<p>So my other interviews went fine, and despite the fact that I'm kind of introverted and don't make the best first impressions, I felt that they went well and that I showed the interviewer who I was and my interests and passions.</p>
<p>Then came Princeton.
the guy asked me where else I applied, and wanted to know all my scores etc. Fine...then started asking me why I wanted to go to the other schools! Is this normal for an interview? None of my other ones did :/</p>
<p>It felt like he was picking apart all my ECs and making them sound like nothing: at the end, he says so you're smart, but what have you done? and I'd just told him all my projects etc. and everything I;d done! It was an oh, crap moment.</p>
<p>And then he goes so what's distinctive about you etc, and I told him about how my passions involve making a difference...and he was not impressed.</p>
<p>But basically by then I was super nervous after that and it ended with him saying why do I deserve to go to princeton and I couldn't reply and is there ANY WAY on earth that I still have a chance at this school?</p>
<p>Sounds like a guy who is used to interviewing for high pressure jobs, who thinks it is useful to put the interviewee under pressure to see how they handle it. An extreme example of this is how Admiral Rickover used to terrorize officer applicants wanting to join the nuclear submarine force of the Navy. </p>
<p>It is a mild form of hazing really. I am not sure how helpful this approach is in finding the best applicants for Princeton University. Hang in there pushpull. And the short answer to your question is YES.</p>
<p>No that’s not normal. Sounds like you got a bad interviewer. Sorry, “luck” of the draw. </p>
<p>All I can say is, the interview is for sure among the less important things. </p>
<p>Don’t fret! I’ve been doing interviews for a couple years and here’s the thing about Princeton interviews; they like to give interviews to almost everyone, which is a TON of them. In order to do it, the interviews are conducted by untrained alumni from all walks of life. It’s totally random; you could get paired with some hotshot banker or someone a year out of college. And the ONLY guidance we get about how to do the interview is an online form we fill out after each interview.</p>
<p>I work at a selective college where alumni volunteers are really trained for the process, and those interviews are really weighted as a little part of your application. It’s just not like that at Princeton. The interviews are too all-over-the-place for it to really matter. Maybe if they’re totally torn about someone they’ll go check out the interview report for some insight from an alum who met them face-to-face, but in my experience and from everything I’ve heard interviews mean the least at Princeton than probably anywhere else.</p>
<p>So I’m really sorry you had a bad interviewer and it’s stressed you out. Just bear in mind that the Princeton interviews mean SO little.</p>