For the next couple of days I have two more interviews scheduled out for some schools who do alumni interviews.
Four of my friends who also applied to one of those schools haven’t been spoken to about an interview though, while another one of my friends who applied to the other school also had no contact for an interview. I know that of these five friends, four of them checked the box on Common App that gave them permission for an interview (while the fifth one forgot but I think they’re just being coy).
I’m just curious - does this interest mean anything about my chances of getting in or my application in general? Or (more possibly) it’s just part of a system that randomly assigns these interviews, or schedules it by when the application was turned in. It’s a bit disorienting to see that I’m the only one getting interviews though (although I do appreciate the opportunity to express my interest in the school), and I’d like to know if anyone knew how this process of reaching out for interviews works!
It means something at some schools (like Harvard and Yale, both of which only interview a portion of applicants) but not at others (like Princeton, which tries to interview all applicants). @ibestudying
It probably means that various alumni interviewers for various colleges simply haven’t got around to contacting all the kids on their lists yet. Most alumni are regular working people who volunteer to interview. They have schedules they have to work with, and may well be setting up one batch of interviews before moving on to others. Or the college might still be divvying up students to their alumni network. In other words, it probably means nothing.
@marvin100 is not exactly correct. For schools that do alumni interviews, there is no correlation between being offered an alumni interview and your chances of being admitted. The admissions office does not handle interviews, the alumni network does. Some places have less alumni available, other networks are just slower to set up times. In other words, as @ Lindagaf said, it means nothing.
Really? Do you have a source for that? In my experience, students who aren’t offered interviews don’t get in to H or Y, and I’ve heard from people I usually trust in the industry that H offers interviews to only about half of its applicants.
Interviews are based on availability and does not affect your application if you are not offered one, nor does it increase your chances of getting in if you are offered one.
That certainly isn’t the case for UCAS schools, for whom the interview stage is the first cut. As for H and Y, I’m just repeating what I’ve been told (and seen myself).
(I’m well aware that there aren’t always enough interviewers–I’m in Asia, after all. But of the thousands of H and Y applicants I’ve known over the years, not a single one (of the dozens) who got in didn’t get offered an interview.)
International students have a much more difficult time getting into HYPS as you know. One guy I know graduated from Korea International School and is currently at Harvard. He got 1st place at the World Public Speaking Championships, interviewed the British ambassador to Korea, was the Secretary-General of a MUN program, the Executive Administrative Officer of Korea for Online Model United Nations, 2360 SAT, valedictorian. He said he didn’t interview with Harvard.
Sometimes as others have noted (and I’m underlining) a school’s interview record might be spotty because of the alumni network. If your region has a super efficient alumni volunteer (who also works probably and has a family etc) and a deep enough network of alumni in that particular area, then that area will prob already have the candidates covered. If the area is in a distant location–like, say, Labrador–and alumni few, or the overworked volunteers missed a person in running down the list or the email to the alumnus got buried or went to spam file . . .other results. As others said, some schools try to interview anyone who asks, some try to interview everybody and some try to interview those they’re on the fence about for some reason and/or leaning toward admitting. It’s impossible to say without knowing what school it is and that school’s policy. Skype is sometimes also used for at lest one school I know.
No. Schools like Princeton, for example, have a 99% interview rate. It goes to show how little the interview means, outside of getting to know the applicant more. I didn’t get an interview for Yale SCEA (even though I did get deferred).
Straight from Yale’s website: “Interviews are not required for our Admissions Committee to evaluate your application, and we do not disadvantage students who are not able to have an interview.”
If interviews are limited based on availability of alumni volunteers, an applicant cannot be faulted simply because they didn’t get an interview. I know a girl who got into Yale without an interview, graduated from my HS class of 2015; I know two girls who interviewed with Princeton (class of 2014)- neither got in. An interview does not indicate higher chances of acceptance.
@suzyQ7 I read a thread by a Brown alumni interviewer and they had said to wait until the end of the month because often that’s when interviews for them are just starting for RD. If you know your school has already done the majority of its interviews then maybe, but sometimes you might just have to wait for someone to get around to it.
@suzyQ7 , no. They will either contact you, or at some point will email applicants to say they will not be able to interview everyone who has requested one. It’s only January. My D didn’t hear from a Brown alumnus until early Feb. For Tufts, it was early March. When they say they will interview 30,000 applicants, it’s going to take a while. Kids in D’s class didn’t get interviews. See post #2.
Thanks so much for the info guys! I figured for most schools, like Ivies, it pretty much means nothing. From all I’ve read and researched, interviews are a very very small part of the process (even more so since these alumni are volunteers).
After my interview yesterday, the alumni told me two students from my school hadn’t gotten back to her. Funnily enough, I told my other friends who applied to check their inboxes and there they were.
@marvin100 I’m sorry man, you’re wrong. One of my relatives was an admission’s officer at yale. She told me they havent even looked at applications when they assign interviews. They just pass on the names to the alumni.
I, and the whole of collegeconfidential, would appreciate it if you stopped giving out vague generalisations or sweeping statements without backing it up with evidence. It’s people like you who end up instilling so much confusion everywhere. Thanks!
Sorry, @Imperialscum99 – you’re partly right. I’ve just been informed by a counselor with 20+ years experience that both H and Y interviews are selective here in Korea, but that’s not the case everywhere.
And you (with your 7 whole posts!) don’t speak for “the whole of collegeconfidential.”
