WHY? What do you think?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Princeton University
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<p>Disclaimer: This post has been written by a wannabe Princeton Student, so any events presented in this post may have been slightly tainted with some of that wannabe feeling to lure you into believing what the author himself desperately wants to believe. Please keep that in mind when (and if) you answer. Thanks!</p>

<p>Hi all, I applied to Princeton...I received an email appox one week ago, from a Princeton alumni saying they would like to interview me (by phone, am international), so i could ask questions about princteon, and i could have a chance to present myself in a way i couldnt do with my application bla bla bla...at first i obviously got a bit stressed and nervous about it and all...but it went well...</p>

<p>Now Im thinking, wasn't this a bit late to do such an interview? I called Harvard for some other reason yesterday, and through the conversation I was told that all decisions were made one week ago, and that the process has been closed and all admission officers are not in the office (wanted to speak to the one who dealed with my case).</p>

<p>So I'm suddenly thinking, why on earth would Princteon want to have a phone interview with me so late? When decisions may have already been made (at least Harvard has)...wouldn't they have done that like, in January or February...not on the 20th of March?</p>

<p>So Im like (obviously) trying to think that, I was accepted already, and since I can't visit the place, they wanted to give me a chance to ask about Princeton ...the interviewer seemed to be pressing me to ask more and more questions about Princeton (read the disclaimer)...so yeah, I'm suddenly all excited, coz it seems weird that they would give me a phone interview so late...and wanting to believe i was accepted already...</p>

<p>God I wish thats true...</p>

<p>Would love to know your thoughts on the matter, what do you think?</p>

<p>THANKS!</p>

<p>And good luck to all waiting, I know what you are feeling...oh yes I know...</p>

<p>Dominique</p>

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<p>The decisions have been made? aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Then my life is already decided at this point!</p>

<p>The reason could simply be that your interviewer missed the deadline and therefore just contacted you right now. Such things happen sometimes. Did he say anything about why he called you so late? I mean, if the decisions have been made already, I don’t think they’d call you to have an interview. If you can’t visit, they’d maybe call you after you’ve been accepted to give you a chance to ask questions. I also think it’s unlikely for them to call you at this point of time for an interview if you’re on the border, especially if they mainly want you to ask questions instead of the other way round. It could mean that you’re already accepted, but I personally don’t think so. I hope I didn’t destroy any of your hopes, but that’s what I’m thinking. Now, at least you can be sure that your interview doesn’t mean anything negative!</p>

<p>Anyway, good luck with your applications!</p>

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<p>Nah, didn’t say anything…thats quite a miss for a deadline…why wouldnt they make interviews earlier?</p>

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<p>It is my understanding that interviews at schools such as Princeton are informational, not evaluative. They are for the purpose of allowing you to put a “face” on Princeton and vice versa, and to ask any questions you may have. This understanding is bolstered by the fact that Princeton does not offer on-campus interviews, but only alumni interviews. </p>

<p>I wish you all good luck!</p>

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<p>Thanks Chedva…but why would they want me to put a face on Princeton on the 20th of March when decisons have already, or almost already been made?</p>

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<p>“but why would they want me to put a face on Princeton on the 20th of March when decisons have already, or almost already been made?”</p>

<p>For the same reason they would have at any other day before the 31st of March. Interviews don’t mean anything :frowning: (unfortunately!)
I really don’t believe it means that you’ve been accepted, because then there’d be no need for you to still have it in that case. And it’s also very unlikely that they called you because you have no chance of visiting the campus. How should they know that you can’t visit? That you’re international doesn’t mean you can’t visit. I’m international, too, and if I get in, I’ll probably visit. Possibly you have some other reasons for why you can’t visit, but they wouldn’t know that! </p>

<p>And one more thing: the alumni that conduct the interviews don’t know anything about you except of your name, email, phone number and where you live. They get a list of people in their area and then they contact them, so he really cannot have called you because he knew that you’re going to be accepted.</p>

<p>I strongly believe that you didn’t get the interview because they already decided to take you, even though I wish for you that it were the case.
Despite that, good luck with your applications, hopefully you’ll get an acceptance :)</p>

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<p>Interviews at princeton are not only informational…I had the president of the alumni association and head of interviewers for my area as my interviewer. When I got there, he gave a little introduction about how the interview was just another one of those ways in which you can distinguish yourself from the 1000000 other applicants with the exact same stats/ECs/application as you. It is not a huge factor by any means, but if there are two applicants that are the same everything, then the interviewers comments could distinguish between the two. Everything counts when it comes to the top-tier universities with inordinate amounts of overqualified applicants.</p>

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<p>I agree with <em>sigh</em> and her interviewer. My interviewer was also the regional director and explained that it was a way to distinguish yourself.</p>

<p>A lot of posts like this (i.e. “I just got called for an interview”) are popping up on Ivy boards. I think it’s just a fact of life that even Ivy grads mess up :slight_smile: They probably just forgot to call until the last minute.</p>

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<p>i had my interview yesterday (26th of march) with penn. i think my interviewer was too busy and forgot about us applicants. but i went and had a great time. its definitely one of the most enjoyable interviews ive had (out of 6). though im sure 3 work days isnt enough for penn to process my interview report, i think if i get waitlisted, my interviewer can be instrumental in pulling me on top of it.</p>

10

<p>i say tomato and you say domado…</p>

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<p>To the OP, don’t read too much into anything…the decisions come on Monday, and you don’t want to have a larger than normal aspiration towards acceptance only to be crushed later…wholly hypothetically…I’d say that the interviews are mostly informational…they try to give everyone an interview, to give them more exposure to Princeton.
Good Luck!!!</p>

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<p>i think they still had some decisions to make several days ago. I was in a similar situation.
They asked me for TOEFL on Tuesday which I indicated on my application form but somehow Princeton didn’t receive my score from ETS. So I think at this point they are still evaluating candidates. Shortly after I sent the score, I got the email about viewing decision online. I dunno if it is an coincidence. </p>

<p>So maybe its a good thing that our hope is still alive.</p>

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<p>eh…interviews have an extremely slight impact on admissions…but that may be enough to tip the scale in your favor when compared to the thousand other applicants with your same stats.</p>