<p>We know a student who applied ED and was deferred. His dad knows somebody who knows somebody! Anyway he went for an interview with the/a dean of admissions. Had only about 18 hours advanced notice and had to travel from OOS to get there. He is convinced that the dean liked him and the interview greatly increased his odds for being offered admission. Any comments on this? Sound plausible? Is there any way an 'average Joe'--ie: Daddy doesn't know anybody important--can increase his odds by going for an interview?</p>
<p>the UVA line is they don't do interviews. Was this person a child/good friend of an alum? The Alumni Association does interviews and works with legacy applicants, but I don't think that has anything to do with an admissions dean</p>
<p>It might help him in the sense that if the Dean is present when theyre deciding over him, he might say "Well he's quite a nice young man blahblah" and it might show extra interest...who knows, im sure it either didn't do anything or will help atleast some, but it definently didn't do anything negative. Good luck to him</p>
<p>Laxguy, neither of his parents are alums---there is no legacy. The "friend" who arranged the interview may be an alum---not sure. The interviewer is a member of the admissions staff. Clearly a case of knowing somebody who can help open a few doors. </p>
<p>There are varied opinions about such things, but I find it curious that UVA doesn't interview, yet this family dropped everything (with less than a day's notice) to drive 6 hours for an interview. And, they left believing the experience may have made all the difference. This young man is clearly qualified for UVA, but so are many, many other deserving young people! Too bad everybody doesn't have friends in high places!</p>
<p>lucky mofo.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>I hope your friend didn't wear a Virginia Tech sweatshirt or anything like that.</p>
<p>Plenty of recent articles about how UVA breaks it's own rules if the prospect is wealthy. The Development office submits "deep-pocket" prospects separate from the admissions office and the President, John Casteen, acts as the arbiter to keep the Admissions office out of it. If the dude was rich, and the family perhaps has a legacy of philanthropy (especially to institutions of higher learning), there's lots that could happen. Let's just call it "reality".</p>
<p>Yep. It's also a reality that athletes, VIPs and URMs are given preference in the admissions process. This shouldn't be news to anyone.</p>
<p>My aunt was an alum and when I was up (from Florida) in c-ville for the weekend to see a football game in November she managed to get me to speak to the assistant dean. It wasn't a formal interview but I got in ED, I don't know if it helped. (and I am certainly not rich/VIP/athlete or URM). I think she pretty much went in and caught him right after he gave an admissions tour and asked if we could speak.</p>
<p>I'm actually meeting with the Assoc. Dean of the E-school on Friday, which is actually by accident. I was having troubles getting specific answers out of the transfer dept and my friend who is in the e-school said "oh email Paxton, he's awesome" and I did, thinking he was just a dept. head or something. I come to find out he's an assoc. dean and dean of admissions for the e-school. Oops. Anyways, he and I have been emailing for a bit of time, so I sent him an email asking if I could come by and talk to him and thank him for his help. He seemed really eager and said it'd be great to meet me, so i' hoping this will give me an edge. I emailed Dean Roberts (transfer Dean) and he said it would be a big help to meet Paxton, and said to stop by and say hello once I'm there.
So, I think they do support "interviews", but more in the sense of just meeting you and putting a face to a name. They make notes in your application if something stands out, and who knows, that note that says "I met this student, seemed extremely bright and eager" might just give you that extra edge. I'll let you know how it went Sunday night when I'm back =)</p>
<p>Well, I met with Dean Marshall on Friday, and it went very well. It was totally informal, and we discussed the actual engineering school for only 5-10min, but instead more focused on what UVa has and my current school doesnt (im a transfer). The rest (10-15min) was all mostly random things, and he was very nice and laid-back, which was awesome. He commended me for stopping by and saying hello, and gave me lots of support and tips. Although i'm not sure yet if the visit will have helped for my admissions, i'm posistive that it definently helped my decision making.</p>