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Post by washingtonhoya on Feb 15, 2006 15:37:00 GMT -5
I'd just like to say that a little more than a year since my interview, it's pretty interesting to see the perspective of the interviewer. I can't remember much about my interview aside from being very, very nervous for the full hour, but coming away knowing that Georgetown would be a good fit for me.
And for what it's worth, I wasn't wearing jeans. I wasn't wearing a suit, but I at least had a shirt and tie.
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Post by AustinHoya03 on Feb 15, 2006 15:43:42 GMT -5
There are reasons to do the interviews besides having a direct bearing on an applicant's acceptance or non-acceptance. Probably the biggest reason is that it keeps alumni connected to the changes that occur on campus. Interviewers have to stay up-to-date, and the admissions office does a good job of disseminating information through newsletters and annual meetings. For older alums and alums far from D.C., staying connected to campus is important. This is the biggest reason I do interviews, but I also think it's fun meeting the applicants, discussing their goals, discussing my experience at GU, etc. It also feels great to know that as an interviewer, I am helping determine the future of the University in a very small way. I am happy to help the admissions committee, but I don't think my interview should be the key to someone's admittance/non-admittance. I didn't get into this to "get kids in" or "keep kids out," and don't think interviewers should have that power. The current setup, where interviews can be important but are not the biggest factor in admittance, is a superior system, IMO.
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Jack
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Post by Jack on Feb 15, 2006 15:50:08 GMT -5
Thanks Austin- that is the perspective we hope most of our interviewers will take, and I think many of them do so. Would that all of them had such a philosophy.
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Nevada Hoya
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Post by Nevada Hoya on Feb 15, 2006 16:08:45 GMT -5
Thanks for all of your comments. I once thought I could actually get a student into Georgetown by my recommendation or another letter on behalf of the student. Since then, I have thought otherwise and accepted it that the interview is just one of the pieces of information that the admissions board has to decide who should be admitted. I will still try to make an effort to convey to the admissions my enthusiasm for a particular student, who had a great interview. But I know that most of the students that interview for GU are worthy of acceptance, so there has to be something special in the student's resume that gets them in. Since scores and rank in class are usually high across the board, extramural activities seem to be an important factor (which is why Joey C. should be accepted). And yes most of the males I have interviewed in the past 10 years (about three of them to about 25 females) have not worn a shirt and tie, much less a suit. One, I seem to remember, had cutoff jeans.
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Post by AustinHoya03 on Feb 15, 2006 16:30:54 GMT -5
Forgot to answer Nevada's first question.
I've only been doing interviews for 2 years, but one kid didn't call me for his interview this year. When I finally called him he told me he hadn't called because he had withdrawn his application. Every other applicant has contacted me.
As for attire, perhaps the interviewer could say something like, "we're doing the interview at my office, so dress appropriately," when the applicant contacts them. I agree that applicants should probably do this on their own initiative, but that seems to be a lost cause based on my experience also.
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FLHoya
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Post by FLHoya on Feb 15, 2006 16:44:22 GMT -5
Wow, that's really weird that so many kids go with the "dress-down" look for interviews. I wonder if it has anything to do with the location of the interview. I think of the 4-5 I did when I appied (back in 99/00), all but one was at an office. So I treated it like I would have I treated a job interview--nobody's hiring you for an office job if you show up to an interview in jeans. The other interview was a weird one, the guy came to my house b/c he had a job way the heck out in the boonies and had like a 2 hour commute, with my house being somewhere along the way. And even then I was wearing dress pants and a Polo shirt IIRC...sitting on the couch in the sitting room that the dog slept on/almost certainly urinated on during the day, but still.
I had a decent sort of preview of what interviews were like cause my dad used to do them for his school back when I was in middle school/early HS, and he used to do a lot of them at our house. I remember most of those kids dressing pretty well, though. Come to think of it, he made them sit on that same nappy couch too.
I'd actually love to do AAP kind of stuff, since I really enjoyed being in GAAP and Blue & Gray at GTown. But I doubt there's really demand for interviewers in the DC Metro area right now, and I don't really "know" the area like I do my home in Florida.
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nodak89
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Post by nodak89 on Feb 15, 2006 16:57:42 GMT -5
When I was interviewed, lo these many years ago, it was at this guy's house on a Saturday. I think he was a dentist.
I had on a coat and tie.
The interviewer had on his PJ's and bathrobe.
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Post by HoyaSinceBirth on Feb 15, 2006 17:26:34 GMT -5
haha that's great nodak.
as a freshman i just had my interview last year and i defeintly wore a suit to it. I assumed this was standard opperating procedure. It was held at his office so i think location does factor in but i only didn't wear a suit to one interview i've had and that's cause we were meeting at a coffee shop and the guy specifically told me not to and to dress more casually.
It's very interesting to see these things from the interviewers perspective.
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Nevada Hoya
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Post by Nevada Hoya on Feb 15, 2006 21:47:55 GMT -5
I have taken to scheduling interviews at the UNLV library (biggest public building in Nevada), right across the street from my lab. In the early days I had the interviews at my home, but that became inconvenient and today the policy is to not have it in the home, if possible. I always wear a red tie, so that the student can recognize me (I should get a GU tie with Jack on it). Things are a little less formal than back East, but I would expect at least some neat clothes. Most of the female students that I have interviewed (and that is most of the students for the last ten years) are appropriately dressed.
