College interviews: Are they no longer important?

Applying to College
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I have been an interviewer for my Alma Mater (a highly competetive IVY league school)for many years speaking to up to 20 HS students a year (most interviewers do only a few interviews). I’ve enjoyed meeting (virtually) some very highly motivated and talented students. Because of the virtual nature of modern day interviews (previously I would only do a few if they were in person because of time, travel etc issues) I can speak to more students and not spend as much time as in person interviews took. I think this is the wave of the future (at least with my school).

But having spent countless hours talking to students, roughly 95+% who will never be admitted and having talked to many friends who do similar interviewing I have to wonder what really is the role of a college interview and how important are they? Full disclosure, I only do interviewing and am not a member of an admissions committee (though I might like t think what I write on an interview report may or may not be part of the decision process for admission).

To begin the logistics. My school says in its literature and videos that it would like to offer interviews to all applicants and applicant should take advantage of interview opportunities to learn more about schools. Unfortunately what it doesn’t tell students is that it simply doesnt have the army of interviewers (most interviewers are not crazy like me and only do a small handful) to meet the applicant demand and interviews even if they wanted, cant be offered to all applicants. This obviously has been exacerbated by skyrocketing applications as a consequence of test optional changes . So if a student doesn’t get an interview one may think they didn’t deserve one but there’s equal chance that there wasnt anyone to do the interview which is no fault of the student. It’s kind of the reason schools often say they are encouraged but not mandatory. In my opinion schools should be more transparent about this, like Brown, and simply do away with the interview if it cant be offered to everyone and it is part of the application process.

My schools literature tells applicants the interview is a way for them to learn more about the school. But I would argue there are better ways to learn about a school than a 30-40 min interview from an alumni who graduated the school many years ago. A school that is currently vastly different from from the one the alumni attended ( unless the alumni is a very recent graduate). HS students can get more information through websites (albeit slightly slanted) than from an interview. And even better students should talk to current student or faculty to get a current perspective and have their questions answered.

Can the school learn more about the student in a 30-40 min interview than they already have with the application? I guess, but from my experience in seeing who gets in and who doesnt ( we are privy to the final status of our interviewees) and reports I’ve sent which ask interviewers to rate students, It doesn’t seem to really matter what is written on an interview report. Specifically, and its understandable given the high volume of qualified applicants, I have seen outstanding students who are rated highly not get in and I have seen students who I’ve rated poorly still get in. Yes, the theory that glaringly bad things raised in an interview could bode badly in an applicants has been raised but it’s not true and some of these applicants still get in… again devaluing the interview process.

I interview both in my local region and volunteer to interview students from further away across the country (virtual). My region, an upper middle class/to upper class, has always had high representation at the school with many local alumni. But from results I’ve seen through my interviews, the interviews of others, and general results, it is clear there is more emphasis on admitting different students from outside the region (my non regional applicants have faired better than local students who come from some of the wealthiest districts) and with a particular emphasis on minority first generation students. Just an observation.

Another more nefarious theory about interviews is the only purpose they serve is to make alumni who do interviews feel more connected to the school which may result increased alumni donations. But one would hope that alumni who do interviews are a little more intelligent than that especially when 95% or more of their interview time is spent on students who will have no impact on the school they are interviewing for and for many alumni becomes a waste of their time (one of the reasons schools may have a difficult time getting enough interviewers).

Overall does an alumni interview for college matter especially since it cant be offered to everyone, probably isnt the best way for a HS student to get the best most up to date inside information about the school, and does not make or break an application ( you can be admitted with a bad interview/report and get rejected with a stellar interview/report))?
Probobly not! But only an admissions officer knows

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Some students may believe that interviews helps when it probably doesnt.

If a student interviews poorly (ie no knowlegde of the school, doesnt seem interested, etc), it could probably hurt them.

I see no point doing the song and dance unless a student really does have questions rather than contrived questions meant to demonstrate interest hoping to increase their admisson chances.

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My understanding has been that at many schools, alumni interviews are far more about alumni outreach and satisfaction than anything for the applicants. It is a way to make alumni feel important and connected, and potentially lead to donations.

Most schools give very little weight, if any at all, to the alumni interview as part of an application. There are a few exceptions where it is evaluative, but not many.

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I have seen students who interview poorly, have little knowledge of the school or appear disinterested…still get in. And more often, because of the high volume of qualified applicants, the opposite is true.

I always ask students at the end if they have questions and yes many are contrived for conversation purposes and provide little information for the applicant or interviewer. Many students have also been coached as to meaningless questions to ask like “What was your favorite experience at…? What traditions did you like most at…?”. Coaches often emphasize these as a way for the student to make the interviewer feel more nostaligic and possibly have a more positive memory of the student. Most of the fine detailed questions a student might have cant be answered by an alumni who has little connection to a school they attended years ago and students can readily find the answers on the internet or by talking to current students or faculty. This is often one of the more awkward parts of an interview.

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This probably answers your question. Interviews probably aren’t that important if you have students who tank the interview, couldnt be bothered to put in any effort, and still get admitted.

