Requiring interview after essays?

Prep School Admissions
1

I was scheduling interviews earlier today and noticed that some schools (Masters, Westover) require applicants to submit their essays before interviewing. Does anyone know why this is?

Masters says: “After an application has been received, we will contact you to setup a Zoom interview. Interviews are scheduled Monday through Friday.” with no further explanation. (I might be misunderstanding this statement though)

Westover says: “To ensure equity through the interview, we require that all applicants submit their student essays prior to their interview.” I’m not entirely sure how this would ensure equity, though. If anyone knows, please let me know!

2

Let me translate:

To avoid wasting our admissions officers’ time interviewing applicants who never apply, we require a submitted application before scheduling an interview.

3

Yes, that. I am actually surprised how many schools allowed us to schedule interviews without having anything submitted!

Also, an essay allows for obvious interview topics and a more personalized interview.