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hoya34
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Post by hoya34 on Feb 16, 2006 8:16:42 GMT -5
I usually do the interviews in my home office, and for female applicants I make sure my wife is home. I actually had a candidate two years ago refuse to come to my house on the grounds that she felt uncomfortable. She insisted we meet at a local Starbucks. I don't think I would have ever had the stones to tell my college interviewer I wouldn't come to his house. When I was 17, if the guy told me to meet him in the alley behind Dunkin Donuts I probably would've just done it.
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Post by Frank Black on Feb 16, 2006 9:40:30 GMT -5
I usually do the interviews in my home office, and for female applicants I make sure my wife is home. I actually had a candidate two years ago refuse to come to my house on the grounds that she felt uncomfortable. She insisted we meet at a local Starbucks. I don't think I would have ever had the stones to tell my college interviewer I wouldn't come to his house. When I was 17, if the guy told me to meet him in the alley behind Dunkin Donuts I probably would've just done it. This is all very interesting. I don't have the option of doing interviews at work, how hard and fast is the no interviews at home rule? Nodak, great story as usual.
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DFW HOYA
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Post by DFW HOYA on Feb 16, 2006 9:56:53 GMT -5
This is all very interesting. I don't have the option of doing interviews at work, how hard and fast is the no interviews at home rule? I've been interviewing since graduation and have never heard of a policy against in-home visits; in fact, most parents appreciated the opportunity to meet briefly and then go away before the interview got started. (Granted, I don't have the seniority to get an actual office at work and interviews outside a cubicle aren't exactly a good environment, either.) Lately, a lot of applicants seem to prefer the Starbucks as neutral territory.
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tgo
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Post by tgo on Feb 16, 2006 11:03:33 GMT -5
i used to do my interviews in my office when i worked near home, but now it isnt convenient for the applicants or me so i do them in the home, once or twice i have gone to their home when they didnt have the ability to get to me. I have never had a parent want to meet me although some have talked to me on the phone when i returned a phone call from an applicant, several have set up the interview for their child which i thought was weak, a hs senior should be able to work things out on their own.
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hoya34
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Post by hoya34 on Feb 16, 2006 13:43:05 GMT -5
I once had a parent demand to stay for the interview, which made me feel really bad for the child. Every answer the child gave was completely scrutinized by her mom, and every now and then her mom would correct her. I was going to ask her mom to leave but she scared the bejesus out of me too.
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Nevada Hoya
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Post by Nevada Hoya on Feb 16, 2006 14:50:44 GMT -5
This is all very interesting. I don't have the option of doing interviews at work, how hard and fast is the no interviews at home rule? I've been interviewing since graduation and have never heard of a policy against in-home visits; in fact, most parents appreciated the opportunity to meet briefly and then go away before the interview got started. (Granted, I don't have the seniority to get an actual office at work and interviews outside a cubicle aren't exactly a good environment, either.) Lately, a lot of applicants seem to prefer the Starbucks as neutral territory. DFW, I hadn't heard of any official policy, but when an admissions officer visited Las Vegas last year, she met with a couple of the alumni interviewers, and I believe, she stated that admissions prefers that it not be at your home. I had already started to have the interviews in the library (or in the cafe right next to it).
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JimmyHoya
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Post by JimmyHoya on Feb 16, 2006 15:37:39 GMT -5
I didn't have a suit, but I did the traditional blazer and tie trick.
My interviewer...wore an old geez nightie. It was pink. I actually complimented it, which in retrospect I was horrified at because I was trying to be nice but it had to have come across as sarcastic, haha.
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Post by jerseyhoya34 on Feb 16, 2006 15:46:54 GMT -5
Some pretty funny stories. I wore a collared shirt (no tie) and khakis to my GU interview and lived to tell the story. My general approach was to dress to the environment. In an office, wear business attire. In a home, clean dress without turning it into a fashion show. The interviewer was very strong and may have been the strongest I encountered on the interview circuit.
Other interviewers included someone who could hardly hear let alone interview and an overbearing man in a sweatsuit, both representing Ivy League universities.
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CTHoya08
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Post by CTHoya08 on Feb 16, 2006 16:36:15 GMT -5
I wore what I wore to school; shirt, tie and khaki pants, and a sweater over the shirt. I met my interviewer at a local coffee shop (it was a Saturday, I think).
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DFW HOYA
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Post by DFW HOYA on Feb 16, 2006 19:07:54 GMT -5
The admissions business gets more competitive all the time. I don't know if Georgetown's ready for this, though... "In late January, University of Oklahoma President David L. Boren crossed the Red River to steal some of the best and brightest students in Dallas from under the noses of college recruiters at the University of Texas and Texas A&M. The method was impressive--and expensive. OU recruiters filled a banquet room at the Omni Hotel in Las Colinas with red balloons and other Sooner paraphernalia. Then they served 630 students and parents a three-course dinner." www.dallasobserver.com/Issues/2006-02-16/news/news.html
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Feb 16, 2006 19:59:02 GMT -5
This is all very interesting. I don't have the option of doing interviews at work, how hard and fast is the no interviews at home rule? I've been interviewing since graduation and have never heard of a policy against in-home visits; in fact, most parents appreciated the opportunity to meet briefly and then go away before the interview got started. (Granted, I don't have the seniority to get an actual office at work and interviews outside a cubicle aren't exactly a good environment, either.) Lately, a lot of applicants seem to prefer the Starbucks as neutral territory. I haven't done any interviewing for a year or so, but I know I read somewhere in my materials that interviews should not be done at your home.
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