HI,
Does every student who has passed a certain threshold in the admissions process get an interview if they request one? We live in an area near the school to which my son applied (Duke) and he has not been contacted for an interview, though several of his classmates have.
Are kids ever just admitted, without the interview?
We live in NC and our daughter did not apply ED, but did apply early enough to request an interview. She did not receive an interview, so instead she submitted an additional recommendation. It all worked out in the end, she was accepted and now happily attends. If you live in an area where there are not a lot of alumni volunteers, you may not get one, or, alternatively, if like us, the number of applications far outweighs the number of volunteers due to the amount of activity from that state, you may not get one then either. I would not worry about it. They even state on their website “Your chances of admission won’t be affected adversely if we are unable to offer you an interview, nor will they be affected if you choose not to send an extra recommendation”.
Thanks for your reply! Your response is reassuring. I wonder if it is always logistics (high demand or low availability of interviewers) or if other factors ever come into play, such as not offering interviews to the very top or the very bottom of the application pool.
My son informed me it is really too early to worry about an interview and that we should expect to hear from an alum by Thanksgiving or December 1 at the latest.
I’m a Cornell alumni interviewer and at least for us, the chair doesn’t know anything about a student other than their contact information and intended college/major. I would think it’s the same at most schools. Having been a committee chair, it was 100% lack of available volunteers.
My son was nominated by Duke admissions for a Robertson scholarship and received an “early letter” of acceptance yet never given an interview. We live in an extremely alumni thick area and have no prior relationship to the school. Conclusion don’t worry if not given an interview. We had the same concern but were very pleasantly surprised.
Also if it hasn’t changed after a certain date if not contacted you can send in an additional recommendation letter.
Good luck!
Your responses have been very helpful! There are lots of things to worry about in this process, but it sounds as though this is not one of them! Thank you.