Interview Prospective Scholars Alumni Admissions Interview Program

Becoming an alumni admission interviewer is an easy way to start volunteering with the College from the moment you graduate.

Alumni interviews are a critical component of the admissions process for first-year applicants who apply by November 1. While the interviews are optional, they provide important information for the admissions staff. It takes hundreds of Scholar Alumni contributing a few hours from November through January to make it work.

These interviews can take as little or as much time as you are able to give. It's a flexible option for alumni who want to volunteer but may not have a lot of time throughout the year. Many of our interviewers volunteer again and again.

Volunteer Portal

Eligibility

All Scholar alumni, including alumni of the University Scholars Program, are eligible to conduct interviews. Whether you graduated as a University Scholar in 1987 or earned your Scholars Medal last year, you know the Scholar experience and what we look for in a Scholar, the pursuit of a passion and determination to succeed will always remain constant.

You may not be eligible to interview in a few select cases, including if you are:

• An undergraduate admissions officer at a post-secondary institution
• A college counselor
• An immediate family member of a current undergraduate college applicant to any institution
• A college preparation consultant
• A member of the faculty review/selection committee
• Writing a letter of recommendation for a current undergraduate applicant

Registration and Matching

Alumni can start to sign up for interview slots in early September. Look for calls for alumni interviewers via e-mail and social media.

Initial Sign Up

To sign up as an alumni interviewer, access our Volunteer Portal using your Penn State Account that you had as a student (i.e. abc1234@psu.edu). If you need to create a new account or recover your existing account, visit Penn State's Account Management portal.

If you are accessing this portal for the first time, you will need to complete a short form to register as a volunteer before proceeding. Once you complete the form and gain access to the portal, click on the "View Interview Dashboard" link under the Alumni Admissions Interview Program. Set your status to active after reviewing the terms and conditions and code of conduct.

Getting Started

Within the portal you will find the Volunteer Guide which includes training materials to help you schedule interview time slots, prep and conduct interviews, and evaluate candidates.

Admissions interviews are optional and are matched on a first-come, first-served basis for both alumni interviewers and prospective Schreyer Scholars. We cannot guarantee that each interview session will be filled or that every prospective Scholar seeking an interview will be offered one.

Interviews

Alumni typically offer 3-10 interviews — virtual and/or in-person — over the course of a two-month window from early November through mid-January with the last day to submit evaluations in late January.

Each interview lasts for approximately 30 minutes and we provide you with all the tools for a successful interview, including suggested questions. Interviews are meant as a casual conversation between you and the prospective student. You gain a sense of who they are and their interests and they have an opportunity to ask about your lived experience as a Scholar.