Is The College Interview for Real?

Welcome to From Carpool to College, a show for parents who are trying to get ahead or just keep their sanity while navigating the college planning landscape. Welcome to you from Carpool to College. I'm Tercy Amadeo Tara Harritz, and in this episode, we're gonna talk briefly about the college interview and different types. And this came up because we had a couple of clients this cycle who had interviews, and my parents were asking some really great questions like what is this, what do we do? How do we prepare? And you I mean, I don't want to blow my own spot up, but one of them was a very high profile college and they were invited for the interview and one may think that it has a lot of merit, but in reality, we don't really know. So we thought it was worthy to talk about and we're gonna have a brief conversation about that today. It was post submit, so it was after the students submitted their application. I'm not sure if the if they're done before submitting an application without the maybe the if the student reached out right, but this is post you know, submitting. They received their application and then they were asked for an interview. Right, and not every college has the interview and parents, when you do a deep dive on this, because we want everything we talk about on from carpool to college, we have educational conversations with parents. We are not a podcast where this is some a it's a chess match strategy how to get into college. We're about the the kind of the why things happen, when things happen, how to prepare yourself kind of We're more about your family and your kid and not having a time machine and valuing this is the big picture. So so saying that today we're going to talk about the college interview, please understand that every interaction your kid has with a human being from a college is an informal interview. Is that interaction is recorded in notes on a spreadsheet, even zooms, virtual visits, all of it, all of it is tracked as part of demonstrated interest or demonstrating knowledge about the institution. Right. So there's different types, there's different types, and there are different people who are conducting the interviews. Right. Yes, Oh that's a great place to start. Yeah, So who is coming into are they coming into your house? You know, I'm going to say the movie from the eighties, I reference it. She's looking really risky business, right, Okay, terrible. Well, listen, I don't think that movie stood up, first of all, and that's like the Tom Cruise when he was like an icon for gen X is different than the Tom Cruise. There is now so. Saying all of that. In the movie, Tom Cruise's character was having a house party with like prostitutes and things, some terrible things going on, and Princeton was coming over for an interview. Mm hmm. Yeah, that was like kind of like a secondary plot in this terrible movie. From the eighties. So do those kind of interviews even take place anymore? That's a question. Our college is doing that, and you're not going to find answers parents, and we're not going to give you a definitive answer because so much of this interview process, these interviews in themselves, it's a deliberate gray area by colleges. And we can tell you that who's going to do the interview could either be someone from admissions or an alumnus. Yes, so let's start with someone from admissions. Let's talk about the admissions counselor's role. The admissions counselor is a representative from the college or university who is assigned a territory or a specific program or population where half of the year they are marketing and understanding where they're generating applications from, and then the other part of the year they're actually helping with figuring out and curating who's going to get in, who's going to build that graduating class of twenty thirty or whatever. So that's the admissions officer. That's the admissions counselor. And as we spoke of in many other episodes of our podcast, someone that you're you need to know the name of this person. You need to know. Who is the regional rep who is the reader for who is the admissions officer, the admissions counselor. There's all different names, but it's one person. Most colleges have one designated. Others don't, but most most of them do. And you will see that and that's found readily online. So if there's an admissions representative interviewing your kid, that is going to carry some significant weight in the applications process. Right, And I think Tracy, you were saying that one of the reasons that we're seeing maybe a little bit less of that, or at times is because there's just not the time. We don't have the amount of people working at the colleges that can do that correct. It is a human resource challenge for the university. Even these admissions counselors. If you look up to see like who's the admissions counselor for you know where you're listening, you'll see there's a whole bunch of territories. I always joke with the admissions counselors for Jersey because I feel like, my gosh, your responsibility is to market to the most densely populated state in the Union, and whose public school infrastructure is Every single zip code has its own school district. We don't even regionalize here, So you got to put your varsity a game in missions reps for Jersey, just saying not just saying because of my Jersey pride, but understanding all of this as Tara is saying, it's a human resource issue, because if we're looking at one hundred thousand applications, are you talking about one hundred thousand interviews? What the what? No way, no way, So it's not going to get done. And Frankly and Tara and I were talking about this off mic about even essays are not being read at some