I’m a RD applicant to Columbia Engineering. Yesterday I got an email from a Columbia alumnus to interview. I was reading on this forum and someone said that getting an interview means you’re borderline (“on the bubble”) of being accepted/rejected. Can anyone confirm if this is true/false? My interview alumnus guy is based in NYC, so it is not a locality thing or availability thing…(he offered to Skype/phone). I also was not expecting to get in at all quite frankly, my stats are not that amazing.
No, a Columbia interview does not mean anything about the strength of your application. According to the Columbia’s website, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions does not even organize or specifically assign interviews–the entire interview process is handled by Columbia’s alumni organizations who have never read your application.
I have read that page, but I’m confused because 1) my interview guy is not from my local area at all, he’s based in NYC, I live along the West Coast. 2) In the email he sent me, he said the following:
“The Office of Undergraduate Admissions has received your application and has asked me to offer you the opportunity to interview with a Columbia alumnus”
On the page that you linked to, it said “Please note interviews will be offered only in the area where your high school is located”
I don’t know, it just seems weird to me that they would give me an interview guy in NYC (basically a whole country apart).
Well I got a skype interview for Upenn from an alumni who lives in a different city. So i think you should be fine.
Getting offered an interview is by no way a means of acceptance/ rejection or borderline. so chill, although 10% of decisions are influenced by it so do it well
@orangemaple Unless Columbia is buying you a ticket and flying you to NYC, this is a completely normal, standard interview. Also, obviously, Skype interviews do not need to be based in the area where your high school is located. That sentence, “The Office of Undergraduate Admissions has received your application and has asked me to offer you the opportunity to interview with a Columbia alumnus,” is the standard part of any interview email.
@whateverharvard Thank you. I guess I was just rattled by that one comment I saw.
@sjsprint yeah, that’s what I thought as well. I was just under the impression that they only conduct interviews in person, hence the need for alumni interviews to be based in your high school area. But oh well
@orangemaple, My D has had 2 Skype interviews so far (for other schools) and her Columbia one will be by Skype as well on Monday. Her interviewer lives in NYC and we do not. Her interview email was the same as yours. Good Luck!
Pretty much anyone who applies is given an interview. In cases where the interview is not possible, you will not be offered an interview and you will have no disadvantage. It’s possible that your application hasn’t even been read by the admissions committee at this point. Like I said, they try to interview everyone.
@orangemaple Good luck! Interviews are generally positive, so as long as you don’t say something terribly offensive or confess to a crime or something crazy like that, your interview can only help you by adding another perspective to your application.
OK, after some searching around, I found the comment that caused my consternation in the first place. Here it is:
@Blitzbound
“From what I was told during my early decision wait (I was accepted without an interview), interviews are conducted based on availability in the area and/or whether or not you’re a wavering student (meaning in limbo between rejection and acceptance).”
From what I know, Columbia Engineering has had trouble in recent past finding alumni to do interviews for them. Most likely, you are being asked to do a Skype interview with someone in NYC because there aren’t enough interviewers in your area (if there are any at all). Good luck!
At my Columbia interview the alumni who interviewed me told me that Columbia only interviews the top 40-50% of their applicant pool, so if you’re offered an interview it’s a good thing!
@latinlass: I think she/he is pulling your leg or overstating things. All they have is your general data about interests and potential majors and no idea who are the so-called “top 40-50%”. Frankly, these lists are likely issued before anyone at Columbia has even reviewed the files except for completeness.
Basically, Columbia interviewers in some regions can request certain types of applicants based upon your stated interests/major: “Hey, I was a Bio major. Let me interview other Bio interested or pre-med kids” or “Can I interview at A & B high schools? Or any theater kids?”
Hi everyone, would just like to give an update on this thread.
I just had my phone interview. The guy explained that he graduated from the same high school as I did, so he requested to interview applicants from my school.
The questions he asked all seemed to pertain to the ones found in the Common App Supplemental Questions, and I simply elaborated on what I wrote there. I’m therefore not sure if he has a copy of my application or not.
Thanks to everyone who replied to my question, good luck!
For college, interviews generally do not mean too much good or bad. Columbia tries to interview as many candidates as possible, more for the student to ask questions and gain information. They received nearly 37,000 applications this year. Obviously very weak candidates will not be offered interviews.
@ricck1: are you saying that Columbia sorts through the students and culls the unrealistic students before posting names to be potentially interviewed? It was my understanding that names are put up almost immediately after the application file is complete – the shoo-ins and the zero-chancers all get posted alike.
For my college, ALL names are forwarded to the alumni interview coordinators w/o regard to their “weakness” – there’s simply no time to pre-sort them as they come in in late December and early January.
If there is some sort of pre-read or sorting process, can you elaborate? Or is this speculation on your part?
I think we are in agreement that getting an interview generally does not mean too much for college. Especially for Columbia that does try to interview as many students as possible. Yes, completed applications generally are interviewed first.
Yes we are in agreement on those three points. But are you retracting this statement? Yes? No? I thought I was clear about what I asked you @ricck1 We are in clear disagreement here.
I bring this up b/c my college DOES offer candidates interviews – even to completely unrealistic candidates b/c most names are issued w/o any sort of pre-sort.
A reader would read your assertion to mean that if an interview is offered, some first hurdle was passed. I don’t believe this to be so. Please clarify.
