Brief History

Since 2003, the Offices of Undergraduate Admissions (OUA) and Alumni Relations have coordinated efforts to offer alumni interviews to undergraduate applicants to the University. Initially, we were able to offer interviews in only select markets; however, the re-design of our program in 2006 enabled us to extend our offer to conduct interviews to applicants worldwide. Most recently, alumni conducted 3,234 interviews, accounting for 19% of our applicant pool. With this expansion of the program, Vanderbilt now has an international network of alumni interviewers.

Purpose of the Program

CoRPs Interviewing allows the Office of Undergraduate Admissions to reach many more students in a one-on-one setting than would otherwise be possible. We stress the importance of keeping alumni interviews relaxed in tone so that the applicants gain another sense of the personal touch we apply to our admissions process. In the current era of increasingly competitive selective admissions, adding another personalized perspective of Vanderbilt becomes even more important to our mission of recruiting a highly diverse group of talented students.

Additionally, alumni interviewers assist the Admissions Office in educating fellow alumni, prospective students, and their parents about the admissions process, and serve to foster better understanding about the increasingly selective nature of the Vanderbilt admissions process.

After each interview, the alumni interviewer submits a report to the Admissions Office, which becomes part of the applicant's admission file. Even though the interview itself is optional for the student applicant, these reports are evaluative in nature and can be very helpful in the admissions process when used in conjunction with other information about the applicant.

Who is eligible to participate as an interviewer?

An alumnus or alumna of Vanderbilt University who:

• Enjoys meeting with prospective students from diverse backgrounds
• Has regular access to internet and to email
• Is willing to spend about 45 minutes per interview
• Will spend 15-30 minutes per interview report
• Agrees to participate in online training
• Does not have a child applying to Vanderbilt for the upcoming academic year

Who is eligible to participate as a CoRPs College Fair Representative?

An alumnus or alumna of Vanderbilt University and/or parent(s) of a current Vanderbilt student who:

• Enjoys meeting with prospective students from diverse backgrounds
• Has regular access to internet and to email
• Is willing to spend approximately 2 hours per college fair
• Agrees to participate in online training

Who is eligible to participate as a CoRPs Speaker?

An alumnus or alumna of Vanderbilt University and/or parent(s) of a current Vanderbilt student who:

• Is open to meeting with diverse prospective students from diverse backgrounds
• Has regular access to internet and to email
• Is willing to spend approximately 90 minutes per speaking engagement
• Agrees to participate in online training

Basic Expectations and Guidelines of a CoRPs Interviewer

• Be willing to conduct at least 5 interviews during the season
• Check your email often
• Respond to student emails as quickly as possible and use an automated “out of office” reply if you cannot check your email for more than 3 consecutive days
• Represent Vanderbilt in the best possible light
• Treat every prospective student with respect and sensitivity
• Take the time to review the latest Vanderbilt information
• Keep all student information confidential
• Be encouraging and resourceful, but always refrain from making comments regarding the likelihood of admission
• Conduct every interview in a public space
• Conduct only face-to-face interviews; telephone or internet-based interviews are not permitted

Basic Expectations and Guidelines of a CoRPs College Representative:

• Check your email often
• Represent Vanderbilt in the best possible light
• Treat every prospective student and their family with respect and sensitivity
• Take the time to review the latest Vanderbilt information
• Arrive 30-60 minutes before the start of the college fair
• Stand behind your college fair table rather than in front of it
• Remain for the duration of the fair
• Share your personal experiences with Vanderbilt and encourage students and families to contact the Office of Undergraduate Admissions with more detailed questions
• Be encouraging and resourceful, but always refrain from making comments regarding the likelihood of admission
• Encourage interested students to fill out an inquiry card so that they may receive more information from Vanderbilt

Basic Expectations and Guidelines of a CoRPs Speaker:

• Check your email often
• Represent Vanderbilt in the best possible light
• Treat every prospective student and their family with respect and sensitivity
• Take the time to review the latest Vanderbilt information
• Arrive to the event 15-30 minutes early in order to meet with the representatives from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions
• Be encouraging and resourceful, but always refrain from making comments regarding the likelihood of admission

Goals of the interview:

IMPORTANT NOTE! The goal of this interview is distinctly different from an employee / employer interview. You want the student to feel good about Vanderbilt by the end of the interview. While thought-provoking questions are welcome and encouraged, you do not want to intimidate the student in any way, or to ask "trick" questions.

