<p>Since we live overseas and will only be in the USA for 3 weeks this summer, we are limited in how many campus visits we can manage. We have interviews scheduled at 2 reach schools, 2 reach-match, 1 match-safety. I would like my D to consider more "safeties". If she is in the top 20% of the accepted students in terms of statistics --SAT, GPA and LAC admits 67% of applicants--could she "risk" not scheduling an optional interview?</p>
<p>I think she could,...... although it seems to me that most schools with admissions policies that would make them "safety" schools for bright applicants normally don't require interviews, and usually don't offer them. If you are looking at schools that offer optional interviews, maybe you shouldn't classify them as your safeties.</p>
<p>dadx, yes, I was wondering about that point. But Barnard (not a safety!) said at their info session that interviews were really optional and that you should only do one if you thought interviewing was your strong point, otherwise you should rely on your other admissions data.</p>
<p>pyewacket, although not overseas we will have some constraints on interviewing also. I guess we should do our best to find some way to demonstrate interest in attending. Does the school in question offer any on-line chats with admissions personnel, or personalized prospective student webpages? Is there an alumni directory that shows anyone living near you? Certainly it goes without saying that the more school specific your student can make their personal statement/application the better. Once all those traps are run, I'd say your student is as safe as they are going to be.</p>
<p>I have heard many people on this board say that "safety" schools will ding applicants that do not show enough interest even though they are at the top of the pool. It seems prudent to toss in another couple of interviews. Also, the safety interviews could be first-s "practice" before the main event interviews.</p>
<p>There were only a handful of colleges my daughter applied to that required or strongly recommended an interview--I believe they were Swarthmore and Haverford. Schools where they were "optional" really meant that. Some schools flat out don't offer them. I agree with SBmom's point about demonstrated interest, but I also think the admissions folks will understand the situation of an overseas family. You can demonstrate a lot of interest through email these days, conducting an "interview" or asking questions of professors in departments of special interest to you. But make sure they understand your overseas situation.</p>
<p>My observation (second-hand, but from my learning on this board <em>could there be a better source;)</em>) is that certain schools are "sensitive" to being treated as safeties. Thus, if the school is likely to suffer from this "Tufts syndrome", it might be quite important to be able to tick-off the maximum number of interest-shown boxes, including an interview. For other schools, I don't think it's that important if it is listed as optional. These "sensitive" schools, it seems, are those often used as safeties for HYPSM applicants, but still quite selective in themselves. I see these as the type of schools SBMom refers to. If your D's list is full of HYPSM-type schools and she lists them on her "safety" apps, this is the area where interviews at those safeties might be important.</p>
<p>i lived overseas and graduated from an american high school...and i did not travel for even one interview.....some of my classmates didn't either and still made it into good colleges. call the schools and let them know your situation. also, i was living in the netherlands at the time and there were alums from many US schools that lived in the netherlands and they were the ones that conducted the interviews.....i'm sure that could be an option. just call the schools...they'll work with you.</p>
<p>My D did an interview on the phone for a school that was across the country and she did quite well, got their top scholarship. This was not something they normally do but she asked and set it up/ It shows that you are interested .</p>
<p>if a strong student shows little interest in a school that tends to be used as a safety, I've seen posts that say they run a risk of being turned down. Nobody wants to be the 8th choice :-)</p>
<p>Even if you can't do an interview while in the US, how about asking to be put in contact with alums or current students who live overseas in your area? Certainly this shows interest, and you might even learn a thing or two about the school.</p>
<p>BTW the OP should check and see if the reaches even need the interview. The "top" schools don't bother; stanford and harvard, for example, directly say that if you're applying they presume you're interested and you don't need to demonstrate interest -- so skip emailing adcoms, attending events, and so on (stanford doesn't even offer interviews). If the reaches don't need it, I'd recommend spending the time with the safeties that often DO need to see attention from applicants.</p>
<p>One possibility would be to set up a telephone interview like Arizonamom's daughter --- many schools will do that. Email an admissions counselor, introduce yourself, and ask a few questions. In the email, explain distance makes it impossible to visit --- when you get a response, just keep asking questions (but don't over do it of course).
Registering on the site to get on the mailing list, sending in those BRC's, having those writting recommendations mention specifically that your son is "extremely interested in XYZ college" are some other ways to demonstrate interest. It is not necessary to visit or interview to show real interest, especially if you live at a distance (or overseas!).</p>
<p>Pyewacket, I can appreciate the difficulty of arranging interviews when your visit time is compacted, but I would like to make a case for trying to interview, especially at safeties.</p>
<p>My son interviewed on campus wherever they were offered, even if interviews were optional. His interviewers were equally split between current students and members of the admissions committee, who in several cases were alums. He felt he benefited from the personal contact with the school, the face so to speak. </p>
<p>This was especially true of his safeties. The interviewers made a persuasive pitch for their schools. One was the director of admissions who I think, in retrospect, wanted to guage his sincerity. All three kept in touch with him by e-mail in the following months. This was very positive because their personal interest helped sell him on the possibility of attending these schools, so much so that he was truly sorry when he withdrew his applications. In short, the interview was a big help in accomplishing the Love Thy Safety dictum.</p>
<p>One school that wasnt offering on campus interviews when we visited (I seem to remember that it was Tufts) said that in the event that there wasnt an alumnus/a interviewer in the students home area, the applicant could include a letter outlining what s/he would have wanted to say about her/himself during an interview. This approach may be workable for your daughter considering her geographical distance.</p>
<p>It depends on the school whether the interview is important or not. College of Charleston, you can skip it. SMU, you can skip it. Some of the smaller colleges, particularly the LACs where every admit is so important, not such a good idea. Though you can mitagate the situation with some of the suggestions given, a face to face visit to some safeties is important. also ask your GC how the kids from your school has fared in the past with the schools on your list, without interviewing. I know S's counselor was adament that kids applying to certain schools show mucho interest whereas it was not as important with other schools. Ironically, HPY are schools where she swears that visits and demonstrated interest are not going to be considered. S did not visit or interview at the three, and was accepted to Yale. The irony is that most kids spend the most time on those schools, showering them with attention and giving them the emotion and best efforts that might well be better served at some other schools where this is so important.</p>
<p>I go along with the rest, you have to take it on a case by case basis, and in some cases the safeties are exactly the schools where face to face contact may be the most important. To reiterate 2 non-safeties mentioned, our feeling was that the interview at Swat and Haverford were important, not just for the child's chances of getting in, but also to help the student clarify the fit. The smaller the school and the more distinct the personality, the more important this is.
Having said that, many of these other things can take the place of an interview - say for instance, you just can't work one into your tight visit schedule, OR there is a school that s/he rates as only moderately appealing, but goes up the list after the tour, or when the criteria shift a little. In those cases, I don't think that look askance at the student making contact and telling the truth - "I'm overseas, I came to your school on X date (always sign in), I had not scheduled an interview, but I was excited by my visit, and I have these questions ..." If your child is a strong student for that school, well into merit aid territory, and makes all the right noises, I don't think the interview matters.
I don't know what your child's range is, but there are a number of excellent schools that don't really need interviews at all - not just publics and rolling admits. I don't think Univ of Richmond interviews, and DD did not interview at Rhodes (although we did visit twice).</p>