<p>I just received an email for the Stanford interview and I wanted to know if declining will lower my chances of being accepted. It is not that I do not want to do it, just I want to know how imperative is it that I do an interview.</p>
<p>I would strongly recommend that you have the interview…since it can help you show the “human” side of the applicant that often cannot be portrayed just in an “application”…</p>
<p>…I know so many California students who would “kill” to have an interview with Stanford so that they can separate themselves with other “similar” sounding applicants…but cannot…since California residents are still not offered this opportunity…</p>
<p>…it is one more way for you to separate yourself from 41,000 other applicants…think about it…</p>
<p>…it is nothing to fear…but to embrace and really enjoy!</p>
<p>I agree strongly with gravitas2. I had my Stanford interview last week and really had a great experience. I just had a casual conversation with the guy over coffee for an hour. Just go in there with an open mind and have a good time.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice! Stanford is one of my dream schools so I hope this will help increase my chances.</p>
<p>The one school I denied to interview for, I ended up getting on something called a “priority waitlist.” I think they wanted to see if I cared enough about the school, after declining the interview, so as not to risk hurting their yield.</p>
<p>Stanford probably doesn’t view things the same exact way (they don’t even have a priority waitlist, to my knowledge) but it’s never a good idea to turn these things down unless: a) you don’t want to go to Stanford or b) you have a very compelling reason not to interview.</p>