College Interview Prep

The alumni interview is one of the least important components of the college admissions process. And so it always boggles our minds when folks who are not our clients come to us around this time every year desperately seeking interview prep. We’re not so surprised that they feel so anxious. … 

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The Importance of College Interviews

The college interview can make or break one’s case for admission to highly selective colleges, right? If you read a bunch of articles online about the importance of the college interview, you might very well come away thinking that the interview is paramount to a student’s success in the admissions … 

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College Alumni Interviewers Often Overstate Their Influence

While the college alumni interview is one component of the admissions process to highly selective colleges, many parents and high school students overvalue its importance. And one key reason why so many folks overvalue the importance of the college alumni interview is because alumni often have a tendency to overstate … 

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Securing College Interviews

We don’t mean to be Debbie Downer, who interestingly was played on “SNL” by Dartmouth alumna Rachel Dratch. But students and parents who are not our clients have been emailing us some version of the following in recent days: “My son just landed an interview with Harvard. As this means the … 

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Overvaluing College Interviews

Folks often write in something like this: “My son needs help with college interviews.” When we see something like this, we often wonder why so many parents essentially overemphasize the importance of the college interview and underemphasize the rest. The truth is that alumni interviews are a part of the … 

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Alumni Interviewers Gone Rogue

While many highly selective colleges are quite straightforward with applicants that alumni interview evaluations aren’t a big component of a student’s case for admission (and they’re telling the truth about this!), we’d like to point out that colleges can do a better job of screening their alumni interviewers. And while … 

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Alumni Interview Prep

Interested in alumni interview prep? If you applied Early Decision or Early Action, there’s a good chance you’ll be receiving an email (if you haven’t received one already) from an alumnus or alumna in your area offering to interview you. While the alumni interview is by no means the most … 

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College Alumni Interviewing

There was an editorial in “The Los Angeles Times” some days back entitled “Why I won’t reenlist as a Yale alumni interviewer” written by Ben Orlin, an alumnus of Yale University, that we figured we’d share with our readers. We know what you’re thinking. Who in Los Angeles reads? But, … 

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Interviews with Alumni

It’s the season for alumni interviews! For those applicants who applied Regular Decision, your cell phone might be ringing off the hook with interview requests. No, you’re not Kim Kardashian. Alumni of the schools you applied to are just fulfilling their obligation to their alma maters by reaching out to … 

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Alumni Interview Availability

If you get a call from an alum at a university to which you applied asking that you meet her at 5 PM on either the following Monday or Tuesday for your alumni interview, you should absolutely make yourself available. Too often, students take their sweet time in writing back … 

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