In this article, we will be discussing an analysis to debunk common misconceptions about interviewers and admissions officers at top private universities in the United States. 

 

What we often refer to as "interviews" are actually alumni interviews, which are not official roles within the university. When students apply to top 20 private schools, they often receive a phone call or email invitation for an interview from an alumnus after submitting their application. In some cases, universities allow students to request an interview through their website, after which the school assigns an alumnus to contact them. Receiving an interview invitation does not mean a student has passed a certain screening stage; in fact, as long as a student agrees to share their contact information with alumni, they will receive an invitation. This means that all applicants have the opportunity to participate in an interview, which is one of the university's mechanisms for ensuring fairness. These interviews are also optional, meaning participation is not mandatory.

 

A detailed comparison is as follows: 

	Alumni Interviewer	Admissions Officer
Qualifications	Alumni or current students of the university No restriction on graduation year (many graduated 10-20 years ago)	Full-time field professionals
Educational Background	Undergraduate/Graduate students or alumni of the school	Academic qualifications related to the field Many top university admissions officers are also alumni of this school
Certification  Requirements	None	Relevant training in the field
Work Experience	None	Work experience related to higher education admissions
Selection Criteria	Voluntary basis, unpaid	Must go through university recruitment applications, interviews, and assessments
Decision Authority	None	Responsible for deciding whether students are admitted or not

 

Interviewer

In U.S. college admissions, interviews are not conducted by professors but are instead handled by current students or alumni who have graduated for many years. As such, interviews generally do not have a significant impact on admission outcomes. Therefore, the notion that an interviewer could write a recommendation letter to secure a student's acceptance is purely fictional. In reality, admission results often fall short of expectations—even for those of us conducting interviews, it may take years of experience to see one or two students we interviewed get accepted. 

 

When a student is admitted, the university sends a thank-you letter to the interviewer to acknowledge the student's outstanding overall performance and to express gratitude for the interviewer's time and effort. This is not due to the interviewer's connections or influence. The school is simply being polite by notifying the interviewer. 

 

As interviewers, our role makes it clear that we are not official evaluators from the university, so we are not informed of the school's annual selection criteria. While interviewers may share their personal application experiences from years past, admissions become more competitive each year, and the standards for acceptance are adjusted annually. 

 

There are, however, a few exceptions to this. For example, graduate school interviews and interviews in the UK. In both cases, the interviews are conducted directly by professors, who do have a certain level of influence over the admission decision. In the UK, in addition to the interview, applicants are also required to take an exam. 

 

Admissions Officer

Admissions officers are fully aware of the latest evaluation standards of their universities. These officers can be either internal staff or outsourced personnel. Due to the varying number of applicants (ranging from 20,000 to 150,000 per university) different review mechanisms have emerged. Many renowned universities hire seasonal part-time external staff to help share the workload, while top-tier universities almost exclusively rely on full-time in-house admissions officers. The review methods also vary by institution, often categorized as either a two-person system or a committee-based approach. 

 

Another common misconception is that students from the same school might compete against each other for admission. This is not true. For example, some public universities in the U.S. allocate 150,000 applicants among 150 admissions officers. Even if there are regional admissions officers, decisions are made based on whether students meet the university's admission standards, not by keeping count of how many students have already been admitted or how many spots remain. As a result, it’s common to see one high school with 15 students admitted to Ivy League schools like Columbia University, while another high school may have no students admitted.

 

When students go abroad, they enter an environment where they grow and thrive alongside outstanding scholars from around the world. It’s important for peers to maintain positive and supportive relationships with each other, so there’s no need to worry excessively about resource sharing. 

 

High School Counseling & College Application Guidance Program

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