<p>I actually had the luck to talk to the director of admissions about this; I had wondered how I got Regents’ without outstanding SAT scores and she said, quite simply, that the people who, after they read their entire application, admissions would not think twice about accepting, get interviews. Only CA people get interviews but I’d bet the process is quite similar for non-CA residents. After the interview, I think your interview evaluation from the prof along with any letters of rec you give the prof goes over to the professor committe and they chose who gets it.</p>
<p>I don’t know if they take recs but the my best guess as to a best bet would be calling the admissions department. Who knows, the number k_twin gave might help too. Good luck to you!</p>