I’m currently a junior, and I’m going to tour schools over spring break. I live far away from most of the colleges I’m considering, so this will likely be the only time I will be able to visit. My counselor suggested that I do an interview in-person during my spring break visit. Or should I wait until fall when I can do an interview with an admissions rep who will come to my school? Should I do both interviews, this spring and in the fall? How much do interviews matter?
You do not need to interview at most colleges - only some of the top schools, and some LACs. Check out the Common Data Set for the schools you are interested in to see if an interview is required, optional, or not available.
To get you started, here is a link to the Northwestern CDS - look at page 7. http://enrollment.northwestern.edu/pdf/common-data/2014-15.pdf
You will see that the interview is “considered” not required, and neither of my 2 Wildcat kids interviewed and both were admitted.
Only some colleges have on-campus interviews. Most do not – or they fill up and they can’t take you. Rarely do admissions reps conduct interviews when out in the field promoting their schools. Some colleges have alumni volunteer networks who conduct local (and sometimes virtual) interviews.
You should talk to all of the colleges somewhat soon. Some will explicitly not be interested in conducting interviews. Some will have an alumni interview you locally (so you don’t need to worry about it during spring break). A few might want it on campus but you should ask them about it/plan it out before spring break.
For the ones that do interview, you only need to do one. My D preferred to wait until senior year and interview locally. The reps came to her school (or at least to our area) and she was able to get interviews when they were in town. This gave her some time to think about the college and come up with some interesting things to talk about. Also, we were on a very limited time schedule when traveling and she wanted to spend that hour either in a classroom or touring the college. Some kids prefer to just interview the day they visit, often after their tour. I think it’s really a matter of preference.
Hi. Many of my son’s schools of interest recommend on-campus interviews. He likes a lot of liberal arts colleges. We face the same quandary you do, @danascullys (you must be an X-Files fan!). In my son’s case, it is compounded because he refuses to miss a day of school-- he has not missed one since seventh grade-- and also won’t miss a day of his job as a summer camp counselor. That means we’ll be very busy on school breaks and in the one week between the end of camp and the start of school! Not many schools allow interviews starting as early as spring of junior year, but some do, so be sure to check the websites of the schools that interest you.