Questions to Ask an Alumni Interviewer
Questions to ask an alumni interviewer when the college interview turns around and it is your turn to ask. They are written for a college alumni interview, where the person across the table is a graduate and not an admissions officer, whether that is your Cornell interviewer, a Princeton interviewer or an alum of a college an hour from home. They are grouped by what you want to find out: the interviewer's own story, academics, campus life, their honest take on the school, life after graduation, and how to close. Pick three or four you would act on; nobody gets through a whole list.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Their story
What made you choose this school when you were applying?
Why ask it
Every graduate has told this story before, so it is the easiest place to start. Listen for the deciding reason: a program, a visit, an aid offer, a parent who went. If it was a feeling on the tour, ask what gave them that feeling.
What did you end up studying, and how did you land on it?
Why ask it
Plenty of students change direction once they arrive, so ask when they settled on it and whether switching was simple. Some schools admit you to a specific program and others let you declare later. If you are undecided, check how it works there now.
What is your favorite memory from your time there?
Why ask it
Nearly every interviewer has one ready, and the kind of memory matters: a late night in a lab, a big game, a dinner that ran long. Ask who else was there, because the people in the story show you who they spent four years with.
What surprised you about the place once you actually got there?
Why ask it
Tours and brochures set an expectation, and this asks where it was wrong. Answers tend to be about class sizes, the social scene, the weather, or how much of student life happened off campus. A good surprise counts as much as a bad one.
What do you wish you had known before your first semester?
Why ask it
Hindsight is easier to use than a general tip. The answer is often small and practical, such as a deadline they missed, a housing choice, or how long they waited before asking for help. Write it down as soon as the interview ends.
How big a jump was it from high school to your first year there?
Why ask it
You find out what caught them off guard: the reading load, nobody checking the homework, living with a stranger. Ask how long it took to feel settled and what helped. Whatever tripped them up is something you can practice before you get there.
What made you want to interview applicants?
Why ask it
Interviewers are usually volunteers, so there is a reason they give up an evening for this. The reason tends to be whatever they valued most about the school, and you hear it without asking them to sell you the place.
Did you have an alumni interview of your own when you applied?
Why ask it
For a moment it puts the two of you on the same side of the table. People who had one tend to remember a single question from it, and it is fair to ask which. If they never had one, ask how they got to know the school before arriving.
How do you stay connected to the school now?
Why ask it
Reunions, a local club, mentoring, or nothing beyond these interviews: each shows how much the place still figures in a graduate's life. You also learn how current their knowledge is, which matters when you weigh everything else they say.
How are you different because you went there?
Why ask it
A big question, so save it for an interviewer who has been talking freely. Strong answers name something specific, like learning to defend a position or to live alongside people unlike them. If they need a moment to think, wait.
Would you choose it again if you were applying today?
Why ask it
Most will say yes, so pay attention to the sentence that comes next. 'Yes, but I would have' is where the real answer begins, and it is fair to ask them to finish it.
Academics
Which class or professor still comes to mind years later?
Why ask it
A name that comes at once means the teaching left a mark. Ask what that professor did differently, and whether the class was a small seminar or a big lecture. A long pause tells you something too, though one person's memory is thin evidence.
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.
How big were your classes, and did that change after the first year?
Why ask it
Published averages hide the spread between a packed introductory lecture and a seminar of twelve. What you want is when the small classes started for them and whether they had to fight for a seat. Their numbers may be years old, so check them with a current student.
How heavy was the workload in a normal week?
Why ask it
Say 'normal week' on purpose, since everyone remembers finals. Hours of reading, problem sets, lab time and whether weekends stayed free add up to a picture you can hold against what you manage now.
Did students tend to compete with each other or help each other?
Why ask it
Schools differ a great deal on this, and so do majors inside one school. Ask for an example, such as whether people shared notes or formed study groups, because 'collaborative' is the word every brochure reaches for.
How much room was there to take classes outside your major?
Why ask it
Requirements decide this more than enthusiasm does. An engineer who fit in a film class, or could not, has shown you how the curriculum works in practice. Rules get rewritten, so confirm the current ones on the school's own pages.
Were you admitted to one college or school within the university, and how much did that decide?
Why ask it
At a university divided into undergraduate colleges, Cornell being a familiar example, the one that admits you can set your requirements and your adviser. Ask whether taking classes across the line was easy and whether anyone they knew moved between colleges. Those rules are the school's to change, so put the same question to admissions.
What was the thing this school is best known for actually like to live with?
Why ask it
Name it when you ask: the open curriculum at Brown, the senior thesis at Princeton, a core every student takes, a co-op year. A graduate can say whether it ran through every week or mattered mostly in the brochure. Read the school's current description of it first, since programs get revised.
How useful was your academic adviser when you had a real decision to make?
Why ask it
Advising runs from a signature on a form to someone who knew their plans by heart. Ask about one decision, like dropping a class or choosing a thesis topic, and who helped with it. Sometimes the honest answer is an older student.
Did you do research, study abroad or a thesis, and how did you get into it?
