the interview - how much does it count?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Rochester
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<p>Nervous mother post ahead: My son interviewed with an admissions counselor off site. He did early notification - after reading the posts I checked his app, and I was very pleased he knew to do that!</p>

<p>Anyway - the interviewer didn't have my sons stats. However, they talked for an hour, even brought my husband over afterwards, my son was beaming, dh reports the interviewer was beaming. Both reported the interviewer said on at least 3 occasions, you are exactly the student Rochester is looking for... He's a wannabe engineer who wants to double major in either psychology or philosophy. It makes every other school pale in comparison - nowhere else will allow him that flexibility. He invited ds to visit the school in October for engineering day and stay over, but after one visit a few months prior, it just wasn't feasible for him to miss school and us get him there. (his school is VERY tight on absences for college visits and tells you to save your visits for spring) </p>

<p>I'm concerned that since I wasn't able to send him back after being invited it will be looked upon poorly. </p>

<p>Also, how much weight is given to the interview? Ds is so much more impressive when you meet him than on paper where I'm sure he looks like so many other students. Is there a different admit rate for ed, en and rd applicants?</p>

<p>Lastly, we checked we didn't need FA, and we don't intend on filling out a fafsa. However, it doesn't mean we wouldn't like some other merit based money if possible. What percentage of students receive merit based only aid? </p>

<p>BTW... your interviewer did a great job getting my son completely excited about attending, now we have to sweat and panic over the admissions decision. I've tried to warn ds that it is by no means a guarantee of admissions, and you have no idea if they say that to everyone. With a 30 something percent admit rate, it's a nail biter.</p>

<p>Whew... I feel better just getting that out! :)</p>

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<p>eyemamom,</p>

<p>Don’t stress out about the campus visit at this point. If anything, just know that we will have multiple “Admitted Student Days” in April. I believe we are going to call these “The 2016 Experience” this year. If your son wants to get a feel for the campus after he (hopefully) gets admitted, those are the perfect days to attend!</p>

<p>Until then, he can check out Rochester 360 to get a feel for campus life: [Rochester</a> 360](<a href=“http://enrollment.rochester.edu/admissions/res/swf/360/index.html]Rochester”>http://enrollment.rochester.edu/admissions/res/swf/360/index.html) </p>

<p>While academic rigor / performance are very important, Rochester Admissions Counselors care about your interview, your extracurriculars, your essays, and your demonstrated understanding of the school too. The holistic approach that we take when reviewing applications means that your son’s interview will carry some weight! I hope this is encouraging news. Additionally, students who interview are statistically more likely (not guaranteed) to receive a merit scholarship. </p>

<p>In terms of admit rates… Last year the U of R admit rate was 36%. It was a little easier (but not by much) to get in if you applied as an ED applicant. This is our first time trying the Early Notification approach, so we do not have those admit rates available at this time.</p>

<p>My advice to all students is to submit your application sooner rather than later (regardless if you’re EN or RD). Here’s why… </p>

<p>1) The sooner you apply, the sooner you will enter an Admissions Counselor’s application queue. I read applications in the order that they are received. If you submitted your application in November, I’m going to read it very soon (if I haven’t done it already!). Please realize that Counselors are prioritizing ED applicants, CAPS applicants, and EN applicants at this time. </p>

<p>2) The merit scholarship pool is bigger in December than it is in March. If you have grades and test scores that are at or above Rochester’s averages, you may be competitive for a merit scholarship. The merit pool shrinks over time, so it is always a good idea to complete you application earlier rather than later. (All U of R applicants, even those who don’t fill out the FAFSA and CSS Profile, will still be considered for a merit scholarship. Don’t worry eyemamom!)</p>

<p>3) As the application cycle progresses, it does become slightly harder to get in. We start admitting students by the time early decision letters are released on December 15th. We cannot over-admit a potential freshman class (we don’t want to fill freshman housing with triples!), so Counselors will be more selective once February comes along.</p>

