<p>I'm sure they're a help, but can interviews really turn the tide of a so-so admission (or one that's good, but not up to snuff compared to another app that doesn't have an interview)? If so, I better find an alum as soon as possible.</p>
<p>I do have a question. Why are we all doing this to ourselves? In the grand scheme of things, going to Harvard isn't going to change the way life works. We won't become successes because we went to Harvard, we won't live forever because we went to Harvard, etc. I'll be content if I could live in a deserted island with a piano, and this doesn't really matter all that much to me. Why would I bankrupt my parents, strain myself in my last year of high school, give up a glorious social life that I could easily have, skip outing and parties to study, stay up till 4 o'clock raving about this, if in the end, we'll all reproduce and die?</p>
<p>John, I don't make a habit out of stealing Northstarmom's "thunder," as she is the expert on this as an alum interviewer, but I took her general advice on a similar thread the other day. (She replied to the same question by suggesting a Search This Thread effort on the H forum. Plug in "importance of interview"; I did.) I searched myself, assuming I knew the answer, & it turned out I did know the answer. :-)</p>
<p>The question does get asked for all the major U's several times a yr, each yr. The short answer is Yes, they "count." What they do is verify or fail to verify the person who's been presented on paper. The level of sincerity, curiosity, interest in one's e.c.'s, depth of intellectual engagement: those are the kinds of things they'll try to confirm or deny -- versus the appl. materials.</p>
<p>As to the other semi-rhetorical question you asked & answered -- well hopefully you <em>will</em> keep that perspective if you don't get accepted, but best of luck to you anyway.</p>
<p>...Further, in one of those searched threads, I clicked on a link for a Yale summary of interview examples. (Similar expectations as H.) The examples included an interview where a charismatic candidate could not nevertheless make up for a weak application. Now, perhaps if the interviewee showed him/herself to be intellectually brilliant in person despite an uneven academic record (& good scores), the interview could turn the tide. (Check with Northstarmom on that.) However, mostly an interview would not likely reveal such a strong (positive) discrepancy.</p>
<p>I live my life the same as I would otherwise. I write a couple applications, take the SATs on a Saturday morning, but I certainly don't give up my social life. I apply to a bunch of schools, including Harvard, but I know that I will succeed no matter where I go to college. You just need to relax and look at the big picture.</p>