Why ask it
The way in is the part to catch: an application, a professor's invitation, a funding deadline early on. If they did none of these, ask what their friends did, and you will still learn how common it was.
What can you tell me about the department I am hoping to study in?
Why ask it
Name your subject first, then let them tell you what they know, which may be little if they studied something else. 'I am not sure, but I know who would be' is a good outcome. Do not push them to rank the department against other schools.
Campus life
Where did people actually spend their time when they were not in class?
Why ask it
Some campuses keep everyone in the dorms, the library and the student center, and others empty into the city each evening. Ask where they would have been at nine on a Tuesday night. It is a better guide to daily life than a list of facilities.
Which clubs or activities took up most of your time?
Why ask it
What they joined matters less than how much of their week it filled. If a newspaper, a team or a theater group took over, ask how hard it was to get in, since some campus groups hold their own auditions or applications.
Where did you live, and how did housing work after the first year?
Why ask it
What happens after first-year housing varies widely, from room lotteries to moving off campus. The system they knew may be gone, so treat the answer as a list of things to ask the housing office.
Were students sorted into houses, residential colleges or dining clubs, and did yours matter?
Why ask it
Where a system like that exists it can decide who you eat with for years, and Princeton's residential colleges and eating clubs are one well-known version. Ask how people ended up in theirs and what life was like for students who stayed out. How you join and what it costs both shift, so look up this year's terms.
What did a typical weekend look like?
Why ask it
Weekends show you the social life without your having to ask about parties. You hear whether people stayed on campus, headed into town or went home, and whether there was plenty to do for someone who prefers a quiet night.
Is there a campus tradition you still think about?
Why ask it
A happy, easy subject, good for the middle of the conversation when you want things to loosen up. The traditions people remember are usually small and a little odd. Whether the interviewer joined in or watched from the edge is a clue to how they fit in.
How did you meet your closest friends there, and are you still in touch?
Why ask it
The first half is nearly always a place: a hallway, a team, a seminar, a job in the dining hall. That shows where friendships get made at this school and which first-week choices count for more than they seem to. The second half usually gets a smile and a story about a wedding or a group chat.
How did living in that town or city shape your experience?
Why ask it
Ask what they left campus for: groceries, a part-time job, concerts, hiking, or nothing at all. It is also the moment to find out whether students needed a car and how they got home for breaks. Transport and the neighborhood may both have changed since, so look them up as well.
How much did sports, or fraternities and sororities, shape the social scene?
Why ask it
On some campuses these organize the weekend, on others they barely register, and some schools have neither. Ask what life was like for students outside them. This shifts from one decade to the next, so put the same question to a current student.
How well did students from different backgrounds mix?
Why ask it
A thoughtful interviewer describes what they saw and does not quote the viewbook: who ate together, which groups overlapped, where the divides were. One person's view of their own years is a starting point, so follow it up with students who are there now.
Where did students go when they were struggling?
Why ask it
This covers tutoring, counseling, deans and friends without asking the interviewer for anything private. An answer that names a person and not just an office suggests help was easy to find. Services change, so look up what the school offers today.
If I visit, what should I make sure to see or do?
Why ask it
Tours follow a set route, and graduates know what it leaves out: a reading room, a diner, a path along the river. It is an easy question for late in the conversation, and if you go, you can mention it in your thank-you note.
Honest take
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: the pace, the winters, the distance from home, feeling behind their classmates. If the answer is all sunshine, ask what their friends found hard instead.
What would you change about the school if you could?
Why ask it
Even loyal graduates have one thing: the advising, the cost, the winters, a requirement they resented. A considered answer is a reason to trust their praise too. If nothing comes, ask what students complained about most.
Is there something on campus you wish you had taken advantage of and did not?
Why ask it
Regret is specific in a way praise is not: a fellowship they never applied for, a language they dropped, a professor whose class they kept putting off. Note the name. It is a concrete thing to look up now and to go after if you enroll.
What do people most often get wrong about the school?
Why ask it
Every school has a reputation: a party school, a pressure cooker, a place in the middle of nowhere. A graduate can tell you which parts matched what they lived and which were out of date or never true. If you have heard something that worries you, this is the polite way to raise it.
What would you say to someone choosing between here and a similar school?
Why ask it
This asks them to argue and not just describe, which brings out the trade-off they think is really at stake: size, location, a core curriculum, cost. You do not have to say which other schools are on your list, and there is no need to rank them aloud.
What does the school do that you have not seen other schools do?
Why ask it
The 'what makes it special' question with a higher bar, since they have to compare. Graduates who later met people from other colleges at work or in graduate school can say what turned out to be unusual, and what turned out to be ordinary.
How has the school changed since you were there, as far as you can tell?
Why ask it
Use it to date everything else you hear. A graduate from two years ago and one from twenty are describing different campuses, and most interviewers will say so themselves when asked. New buildings are the easy part of the answer, so ask about the students and the curriculum too.
After graduation
What did you do over the summers, and did the school help you find it?
Why ask it
Internships, lab jobs and summers back home at the old job all count as answers. What you are after is who found the opening: a career office listing, a professor, a graduate of the school, or the student alone with a search engine. Ask whether any of it was paid or funded.