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<p>To translate into parentese, it seems UR really does try to find kids that fit, that have interests they want to develop, that will be part of the UR community. I’m not sure how admissions weights the interview but my guess it becomes part of the picture, meaning “does something jump out that’s bad or good”. This is important because they’re looking at so many applications from so many qualified kids and they have to pick. (My experience with this is somewhat dated; I used to interview for my undergrad and had a number of admissions meetings about the process.) I think, btw, a big reason they push for everyone to have an interview is because they’re looking for that extra bit of information that helps make a decision. It seems to have become part of the UR admissions culture.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the info. Ds just loved the campus, and I could tell on the tour how interested he was when he stayed closer to the tour guide - and it wasn’t even a pretty girl! It became my litmus for him, how close he stayed to the front. He’s excited about the snow, which makes me laugh - if a school has tunnels, that should tell you something about the winter. </p>

<p>You know when you can just tell if something is a fit or not? This was it for him. I could tell everything about it fit for him, particularly the music school - he spends untold hours practicing every day, and though he’s an engineer type, he really loves psychology and philosophy and it’s the only engineering program that would let him double major.</p>

<p>But, he’s not “perfect” and this is not a safety for him. I want to make people on CC stop suggesting kids to apply here as their safety and potentially take his spot. :slight_smile: He is obviously way stronger in math/science which makes me worry about all admits for him. Near perfect math, and only average critical reading, but the truth is he analyzes everything so much he had to take his permit test 3 times because of his over thinking. He’s the child who when touring Williamsburg stayed with the blacksmith for hours to learn everything about making nails and then went home and checked out every book about it, then asked for the equipment for Christmas - lol. </p>

<p>However, when all you go by is grades and scores you miss out on a lot of what kids have to offer. A little relieving about the interviewing, I believe he saw what I saw about what a fit the school and the ds were, and I think his essays were pretty good, so we’ll just have to wait and see.</p>

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<p>There are a lot of kids at UR like this.</p>

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<p>It’s funny, we visited many Boston schools thinking at least one would be a fit and Boston is such a great college town. Tufts came the closest but my daughter in the end just didn’t care much for it and won’t apply. UR, different story, very interested, though she’s not a math and science girl. We’ll see what happens.</p>

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<p>Most popular majors at UR are liberal arts, not sciences. Second are soft sciences. </p>

<p>Tufts is a campus you can love or hate. I think it’s the hill. Same size as UR but different. The medical campus is in Boston so it’s separate. At our high school, it seems almost everyone in the top quintiles applies: it’s a reach for some and a fallback for Ivies (and other popular schools like Wesleyan for some). Insanely popular application at good Boston area high schools.</p>

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<p>middleoftheroad, your daughter shouldn’t worry about applying to UR if she’s not interested in math or science. Both my major and minor are in the humanities, and I fit in just fine here. I transferred here from a well regarded LAC, and I’m so much more impressed with the quality of humanities and social science courses here – on the whole, great professors, interesting course offerings, and a constructive class environment. There are also plenty of people majoring in things other than math and science… much more than I realized before I got here, even, so I can see where you got that impression!</p>

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<p>is it too late to have an interview? how to you get one?</p>

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<p>It may too late to get one, but you can request an interview thru your MYROC admission account.</p>

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<p>You might be able to get with with an Alumni. You click the alumini section once you have a MYROC acct and put in your zip to find an alumni close to you.</p>

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<p>Looping back around to the topic of this thread, I think the interview was part of what gave my daughter a very positive impression of UR. She also came out beaming like the OP’s son and felt very good about the conversation because the interviewer after hearing about her courses, grades and ECs told her she would be a strong candidate.</p>

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<p>I want to add a note: if an interview isn’t that great - which is subjective and may not be how the interviewer saw it - the main things in an application are still your grades, scores, essays, etc.</p>