<p>I have a personal question of opinion to ask of you...I am considering getting an on-campus interview because i'm going to be up in Boston next week. After calling however, I found out that the day I want to interview is fully booked. There is a possibility for me to have an interview the day before but it might be a bit inconvenient for my mom who's driving. I'm wondering if it really matters whether I have an on-campus interview or an alumni interview. I personally think that on-campus is better because it shows that you actually had the care to visit. I'm going to visit Smith anyway interview or no interview...just perhaps without interviewing. What do you guys think? Should I go for the interview anyway? Or do you think an alumni interview would do? Thanks! Argggg...I really wish that day was open! I really want to do interview on-campus.</p>
<p>If you can't get an interview, don't worry about it. Due to extenuating circumstances, I couldn't get an interview and I still got in. I'm not saying that it's not important at all but there are other aspects of your app that are more important.</p>
<p>Even if you can't sign up for the interview in advance, go and do the tour thingy and they might squeeze you in anyway just because you're there...and somebody else might not show up or be running late, etc.</p>
<p>That said, not having an on-campus interview won't hurt your chances. While the effect probably varies widely, if you interviewed with some of the alumni interviewers in our area their opinions would be respected very much.</p>
<p>The only reason to get an on-campus interview, as far as I know, is that it's convenient (you can have the interview, tour, etc. all on the same visit). If it's not convenient, don't bother. I didn't get an interview at all because the closest one was too far away, and I still got in. Don't worry about it =)</p>
<p>Don't worry about it. An interview can hurt you just as much as it can help you. (In my case, it hurt me. It went horribly since I wasn't prepared but my mom decided that I should do it anyway while we were up there. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>I agree, Summer. For my daughter, the interview may have been the tipping factor. She had six other (impressive) women applying from her school, and she was one of only two to get in. Of course, I don't know for a fact that it was the tipping point since I did not have access to her recommendations. I do know, however, that when she left the interview still talking to the Ad Officer, they were laughing. When the Ad Officer came over to us (her parents), I remarked that we all had been impressed with Smith. Her response? "I can see it in your daughter's eyes." I think that her tangible excitement about Smith, as well as her strong interviewing skills, played an important part. You can't fake that.</p>
<p>Conversely, some applicants cannot convey their enthusiasm well through the interview format. They may be too shy or nervous or stressed out to perform well. In those cases, the interview might not help.</p>
<p>My opinion? The interview can't hurt, but it can help. If you are able to give the AdCom another piece of who you are, you should take advantage of it.</p>
<p>Thanks Momwaitingfornew! that really really a nice statement...from what I heard from the others, I got an idea that the interview is really not something of a statement. But I do believe that yes, if you love the school, you can show that love easily. I hope I show it well!</p>
<p>I think the importance of interviews largely depends on your circumstance. For instance, if there are some sketchy aspects of your application (e.g. poor grades one semester, a particular extracurricular that's difficult to elaborate on the common-ap), then an interview can help sort out the problem. Also, and I think this relates to what MWFN said, it depends on how many people from your school are applying. Not a whole lot of people from my school applied to Smith, and instead I invested in being interviewed for colleges that had more applicants.</p>
<p>Also, with the exception of a few horror stories I've heard (none of the ones I've heard about involved Smith), interviews tend to go fairy smoothly. They probably help you more than hurt.</p>
<p>Yeah, interviews are pretty easy, it's as much an audition for the school as you (okay, maybe not <em>as</em> much, but kind of). If you're interviewer is terrible to you, or makes the interview really difficult, then you may decide you don't want to go to that school anyway, screw them! So they try to make it a pleasant experience. </p>
<p>Since alum interviewers and admissions interviewers have pretty much the same training and the same process they go through, I doubt very much it will make a difference if you do it on campus or with an alum. Your interview notes just get filed away for later anyway, until it's time to review your app, and yes it can help the application if that extra push is needed, but it wouldn't be fair of Smith to penalize students who couldn't make it all the way out to MA during a free interview time. </p>
<p>"Since alum interviewers and admissions interviewers have pretty much the same training and the same process they go through, I doubt very much it will make a difference if you do it on campus or with an alum."</p>
<p>I disagree here. Although I cannot speak directly to the way Smith "trains" its alumni for interviews, I do know how two Ivies handle it -- no training at all, just a list of points to cover. </p>
<p>Next, the alumnae are not making the final decision on the applications. They are supplying information, sure, but, when your application comes up, you want an advocate. Because you are generally (though not always) assigned to the admissions officer who handles your region, a good interview gives you a shot at being remembered by the person handling the first round of decisions. An interviewer at the admissions office is not only an interviewer; she is on the ground floor of discussions and decisions. An alumna is not.</p>
<p>Momwaitingfornew, that is really a good point! I was actually thinking about that when thinking of scheduling an interview with Smith. I decided I should go on campus for that purpose...the weight of an admissions officer with a good report is better than that of an alumni. Ahhh!! Two more days till the Smith Interview!! Thanks guys!! You're all so supportive...</p>
<p>Yeah, but an "admissions officer" who does your interview could be anyone in the office. They even have students they train for this kind of thing. They put your interview into your file and don't look at in in most cases until the spring, by which time it doesn't make too much of a difference IMO. But, I guess if you want that extra edge, it can't hurt.</p>
<p>Good point. "Who" interviews you in the admissions office can vary a lot. But I still wouldn't stress about it unless you thought you might be "on the bubble."
Of course, with Smith now being an official "Hot" college....</p>
<p>Hey guys! I'm back from my 12 school tour, and yes, I did see Smith and I had a really nice conversation with the admissions officer. I did like Smith very much, but I wish I could visit it when the school was in session because you can get the real vibe of the community then. My mom apparently didn't like it too much but I left feeling a good vibe. I think i'm definately applying to Smith in the fall! The interview was quite nice and I tried to show who I was inside and my ideas on life ( since that's something I always like to talk about). I have to say, the facilities looked amazing although we didn't get to see the main academic buildings aside from the science building.
I'm worried about my SATs and when I told the admissions officer, she said it was the last thing the board looks at after looking at other things. She also said that it was almost as if the school didn't look at SAT scores. I hope what she said was right because i'm really worried about myself.
Anyway, that was an enjoyable visit. Thank you all for prepping me up for my interview. It went swell!</p>
<p>The admissions officer wasn't making it up. Back when Ruth Simmons was President, she commissioned a study among the admissions office, faculty, and office of institutional research to determine: 1) whether SAT scores were an indicator of future success at Smith (as measured by GPA and dropout rate), and 2) whether the use of SAT worked at cross purposes to Smith 30-year commitment to economic diversity in the student body. After three years of study, the answers came back, and both were unequivocal: No, and Yes. As a result, the admissions office is on marching orders from the President to consider SATs last, simply as a measure of whether the student can be expected to do the work. They do use them slightly more for: homeschoolers, international students (again, more a handle on preparation), and they might use them in considering the few merit scholarships and STRIDE positions.</p>