<p>I received an email last night and another email this morning (the first one after I had gone to bed and the second one while I was at school) about opportunities for alumni interviews. As soon as I got home and read the email, I tried to register, but every time slot I clicked on was full. I never even had a chance! How is it possible that it was filled up in less than a day? I feel completely ripped off. I would have loved to interview, especially as I am obsessed with the university and I have plenty of things to talk about that I was hoping to project past my application. I don't even know why I'm posting on here exactly, except for the fact that I feel completely disappointed and shocked, and I wanted to make sure I couldn't do anything about it. I emailed the undergrad office just in case. I mean, I understand that interviews are limited, but really?!</p>
<p>My D got a postcard in the mail today (not from Columbia), encouraging her to apply to a school using an application with a deadline of 19 days ago. Colleges don’t always time things very well!</p>
<p>I’d contact the Admissions Office by phone, tell them you are interested in interviewing, are disappointed the spots were full, and see what happens. Maybe they can slide you in if something opens up.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>“Because the actual assignment of interviews is not conducted by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, please do not call or write to inquire about receiving an interview.”</p>
<p>iceui2, where did you find that? the website? because they gave me the number and email address of the office in that very email with an “if you have any questions.” And according to the rest of the email, it seems to be all associated with a university committee.</p>
<p>thank you got2begreen for the tip…I will try calling them during office hours tomorrow. meanwhile, I got this reply:</p>
<p>The event is full and students registered on a first come basis. You may contact us closer to the date to see if there have been any cancellations.</p>
<p>So what, do I start calling every day now? haha…god, I am so upset.</p>
<p>@katzmeow: you shouldnt be upset >< esp. with the 33% increase in applicants to Columbia this yr, they wont have enough people to interview everyone. remember this: Interviews are not a “I GET ACCEPTED IF I DO GOOD” thing. it only gives a more person sense / ensures Columbia that you won’t pull the next Virginia Tech or something. So don’t be upset, and good luck! (:</p>
<p>thanks jsungoh. I’ve calmed down a bit now. I’m just a bit bummed.</p>
<p>I registered my interest right away, but received today the similar notice that the slots were all filled. I suspect that Columbia filtered the apps and told the interviewers which were their priority interviews. If you didn’t get asked to interview, you’re toast.</p>
<p>I was deferred on the early decision round. I didn’t get an interview then, and I still haven’t received an interview invitation 
If it’s a first-come first-serve basis, my name should be pretty high up on the list, considering that I applied in October. I emailed the admissions office asking whether I am still on the list, and they emailed me back with general interview information for the regular decision round. Sigh.</p>
<p>I saw the email last night at about midnight and registered immediately for fear that I wouldn’t get a spot. I thought about waiting until morning, but I decided against it.
Mine was a phone interview though. Were you supposed to get a face-to-face interview?</p>
<p>hi everyone.</p>
<p>columbia NEVER filters interviews. it NEVER PRIORITIZES some students over others. this is all based on a luck of the draw. for alum interviews all we usually use to base this is how close you are to us physically, and not your grades, your aptitude or anything quantifiable.</p>
<p>i presume this is columbia’s phone interviewing campaign. i did it when i was an undergraduate, where ugrad students call prospectives. they are not alums who do the phone calls, but students. it is on a first come, first serve basis, and based on when you responded to the interview request, but also at times what time you requested (if you picked a popular time it is easy to not get it). for the most part it is a broadcast email to students from regions where there are few active alums. and so it goes out to a couple thousand students for a couple dozen to maybe a few hundred spots. in years past (look at old threads) assignments have been taken up very fast in less than a day by ravenous applicants.</p>
<p>it is unfortunate, but as said before, this is a service, it is not the only way to interview for columbia, but it is a a way to interview more students than before.</p>
<p>we alums if we are near you will try to get to as many as possible. i will note that in the region i am a part of there are over 150 more candidates this year than last year. so even though the local committee is due to interview more students than we ever have before, we still wont reach everyone because of the increase.</p>
<p>Not interviewing isn’t really a big deal… I was accepted ED without an interview and haven’t been interviewed since.</p>
<p>Also, I don’t know how much truth there is to this, but during the information session, the admissions officers said that Columbia doesn’t really put all THAT much stock in interviews anyway.</p>
<p>@ katz: aw, don’t be bummed out. I didn’t even get an email from most of my schools for an interview at all ._. haha.</p>
<p>Did everyone who applied received this email? I submitted my application in November, but I didn’t get any emails about interviews.</p>
<p>allegro - it would’ve gone only to folks from underrepresented regions of the country where alumni are few and far between. not to everyone who applied.</p>
<p>Thats weird because I just signed up for an interview literally 5 minutes ago for 12pm, and got the conformation email for the registration. Idk if i can even make it, i just wanted to see if they were really full lol.</p>
<p>EDIT: lol nevermind i just realized that its based on the region so that explains why i was able to get a spot.</p>
<p>Thanks admissions geek, I was incredibly worried for a second there. I would think my area has a significant number of alumni, so hopefully I will be contacted for an interview soon.</p>
<p>OP, Columbia had 35,000 applicants this year. Are you really surprised that all the interview slots in your region were taken in one day? When students (and there are only a couple hundred or thousand of us) register for classes and World Leaders Forum events, all the spots disappear within minutes!</p>
<p>Anyone in CA gets an interview?</p>
<p>^Yes.
10char</p>
<p>I received those emails too, but I was told that colleges didn’t base acceptance on interviews, so I didn’t register. The person doing the interviews in my area emailed me to set up an interview for both Brown and Columbia, so I don’t know if that’s a good thing. I just think if they want to interview you they will.</p>