Page 5 - College Guide 2017 Digital Edition

SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION
then find out if they are pursuing those to the best of their ability,” says Dorothy Bedell, a 1970 graduate of Bryn Mawr College who’s been conducting alumni interviews for 19 years.
Interviewers often do that through a series of ques- tions, ranging from “Why do you want to go here?” and “What do you like to do outside of school?” to
“What qualities and characteristics are most important to you in a school?” and “How would you describe yourself?”
“Nine times out of 10, what happens in the inter- view is confirmed on paper. There are situations that students need to talk openly about, or that are hard to describe in an essay or capture in their recommen- dations,” says Jim Bock, vice president and dean of admissions at Swarthmore College.
Bock also notes that interviews give students a chance to contextualize their applications, such as a
someone who has fewer activities because he or she has a part-time job. They have room to discuss their interests and share aspects of their personalities that can’t be part of the application.
Asking meaningful questions is another impor- tant part of the process. “One of the clear things is if they are asking questions to which they could easily have found [answers] on the web,” says Bedell. “It indicates a lack of interest.”
Bernstein says, “What impresses me is not the questions, but the stories.”
Beyond making an impression, alumni interviews are a prime opportunity to get a first-person perspec- tive from a former student. “It’s nice if they ask you about your experience, even if it’s unrelated to their interests,” says Bernstein.
“Prospective students do care about engaging with
someone who’s been a student here. Alumni volunteer
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