<p>I am an international student applying for PhD programs in both EE and CS. I heard that the programs in engineering usually make decision without interviews. Does it apply to top 10 programs in EE or CS (say, MIT, Berkeley, CMU, Stanford)? Thanks in advanced.</p>
<p>Many hard science and engineering programs do accept students without interviews and invite you to visit, etc. However, if you are pursuing a research degree (PhD or sometimes MS) studying in the program requires you to perform research under a professor. In many cases it is the professor you will have to interview for and since your degree is contingent on performing research that interview becomes mandatory.</p>
<p>In short, the program does not require one, but the research group may, which would be required to continue in the program.</p>
<p>No. But if you want to join someone’s group, the professor might call you for an informal interview. This however, mostly happens AFTER you’ve been notified of your acceptance.</p>
<p>I was accepted at 4 schools (including 2 in the top-10), and none of them required an interview before awarding me admission. One of those top-10 schools was not initially planning to admit me, but I asked for and received a visit (I paid the expenses) and interviews and was subsequently admitted with several funding offers. One of the other schools called me for a phone interview before I received any notification, but told me up-front that the interview was for a research and funding opportunity and that I was already admitted.</p>
<p>For what it is worth, I do not know of any professors who would take a grad student into their group without an interview, so if your admission is dependent on funding from a specific professor then you may well see a mandatory interview before they make the decision. Regardless, they know that as a prospective grad student that you’re poor (probably) and unable to visit, so they will generally either pay for your travel or just do a phone interview.</p>