What does it mean to have an interview this late in the cycle?

<p>Somone I know was just contacted for a Yale interview. What do you think this means?</p>

<p>I’m no expert, but from what I’ve read on this forum, it probably means nothing. The option itself of getting an interview is dependent on a lot of things (all independent of an applicant’s admission chances) and from what I’ve gathered, the order in which the interviews are given is completely arbitrary. Your friend was probably just towards the bottom of the list of a busy group of alumni interviewers in his or her region, no biggie.</p>

<p>qcassidy: the person interviewing is actually not in the region, though. It will be a phone/internet interview.</p>

<p>Define “not in the region”. For Yale interview purposes, a state or even a country can be a region. An interview at such a late date either means the alumni interviewer is really late in acting or the applicant is on the bubble and admissions has requested a last minute interview. Is the interview with an alum or someone in New Haven?</p>

<p>I am pretty sure that for many ivy leagues the interview report deadline has passed.
That can only mean, i’m guessing, that that person is a borderline affirmative.</p>

<p>Even I had a ‘last-minute interview’ (according to my interviewer), and I have to say I was also very tempted into believing it had something to do with my admissions decision, especially since I’m an international.</p>

<p>However, as far as Yale policy seemingly goes, it doesn’t so I don’t think it would do your friend any good to feel unusually excited about it. But it never hurts to be optimistic- so try to be patient (SO hypocritical of me, I know) and good luck!</p>

<p>AdmissionsAddict: The interview is with an alum. The applicant is international, so the alum is in the US and the applicant is not. Do you think the “applicant is borderline” interpretation is the most likely?</p>

<p>My D also got a “late” request for an interview. She received an email from an alum last week, saying “I know it’s short notice, but I’d like to interview you by the end of next week…” My suspicion is that she’s on the bubble, but who knows? Other interviews that she had were completed some time ago, and she did not have an interview for every school she applied to. We are in the US in the Midwest.</p>

<p>kaj826, thanks for the info. I guess we can only be optimistic and hope for the best. Best of luck!</p>

<p>So if you got an interview before the deadline it means that either you’re an auto-reject or an automatic shoo-in?</p>

<p>An interview this late in the cycle means more than an interview done before February 15. In my experience, the request comes attached with a note that the adcoms in New Haven had a particular interest in hearing about this kid. Perhaps there was some debate about an inconsistency in the record or with a letter of recommendation and the applicant was on the cusp of admission or rejection. I have never been specifically told what they are looking for but I don’t think this is a case of busy alumni interviewers.</p>

<p>@YaleGrandDad
For those who “get” an interview before Feb. 15. Do you think that there is a correlation between getting the interview and Yale’s interest on the applicant?</p>

<p>Rudess: I also got an interview request recently, and generally from what I’ve read on CC, I think it means that adcoms is on the fence about the candidate and wants another evaluation to help them make a final decision. I assume that at the very least it has some significance more than just the routine interview offer if they are deliberately giving the candidate another interview late in the admissions season.</p>

<p>fca719:</p>

<p>There is no correlation between an interview before 2/15 and acceptance. Yale’s policy is to offer as many interviews as possible and the number not interviewed is based on the relative supply of interviewing alumni in your region. Although I think it would be unwise to decline an interview offerred, the acceptance rates show no disadvantage to those not offerred an interview.</p>

<p>Thanks, YaleGradandDad.</p>

<p>YaleGradandDad:</p>

<p>That’s very interesting! Out of curiosity, where did you hear or learn of this late-interview information? </p>

<p>And regarding my earlier post, if you did get an interview before the deadline is that a bad thing or does that mean you’re an auto-reject or automatic shoo-in?</p>

<p>I am an interviewer. Interview requests this late are uncommon and when received by me they came with the message something to the effect of I know this is really late but the admissions officer had a particular interest in this applicant and was hoping we could still arrange an interview. I think it is safe to assume that if you are contacted for an interview in late February or March and are told it is a new request, then you are balancing between admit and reject. This is a better position than many who are more handily rejected with or without an interview.</p>

<p>Interviews before February 15th have no predictive value for Yale since there is no screening done to choose who is interviewed. The majority of these late interviews may end up in rejection too and I have no knowledge of those unpublished staistics. My guess is the post-deadline interviewed applicants do have a higher admit rate since someone is making a special effort to get additional information but this is only my personal guess.</p>

<p>Do you know if this is the same for other schools (HYPS) or just for Yale?</p>

<p>YaleGrandDad, that was very helpful. Thank you.</p>

<p>I was contacted about an interviewer this week and I scheduled it for later this week. I assumed it just meant that there weren’t many alums in my area because this one is sorta far away from me. I was surprised because I thought it was past the deadline, but I think we might be looking too much into it?</p>