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With transcripts, recommendations, essays, and test scores available, it almost seems unnecessary to interview potential students anymore.
But when it comes to potential international students—especially ones from China—interviews are not only useful, they’re essential.
The Flaws in Other Evaluation Methods
US schools often rely on transcripts, recommendations, essays, and test scores to reveal students’ abilities and worthiness. Many schools even choose to eschew student interviews entirely.
Unfortunately, these evaluation methods don’t work nearly as well for Chinese international students. At best, these methods are flawed and, at worst, they’re entirely useless.
The grades listed on Chinese transcripts are all based entirely on exam performance and don’t give any insight into personal responsibility, critical thinking, or classroom participation. Even in the case of transcripts that have notes from teachers, they won’t give you accurate insight as to how a student will perform in the classroom because guiding systems are so different.
It’s also surprisingly common for both recommendations and essays to be embellished by others that aren’t the student. Participation isn’t frequent in the large Chinese classrooms, so, even in the case of detailed recommendations, teachers have very little information to offer.
And because Chinese students aren’t taught to write analytical essays, nor are they adept at writing essays about themselves, even bright and well-meaning students often plagiarize due to the emphasis of memorization and cultural differences in Eastern vs. Western education philosophies. (read our blog on cultural differences in understanding plagiarism for international students)
Thus, neither recommendations nor essays can offer reliable information about a student.
Finally, even English proficiency tests aren’t always a reliable measure.
The most commonly taken test, the SLEP, only tests reading and listening, and its’ test monitoring is inconsistent at best. The TOEFL is viewed in China as difficult, expensive, long, and hard to schedule and thus taken by fewer than 20% of exchange student applicants. And while iTEP SLATE seems to be the most comprehensive, convenient, and secure test option, it’s taken by only 1% of students since it’s so much newer than the other tests.
The Most Reliable Evaluation Method
With all of these other evaluation methods falling short, it’s crucial the schools schedule in-person or online interviews to assess each student and his or her abilities and potential to thrive in their school.
Of course, interviewing and evaluating a foreign international student isn’t quite as simple as interviewing and evaluating a student from the US. There are things that you should review before even scheduling the student, and types of questions you should prepare that can help break through any interview-prep coaching to get a real sense of the students’ abilities.
For more on how to prepare for your interviews, be sure to read our next post on February 15.
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