<p>According to my friend’s college counselor, the chances of getting accepted into Barnard without “demonstrated interest” are incredibly slim. This prompted my friend to insist that I absolutely have to interview. I wasn’t planning on interviewing since it’s optional and I’m terrible with interviews. I just didn’t think it would help me. </p>
<p>My stats are within the range of Barnard’s accepted students, I’ve taken the highest possible classes in high school (APs and honors when available), and my ECs are decent (concert and marching band, involved in 3 other clubs, member of community First Aid/Rescue Squad). I’m wondering about the chances of getting accepted without interviewing.</p>
<p>It depends where you live I think. I live in long island so my counselor told me it looks bad if I dont take the relatively short ride over there to interview. I think this applies only to those in the tri state area though. Also, my friend attended an admissions session there last week and the representative said they actually dont weigh demonstrated interest as much as they used to.</p>
<p>I really do NOT think an interview could hurt you…it’s a relaxed conversation with a student, usually, who works in the admissions office. If you live close by, I would definitely go for it. Think of it as a chance to find out all YOU want to know about Barnard! </p>
<p>My daughter didn’t interview but she did attend one of their pre-college programs so they kind of had some knowledge of her. She could have signed up for an interview while she was at that program, but didn’t really want to go to Barnard until after she did that program and the time slots were filled by the time she decided she was in love with Barnard. </p>
<p>My daughter came up to tour Barnard this summer and scheduled an interview at the same time. She wasn’t certain if she would be able to come up again in the Fall and didn’t want to take a chance that there wouldn’t be an alumna in our area. She thought she would get a student interviewer but she had a senior admissions officer interview her. It was good because she wanted to know why D was considering a school in NYC. The rep who interviewed her wasn’t assigned to our geographic area. D was excited to find out that Barnard was scheduled to attend a local college fair and emailed the admissions rep that she was attending and looking forward to meeting her. Because of a conflict, the rep contacted her that they were unable to go as scheduled. How much does it matter who interviews the student? I always thought that it was important have the rep assigned to your area do it. Correct me if I’m wrong…</p>
<p>When my daughter interviewed at Barnard, I believe she talked to a grad student who I guess worked in the admissions office. It was a great match - her interviewer shared many of her interests and so had very good information about the course offerings in that area – but perhaps that wasn’t a coincidence(?) (I’m thinking that d. simply scheduled the interview by filling out an online form and selecting a time, but maybe there was other information from emails that the school was drawing on in assigning an interviewer.-- I really have no clue)</p>
<p>I don’t think it matters who does the interview. I assume that each interviewer writes up a short one-paragraph summary of the interview immediately afterward (while their memory is fresh) and adds it to the file. My daughters interview took place in October, but she didn’t submit her application until much later, close to the application deadline.</p>
<p>The interviews aren’t evaluative, but they do give the admissions staff an opportunity to get to know the applicant and may in some cases bring attention to an important fact about the applicant that might not be apparent from the written application. </p>
<p>Interviews are optional but this is from the website -
Interviews are an opportunity for the Office of Admissions to learn more about you and for you to learn more about the College; interviews are, therefore, both informational and evaluative in nature. The interview will be considered in our application review, but applicants who do not interview will not be penalized in any way.</p>
<p>I think an interview on campus is crucial. Barnard’s status as niche school cuts both ways. It’s really important that both parties (prospective student, prospective school) get a chance to check each other out, however briefly. In our case, the campus visit solidified my daughter’s conviction that Barnard was the right place for her. I have to think that our having made a huge effort to get there must have counted for something when her application was considered. She began this semester. So far so good - absolutely loves the place. So if an interview is at all possible, I would say go for it.</p>
<p>While I’m here, may I just say how grateful I am to Calmom for her many lucid, compassionate, helpful posts. As Barnard started to come into focus during the application process, they really helped this parent understand the terrain. Thank you Calmom. </p>
<p>Thanks for the compliment. Just to clarify, I don’t think Barnard expects any applicant to make a huge effort to arrange and on campus interview. I mean, if you live in Fairbanks, Alaska … the fact that you can’t make it to campus to be interviewed won’t be held against you.</p>
<p>I do think they take note of families who do put in effort. My d. traveled on her own from California to D.C. & NYC to visit colleges and interview – and every interviewer, including Barnard’s, remarked on the fact that she had traveled so far on her own. So yes, effort is appreciated and probably noted. </p>
<p>The next best choices for students who live far away would be either an interview with an admissions rep who is visiting locally and scheduling interviews, or arranging an interview with an alum.</p>
<p>I’d add two points (for the OP): </p>
<p>If the mindset is, “I don’t want to do X because I am terrible at X”… that’s probably not the type of person that Barnard is looking for. Again, there’s that whole “majoring in unafraid” thing – they are looking for students who are eager to take on new challenges.</p>
<p>The answer to “I am terrible at X” is to take steps to get better at X. Barnard’s interviewers are not making an assessment based on how good of an interviewer you are – they are trying to get to know you better. </p>
<p>The second point is: in a competitive admissions environment, you want to take every opportunity available to bolster your application. Not bothering to schedule an interview is leaving one stone unturned. It is taking a half-hearted approach to the application process rather than full-on, effortful approach. </p>
<p>You could get accepted without an interview. You don’t have to interview. But you do need to show the Barnard admissions staff why they ought to accept you over all their other applicants who have stats “within range”, have taken the highest possible classes at their high school, and have “decent” EC’s. What is special about you? And what are you to communicate that to Barnard? (Don’t tell us-- just think about that before you apply). </p>
<p>Thank you to everyone who answered. In the back of my mind I knew interviewing was better than not interviewing, especially because I do live about an hour away from NYC, so it does seem like I’m not making much of an effort if I don’t interview. @calmom you made a good point about “majoring in unafraid”. I wanted to thank you especially because I was a lurker around the Barnard forum here for a while before I actually signed up and I’ve learned so much from your posts. I’m going to schedule the interview really soon! Thanks again everyone! </p>
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