D23 applied, toured, and interviewed at Holy Cross last year. We are local to the area. These are her impressions as I recall them. Loved the programs of study for her major. Campus is beautiful but fairly small and contained. Not sure what area you are from but the campus is very hilly, and windy, and fairly loud at least outside since it located next to I-290. No real quad or expanse o grass on campus if your S24 is drawn to that. Beautiful new student fitness center and brand new arts building (it opened after we toured). They are currently building new dorms for juniors and seniors. No cars on campus I believe for the first two years (this was important for D23). Urban setting but not the greatest area to walk to things. Worcester has made many improvements in recent years. Most notably the minor league baseball stadium which Holy Cross plays a lot of its games at now. Shuttles available to Union Station, which has the commuter rail to Boston. Also a shuttle to a local shopping area Blackstone Valley shops in Millbury, MA. There is a Target, Best Buy, Nordstrom Rack, Marshalls, and other chain shops, and restaurants. I often see students shopping there. Daughter had an in person interview with a student she didn’t really connect with the student but it was a positive experience overall. Not sure where you are from but Holy Cross hasn’t been shy about increasing their geographic diversity in recent years. Except them to do a deep dive into your financials and they will consider 100% of home equity if looking for any aid. Hope this helps.
Please note that as a Duke interviewer we got more information than may be available on the website. It is certainly not secret information: for ED, Duke is continuing prior -year plans to interview everyone possible, hopefully every single applicant. Of course it may mean some wont get one if there are not enough, but most regions have always had capacity to interview all ED candidates.
For RD, it is changed this year, as you quoted, and all they told us is what you have stated: interviews for RD will be for those they need more information.
They had to change to this due to the huge volume the past 3 cycles. Even with the change, candidates may get an interview from an alum out of their area due to capacity issues in their area(that had already happened in the recent 2-3 cycles).
The interview is not a large piece but it is important and I recommend all who are offered one, do one.
EDIT to add: our region just finished receiving ED applicants to assign, so interviewers have only had the information for a couple of days max. The writeups are due 11-20 so I would expect interviews to be coming soon for ED applicants. Students can be contacted by email or phone. Every year students do not answer multiple attempts, which is always surprising to me. We were not interviewing last year as we had an applicant, but from the region it appears it was the highest “no response” year ever, as far as students not ever replying.
I grew up in Middlebury and know it intimately. The buildings are beautiful and very well maintained inside. Students used to call it “Club Midd.” One attribute of the campus – as opposed to some other NESCAC schools – is the continuity and harmony of the architecture. Many buildings have similar stone, and it all blends well. Midd kids are “casual” preppy, like an expensive sweater paired with old jeans. Less business/career oriented than Williams (where I went) but not as loosey-goosey as Wesleyan. The town is small, quaint, and friendly. No crime. Outdoor activities abound. Midd owns the Breadloaf campus up in the mountains outside of town and uses it for events (and occasional student overflow) plus the college owns its own ski resort where students and locals mix. All first-year students get a free season pass!
My artsy LGBTQ+ kid was underwhelmed by Middlebury, as was my spouse. Some of it was preppy vibe, I think, but they also said the campus felt deserted. Someone told them everyone was off skiing; I guess they could have been kidding, but we aren’t skiers, so I think that added to the sense that it was a poor fit. They also said the information session was essentially a student talking about all of her amazing achievements, which didn’t give them much information about the school and the experience our kid would have there.
I’ve heard pretty much universally positive things about the place, so I really do believe this was a fit/vibe issue. For further context, kid loves Brown, Wesleyan, UVM; also likes Vassar.
I’ve come to the conclusion that 6 million people are applying to Brown this year.
Not mine 
. My husband and I both went there for grad school. S24 liked the open curriculum, but the campus was far too urban for his tastes. (He‘s a city kid and looking for a change of pace.) DH and I thought that some of the buildings were noticeably more run down inside than they used to be. Not sure if they are channeling their funds towards new buildings? Plenty of S24‘s classmates love the school though.
5,999,999. Corrected.
5,999,998. Brown appears to have been cut from my S24’s list as well. Just not quite his vibe, and he has liked too many other colleges better.
Alright, I’m liking my kid’s chances 
This is really helpful info for setting expectations. Thank you!
On the other hand, my S24 likes Vassar, so there is SOME conflict . . . .
I say people and not kids because Im pondering whether I should get another degree and apply TO to Brown with all the masses.
Really liking the open curriculum. Maybe they have a course on the history of the interstate highway system and its economic impact on highway sign manufacturers.
ECs:
Installed a 56k modem into a desktop computer.
Recycled American Online discs to get free internet.
As does mine 
It’s on!
Brown gets hotter and hotter each year. I think it’s because it feels particularly well aligned with this generation. Liberal, socially active, freedom for academic exploration, reputation for happy kids.
Or it’s it more of a case of “I don’t like it enough to ED, and I’ll probably not get in RD, so I’ll focus my efforts elsewhere?”
My S did not like Wesleyan, Vassar, Oberlin, but loved Brown. He is also applying, ha! (Back to 6,000,000)
So as I continue to be entertained by SCOIR, last night I looked at the numbers applying to some popular schools for our highly rated NJ suburban school with a graduating class around 300. There were over 50 kids who applied to northeastern, about 30 to Michigan and about the same to Binghamton. I found those numbers shocking ( and only a little more applied to Rutgers!)
How can you see how many applied in Scoir? I wonder if our school has that turned off…
So if you go to the scattergram and change the year to just this year, it tells you how many kids also applied to another school. If you choose a really popular EA school (for us Rutgers) it will say how many also applied to another really popular EA school (like northeastern) it will under estimate some but should give a general sense. If there are zero under a school then nobody applied to that school yet.