<p>Hey everyone, while perusing Hamilon's website the other day I cam across a startling piece of information (for me anyway) - an on-campus interview is highly-recommended. I know most of you probably already knew this but I just found out and didn't have one so.. does that mean I'm pretty much guaranteed rejection? I live near Rochester so I'm not exactly across the country, which I know wil probably factor into how they look at my lack of an interview.</p>
<p>If it helps... my stats are good, about a 2300 on the SAT, 3.9 UW, 4.2 W GPA, class secretary, team captain...</p>
<p>So basically I just want to find out if anyone knows of people who have gotten in without an interview, if there might have been extenuating cirucumstances preventing them from getting one (so not similar to me), or if anyone else didn't have an interview.</p>
<p>As far as I know (as a Hamilton freshman), it shouldn't mean automatic rejection. All inteviews are conducted by seniors at Hamilton rather than official members of the admissions staff. These students then do sit in committee, and if they've interviewed the student in question they will add their opinions. So, if you had an interview the senior intern would be able to give the admissions staff more information about you, but I'm sure the committee is understanding of things like schedule conflicts and busy senior years that prevent interviews.</p>
<p>Stargazer:
My daughter (waiting on RD) interviewed with an Admissions officer, not a student. Maybe that was because she was in Clinton in August, just as school was about to begin?</p>
<p>Kenone:
I'd suggest that you not worry too much about the lack of an interview. You seem to be a strong candidate already, and there are plenty of acceptable reasons for not making it to campus for an in-person interview.</p>
<p>Most of the schools to which my daughters applied "suggest" but don't require interviews -- even the ones that say they place more weight on the interview. As many have noted, the interview is just one element in the overall evaluation process. It's rarely a make or break proposition, to be sure. My girls' experience seemed to bear that out... virtually all of their interviews were very low-key, informal and unchallenging... in fact, more of a chance to ask questions than to make a personal "sales pitch." We keep hearing -- to the point of generally believing -- that most decisions come down to the tangible stuff: GPA, test scores, essays, etc. </p>
<p>Hey guys... thanks for the advice. Apparently my lack of an interview didn't matter as I got in anyway. My friend actually got in without even sending in the sample graded english essay... So I guess some of the requirements and recommendations are more lax than you might think.</p>
<p>I didn't have an interview, and I got in. I'm international (Swedish) as well, so that might be why. But I could have asked for an phone or alumni interview... hmm..</p>