<p>How much can a really good interview for UChicago help my chances? Me and my interviewer just sorta "clicked" :)</p>
<p>That's awesome. My interviewer and I had an excellent conversation about Chinese culture, which was pretty interesting, although I don't feel like I had a very strong connection to him.</p>
<p>I'm curious for an answer to this question too. Anybody knowledgeable want to chime in?</p>
<p>I know UChicago considers Essays and the like much more than other schools, so maybe the same goes for interviews..right?? :)</p>
<p>"Interviews are not required for admission." That's what they say, and they probably mean it. I'm sure a great interview can only help you, but it's not going to be a huge factor for three important reasons: 1. Not everyone gets them. 2. Not everyone can get them. For lots of students, especially those who live far away, it's not affordable to visit the college, and others can't visit at interview times. Some people live in areas with lots of Chicago alumni; some live in areas where you would have to drive several hours to find the nearest one. 3. Given the huge volume of alumni interviewers, it simply isn't going to be possible to have any degree of interrater reliability among the interviews. You'll be comparing apples to oranges to kiwis to kumquats. Plus, a great deal may depend on how alike the interviewer and applicant are, which can often affect how comfortable they both feel, and how easy it is for them to communicate. No one can weed that out, but no one wants to accept to many applicants on what may be a very biased basis. </p>
<p>Interview reports are never going to be more than very weak, hard to compare data.</p>
<p>campus interviews are evaluative while alumni interviews are not, for pretty clear reasons</p>
<p>^^^ And you know this from where? I'm not doubting you, I just want to see your sources.</p>
<p>^ It's not that the alumni ones aren't evaluated at all.. but I do believe that the campus ones are evaluated more strongly because the campus interviews are given by actual admission counselors versus the other ones are given by alumni. </p>
<p>I think that a good interview can help you, and a bad interview can hurt you.. they can tell how interested you are in their school in one conversation... otherwise why would they do them?</p>
<p>i remember reading somewhere that said interviews were really important in U of C's admissions.</p>
<p>My interviewer straight-out told me that interviews are only significantly helpful if your scores are on the low end. They also can't hurt you too much -- the worst thing that could happen in the interview is you not showing up.</p>