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Does your alma mater state the alumni interviews are evaluative? Most aren’t a factor in the admissions decision. Some highly rejectives have stopped doing these interviews altogether.

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Not sure what you mean by evaluative but we do submit evaluations. Specifically we are asked questions like did the candidate have any interesting things in their history, ways of thinking, particular hardships, outlooks on life etc. ? What did the candidate feel were the most important/influential aspects in high school or out side of school? Would they be a good roommate and contributing member of the…community. How do you fell this candidate would fit into the academic program they have chosen (we are told proposed major)?

And they are rated on a 5 point scale from low to highest.

Looking back some of these are quite silly. How does an interviewer know if a student will be a good roommate or classmate especially from a 30 min interview? And what an interviewer might find interesting an AO may not care about (yes it may give the AO more info).

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By evaluative I meant whether it is a factor in the admissions decision.

Big picture it does seem at many schools these aren’t a part of the admissions decision, so why do them? Especially as someone pointed out many alum aren’t able to speak to current campus happenings, vibe, etc. Then add to that the fact that some alum behave poorly on these interviews (I’m a college counselor and benefit from hearing a great deal of feedback from other counselors)…such as misogynistic remarks, asking students to meet in their homes, etc, it makes me wonder why some schools are still doing these. And I respect the schools that have stopped.

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I have a colleague who’s an MIT grad. He was an alumni interviewer for over 15 years but became increasingly disillusioned with the process. Being a math and stats guy he analyzed acceptances vs his ratings (both positive and negative) over the years he had interviewed and found no meaningful correlation. He no longer interviews.

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I suspect most alumni interviewers try hard to do a good and fair job. AND I suspect that many bring biases to their evaluations that schools are struggling themselves to avoid (with training.) . It’s really hard to level set across an army of volunteers.

I think it’s almost entirely about alumni engagement.

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Have they ever mattered?

Serious question.

My sons at WUSTL said they don’t impact anything and Rice was a student. I can’t imagine they impact much - maybe they can hurt but not help?

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Are you just referring to Ivy leagues and similar? Just schools that don’t consider interest? Please clarify.

I certainly think interviews matter for schools that offer them and care about interest. For the rest, I don’t think they matter, unless they are full of red flags.

Perhaps for those highly rejective colleges. the interviews are meant to weed out truly unsuitable applicants. But I suspect, like others do, that it’s about anlumni engagement.

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Ever? In history? I suspect a generation ago, they mattered.

I don’t know when they stopped mattering to colleges with a low acceptance rate, but it’s certainly been several cycles. They were certainly non-evaluative for the colleges I applied to in 2015.

Echoing others, I think the colleges continue them for alumni engagement.

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I thought it did matter for Penn if we’re focusing on “top schools?”

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I think a lot of schools say they matter - but I wonder how much they truly matter, other than to weed out applicants with clear red flags. If the alumni engagement theory holds true, it stands to reason that they would publicly claim that interviews matter. Otherwise why would their alumni spend time and effort interviewing?

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I think way back when - luke in the seventies when I was applying - they mattered. As in “is he a Princeton sort of man?” Precisely why they may no longer be that important!

But I think schools that care about demonstrated interest may like it if you request an interview. Especially those that are often backups. It’s not just you saying you’re interested but an opponent for them to understand your intetrsts and sell you on where you may connect.

I recall Stanford used to say “your application is adequate demonstration of your interest.” But they still solicit alums who might want to interview.

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it depends on the college. At some colleges, interviews are an important part of the process and can be quite influential in admission decisions The Harvard lawsuit analysis found that interviews were one of the more influential parts of the decision, some colleges mark interviews as “important” in the CDS, and there is a good amount of anecdotal information about interviews being important at certain colleges.

There are also colleges for which interviews are critical for some applicants, but not others. For example, Cornell A&S used to say interviews were for information, rather than influential on decisions. Now they don’t interview at all. However, portfolio interviews are mandatory for Cornell architecture, and often quite influential on decisions.

At other colleges, interviews have little influence on admission decisions. Some colleges are quite up front about this. Many colleges do not offer interviews. I’d expect that at the vast majority of colleges, interviews are either not offered or have little influence on decisions.

With the variation between different colleges, it would be helpful to list which specific colleges you are referring to and/or are interested in.

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My alma mater no longer has alumni even send in reports and they no longer call them interviews. It’s just a yes/no if we’ve met with the applicant. Absolutely non evaluative in any way and the university says they continue to offer meetings because they can help with yield numbers. Big shift from how it used to be with full reports and an evaluation of if we thought the student would be an asset.

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An alumni interview, even if it’s still evaluative, is just another piece of subjective information among other subjective elements in an application. Unless there’re things in the evaluative report that really stand out, it would be surprising if it makes the difference. Since those reports tend to be generally positive (or even very positive), only the negative elements in the reports are likely to stand out.

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My son accidentally declined the interview at his school. Realized 3-4 weeks later that he did not get a call. Scrambled to call and tell them it was accidental. They said it’s ok. Too late to give you an interview now. Don’t worry.