Today’s topic is interviews. While colleges have been leaning away from conducting alumni interviews for undergraduates over the past couple of years, there are dozens of schools that still offer them. If the idea of being interviewed sounds scary to you, that’s totally ok! It’s normal to be intimidated by the process, especially since many high school students lack experience in an interview setting.

First, college admissions offices weigh the input from alumni interviews near zero. But you don’t have to take our word for this, here’s a quote from Georgetown’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions, “While the interview report is used as part of the admissions committee’s consideration process, it rarely “makes or breaks” an application, and much more often than not it works in the applicant’s favor.”  Catherine likes to tell a story from when she oversaw the Alumni Admissions Interview process for Duke where she saw a writeup of a candidate that tore them to shreds. That kid got in. We’ve seen the exact opposite too.

Instead, we’d recommend reframing the stress of a potential alumni interview to see it as an opportunity to learn more about the school and practice your interviewing skills. The types of people who volunteer to conduct alumni interviews want to see you succeed and want to share about what they loved about their college experience. Take advantage of that and come prepared with a couple of questions that you’ve been wanting to ask. Some great questions are:

• What was your favorite part about the school?
• How do you stay connected to the school?
• What opportunity do you wish that you had taken advantage of during your undergrad?

It’s important to keep the question open-ended. You don’t want a yes or no answer, give them space to maneuver. For example, don’t ask if they studied abroad; instead, ask what they know about studying abroad and what year students typically study abroad.

Before you get to the fun question-asking part, you will have to answer some questions. Admissions Offices ask their alumni to ask questions that would reveal parts of a prospective student’s candidacy that would not otherwise be covered in the application. You won’t be doing a “resume walk”. You won’t be asked about your standardized test scores. Instead, they’ll ask experience-based questions like:

• Tell me about yourself.
• What is your favorite class and why?
• What lessons have you learned from a failure or challenge?
• With whom do you have meaningful conversations and what do you talk about?
• Why are you interested in this school? 
• How would your friends describe you?

When you get an open-ended question, always take a breath before answering. There’s no rush. You might get a curveball question that you haven’t prepared for. If you’re confused, ask them to rephrase or clarify. Once you have some clarity, use the STAR format (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to craft your response. In short, give a bit of background, tell the interviewer about the specific challenge, what you did, and wrap up with the impact. It’s more important to tell a specific, authentic story than anything else.

Once the interview is over, congratulate yourself. You just had a fantastic practice interview that will prepare you for job interviews down the road. Take some time to unwind and do something fun! The only thing that you have left is to write a quick thank you email. The thank you should be done within 24 hours (preferred within 12). Thank them for their time, mention how you appreciated their insight into a topic that you discussed, and wish them the best. 3-4 sentences tops.

If you have an interview coming up, feel free to bring it up at an upcoming meeting with us and we can practice with you. Catherine and I have over two decades of alumni interviewing experience, so we have seen it all!

If you have any friends or families who are looking for the full package of services in 2025 or 2026, please have them book an introductory meeting with us – Book Now.

Thanks,

Ed McCarthy