of the big the big ten, the big raw ra schools, not just nasarily a big ten. But it's just impossible. It's a human resource issue. Yes, they'll be read by the bots, and they'll be graded and scored. But as far as that old image of like I always used to think of like an olde professor old probably someone my age actually now, but with like a like a red smoke a red velvet smoking jacket with elbow patches and a pipe and salt and pepper hair, reading with his reading glasses on crossed legged, you know, by the fire, by a fire, yes, reading reading the application, reading the essay, right gen now like my husband who doesn't have any hair. But some like intellectual that that's not happening. So in the in the interview, who is doing this, Well, it's some wonderful person from admissions if they can afford that resource. Smaller schools will do that. Private independence, you know, independent schools. I'm not going to name the schools, but you know those great schools that maybe you know, maybe movies about colleges are filmed on their campus because they have Ivy and bricks and all sorts of like beautiful old Cobblestone, those kind of great little schools in the Northeast, and they all seasons are there. I think of the John Noles book a separate piece. Oh yeah, Towers an English teachers, so she knows. So in the case where an admissions officer has contacted your kid, yeah, that's going to count. And they're going to assess fit. They really want to know. They need to think about their class and how your kid's going to fit in, not necessarily if, but how You're not going to extend an interview if it's a throwaway. So it's a good sign. Yeah, that is a good sign. I'm going to interrupt for one second because when we first started the episode, I had briefly mentioned whether they contact before or after, and I have seen both now that I think about it, There was when, but the before is sometimes when it's convenient for maybe the college rep when they're in the middle of college fairs and they will be in that area, so they will schedule. Hey, I will be in this area during Tuesday and Wednesday where I'll be conducting the college fair. You know, my table at the college fair and I have time to set up a few interviews. Right, this is the time of year where a lot of the reps are eating all three meals in their cars and they're driving from spot to spot to spot. But those maybe are a little bit different than the ones that are being contacted after the ones who are making contact after the application is in. Right, So there's a there's a few different variables there. But yeah, so there are the ones that are used for evaluating the applicant and then ones that are just maybe to kind of not market but you know, answer any questions that the student may have more informational how can I help you? And I think about this college admissions counselor who is eating all three meals in their car and they're maximizing their road trip. Yes, and that's on their BINGO card. That's like, hey, by the way, boss, director of admissions to fancy pants college or a state college. I was on the road and I did a I did three college fairs in the last two weeks. I did three college fairs, ten college visits and high school visits. Rather, and while I did those ten high school visits, I went to ten local Starbucks and saw fifty prospective students, great, okay, and you're hitting your you're hitting your numbers. So that is definitely informational. And also it's a win for the kids too. It gives them a good opportunity. It's it's like a win win for everybody. But again, when it's. An admissions officer, then that's definitely something that you want your kid to brush up on. You know, why do you want to study this? And we're not going to go through those granular how to prepare for an interview. We just want to let you know that the interview does take place. It is a gray area. It's very much kept behind the curtain. And one of the reasons too is a lot of schools will employ and there's a lot of Ivies. Ivy's will deploy an alumnus who is actively involved in the alumni association, which means they're volunteering time, money, or both for the school. And that person is let's just say, let's just say it's me. Let's say I went to Ivy University and I loved it so much. I met my husband there. I have six kids with him, and all my kids wear those college sweatshirts because I want them all to go there. So I went to Ivy University. I met my husband there, and I have six kids. They all wear the sweatshirts, and I donate to the alumni association. As a matter of fact, I've included Ivy University in my last will and testament that they're going to get a portioned. They're going to get my shorehouse. I might as well be dreaming big right my shorehouse. Right, I'm Jersey. So my zip code is zero seven zero or zero whatever, and Ivy University has ten applicants from my zip code. So they will see who which distinguished alumna lives in that zip code, and they will deploy me to represent their school and conduct an interview. Now that interview is I don't work for Ivy University. As a matter of fact. I sell vacuum cleaners, and I don't know really what's going on only through the alumni bolts, and I go to all the football games, of course, but I represent the school. So I will be assigned ten of those students to meet at a Starbucks or a Zoom for interviews, and I will get a rubric to complete and talk about a little bit my impressions of that student of that applicant. How much does it count in that kid's application? Don't know, I don't know. Everything is kept behind the curtain. There's a lot of theories, all right, there's a lot of reddits trands on that. There's a lot of theories that it doesn't count for much at all. But