<p>If I chose not to contact Swarthmore for an interview would this hurt me in the admissions process?</p>
<p>They’re not required, so it wouldn’t hurt you, but if you’re interested, why not contact them? Not only to let them know you’re interested or to help you along the admissions process but to get to know more about the college.</p>
<p>I was really nervous about mine (it was my first college interview and hey, it’s Swarthmore), but it went wonderfully. We spent around an hour and a half talking, and I didn’t feel like my interviewer was questioning my intellectuality or as if I had to prove something to him. Not everyone will click the same way, but I wouldn’t worry too much about it.</p>
<p>Basically: it won’t hurt you, but why not do it?</p>
<p>If you live within a reasonable driving distance, you should absolutely schedule an interview: Swat is one of the few schools where it is actually important.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you don’t live within 150 miles or so of Swarthmore, don’t feel compelled to schedule an alumni interview. But having an interview and learning more about Swarthmore in the process could make your “Why Swarthmore?” essay more compelling.</p>
<p>If you live within a 2 hour drive of Swarthmore, you should really visit and interview on campus. If you live a considerable distance away, more than two hours, perhaps you can schedule an alumni interview. It’s more important to interview at a smaller school like Swat. Taken from the web site:
“NOTE: While interviews are highly encouraged by the Office of Admissions, they are NOT required.” What do you think the phrase “highly encouraged” means?</p>
<p>If an interview is optional, and you feel the interview would hurt you (if you would get so nervous that you would not make a good impression, for example), then it is a good idea to forego it. However, if you would make a good impression (verbal, charming, have interesting activities to discuss), then you might want to rethink opting out of it.</p>
<p>I think it definitely helped my Swattie. I know Amherst doesn’t even do interviews (I believe). But Swarthmore is an unusual place, more off-beat than Amherst. I do think that it’s good for you to look at the school and the school to look at you and see if it’s a good fit. For one thing, it’s helpful to know what a 1,500 student college feels like, and the look of the kids who go there (tired! fascinated! crazed!), and feel the way its Quaker history seeps into its present way of doing things. So if you can take the time to read up on what it’s about and you’re serious about it, I would definitely make the effort to do an interview. And if I did an interview with them, I would want to be able to answer the “Why Swarthmore?” question in person.</p>
<p>Well, we missed the deadline to ask for an alumni interview for my S by a day (family communication glitch), and the admissions office gently but firmly refused to schedule one. (We’re 3,000 miles away, so an on-campus interview is out.) The person we spoke to insisted that many kids get admitted each year without an interview and that “it won’t hurt you”, but:</p>
<ol>
<li>Interviews are strongly encouraged and can only help those who have them, and</li>
<li>There are only so many kids admitted each year.</li>
</ol>
<p>Even I - a social science major - can do that math. Sigh. </p>
<p>Fortunately, we did visit the campus over the summer and know a fair number of Swarthmore alums, so my S can do the “Why Swarthmore?” essay. But it’s hard to avoid worrying about that ‘hole’ in the application, and saying “My family and I simply blew the deadline” is hardly a good way to make an impression on the admissions people. Would he redeem himself by saying on the “Why?” essay that Joaquim Hamilton - the admissions office who spoke out our info session there - is a freakin’ force of nature who conveyed the best ‘vibe’ of any school he visited? 
(If you’ve met Joaquim, you know what I mean.) </p>
<p>Also, the school’s web site lists the admissions officers for each section of the country; any idea if it would be worthwhile to contact the officer assigned to our region? (The page listing them says: “If you are applying to the College, arranging a visit, or would like to request information, please see those pages for more information. Otherwise, we welcome you to contact us by phone, email, or mail. As an alternative, please check our staff directory below if you wish to contact a specific member of the Admission’s staff.”)</p>
<p>An admissions person I talked to said that something like only 30% of those admitted have had interviews. So I wouldn’t overthink it too much. The fact that your S visited (and hopefully signed in at the admissions office) even though you live 3000 miles away should convey that he is serious about Swarthmore.</p>
<p>Thanks, Dadx - you’re a peach for allaying my fears a little bit. I guess I’m the first parent to overly-fret about screwing up his kid’s chances for admission at an elite college… I am… right? <8-) It would have helped if the admissions person had given me that percentage figure. Maybe she just liked the sound of me whimpering.</p>
<p>Still, I think my S would have benefitted from the interview, as he’s quite the articulate and self-possessed charmer, while still coming across as sincere. Then again, he’s also the sort to wander off on digressions, so his focus (or lack thereof) could have been a mark against him.</p>
<p>Being someone who wanders off on digressions is not a mark against someone doing a Swarthmore interview - they are not an evaluation of someone’s personality, or speaking ability.</p>
<p>My daughter neither visited Swat nor interviewed. She is now a junior there. She did interview with Princeton and Yale. The Yale alum was upset when she was not accepted as he wrote in an email that she was “the best candidate I had interviewed”. Princeton turned her down as well. No matter, Swat was her dream school. </p>
<p>I would love to be a fly on the wall in the Admissions Office during the application process. I have said many times over the past years it is amazing at how they wade through an overwhelming amount of applications from very intelligent and talented kids, and yet manage to select a group that fits together so well!</p>