WashU is very high on my list, and this october i am scheduling a visit there. There is an option to also schedule an on campus interview during my visit, and i REALLY dont want to do it because im a very shy person and i will definitely get nervous and possibly ruin my chances there. Ive never done an interview and im not comfortable with them because I know I wont interview well 
But i know that WashU cares a lot about demonstrated interest, and I dont want them to assume that i dont want to go there just because i didnt interview during my visit. If i visit there without scheduling the optional interview, will they assume its because im not very interested? What should I do?
bump
âInterviewâ is a somewhat misleading term here. Unless things have changed in the last year, this is not a formal, serious interview with impossible questions but rather more of a âget to know youâ sort of thing. On her visit my D spent 20 mins or so with the Admissions rep assigned to her HS. It was very informal and not at all intimidating. I think if you do a search on this subject, you will find that this has been the consensus response to the many, many people who have asked this question in the past.
IMHO, you should definitely plan on taking advantage of the opportunity to meet. And I would try to look at it that wayâas an opportunity rather than a challenge. There are simply too many applicants with stellar objective credentials to count on âoutpointingâ your way into the school.
One thing I would suggest to help ease you into this is that you go ahead now and ask the Admissions Office for the name of the Admissions rep assigned to your HS and that you reach out to him/her in advance by email to simply break the ice and say you are looking forward to meeting when you visit on October xx. At some point you will have to actually meet and actually speak to this person but this way you can at least work up to it. While I think there is no guarantee that your interview will be with your assigned rep, if you reach out to her, it may turn out that way. It did for my daughter. You can also take that opportunity to ask the rep when she is coming to your school, etc. This is all part of showing interest.
Good Luck.
Just like what foursite said, âinterviewâ is misleading term. I also did interview on campus, and it went really well (FYI i am a extremely shy personâŠ). I was interviewed by a rising sophomore who seemed really enthusiastic to learn more about me. I would recommend you to do on-campus interview since not only it shows your demonstrated interest to WashU, but also gives you great opportunity to know more about the school by asking questions to your interviewer, who also went through the same process and chose WashU.