<p>I was contacted today by Cornell to schedule a phone interview. This was something I wasn't expecting--has this happened to anyone else or can someone shed some light on this? I applied ED to the College of Engineering.</p>
<p>yes nearly everyone gets interviewed unless your from alaska or something. i got my alumni interview in person but you may not have any alumni in your area. </p>
<p>dont worry cornell interviews are very informal (except hotel school) .
trust me, they dont count at all just dont say something really stupid like “i think cornell hockey sucks”.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s the case that nearly everyone gets interviewed. That’s the ideal goal, but the last statistic I heard on the topic (in 2004) was that about 60% of applicants nationwide get official alumni meetings.</p>
<p>Also, if you live in a low-alumni area and/or there are scheduling difficulties, you might be invited to a meeting-by-phone instead of an in-person meeting.</p>
<p>For non-Hotel, non-AAP applicants, whether or not you’re contacted depends solely on the size and organization of the alumni association in your area. If the association messes up, it’s even possible for one student to be contacted while another student from the same neighborhood at the same high school is not. </p>
<p>If you’re not contacted, don’t worry or read anything into it; it doesn’t imply anything about your admissions chances. </p>
<p>If you haven’t been contacted by the 2nd week of November for ED or late February for RD, and you really want a meeting, you can call your local alumni association and ask.</p>
<p>Alumni “interviews” are actually called alumni “contacts” within Cornell - because they are not, in fact, interviews. The only evalutive interviews are for AAP and Hotel. If you are not offered an alumni contact session, it will not negatively impact your application. </p>
<p>From the Admissions page:
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<p>I had my phone interview last Friday (and unfortunately, I was only given half-an-hour to prepare material… Thankfully, I remembered some points from the on-campus interview I had just taken for cornell architecture! haha)</p>
<p>The interview itself was actually quite casual and conversational; plus, it only lasted for about half-an-hour.
Be prepared to explain why you choose Cornell, elaborate on your hobbies/ec’s, and talk about why you pick engineering.
Your interviewer will be writing a report that will be sent and evaluated along with the rest of your application, so be sure to include whatever you had neglected to mention in the rest of your app!
Don’t forget to relax - they are there to HELP you look good! :)</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>The interview is not necessary for admission. I never received an interview (and I lived in the Bay Area not Podunk, USA). In fact, I even requested an interview at one of their local events and still didn’t get one. I was accepted anyway and am now an alumnus.</p>
<p>i literally wore my pajamas (i got in)</p>
<p>I’m in NorCal too. It seems as if the Cornell alumni chapter here is not active at all (their website was last updated in 2003 I think…)</p>