<p>It won't hurt if you don't do an interview, even if the schools ask you to. However, will it HELP if you have one?</p>
<p>The interview is another opportunity to show schools who you are. If there’s anything you want to say, the interview is another chance. And they’re pretty fun, in my experience.</p>
<p>Some schools do factor interviews into admissions. Some do not. For schools that factor interviews into admissions, turning down an interview may count against you. Colleges’ common data sets include what their admission factors are.</p>
<p>How about Cornell? Cornell asked me for an interview and I don’t know what to do…</p>
<p>Take the interview. What do you have to lose? If you’re considering not doing it because of lack of experience, how else are you going to get experience? To get jobs, into grad and professional schools, etc. you’ll need to interview.</p>
<p>Just don’t show up to the interviewer’s house wearing a jersey from a rival college or back over her cat with your car and you should be fine!</p>
<p>In general, interviewers, particularly alums, want to help young people rather than hurt them. I wouldn’t avoid interviews as a general policy.
On the other hand, the interview results tend to have zero to minimal affect on your chances. I’ve heard admissions officers say that the applicants the alums are most enthusiastic about often just aren’t competitive in the applicant pool.</p>