<p>Colleges offer interviews for either evaluative or informational purposes, although some colleges probably don't draw a clear line between the two.</p>
<p>Is there a list categorizing colleges into these two camps? I haven't been able to find one, so throw out some names of colleges that you know of and what type of interviews they offer.</p>
<p>It can't hurt to know which is which.</p>
<p>Oxbridge = informational.</p>
<p>Harvard = evaluative.</p>
<p>Uh, I think so, anyway.</p>
<p>Wait, you got that bass-ackwards!</p>
<p>Your interview at Oxbridge is like the most important thing after A-levels! They (supposedly- I most defiantly do not have the balls (or resources) to apply to Oxbridge for undergrad) ask all kinds of really deep questions pertaining to your major, that you need to answer quickly and well. Its 100% evaluative, you gotta do good at the interview to get excepted. Also, interviews are mandatory and must take place with Oxbridge interviewers (meaning you gotta fly your @ss to Oxford or Cambridge).</p>
<p>Harvard (and most other US schools for that matter) place much less emphasis on interviews. They ask softball "why do you like Harvard" and "Whats your favorite book" kind of questions. No grilling on the nitty gritty of your major. At some schools these interviews play a very minor role in admissions, at others they are just a chance to ask questions about the school, for your benefit.</p>
<p>I think Harvard inteview counts more. Harvard goes into much greater detail on what each student is like, outside of academics. Cornell, Dartmouth Tuft, and Duke are informational. Many schools don't even do inteviews.</p>
<p>On the Yale Admissions FAQ I believe it says that interviews are evaluative -- I think.</p>
<p>MIT - evaluative</p>
<p>"Harvard (and most other US schools for that matter) place much less emphasis on interviews. They ask softball "why do you like Harvard" and "Whats your favorite book" kind of questions. No grilling on the nitty gritty of your major."</p>
<p>Nope. Harvard interviews are evaluative. What is asked depends upon the alum interviewer, a volunteer. However, the interviewer has to write a report about you and rate you on several characteristics. The report has to support the ratings that are given.</p>
<p>One can find out the importance of interviews by checking colleges' common data sets or paying $15 for the on-line version of the U.S. News college guide, which provides detailed info about the weight that individual colleges provide to various factors. Doing the reseach this way would provide more accurate info than relying on well meaning, but possibly uninformed strangers on CC.</p>
<p>What I've read suggests that alumni interviews are often evaluative, but that they are unlikely to be a major factor in the admission decision unless they strongly conflict with the impression given by the rest of the admission packet. This isn't too surprising, given the variations in the alumni doing the interviews.</p>
<p>I think Oxbridge's interview is probably far scarier and a far bigger evaluative process than Harvard. Harvard's process, while it IS evaluative, is not really the same. Oxbridge asks questions regarding your major more than about you, I think Harvard tends to ask more questions about you (although asking about majors and such is common too)</p>