Alumni Interview

What it is

An alumni interview is a conversation between you and a graduate of the college you have applied to. It is arranged after you submit your application, usually in late November (for ED/EA applicants) or January-February (for RD applicants). The interviewer is a volunteer alumnus living in your area, not an admissions officer. They were once a student at the school, graduated, and now volunteer to help admissions evaluate applicants.

After the interview, the alum writes a short report (usually one page) summarizing their impressions of you and rating you on a few dimensions: academic interest, intellectual engagement, fit with the school, communication, character. The report goes into your application file and is read by your admissions officer.

For international students, the interview almost always happens by Zoom, because the school may not have local alumni in your city or because in-person scheduling is difficult. Some schools do connect international applicants with local alumni for in-person meetings where alumni networks are active.

Which schools do alumni interviews

Schools that offer them and use them in evaluation:

• All 8 Ivies (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell)
• Stanford
• MIT (historically did them but discontinued in 2023)
• Duke, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Vanderbilt
• Williams, Amherst, Pomona, Swarthmore, and most top liberal arts colleges

Schools that do NOT offer interviews (or use only group info sessions):

• UChicago (no interviews; uses other channels)
• MIT (discontinued 2023)
• All UC schools, most public flagships
• Caltech (extremely limited, essentially zero)

How to know: the school's admissions website always says. Check before assuming.

How important is it actually

Alumni interviews are mostly low-stakes. The interview report is one piece of evidence in a holistic file that already has your transcript, scores, essays, recommendations, and activity list. A great interview adds a positive impression but rarely flips an otherwise-rejected file. A bad interview can hurt at the margins but rarely sinks an otherwise-strong file. The only situations where the interview really matters:

• You said something inappropriate or evasive. That lands in the report and the AO will take it seriously.
• You revealed a stark mismatch with the school. Saying "I really want to be in NYC" in a Dartmouth interview will be noted.
• You showed extraordinary interest and depth. Interviewers do flag exceptional students to AOs.

The honest read: the interview is mostly a soft demonstrated-interest signal. The school knows that if you bothered to schedule and show up, you actually want to come.

How international students should prepare

1. Re-read your application before the interview. The interviewer has not seen your application file (most have not), but you should be able to talk fluently about anything you wrote.

2. Have specific examples ready. When asked "what is your favorite class?" do not say "biology." Say "AP Biology, especially the unit on cell signaling. I went down a rabbit hole on G-protein receptors and ended up reading a paper from..." Specificity is what makes an interview memorable.

3. Have 3-4 questions about the school. Not "what is the best part?" Specific ones like "I read about the [specific program]; how do undergrads typically get involved?" or "what was your favorite class as an undergrad and why?"

4. Practice in English. If you are more comfortable in another language, that is fine, but the interview is in English and you will perform better with rehearsal. Have a native English-speaking friend or tutor mock-interview you once or twice.

5. Do not try to be impressive. Try to be interesting. The best interviews feel like real conversations between two people who like each other, not job interviews. Bring genuine curiosity about the alum and the school.

6. Show up early. For Zoom: test your audio and video the day before. Have a quiet, well-lit background. Dress neatly but do not overdress.

7. Send a thank-you email afterward. A short note, 2-3 sentences, thanking them for their time and mentioning one specific thing you enjoyed discussing. This is standard etiquette and the alum will appreciate it.

Avoid: generic school praise ("Harvard is the best"), asking how to get in (the alum does not decide), dishonesty about interests (they will spot it), treating it as transactional ("put in a good word"), and bringing up grades/scores (talk about who you are instead).

If you are not offered an interview

Many international students worry when no interview invitation arrives. Do not. Alumni interviews are offered based on alumni availability in your region, not on application strength. A missing interview means there was not a volunteer alum free to interview you, not that the school has lost interest. Schools explicitly say this on their websites: "not receiving an interview will not affect your admissions decision."