How did the school help when you were looking for your first job?
Why ask it
Ask for what happened, not what was on offer: who read the resume, whether employers came to campus, how the first interview came about. Help can differ by department within one school, and it has probably changed since they left. The career office can tell you what it does today.
How well did your classes prepare you for the work you do now?
Why ask it
Listen for what carried over: writing, working in teams, a technical skill, or mainly the habit of learning fast. Someone whose job has nothing to do with their major can still answer, and that version is often the more encouraging one.
What do you do now, and would you have predicted it as a student?
Why ask it
The interviewer gets a turn to talk about their own work, which they have spent the whole meeting not doing. The distance between the plan at eighteen and the job today is worth hearing while you are being asked to name a major.
What did your classmates go on to do?
Why ask it
One graduate is an anecdote, and their circle of friends is a slightly larger sample. If everyone went into the same two or three fields, the school may have strong routes there and thinner ones elsewhere. Compare it with whatever outcomes the school publishes.
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.
After you graduated, could you still go back to the school for help?
Why ask it
Some career offices keep working with graduates for years and some stop at commencement, and the same goes for professors asked for a reference long afterward. One story of going back and being helped tells you a lot. Policies change, so check what the school offers its graduates now.
How did students who wanted graduate or professional school get advice?
Why ask it
Pre-med, pre-law and graduate school advising is set up differently at every school, and an interviewer who went that way will remember exactly who helped. If they did not, ask whether friends did, then check how the school runs it now.
Closing
Knowing what I have told you about myself, what would you point me toward there?
Why ask it
This only works late, once they know your interests. A good interviewer will name a professor, a program or a group to look up, and the answer shows how closely they were listening. It also gives you specifics if you still have a 'why this school' essay to write.
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.
Could I tell you about one thing we have not covered?
Why ask it
Ask only if something important was left out: a project, a family responsibility, the reason for a dip in grades. Have it ready in two or three sentences. The interviewer can only write about what they heard.
Is there a current student or recent graduate you would suggest I talk to?
Why ask it
The interviewer's knowledge has a date on it, and they usually know that. Many are glad to pass you to someone closer to campus as it is today. If no name comes to mind, the admissions office can often put you in touch with a student.
What should I have asked you about the school that I did not?
Why ask it
It hands the interviewer whatever they were hoping to talk about, and it often turns up something no list would have: a quirk of the calendar, a program few applicants know about, a warning about the first winter. Use it as a last question, not as your only one.
Would it be all right to email you if I think of another question?
Why ask it
Get permission before assuming it, and confirm the address for your thank-you note while you are there. Keep any later message short. Updates to your application belong with the admissions office unless the interviewer offers to pass them on.
What happens after this, and roughly when should I expect to hear anything?
Why ask it
Usually the interviewer writes up the conversation and the decision comes from the admissions office on its own date, but schools handle this differently, so ask. Knowing what the interviewer does and does not control stops you reading meaning into how warm they seemed.
Handling the Alumni Interview
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Preparing
Bring three or four questions, not ten
Your turn usually comes at the end and may be only a few minutes, though some interviewers hand over half the conversation. Pick three or four you would act on, keep a couple of spares in mind, and let the conversation decide the order.
Choose across the groups
The list is sorted into six groups. A workable set is one question from Their story, one from the group you know least about, and one from Closing. If the interviewer studied what you hope to study, lean on Academics. If they did not, Campus life and Honest take will get you further.
Skip anything the website answers
Tuition, deadlines, financial aid and course lists are published, and the interviewer cannot speak for the aid office in any case. 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 about it. A follow-up shows you were listening, which a prepared list cannot do, and it usually gets the better story.
Know a little about the interviewer, and no more
If the school sends you a name, a class year and a field are fair to look up, and they tell you which questions fit. Do not recite their career back to them. Asking what they studied is still a fine opener even when you have a good guess.
For a Cornell, Princeton or Brown interviewer
The list does not change with the name on the diploma, because every question asks about one graduate's years there. What changes is the detail you swap in: which of Cornell's colleges they were in, the senior thesis at Princeton, the open curriculum at Brown. The format differs too. Some selective schools describe the meeting as an informational conversation, some have dropped it and take a short video in its place, and the arrangement can change from one year to the next, so read that school's admissions page before you prepare.
What Goes Wrong
Asking about your chances
Alumni interviewers are generally volunteers who do not sit on the admissions committee, and many never see your file. Asking puts them in an awkward position and gets you nothing.
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 differ in style, and how much the interview counts differs from school to school. The admissions office is the place to ask about that.
Asking what they already answered
In a long conversation the interviewer will cover some of your questions before you get to them. Cross those off in your head and build on what was said: 'you mentioned the housing lottery, how did it work out for you?' does more than the question you had prepared.
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 weighing this school against others
- 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.
If the interviewer graduated a long time ago
- 1Ask how they stay connected to the school now.
- 2Ask how the school has changed since they were there.
- 3Keep to questions that time does not spoil: who does well there, what they would change, how their classes prepared them for work.
- 4Close by asking whether there is a current student or recent graduate they would suggest you talk to.