https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/12/the-futility-of-college-interviews/549359/
"Certainly there are schools that give weight to the interviews and make them available for virtually every applicant, and that accessibility is crucial if the practice is to have any sort of impact on an application. Take the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for example. MIT—which received 20,247 applications last year and accepted just 7.2 percent of those students—is transparent about the import of the interview: The school’s admissions website says that 10.8 percent of applicants who opted to participate in an interview or had it waived were accepted. The same was true for just 1 percent of those who didn’t.
Stu Schmill, the dean of admissions at MIT, said the school treats the interviews as another avenue to get to know students, especially because not everyone communicates as well on paper as they do in person. MIT deploys an army of trained alumni around the world to help out with this component of the application process. Students who can’t meet with an interviewer face-to-face are typically offered the chance to have a chat via Skype.
But MIT’s interview system is far from the norm, and at some schools, participating in the conversations is just like showing up for a campus tour: another way to demonstrate interest. Bari Norman, a former admissions officer at Barnard College and Columbia University who co-founded the college consulting company Expert Admissions, said that at a small number of schools, interviews are evaluative, but at many others, they’re purely informative. At these latter institutions, Norman said, the interview is a chance for an applicant to have a personal connection with the school, and it isn’t a particularly meaningful component of the application process, which is “primarily an academic competition on the front lines.”
And yet, it is easy to imagine that when highly competitive schools like Yale, Princeton, Vanderbilt, and Emory profess to offer “optional” interviews, capturing a slot can feel like a commitment test. To an overstressed applicant competing with thousands of other candidates, the word “optional” feels like it comes with a wink and nudge, even if that’s not the reality.
Emory admissions has said that it doesn’t take demonstrated interest into account.
“Is demonstrated interest a factor in the admission selection process? Is one’s chances for admission increased if they visit campus? Demonstrated interest is no longer a factor in the application review process, and a visit to campus will have no impact on the evaluation of a student’s application.”
http://apply.emory.edu/apply/faq.php
However, Emory’s description of its interview process matches how MIT describes how interviews fit into its admissions process.
“An interview is not required for admission to Emory College or Oxford College. The lack of an interview will not adversely affect an applicant’s chance for admission, as many successful applicants will not be invited to interview.
An alumni interview is a chance for an applicant to discuss ideas that they are passionate about in a cordial, low-key environment. Alumni interview volunteers serve as a liaison for applicants who the admission staff is unable to meet face-to-face. Overall, the alumni interview should be viewed as a conversation, allowing applicants to learn more about the university and for volunteers to get to know applicants.”
http://apply.emory.edu/apply/interviews.php
The take away here is that not interviewing won’t hurt you but interviewing may help you. I accepted Emory’s interview offer and had a great interview. I felt it really helped.