how big of an impact does the interview have?

<p>its all in the title baby</p>

<p>it's all in the title</p>

<p>I've heard that interviews can't hurt but may help you.</p>

<p>The importance probably depends not just on the college, but whether you are talking about an interview with an admissions' person or an alum.</p>

<p>a good interview may not necessarily help you but a bad interview full of inconsistencies can hurt you</p>

<p>Most interviews make very little difference. In fact, many are more intended to "sell the school" than they are to evaluate you. Schools are going to be reluctant in putting much emphasis on the opinion of an alumnus who does not even officially work for them and may have very little experience in the world of college admissions. As long as you don't do anything uber stupid, you'll be fine, and it will probably help you by demonstrating interest in the school.</p>

<p>Yea, I know that some of my interviews didn't really count and others I opted out of doing, and I still managed to get into them, so with that said though, you should obviously go and do the interviews regardless as one of those interest type acts.</p>

<p>My cousin graduated from Harvard. Now she lives in Seattle. Last year she interviewed 3 kids for Harvard admissions. Her opinion: interviews probably did not count.</p>

<p>The importance of the inteview depends on the school. Check the common data base for the schools that interest you or check the US news Ultimate college guide that's on line.</p>

<p>I started being an alum interviewer for Harvard more than 15 years ago. Interviews do count for Harvard. I've had the adcoms e-mail and call me asking follow-up questions. They are too busy to do that unless they were using that information. </p>

<p>I also know that sometimes students whom Harvard is interested in are reinterviewed if the original interviewer's report lacks essential information or if the original interviewer's report apparently didn't seem in line with the students' application. I have never, however, heard of a student who got in due to having a bad interview due to lying, revealing an ethics problem or being super obnoxious such as making racist statements.</p>