Interviews are seldom if ever the “deciding factor”. Most of the top schools don’t have enough interviewers to go around, and they are very clear that not being given an interview will not be a hindrance to an applicant. Turning down an interview that is offered is probably not a good idea, as it would likely create a strong impression that you are not interested in that particular school. Interview feedback can help (or hurt) an applicant who is “on the fence”, but in most cases it is probably a minor factor.
Thanks a lot because at my school students are always interviewing but I wasn’t sure if it was actually a large part of the admissions process or not. @renaissancedad
I completely agree with @renaissancedad
One additional note, though many schools don’t have enough interviewers for all applicants to get interviews, Penn tries to interview 100% of the applicants. They get about 90% of the applicants. In my opinion it is not likely that the interview will have a big effect since all interviewers do it differently and it’s not fair to compare the interviewers’ non-standardized reports. As long as your interviewer likes you, you’re fine. It’s often hard to make him/her love you in one hour or so, but as long as you appear to be a decent human being you’re fine.
MUCH more important than the interview is how your application as a whole paints a compelling picture of who you are as an applicant. Most of the top schools are very clear about the kinds of holistic things they value. Penn, for example, has this to say:
http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/apply/whatpennlooksfor/holistic
A recent Stanford grad likened the process to a covered-up painting, and your application selectively uncovers pieces of the picture underneath. You want to uncover pieces that give a good idea of who you are:
https://mix.office.com/watch/13gekrg9zecnz
Your essays should be intensely personal - the general advice is that they should be so personal that you could drop them on the floor and someone who knows you could pick them up and tell that you wrote them. Ideally, your academic pursuits, ECs, essays and recommendations should all fit together to present a clear and coherent narrative of who you are, and ideally create an identify for you as a person to which the adcom can relate.
The interview is an additional tiny window to add to this. But it is so small in comparison to the other elements of your application that it is unlikely to be critical. What is far more often the case is that qualified applicants don’t paint a clear picture of themselves to admissions committees.
Again, y’all are just dishing out great advice! Out of the many chance threads I’ve encountered on this site this seems like it is one of the more actually productive ones, rather than just one or two people saying "match/non-match/safety, etc.) I am relieved that interviews are a smaller part of the admissions process as I feel that I would be fairly nervous during one. I will still attempt them because there is no real downsides to attempting it anyways, right? I would like to note I made a mistake in the stats page where I said felt instead of *feel for College Apps as I’m in the middle of the Junior year and haven’t written them yet (also for recommendations they are based on recommendations I had to have written to get into a summer program, and I was basing them off that). Anyways I was wondering if I should avoid talking about academics in my essay to make it more personal and less generic. Any thoughts on that strategy?
@marginallyadept It depends. You should probably avoid listing courses you took, things you did, summer programs you went to, and etc. Those can be listed in the EC section, or on your resume. However, it helps to mention your academic interests in your essays. Your common app should be very personal, but if you can link it to your academic goals it’d be nice. For example, I talked about my experience of shadowing a surgeon and passing out during a surgery. (:/) While personal, it showed my passion for the medical field. In supplementary essays, it depends on the topic. If the essay is Why xx, you should definitely talk about your academic goals and how the school offers what you need. But if the essay is some random topic like the UChicago essays, then avoid talking about academics. Overall, you need to show your passion for your selected major somewhere. You can show it through your ECs, class/AP selection, and essays. How you do it is entirely up to you.
I agree with @SylvRsr that your essays should be very personal. The more personal, the better. It helps if they fit together nicely and show different facets of you. You want them to stand out and to make you come across as a real person. You can certainly link them to your academic goals, and in some cases that makes sense; but there’s no single right answer. In general, you should avoid the generic and the cliche, but if you make it personal enough and write well enough anything can work.
