ratio of male:female (WTF?) at my school.

By Massdad (Massdad) on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 - 04:45 pm: Edit

A bit of terminology here:

- An evaluative interview is one where the school formally uses the interview as part of the admissions process.

- An informational interview is supposed to provide the interviewee with information.

Most (all?) the ivies have informational interviews. If they are not required, they WILL be informational. This is not to say that word does not get back to the school - I suppose it does, and in unusual cases, could have an impact.

Evaluative interviews are much more likely to occur at LACs and smaller schools, and are usually done by an admissions officer - you need a trained professional to evaluate. That's a big part of the reason alum interviews are almost never evaluative.

By Mzhang23 (Mzhang23) on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 - 07:45 pm: Edit

Hmm... I thought interviews were evaluative, or so someone stated.

By Xtreme783 (Xtreme783) on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 09:28 pm: Edit

i beg to differ, massdad. i know for a fact that yale's interviews are evaluative. while this is just one of eight, i do know that several of my friends have applied elsewhere and have had similar interview experiences to mine. my yale alumni interviewer even told me certain things he was going to include in his letter to the admissions committee, and explained that they (alum. interviewers) were asked to provide information to the adcom that would either supplement the application or back up some of the information.
i'm not sure about princeton, but my friend who was accepted ED told me that his interview was less for him to find out information about princeton and more for the interviewer to find out about him.
hope that helps

By Soozievt (Soozievt) on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 11:40 pm: Edit

I differ a bit with MassDad on this one too. The interview is evaluative. I conduct them, even did one today and another tomorrow, for Tufts. We write up a narrative report on the student and even rate the student on a scale. The interview is also informative in that it gives the candidate an opportunity to ask questions about the college. I would say that about 95% of the interview block focuses on the former and about 5% on the latter when I do interviews. According to the admissions office, they use the interview reports as part of the admissions process. The interviews my daughter has attended for other schools, including Princeton just last week, were also like this. Has your daughter done some of these? The questions to the applicant are evaluative in nature to some degree to shed light
on their personalities, backgrounds, academics, activities, academic/career interests, college criteria, interest in that particular college, etc.

Susan

By Eadad (Eadad) on Friday, January 30, 2004 - 05:40 pm: Edit

I concur with Susan.

Yale goes out of their way to "strongly suggest" (their words) that a propective student interview if at all possible.

I have been told by a friend who is an alumni interviewer for Princeton that both Yale and Princeton use the interview as corroboration for other information (Recs, ECs etc) that the school has in the hard copy of the application.

They are scored on a 1-9 basis (as Susan states) and the interviewers are given examples of good and bad interviews and good and bad write-ups.

With so many students who "look alike" on paper as has been discussed in many other threads, it is another way to evaluate and humanize the prospect.

Yale interviewers don't want to see a resume or stats...they "assume" that the applicant is qualified or they wouldn't be there. The alumni interviewers at Y and P are even given a list of suggested questions and topics and, interestingly, questions and topics to avoid at all costs!

I learned all this, unfortunately after S had his interview but he was accepted EA so it didn't hurt him.

By Mzhang23 (Mzhang23) on Friday, January 30, 2004 - 10:29 pm: Edit

If you check one of the big college bibles - Fiske, etc. it clearly states that HYP do evaluative interviews. The informational ones are known as group sessions.

By Kingdvl (Kingdvl) on Sunday, February 01, 2004 - 03:55 pm: Edit

I just got my back from my princeton interview. It seemed half evaluation, half informative. The guy got a picture of me to evaluate me, but he also told me a lot about the school.

By Sparklinjewel (Sparklinjewel) on Sunday, February 01, 2004 - 05:35 pm: Edit

I was contacted about an interview yesterday..the guy asked if we could do it today (I couldn't because I was working and we scheduled it for Monday night). What I don't understand is why he waited for just one day before to contact me, are the interviewers tryin to weed out those who prepare extensively for an interview by catching us off guard?

also -- my interview is in a coffee house...what is the procedure for this? Do I get something to drink/eat, do I stand around looking confused and wait for a stranger I've never met to approach me? ahhh this shouldnt feel so stressful.

By Wiseone (Wiseone) on Monday, February 02, 2004 - 08:06 am: Edit

It certainly isn't Princeton's goal to catch interviewees off guard and make them feel uncomfortable. Relax. I'm sure your interviewer will approach you and offer to buy you a cup of coffee.

Be prepared to talk about yourself. What are you most interested in academically? How have you spent your extra-curricular time? Whatever your specific responses are, make sure you come across as a high energy, creative, and thoughtful individual.

Let us know how it goes.

By Eadad (Eadad) on Thursday, February 05, 2004 - 03:38 pm: Edit

Was just reading another post and saw this about Princeton's interview process. I think it answers once and for all the question of evaluative or informational. It was on a thread called "RD Interview"

It is the actual guidelines and interview form used by Princeton Interviewers

http://www.princetonclubofbeijing.org/

Don't know how they found it but VERY enlightening!

By Sparklinjewel (Sparklinjewel) on Thursday, February 05, 2004 - 03:57 pm: Edit

hey guys... just checkin' in. the interview went great it was sort of awkward becuz the cafe was in downtown baltimore (not the safest of places at night) and it closed at 6 , so i got there for my 7 oclock interview 15 min ahead of time and had to wait on the sidewalk (10 degree weather) until he showed up at 710. still...really nice guy, easy to talk to , and spelled out very clearly that he fully intends to write wahtever eval. possible to contribute to an acceptance ... *crosses fingers*

By Blade409usa (Blade409usa) on Thursday, February 05, 2004 - 09:51 pm: Edit

I got an old medical doctor who has been doing interviews for twenty years, so he knew exactly what he needed to get out of me for an interview. He had questions and would only let me get out a straight answer. But, as I said, he being so experienced, I'm sure he knows what he's doing.

What surprises me that even after doing interviews for so many years, he still seemed excited about the interview. I have no doubt he'll give me a good few cents in.