I’m from New York, and I had my interview a couple of days ago and it went incredibly well. The interviewer said that I was one of the brightest kids she’s interviewed and that she would write me a stellar recommendation. I have good grades but not fabulous (3.9 UW, 4.5 W – a couple B+s in the past 4 yrs) and only a 33ACT. I guess I’m just wondering if my interview is really going to make a difference in my admission decision since I am kind of in the 25th% for grades. I have tons and tons of EC and like I said, the interviewer and I got along incredibly well and she asked me some tough questions that I believe I answered quite well.
Interviews usually verify what’s already in an applicant’s file. My impression is that a bad interview can hurt you a lot more than a good interview can help you.
Alumni interviews are traditionally thought to be the least important part of an applicant’s file. As @AdmissionsAddcit said, a wonderful interview report should confirm whatever is already in your file. I’m happy you had a wonderful interview, but I imagine hundreds, and possibly thousands of applicants, have them as well, so I wouldn’t use the strength of an interview as any indicator of acceptance. See: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/29Rparenting.html
I’ve been interviewing for over 25 years and have had 3 applicants admitted. Probably the same overall percentage as the applicant pool. If you’re on the bubble with the AdComs the interview may tip the scales but I agree, if you’re firmly in the admit or reject pile, the interview probably won’t change things. Yale really does a very good job of picking it’s class - one student at a time. Each student is a melting pot of attributes, so it’s always hard to pinpoint what makes a successful candidate.
One amazing tool I would suggest is the Common Data Set. Here’s the link for the one for Yale: http://oir.yale.edu/common-data-set According to the link, the interview is “considered” but other things like your GPA and standardized test scores are “very important.” In other words, the interview is a good thing to pursue but not necessarily something that will guarantee admission. I had an interview as well, and I personally loved hearing about Yale from the interviewer’s perspective. I asked her why she chose Yale, and she echoed many of the things I already believed about Yale and wanted to experience in college.