AAAC Interviewer Training
Alumni Admissions Program
Office of Alumni Affairs
2008-09
*Use Arrow Keys To Navigate
Welcome to the 2008-09 interviewing season.
Thank you for volunteering!
Thank you for serving as an alumni interviewer with
our Alumni Admissions Advisory Committee (AAAC)
program. We anticipate another busy year with recordbreaking numbers of applicants and interviews.
Your volunteer time as a AAAC interviewer is very
important to Duke. You provide valuable information to
both the Admissions Office through your evaluations
and to each prospective student through your
knowledge of Duke.
Click here for your Volunteer Job Description
http://www.dukealumnicenter.com/3AC_vol_description.pdf
Please read through the entire
presentation.
In an effort to better serve your training needs, we have
developed the following training presentation. This training
module will serve as your primary training resource. Please
read through the entire presentation before you conduct your
first interview this season.
The slideshow presentation will take 15-20 minutes. There
are lots of links that you may browse through now or just
before an interview.
After you read through the materials once, you will not have
to go through the training presentation again. However, you
periodically may need to refer to slideshow for general
information. These materials will remain accessible on the
website for your review.
General Application Information
• Students apply using the Common Application. They should
submit their completed application online.
• Students have been given the following deadlines:
– Early Decision candidates must have their applications in to the
Admissions Office by November 1.
– Regular Decision candidates must have their applications in to
the Admissions Office by January 2.
• Duke requires that students complete a supplemental
portion to the Common Application which is explained when
they go to the Common Application website.
Need more information about the application process? Go to:
https://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/index.html
General Interview Information
• The interview is not a mandatory part of the application.
• Duke no longer conducts on-campus interviews. The AAACs
provide the only interview opportunity.
• Students are assigned to a AAAC by their mailing address
ZIP Code (or country code if an international application).
•
We do not have AAACs in all places where students apply.
General Interview Information
• There are application deadlines that the student must meet
to become “eligible” for an interview.
• For an Early Decision interview, students must apply
by October 19, 2008.
• For a Regular Decision interview, students must
apply by December 10, 2008.
• Our goal is to interview as many students as possible
despite deadlines, but we give priority to the students who
meet these deadlines. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee
that all students who meet the deadline will get an
interview.
The Interview Process
Here are the four steps to the interview process:
 Initiate Contact
 Conduct the Interview
 Submit the Interview Evaluation
 Follow-Up
I. Initiating Contact
• Please check your AIMS webpage.
 Once you login to AIMS, you will establish your own webpage.
You will use your webpage to retrieve each student’s
information and to submit your interview evaluations.
 When your chairperson assigns an interview to you, you will
receive an email alerting you to check your webpage.
 When you check your webpage, you will be able to see the
student you have been assigned. Click “View” to see the
student’s contact information.
Initiating Contact
• Please contact each student as soon as you receive
your assignment from your AAAC chairperson.
 The initial contact is very important. It not only allows you
to schedule the interview, but it also lets the student know
that he or she is on Duke’s “radar screen”. Many applicants
will get anxious if they learn that other applicants from
their school have been contacted and they have not.
 For many students, you will be their first contact with a
Duke representative.
Initiating Contact
Initial Contact Checklist
When you make the initial contact, here are some helpful
tips and reminders:
 You may contact the student either by phone or email. Please try
to call the student first. It is a more personal approach. If the
student is not home, you may leave a message noting that you
will try to contact him/her via email.
 Please identify yourself as a Duke alumnus/a and a volunteer
interviewer.
 Let the student know that the interview is “informal and relaxed”
and that they should feel free to ask you questions about Duke.
Initiating Contact
Initial Contact Checklist (Continued)

Remind the student that the interview is not
mandatory, but it is a good opportunity for the
applicant to learn more about Duke and for Duke to
learn more about him or her.

Please be sure to give each student your name and
contact information in case he/she needs to
reschedule or confirm the interview.

Remind the student to share your contact information
with his or her parents, so that parents will know with
whom their son or daughter is meeting.
Initiating Contact
Please use discretion in selecting an appropriate
interview location.
 In general, the best place to conduct an interview is in a
neutral and public setting -- like a coffee house, book store,
or in the guidance office of the applicant's high school. The
location should be mutually agreeable.
 If you meet in your office, please make sure you are not
alone in the building with the student.
 Please do not meet in your home or the student’s home. If
either of these is the only agreeable option, then please
remember that the student’s parents should not be part of
the interview.
II. Conducting the Interview
The purpose of the interview is twofold:
 To gather new information about the applicant
and report that information to the Admissions
Office.
 To provide information about Duke to the
prospective student.
II. Conducting the Interview
What kind of new information should I report to the
Admissions Office?