1. Get to know the student as well as possible, particularly regarding intriguing passions or intellectual pursuits.
2. Answer questions that the student has about Vanderbilt.
3. Highlight parts of Commodore life which may be especially relevant to the student.
4. Represent Vanderbilt in a positive, interesting light.

Interview Guidelines:

1. Set a relaxed, conversational tone to the interview.
2. Allow the student to speak at length when appropriate.
3. Stay away from "yes" or "no" questions.
4. If a parent accompanies the student, ask that the parent sit elsewhere during the interview, and offer to answer the parent's questions after the interview.

Important Dates and Deadlines:

In order for alumni interviews to be useful in the admissions process, it is critical that both prospective students and CoRPs volunteers adhere to published deadlines. Please be aware that if the Undergraduate Admissions Office does not receive interview reports by the published deadline, we cannot guarantee that information will be used during the review process. As you are accepting interview requests, be sure that you will have the time to complete and submit a report by the deadline.

Students must submit applications for admission by the following dates:

• Early Decision I: November 1, 2009
• Early Decision II: January 3, 2010
• Regular Decision: January 3, 2010

Students must request an interview by the following dates:

• Early Decision I applicants: November 6, 2009
• Early Decision II applicants: January 8, 2010
• Regular Decision applicants: January 15, 2010

CoRPs Interviewers must submit reports by the following dates:

• For Early Decision I applicants: November 20, 2009
• For Early Decision II applicants: January 22, 2010
• For Regular Decision applicants: February 12, 2010

NOTE: Conduct every interview in a public space. Coffee shops are often good venues. Do not conduct the interview in your home, on the telephone, or via the internet.

General Information and Important Dates

• Interview reports are confidential — the student will not be given access to the reports. We expect an honest, respectful assessment of the student.
• Interview reports should be completed and submitted using the online CoRPs Interviewing Report Form.
• Please write the interview report as quickly as possible after the interview. We expect you to submit the report no later than two weeks after conducting the interview.
• Please adhere to the following deadlines: Interview reports must be submitted for...
• For Early Decision I applicants: November 20, 2009
• For Early Decision II applicants: January 22, 2010
• For Regular Decision applicants: February 12, 2010
• If you are having trouble submitting the online CoRPs Interviewing Report form, download the form here as a word document, complete it, and send it as an attachment to corps@vanderbilt.edu. If you are unable to email it, you may print the form and fax it to the attention of CoRPs at 615-343-7765.

Tips for Writing the Interview Report

• Interview reports are most helpful to admissions officers when they contain information about the student that is likely not already in their admissions file. Typically, this comes in the form of interesting nuggets about the student's accomplishments, personality, or passions. For example, a statement such as "Johnny will be a great fit for Vanderbilt" is not nearly as helpful as:

  "Johnny is obviously passionate about getting involved in his church. Even though he has not served in a leadership role, he has spent countless hours helping his youth group take meals to elderly residents in the community. He talks about this like it is a calling and said that he knows that there are a lot of service opportunities at Vanderbilt. I think he would really fit in at VU and be a great asset on campus."

• Likewise, the following description could be quite helpful:

  "Susie talks about her academic life in a really interesting way. She told me that she has always loved math but that she also seeks out ways to write for her school newspaper. She said she's known as the 'math geek' but what she really likes is writing. I asked her what she thinks she may want to study at Vanderbilt and she said she likes VU because she can be part of the engineering program and still take advantage of Vanderbilt's great English department. She seems to have really done her research on Vanderbilt."

  But this statement does not provide as much information: "Susie loves both math and English and wants to be an engineer." Be honest in your assessment of the student, always taking care to be respectful of the student. If you do not believe the applicant will be successful at Vanderbilt, or is not a good fit for the University, include that in your report and explain why. On the other hand, if you think that the student is a perfect match for Vanderbilt, help us understand why.

Our test application is coming soon. Stay tuned!

Internal Resources

For assistance with CoRPs interviewing, please contact the CoRPs team at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions:

• CoRPs team: Joy Beth Bodie, Alex Gano, Kylie Stanley and Julianna Staples
• CoRPs email: corps@vanderbilt.edu
• CoRPS phone: (615) 343-8286

External Resources

Interviewer Documentation

• CoRPs Interviewing Report Form

Helpful Links

• Office of Undergraduate Admissions
• Development and Alumni Relations
• Admissions FAQs
• Financial Aid
• Vanderbilt Athletics
• Vanderbilt Commons

Schools

• College of Arts & Science
• School of Engineering
• Peabody College of Education and Human Development
• Blair School of Music