tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6247264052886923232.post3995510660115319188..comments2023-12-10T02:57:05.374-08:00Comments on College Explorations: Stanford's Pilot Alumni Interview Program: Where Are We?Nancy Griesemerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798671848588278128noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6247264052886923232.post-43311191462916387472009-08-12T11:38:39.287-07:002009-08-12T11:38:39.287-07:00Our pilot program is just that - experimental and ...Our pilot program is just that - experimental and exploratory, nothing more, which is why we rolled it out to just 6 regions (and to just 3 more this year). All regions were chosen based on lengthy research and discussion about our yield, diversity and alumni volunteer resources in each location. Of course we would love to pilot the program globally and immediately but training more than 1,000 interviewers was necessary in order to offer interviews to the first 9. We will need thousands of additional volunteers to expand more. More than 400 students apply from the city of New York alone, making this an incredibly tough program to roll out to 30,000 applicants. DC was up for consideration as a pilot city but we determined that the geographic complexity of the District, Maryland, and Virginia would be tough to manage during these first two years. Certain regions were simply easier for us to define, explain and manage (e.g. students are only offered an interview in NYC if they live in one of the 5 boroughs). The jury is still out on whether or not this program is worth our efforts, but at the very least, surveys to alumni suggest they love this opportunity to be involved with Stanford and to meet our applicants. Likewise, admission officers reading the applications from the first 6 cities suggest that they appreciated the additional information about each interviewed candidate - though admit that rarely did their own evaluations change as a result. Thus far, there has been a negligible affect on our yield of those interviewed and admitted. As a result, we'll expand to 3 more cities and evaluate the program's continued operation.Shawn L. Abbotthttp://admission.stanford.edunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6247264052886923232.post-9261609548022089292009-08-12T09:30:43.329-07:002009-08-12T09:30:43.329-07:00Shawn,
I deeply regret any misunderstandings and c...Shawn,<br />I deeply regret any misunderstandings and certainly did not mean to alarm you. Please feel free to use this forum to enlighten readers. I am particularly anxious to correct any inaccuracies, especially as I went to great pains to use information provided on the Stanford University website.<br />NancyNancy Griesemerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14798671848588278128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6247264052886923232.post-14908325220647388372009-08-12T08:27:44.579-07:002009-08-12T08:27:44.579-07:00Ms. Griesemer, I find it sort of alarming that you...Ms. Griesemer, I find it sort of alarming that you are making assumptions about our pilot interview program without getting the facts first. Your comments above show a lack of understanding about why we chose to roll out this program in stages and why we selected the cities noted above. A quick email or phone call to me would have provided you with facts rather than reckless speculation. Shawn Abbott - Director of AdmissionShawn L. Abbotthttp://admission.stanford.edunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6247264052886923232.post-8216352428436043742009-06-20T14:08:20.978-07:002009-06-20T14:08:20.978-07:00Dear Anonymous:
I have a great answer for you: i...Dear Anonymous:<br /><br />I have a great answer for you: it depends. Some schools pay more attention to their alums than others. Some schools use alumni interviews as recruitment tools or to keep their alums busy. Others are sincere about wanting to get behind the numbers and learn more about their applicants. Unfortunately, you’ll probably never know which is which.<br /><br />All that said, however, I have to warn you that a bad interview will almost certainly croak your application to most schools. So, you have to “suit up” for them all. As an alumni interviewer, I had my share of gum-chewing, inappropriately dressed applicants who showed no knowledge of the school for which they were interviewing and could not come up with a plausible reason why they wanted to engage in any form of post-secondary education. On the other hand, I had neatly dressed, enthusiastic high school students who did their homework, knew something about my university, and came prepared to have a good conversation about college. Guess which ones I wholeheartedly recommended? And, I suspect that my school paid attention. Either that or we very frequently agreed about candidates.<br /><br />Without getting into Stanford’s admissions committee meetings, I can’t say how fair the pilot alumni interview program is. I can suggest, however, that it might be nice to fish or cut bait and either offer the interview to everyone or can the program. As it stands, things don’t look quite right.Nancy Griesemerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14798671848588278128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6247264052886923232.post-37878751813544122842009-06-20T11:55:32.657-07:002009-06-20T11:55:32.657-07:00It seems unfair that some applicants would get int...It seems unfair that some applicants would get interviews and others wouldn't. Do interviews help an applicant's changes of getting in or hurt them?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com