 The Admissions Office is looking for additional information
about the student’s personal characteristics – creativity,
leadership, responsibility, initiative, maturity, etc.
Sometimes this can be hard to determine in a brief
conversation, but try to find a topic about which the
student has interest.
 You do not have a script that you must follow, but please
try to ask interesting and engaging questions that elicit
more than “yes” or “no” responses. Allow the student to
discuss his or her interests. Sample questions are listed on
Favorite Interview Questions.
http://www.dukealumnicenter.com/fav_interview_questions.pdf
Conducting the Interview
 Should I ask questions about SAT scores or grades?
Please don’t ask questions about scores and grades. The
Admissions Office already has the official transcripts reporting this
information.
 How long should the interview last?
There is no time limit for an interview. We ask that you spend at
least 30 minutes with each student. You certainly may meet for a
longer period of time if it is convenient for both you and the
student.
Please be sure to leave enough time so that students
may ask questions.
Conducting the Interview
 What information about Duke do I need to give to
students?
Students may ask lots of questions about Duke during the interview. If it has been
awhile since you’ve been on campus or been an undergraduate, then please take a
few minutes to browse the admissions website (www.admissions.duke.edu). You
may want to print out this information and bring it to the interview.
•
This link is your primary source for answers about:
• Application process and deadlines
http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/apply.html
• Philosophy
http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/academics/our_philosophy.html
• Cost
http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/finaid.html
Conducting the Interview
Students may also want to know general information.
Click the links for more information:
 Who was admitted last year?
http://www.dukealumnicenter.com/ClassProfile_2012.pdf
Please bring the Profile Class of 2012 to the interview.
 What type of student does Duke look for?
http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/who.html
 What Majors/Minors are offered at Duke?
http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/academics/majors.html
Conducting the Interview
Click the links for more information:
 What’s the first-year experience like at Duke?
http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/firstyearex/index.html
 What is Focus?
http://focus.aas.duke.edu/introduction/
 What kind of student activities are available?
http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/life/activities.html
 What’s there to do in Durham?
http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/campus/durham.html
 What scholarships are available?
http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/finaid_scholarships.html
Conducting the Interview
• Check the Admissions website for other useful and fun
information:
 Admissions Officer’s Travel Schedule
http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/inyourarea.html
Check to see if an admissions officer is coming to your local
area. Their presentations are very insightful.
 Virtual Tour
http://www.duke.edu/web/admissions/video/
 Froshlife
http://www.duke.edu/froshlife/index.html (Click “2008” under “Rewind”)
This is Duke through the eyes of some current first-year students.
Conducting the Interview
• Other useful links:
 DukeEngage
http://dukeengage.duke.edu/
This is a new program geared towards civic engagement.
 Academic Calendars
http://www.registrar.duke.edu/registrar/studentpages/student/academic
alendars.html
 Coaches’ Information
http://www.goduke.com/
Students should contact coaches directly. They may go to this
website and navigate their way to the appropriate sport.
Conducting the Interview
Helpful Hints
• Please do not spend a lot of time reminiscing about
your Duke experience.
 We all have great Duke stories to tell, but it is important to
talk about them at the appropriate time. Wait for the
student to ask you about your experiences. Please don’t
focus the interview on your time at Duke.
 Students may ask you what you liked/disliked about Duke.
They may ask you about the activities in which you
participated. They may ask you about your dorm
experiences. They may ask you about life in Durham.
Please be prepared to briefly talk about these things if you
are asked.
Conducting the Interview
Helpful Hints
• Please do not ask questions about grades,
SAT scores, or other schools of interest.
 If the applicant provides this information during
the course of your discussion, then that is fine.
These should not be questions you ask.
• Please be upbeat and positive about Duke.
 For many students, you are the first Duke
representative they will meet. You are there to
“recruit” as much as you are to “evaluate.”
Conducting the Interview
Helpful Hints
• Please do not try to predict Admission.
 Frequently students will ask the interviewer
about their chances for admission to Duke.
Please do not predict an applicant’s chance for
admission.
 It is important to be noncommittal without being
discouraging. A standard answer is – “Even an
Admissions Officer could not predict an
applicant’s chances for admission, because the
decision depends on the competition of the entire
applicant pool.”
Conducting the Interview
Helpful Hints
• Please do not interview a student you know or whose
parents you know.
 Let your local AAAC chairperson know as soon as possible if
you know the applicant. That applicant will be reassigned.
If you feel strongly about this candidate, then you could
offer to write a letter of recommendation.
• Please jot down notes after the interview is
completed and the student has left.
 Please do not take notes during the interview. The
interview should be a relaxed format, and a student might
feel pressured if you’re writing down his or her comments
while he or she is speaking. Do take notes right after the
interview. Be as specific as you can so that you can provide
detailed information in your evaluation.
