No Interview? Urgent.

<p>Well, I have no excuse, I just didn't pay enough attention.</p>

<p>I didn't make an interview request for Swarthmore and they're completely done with alumni interviews. I see that interviews are "highly recommended." Will this affect my chances?</p>

<p>I do have the option of calling tomorrow for an on-campus interview request and hoping I can get one before Friday (their last day). However, I live about 2-3 hours away and I have exams 9am-12pm Wednesday-Friday t. I could probably move my Friday exam to Thursday if I'm able to get a Friday interview though... Is it worth it?</p>

<p>I doubt that it will make or break your chances, either way.</p>

<p>Another interview question: I requested an alumni interview about five weeks ago, and I was never contacted. I sort of forgot about it. What should I do?</p>

<p>^I have the same question! Except it’s only been about two weeks for me.</p>

<p>^
If they don’t have alumni, they don’t have alumni. There’s nothing you can do about that. The interview isn’t that heavily weighted anyway, so don’t worry.</p>

<p>Nevermind. I got into Pomona.</p>

<p>I am almost 100% positive Swat doesn’t accept anyone who hasn’t interviewed. But double-check. I think I remember reading it on their website…</p>

<p>^^ That’s wrong. I was accepted without an interview.</p>

<p>Does that mean that not having an interview will not adversely affect your chances of admission? no. But it’s not the be-all end-all.</p>

<p>I sure hope that isn’t true, because I requested an interview and they emailed back that they were unable to find any alumni in my area to interview me. So I doubt they would automatically reject everyone who hasn’t interviewed, particularly because in some cases, it is simply out of the applicant’s control.</p>

<p>Again it’s definitely not true. They won’t automatically reject you because you didn’t interview – ESPECIALLY if it’s beyond your control or because they couldn’t supply you with an interviewer. Not interviewing becomes an issue when you CAN interview (let’s say you live 10 minutes away from campus) and you don’t.</p>

<p>CranberryOrange, if you’re really worried talk to your college counselor or drop your regional representative an e-mail. They keep track of all correspondence with students. If Swat is one of your top choices then that would be worth the sacrifice – it’s better to have no regrets when it comes to this process. If you end up not interviewing find a way to fill that gap in your application… perhaps an email update later on in the year with some notable additions to your application, or something of that nature. I’m assuming you’ve already visited campus.</p>

<p>@liminal–I missed the interview deadline as well and I’ve been thinking about emailing my regional representative. I’m not sure though, what I would write. A lot of people have told me it helps if you contact admissions officers, but I never really know what to say. I don’t want to seem like I’m just emailing for the sake of emailing, and I don’t want to seem annoying.</p>

<p>For the most part, the time to communicate with regional admissions reps and professors and all that stuff is over. It’s Christmas and then admissions reps dive into the all consuming task of reading a mountain of applications – over 6000 at Swarthmore, which is a Herculean task. The average admissions rep will do nothing but pour another cup of coffee and try to stay awake to read another Why Swarthmore? essay, for the next three months.</p>

<p>Jacques Steinberg’s book, The Gatekeepers, gives a pretty good snapshot of what the process is like.</p>

<p>I’m going to disagree with the above statement. When I e-mailed my rep in February/March of last year I received a timely, personalized response.</p>

<p>I think the e-mail depends on how interested you are in the school. For instance, my e-mail talked about the fact that I hadn’t ever formally visited Swarthmore, despite my living half an hour away…, and that I had made it to campus for a visit and was basically in love with the school and that I hoped they wouldn’t see my lack of a visit thus far as a lack of sincere interest, blah blah blah. I knew I wanted to go to Swat.</p>

<p>In a case such as this I would offer a way to counterbalance your application. So maybe you could point out that even though you missed the deadline (and obviously, you’re not the only one) you’re still interested in Swarthmore. Hopefully that comes through in other parts of your application – if you live nearby maybe try and make it to campus for a second visit. Depending on where you stand as in applicant it may not seem annoying but it might fill the interest gap that they’re looking for. For more info about how to form the email perhaps talk to your guidance/college counselor.</p>