Questions to Ask Alumni Interviewer
What to ask when an alumni interviewer turns the admissions conversation over to you: campus life, academics, the town, the alumni network, and what happens after you say goodbye. Written for applicants with an interview coming up.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What made you choose this school when you were applying?
Why ask it
An easy opener that they enjoy answering. It also tells you which of the school's selling points were real enough to decide a life on, as opposed to marketing.
What did you end up studying, and how did you land on it?
Why ask it
Many alumni switched majors. Hearing how easy or hard the switch was tells you how locked in you would be by the choice you write on your application.
What was your first year like?
Why ask it
First-year answers cover housing, homesickness and workload, the parts of the experience nobody puts in a brochure and the parts you will meet first.
What surprised you about the place once you actually got there?
Why ask it
The gap between the tour and the reality is where the useful information lives. Expect answers about class sizes, social scenes, or how much of campus life happens off campus.
Which class or professor still comes to mind years later?
Why ask it
If they can name one immediately, teaching made an impression. If they struggle, that is worth noticing too, and worth checking against other people you talk to.
Where did people actually spend their time when they were not in class?
Why ask it
Answers separate schools where life centered on dorms and clubs from ones where students scattered into the city each evening. That difference shapes four years.
What kind of student seems to do well there, and what kind struggles?
Why ask it
Interviewers tend to answer this honestly because it is not a criticism of the school. Listen for whether the description sounds like you before you decide it is good news.
What did you find hardest about being a student there?
Why ask it
This gives them permission to say something negative. A completely rosy answer usually means they have gone into ambassador mode, so follow up gently.
How did students get to know professors outside of lectures?
Why ask it
Look for a concrete route: office hours, research assistantships, small seminars, department dinners. If nothing concrete comes back, access may be harder than advertised.
What did you do over the summers, and did the school help you find it?
Why ask it
Summer plans reveal how much of the career pipeline runs through the school itself and how much students had to build alone.
How did the school help when you were looking for your first job?
Why ask it
Career services quality varies enormously between schools and even between departments. Ask for what happened rather than what was offered.
Has the alumni network mattered to you since, and how?
Why ask it
Every school claims a strong network. A specific story, an introduction, a job, a mentor, is evidence. A general endorsement is not.
How did living in that town or city shape your experience?
Why ask it
Location determines your weekends, your part-time work, and how often you leave campus. Alumni who stayed nearby and alumni who left will answer this differently.
What would you say to someone choosing between here and a similar school?
Why ask it
This asks them to argue rather than describe, which surfaces the trade-off they think is genuinely at stake instead of a list of features.
Is there something on campus you wish you had taken advantage of and did not?
Why ask it
The answer is often a specific program, lab, or funding pot that students overlook. That is a concrete thing to look for if you enroll.
How has the school changed since you were there, as far as you can tell?
Why ask it
It sets their whole account in context. Advice from someone who graduated fifteen years ago needs discounting, and asking shows you understand that.
What do you say when someone criticizes the school?
Why ask it
This reframes the weak points as something they can defend, so you often hear the real criticisms and the honest counterargument in the same answer.
What are you hoping to hear from applicants in these conversations?
Why ask it
Interviewers are usually volunteers with light briefing, and many will tell you plainly what they write about. It also signals you take their time seriously.
Is there anything I said today that you would like me to explain further?
Why ask it
It offers a clean chance to repair an answer you fumbled. Keep the correction short: a long second attempt does more harm than the original stumble.
What happens after this, and roughly when should I expect to hear anything?
Why ask it
A practical close. It also clarifies what the interviewer does and does not control, which stops you reading meaning into how warm they seemed.
Handling the Alumni Interview
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Preparing
Bring three questions, not ten
You will usually get five to ten minutes at the end. Pick three that you would genuinely act on and let the conversation decide the order.
Skip anything the website answers
Tuition, deadlines and course lists are published. Spend your questions on things only a former student can tell you, such as what the workload felt like in week eight.
Take the answer somewhere
When they mention a club, a lab, or a professor, ask a follow-up about it. Interviewers report on curiosity, and follow-ups are the visible form of it.
What Goes Wrong
Asking about your chances
Most alumni interviewers do not sit on the admissions committee and cannot tell you anything about your file. Asking puts them in an awkward position for no gain.
Interviewing them about rankings
Questions about league tables and prestige tend to land badly and reveal nothing. Ask about teaching, advising and what students do at four in the afternoon.
Reading the tone as a verdict
A friendly interviewer is not an offer and a brisk one is not a rejection. Interviewers vary in style, and the written report is short.
Using the Time You Get
If you want to know what the place is like
- 1Start with what made them choose the school.
- 2Move to what surprised them once they arrived.
- 3Ask who does well there and who struggles.
- 4Close with what they wish they had taken advantage of.
If you are deciding between offers
- 1Ask what they would say to someone choosing between this school and a similar one.
- 2Ask how the school helped with their first job.
- 3Ask for one specific way the alumni network has mattered since.
- 4Close by asking what happens next in the process.