Interview intolerance and discrimination

[Dblvsn]

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1) This question is entirely serious, no jokes or wisecracks please.

2) Does anyone feel that during their interview (or any subsequent in-person part of the admission process) they were discriminated against in violation of Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 (one can not be denied because of religion, race, creed, color, national origin, sex, marital status, veteran status, physical handicap, mental handicap, or sexual orientation)?

If so, please elaborate and specify the institution.

If you don't feel comfortable elaborating on the specifics of your situation, please add a 👍 (yes, I feel I discrimination did occur) and specify the institution and type of discrimination (from Title IX above) if you feel comfortable.

Also, what, if anything, have you done or are you going to do about it?

Note: Please answer based on factual occurrences...not simply your speculation that you did not get in because of "x". For example: If you were directly asked an inappropriate question, that's discrimination. If you think that they didn't like you because of your religion, race, creed, color, national origin, sex, marital status, veteran status, physical handicap, mental handicap, or sexual orientation, but have no real evidence to base your decision upon....that's not necessarily discrimination.

 

[J.opt]

Northeastern State doesn't accept international students. They told me not to apply because they wouldn't issue me an I-20 (which I need to go to school in the U.S.).
I have always wondered if that's an infringement of Title IX, because of the "national origin" part.

Since it's a general policy (they only accept people from selected states) I didn't do anything about it, and just applied to other schools.

 

[Dblvsn]

A particular school in the Western US (which shall remain nameless at this time) told me (post-interview) I was one of the best applicants/interview that they had seen all year.

At the end of the "official" interview (while I was aksing them my questions about the school) the topic of "family values" came up.

This school told me that they had the highest % of married students in the US, and have a very high % of students who were of a certain religious background. They then asked me if I was a member of that certain religious background...I told the truth and said "no, I was not".

The admissions committee met that afternoon, and, a few hours later, I got a personal phone call from one of the interviewers who told me that I did not meet the academic criteria for admission, or even the waitlist. (Mind you, this was after the interivew they granted me based on the academic qualifications listed on my application 😕 ).

I haven't done anything yet...but I will do something...discrimation/intolerance is unfair to everyone.

 

[caliente]

I know this isn't discrimination, but I thought I'd add it anyways.

At an interview, I was asked where I see myself in 10 years on a personal-level (i.e. as opposed to professional). I felt this was leading dangerously to "married", "kids"...basically a pointless question as it is easier to plan a professional life than a personal one.

Maybe I'm just conservative/reserved (I'm Canadian), but I find basically all personal questions uncomfortable. I've been asked outright, "what do your parents do? why did your mom stop working outside of the home?". Frankly, I don't see how that should matter in terms of admissions. Maybe they were just making small talk, but they were writing what I said down on a sheet of paper so it must factor into their decision. I'm okay with "who influenced you to want to become an optometrist", and you could bring up your dad or mom if they happened to be optometrists (mine aren't), but I am not in favor of the direct, personal questions.

I found the questions above disconcerning (I would NEVER ask a total stranger about their personal aspirations except if it was professional/career-wise). I also refuse to answer the ethnicity question on American applications. I know many programs in the States have a background section: where your parents went to school, what your parents do, cultural/ethnic background, etc. Basically, as a Canadian I find this practice a bit offensive ... but it's just because I've never been asked this on a Canadian application. I'm sure this is not considered discrimination, but it did make me feel uncomfortable, lol.

 

[al-majhul]

This is all very interesting to me. I don't have a story of discrimination to add; however I do have a story to tell....

When I was answering questions on ethnicity and stuff for applications, I had assumed that it would be a hindrance to me. You see, I am a Muslim Arab American (word-order there was calculated) -- I even have a beard (oooooh ~ scary!), so I get a lot of attention at the airport. My background was rather clear in all my applications and was even the point of a discussion when I went to interview at Chicago. I thought, if any one ethnic group were to be discriminated against, I would definitely be in that group (considering the current social climate in the US). I had the dean of admissions as my interviewer at Chicago and we had a VERY interesting and intellectual conversation on post-9/11 America. I was actually admitted to all the schools I interviewed at (SCO, UCBSO, and even ICO) -- my background notwithstanding.

I'm not sure why you posted the question you had, but if your situation is somehow similar, I wouldn't be too concerned.