Interviewing Dilemma

Parents Forum
1

<p>Hi, I'm going to be a senior in the fall and I'm trying to get a lot of the </p>

<p>college application process out of the way before school starts. I was </p>

<p>visiting the websites of the schools I'm applying to and saw that at Bryn </p>

<p>Mawr and Haverford an interview is pretty much mandatory and i </p>

<p>evaluative, so I know I have to interview there. But what do I do about my </p>

<p>other schools, which only reccomend interviews, not mandate them. Do I </p>

<p>have to interview at the remaining 6 schools (Dickinson, Lafayette, </p>

<p>Bucknell, TCNJ, Gettysburg and maybe Kenyon)? </p>

<p>I'm strongly interested in Dickinson, so I plan to interview there, but how </p>

<p>do I choose where else to interview? Is there a correct way to handle this?</p>

<p>Any help would be much appreciated!</p>

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<p>Sahra:</p>

<p>Ideally, interview everywhere, whether it's mandatory or merely recommended. It does not mean that you have to travel to the campus for the interview. Let the college know that you are applying, that you are very interested and request an alumni interview if it is a possibility. If there is no alumnus living close to you, the college may opt for a phone interview. But, aside from getting to know more about the college and getting adcom to learn more about you, interviews are also about showing interest. So interviews can be quite important.
By the way, although we live close to the campus where my S will be attending, he was interviewed by an alumna off-campus anyway.</p>

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<p>My daughter just completed her freshman year at Dickinson. She did go for the interview (it was with an admissions counselor, not a student like at some of the other colleges where she interviewed). I would strongly recommend it. Small LAC's like Dickinson are becoming more selective. An interview, especially if it goes well, gives the admissions committee something special to remember about YOU. As Marite said, it clearly demonstrates interest if you choose to interview when it's not required. Make sure to have a few questions prepared ahead of time. After my daughter's interivew, the interviewer came out and talked to me. She complemented D's focus and poise. D applied RD and was nervous about the small number of spots left after the 2 rounds of ED. It could have been her interview that put her over the top when it came time for the final round.</p>