we don't know, and it's very It will keep me as an IVY University alumna actively involving the association. It strokes my ego and I will. Absolutely you know, I bleed that color, right, So it's a win for me. It's a win for the school. It's a win for the kid because now you have local alumni who are maintaining and starting relationships. It's like a win for everybody. But how much does it really count? Yeah? Yeah, And if you check out right common data set, yes, you can see that some schools will list it as not even considered right and others. There's like a likeer scale almost if you look at the common data set. We talk about this a lot parents common data set. So let's say you want to pick up a school. I'm looking at a Ruckers banner, so you want to hit you Google Ruckers Common data Set and you find the admissions data from the previous calendar year and you will. You can scroll downis at section see C seven. Look at you, I think it's seven. Savant Tara C seven and uh so go down to C seven. Tara plays it off like she's like, is that something she knows? C seven unless you're playing battleship and then you just sunk my dingy. So the criteria for admission will be listed in that section. And it'll say like all the ingredients, right. Yeah, and how much it really counts. So that's you know, for interviews. Something else you need to also understand is for every school your kids applying to google it, do a search, go on the admissions web page and do a deep dive because there are schools, especially smaller private schools, that we'll say click here to schedule your interview, click here for your supplement question, and that won't be part of the common app it won't be plated up for you. And it's their way of teasing out do you really want to come here? Have you really done your research? Kido? So they really want to know you know, they're assessing fit, they're assessing interest. They want you to apply and attend they don't want to waste their acceptance on someone who's not going to be saying yes to the dress. Tarat and I get a lot of clients and a lot of one offs for working with kids to do a practice interview, and we love it because we don't know these kids. These are chusers, people who find us from our website Academic MENTORINGLLC dot com. There's a plug. We're always plugging, like. We're starting to recently talk about n Espresso coffee because we love it so much and we would love for them to send us virtuopods, virtuopods and espresso please. It is our fuel anyway, saying it is our fuel, So it's true. And Sophora, yep, because we're moms and we're aging and our kids are aging us and we got to fight the fight. That's right. We're not doing botox yet keyword yet. In any event, we do have one off clients from our website and listeners and we'll do a zoom for a practice interview because we are strangers and we're also counselors and educators and we understand the whole process and big picture and we're kind of easy to work with, so parents, you may want to think about your kid. We know every kid is unique, so how your kid may come across in an interview may not really be reflective of who they are and all the great things they have to offer. So do your homework. Find out what schools are looking for interviews. It changes during the it changes year to year. It changes college to college, of course, but every interaction that your kid has and you, by the way, parents don't think for a second, they're not looking at you and your wackiness. So dial it back right. We talked about that in the college the college fair visit. You know, dial it back to. Parents, take a step, let your kid do the talking, but you want to prepare. Look parents, look at the common data set, look at the admissions page, think about your kid. Maybe you do want to hire someone to do a practice interview, just to see how to see how it goes. And there's tons there's tons of stuff online. There are lots of resources. Use them, absolutely, use them, But just that your takeaway is every interaction is an interview, and understand that colleges will very deliberately keep the value and the real purpose of the interview in the gray. They'll keep that in the gray area. What we have control over is how we comport ourselves and our preparedness. So with that, we wish you the best of luck. Do those deep dives, and you know where to find us right from carpool to college. You can also find Tower and Me online at our website www dot Academic MENTORINGLLC dot com. Thanks for tuning in today. I'm Tracy Amadeo Tara Harris. We'll see you next time. Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode. If you enjoyed what you heard, we'd love for you to be a part of our growing community. Please share and follow our show. For those who want to support us further, join our Patreon site here. Support helps us create high quality content and great episodes. Plus, our Patreon members get exclusive perks like bonus episodes, early access, and behind the scenes content that we think you're just going to love. And now for some legal stuff. The content of this podcast is for informational and educational entertainment purposes only, and it's provided as is with no guarantee of accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or outcome. I could keep going, but I will spare you and I will post this entire legal disclaimer on our website www. Dot Academic MENTORINGLLC dot com. Under podcast, Tara and I are so glad you joined us today on from Carpool to College. See you next time. Something like that. Yeah, done's good. Okay, Chris, make that pretty please, pretty please? Make it pretty please. We're just trying to figure out, Chris, how to save this thing. It's so walky, so sorry, there's extra here, all right, stop stop,