<p>Some posters have said that interviews don't matter. As a Penn alumni, and an interviewer for many years, I can tell you that the AdCom considers interviews an integral part of an applicant's file. Interviews are a chance for the committee to see the candidate as a person, not just a stack of papers and data. A positive interview recommendation from the interviewer will enhance a candidate's chances, especially from a seasoned interviewer who has seen many candidates and can tell the committee that a candidate really stands out. </p>
<p>Some candidates may not be able to get an interview because of lack of alumni availability. Also, some candidates certainly get in without them. But a blanket statement that "interviews don't matter" sounds suspect on its face, and I can tell you from experience, it is the wrong advice, don't follow it.</p>
<p>interviews are a particular person’s perception of the candidate, which is much less legitimate of an assessment than even the self-selected, biased review of a recommendation letter.</p>
<p>I think interviews do matter but that they can only hurt you, not help you.</p>
<p>you like to think they’re a crucial aspect of the application because you spent your time/energy giving interviews and want to justify it, but in reality they are informational 99% of the time. not an important admissions factor. i never had one.</p>
<p>^ I agree, many people do not get interviews, so I find it extremely unfair for the interviews to hold much weight. It’s not the applicant’s fault for living in an area without alumni, and they should’nt be disadvantaged because of it. Like others have said, a bad one will hurt, and a good interview won’t change anything. Amazing/ spectacular interviews will usually translate in the greatness of the LORS or essays.</p>
<p>I would simply state that they are not necessarily “unimportant,” as they give an applicant a chance to learn more about the school, and they give the interviewer a chance to assess fit. That being said, not getting an interview won’t hurt you. A positive interview may help reinforce an otherwise great application – and a negative one may work against you. But you won’t be looked at unfavorably for not having an interview unless you outright refused one.</p>
<p>In the end, though, an interview can’t hold much weight, really. MOST interviews tend to go just fine, I would presume. It would be unfair to favor one applicant over another just because one had access to an interview and the other one didn’t. Plenty of people get into good schools even if they had a crappy interview. Plenty of people with crappy interviews get rejected, too, but their applications were likely comparably weaker. I’d argue that people who get rejected typically don’t get canned by the interview alone unless something awful went down.</p>
<p>I read on the boards that someone called Penn and Penn said that only about 50% of applicants get an interview. If the interview was that important, I’m sure they would try to get more applicants interviewed.</p>
<p>^An0maly, that was me. I called, and yes… only 50% got interviewed. so jamon, interviews do not matter at all. they are just averification check if the kid is normal or not.</p>