<p>Right now I can schedule interviews with a few of the schools (NU, U of Chicago, etc) I'm applying to (none are required), but I don't know if it is necessary. </p>
<p>Are interviews weighed into admissions?
Can they have a big impact on admission?
Do you need to bring anything? (resume?)
How do you prepare for them? (what kind of questions to expect)</p>
<p>Go to the Common Data Sets of the schools you want to interview with and see how much importance they place on an interview. Generally speaking, since it would be impossible to interview all the candidates from around the country or around the world, interviews are strictly optional and of minimal input. Schools are also quick to point out that they do not want to put an applicant who can’t afford to get to an interview site at a disadvantage. I suppose input from an interview could be a tipping point if it came down to two candidates, but that seems unlikely.</p>
<p>if you interview with someone from the admissions office itself, it can be a significant factor depending on whether you make a strong impression (good or bad). If you sign up for an interview with an alumnus these are <em>generally</em> not given much weight because the interviewers are not as well trained. Giving an interview is a skill than takes learning and practice and alums don’t get the training or volume that someone from the admissions office does. One alum’s great student is another’s unremarkable applicant. However any red flag from an alumni interview will get attention. There are, of course, some alums that have been doing it for a number of years and that the adcoms have come to know and trust, and from these an endorsement is a plus.</p>
<p>To prepare, get any book about job interviews since the questions are more or less the same. Expect open-ended questions; for example “tell me about yourself”. Bringing a resume is a good idea; you can offer it to the interviewer and they can decide if they want to use it or not.</p>