III. The Interview Evaluation
• Try to write the interview evaluation shortly after the
interview.
 Focus on reporting new information -- the qualities and
talents that might not appear on the application. You do not
need to report standardized test scores and class ranks,
etc.
• Evaluation Examples:
 The following are two examples of written evaluations. Both
interviewers rated these students as “4” – Excellent.
Here is an example of a useful evaluation:
Jean Smith is a terrific candidate for Duke University. She is a
young woman accustomed to transitioning into new environments.
She is confident, curious, articulate, and benevolent.
Having moved eight times in her life, she has never had the luxury of
being in the same location for longer than three years -- college will
provide the longest established residency she has ever had.
She wanted to run for a student government position, but never felt
like she was established in a place long enough for students to get to
know her. However, she did not hesitate to get involved in groups,
particularly in sports.
She participated in volleyball as a brand-new junior at West End
High and then earned a spot on one of the city’s premier smallschool basketball teams.
Evaluation continued:
She said that the transition into a new basketball program was
extremely difficult. She noted that it was not difficult because of the new
social or cultural environment, but rather because of the challenges
posed by the new plays she had to memorize.
She is involved in the community, working at a local nursing home.
Citing pleasure from interacting with the elderly and learning from them,
she appeared to sincerely enjoy the lessons they taught her through
simple day-to-day communication.
She is widely traveled, optimistic yet realistic, invigorated by her
curiosity and her desire to learn and interact, but also intrigued at the
prospect of learning how to lead. Duke would be a good home for Jean
to prosper and flourish.

Here is an example of a “not-so useful” evaluation:
Joan Smith seems to be intelligent and motivated. She
is cheerful, well-spoken, and has thought-out plans for
her future. She has a passion for drama and choral
singing which she hopes to pursue at Duke.
 This report does not offer the reader any new information.
The interviewer coded this student as a “4” (Excellent), but
does not provide enough information to support the score.
IV. The Interview Evaluation
• All Interviews must be submitted through AIMS!
• Please make sure your report is detailed, but concise.
There is a 4,000-character limit in AIMS. This is equivalent
to approximately two typed pages.
• Please be sure to rate the student on the 5-point
scale.
The Interview Evaluation
• Please return ALL interview forms to
Admissions .
 Any contact or contact attempt with a student
needs to be recorded.
 All interviews should be checked either with a rating
(if the interview was conducted) or by an “Unable to
Interview” status.
 If a student wishes to withdraw an application from
consideration, then the applicant must notify the
Admissions Office in writing. Simply telling you
does not constitute an official withdrawal.
The Interview Evaluation
• Please do not wait until February to conduct all of
your interviews.
 Try to get them completed in a timely manner and
submitted to Duke as soon as you can. The sooner a report
is submitted to Duke, the quicker it is included in the
applicant's file and read.
• Please alert your chairperson if you cannot complete
an interview that was sent to you.
 Please do this as soon as possible. Any delay will make it
difficult to have it reassigned.
IV. Follow-Up
• Please place congratulatory phone calls to all admitted
students you interviewed.
 You will be able to view decision statuses in AIMS for Early
Decision in December and Regular Decision in April.
 Please only contact “Admitted” students. This is an important step
in the process during Regular Decision, because the applicant may
still need information to help him or her make a decision. You can
be instrumental in providing that information and encouraging him
or her to accept the offer.
 Please do not call wait-listed students or students who
were denied admission.
Follow-Up
• Attend Send-off Parties in your area.
Some AAACs or local Duke clubs will host “Send-off Parties”
during the summer. If your committee or club hosts one of
these parties, then please attend this event. It’s beneficial
for these students to be able to connect at the parties with
someone they have already met.
• Please let your AAAC chairperson or Alumni
Admissions Office know of any problems or concerns.
Your AAAC chairperson will let you know the best way to
contact him or her.
Follow-up
• Please contact your AAAC chairperson if you have
any questions or concerns.
• Please inform your chairperson if:
 You are moving.
 Change your email address.
 Cannot interview this season.
 Have a child applying to Duke during the 2008-09
admissions cycle.
Please remember that we do not want you to interview
during the year of your child’s application.
Here are other helpful links. I encourage you to explore these sites:
•News on Duke’s Campus http://news.duke.edu/
•Residential Life
•Financial Aid
•Duke Magazine: “Top of the Crop, Inside Admissions”
Thank you for taking the time to review these policies, procedures,
and general information.
This presentation will remain online for your reference. Please print any links
that you think will be especially useful during an interview.
Thank YOU!
We hope you enjoy the interviewing experience.
Duke University, the Admissions Office and the Office of
Alumni Affairs greatly appreciate your support.
You may now login to AIMS:
https://www.dukeonline.duke.edu/aims/login.html
Thank you for volunteering!