I was going to write about how pressure for achievement isn’t a valid motivator or something along those lines and planned to incorporate dissapointing science fair results with actual academic growth. Maybe I could tie fencing in there too, as it is a highly individualized sport. Does that sound too involved with my EC’s or is it detached enough? It would be extremely personal as I have been thinking about the topic a lot, so it would be natural to write about. Thanks again! @SylvRsr @renaissancedad
If done right, it could be a very good topic. If not, it could become cliche. I would go for it. Feel free to PM a draft at some point in the next 9 months if you want feedback. NEVER, NEVER post a copy of your essay on the net (such as in a CC forum), under any circumstances. PM’ing is safe.
I completely forgot that people would just steal it. I think I could avoid cliché pretty easily, and I will definitely reach out to you (it may just be a while before I get around to writing it). Thanks
Beyond people stealing your essay, colleges could think that YOU stole your own essay if they find it online, since they can’t verify that it was you who actually wrote it.
That’s actually pretty funny, but probably a sad reality for some people honestly. That would be pretty terrible to be charged with plagiarism on an essay you yourself wrote.
Do y’all think that my tiers are set up correctly or should I move schools like Emory into tier 1? Just a question. Also, do you think I would have a shot at Stanford/HYP or should I just not bother applying? Thanks.
I think you definitely have a shot.
The problem with top schools is that you can spend hours and hours on your application, and still get rejected. If you’re applying to Stanford, HYP, Penn or any tier 1, just know that even after putting tons of effort into your essays, do not expect an acceptance. Those schools are way too competitive.
Nothing wrong with applying to top schools other than the application fee and the extreme likelihood of feeling tons of unnecessary disappointment. Many of my classmates, despite knowing how tough HYPS are, think their hard work will eventually pay off in the end, that they will be the 5% who get in. Odds are, they aren’t, and a rejection they should have expected based on statistics made their lives unnecessarily miserable for many months.
As long as you realize the difficulty into getting these schools, and are willing to spend time to craft compelling essays anyways, then go for it.
Emory is fine in tier 2.
Your tier 1 list is solid. And I certainly think Stanford is reasonable on that list. Why are you thinking ED to Penn at this point? Is there something particular about Penn which interests you, or specific programs there? You might look at the super-competitive Vagelos LSM program, a dual-degree program combining biomedical science with business at Wharton. It would give you a great background for what you want to do.
@marginallyadept Yeah I’d go for it! It sounds nice. And if you need someone to take a look at it feel free to PM me as well
I agree with @renaissancedad that Emory should stay in tier 2. With your stats, you definitely have good chances with HYP, Standford, and other Ivies.
Penn’s dual degree programs, such as LSM and M&T, are really compelling but EXTREMELY COMPETITIVE. I believe the acceptance rates for such programs are much lower than the ED acceptance rate. So I’d definitely keep that in mind if you want to apply for one of those.
Sorry about being absent, I had finals and then a fencing tournament so I am just checking CC as it has been hectic. Thanks for the support guys! I actually became interested in UPenn after my counselor mentioned the LSM program after hearing about my interests. However, I quickly realized that the program may be too competitive for me, but still loved Penn so I decided ED would give me the best chance of getting in. Would I take Stanford over it?
Hey, after not being able to get in touch with sherpa, is there any more fencing-oriented cc members that may be able to help me? I’m shooting to get recommendation letters from coaches. Thank you
Hi @marginallyadept The answers from the experts on this, all parents of current or former student-athlete fencers at Ivies, are in the College Fencing Recruiting thread. Here are specific responses you should read from that thread:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19637426/#Comment_19637426 about figuring out which schools might have the most need in your weapon and year.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19652496/#Comment_19652496 has links to other topics, such as building an academic/fencing resume, contacting college coaches prior to July 1, and setting up meetings at summer nationals (I assume you’re going to Dallas?).
I think all of the details you are looking for are on about a half-dozen key posts linked directly or indirectly above. My DD is a rising senior and all of this info has been invaluable. It tells you how / when to contact coaches, what to expect back from them, how the Likely Letter process works, and if you dig further in the thread, even some personalities of individual coaches/teams.