<p>My DD has now heard from all but one of the colleges she applied to. Although every one of them said the interview was optional, it dawned on me that she was accepted to all the colleges she had an interview at, and waitlisted at all the colleges she did not have an interview. We did visit all the colleges, so we did show "interest" in that way. I was curious if anyone else has had this same experience? She has yet to hear from the "reachiest" of her reaches, and she interviewed there, so my theory may yet be blown up.</p>
<p>Well, I know Smith has optional interviews. I never did one and got one of their only merit scholarships…so I doubt it really matters if they really want you(not to say they didn’t really want your D of course!)</p>
<p>That’s good to hear, then. I strongly urged her to interview everywhere she applied and was feeling guilty about not having insisted, but maybe the result would have been the same. How I wish I could stop second-guessing myself!</p>
<p>Interviews give the college an extra set of data points to consider when looking at your application. They give some depth to the stats that are already on the page, but they don’t replace them and they usually don’t outweigh them. An interview might help if you’re borderline, but at interview optional schools they really don’t count for that much. They couldn’t be, or else it would not be fair the many many many applicants who aren’t able to go and interview (can’t afford the money or the time, no alum in the area, etc). </p>
<p>I wouldn’t beat yourself up about it. It’s an interesting coincidence, but it could have been a very wide mix of factors that led to her acceptance at certain schools and waitlisting at another. Could have been geographic, different standards, different evaluation of her ECs, of her financial need. Schools are different, they look for different things each year and in different combos. Trying to determine the reason why you were accepted or turned down is usually pretty fruitless.</p>
<p>So far: best interview - rejected. Okay interview - accepted EA. No interview - accepted.</p>
<p>It’s probably coincidence. That’s a very small set of data points.</p>
<p>Your daughter could have been wearing blue socks on the days she was accepted and red ones on the days where she was rejected. :D</p>
<p>Ha! Actually, we had an “official” interview outfit, so she wore the same thing each time. I guess that’s a topic for a new thread: “which color socks lead to greatest acceptance rates?” Think I’ll let someone else start that one.</p>
<p>You daughter has been accepted to college! Congratulations! She has been accepted to more than one college so has some choices, too! She has a wealth of options and is a lucky person. No reason to obsess over the rejections…</p>
<p>3andout, my son has had similar results as your daughter, accepted at the 4 schools where he had interviewed and waitlisted at the one that he visited but was not able to schedule an interview. His final school did not do interviews and we are not too optimistic. I am sure it was just a coincidence and the decision would have been tougher to make if he had gotten in to the waitlist school.</p>
<p>No interview at Bowdoin - accepted. Great interview with Carleton - accepted. Mediocre interview with Northwestern - waitlisted. No interview with Middlebury - waitlisted.</p>
<p>Not sure there’s much of a correlation.</p>
<p>IT’S A TRAP!</p>
<p>No seriously, do optional interviews. Colleges love it.</p>
<p>I interviewed five people last year, thought four of them were fantastics, and the one I wrote a lackluster response for got in!</p>