How do college admissions interviews work?

[Anonymous]

I know it probably varies by school, but how does the interview process work? Do they only do them for students that have applied? Do you request one through the admissions office or do they contact you? Where would my DS look to see if it’s required? TIA.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the school.

See the admissions website.

[Anonymous]

1) Apply

2) Read on their website if they require or encourage interviews

3) If yes to #2 above, then schedule an interview on the Admissions website.

4) I suspect now they are virtual, but my child went to maybe 5 or 7 a few years ago. She would meet with local alumni at coffeeshops or restaurants for close to an hour. She would dress up business casual and prepare a little in advance.

6) Alternatively, one or two schools rented a hotel suite or interviewed at a local private school. Those interviews were with Admissions personnel.

It is good practice for these kinds of things in the future. Making small talk with a stranger. Thinking on your feet. Making a good first impression.

I have heard that these sessions have little to no impact on the actual admissions decision. They are more a way for the school to keep alumni engaged.

[Anonymous]

Ignore the PP above who says apply first. WM, for example is out of interview slots by now— they did most interviews over the summer. And ED just went in.

Vassar won’t schedule until they have your app. Carleton won’t until they have your app or you visit.

Some are all virtual. Some are in person and will interview starting spring break of junior year

Google is your friend. If you are visiting campus and it’s at least second semester junior year, see if you can schedule while you are there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ignore the PP above who says apply first. WM, for example is out of interview slots by now— they did most interviews over the summer. And ED just went in.

Vassar won’t schedule until they have your app. Carleton won’t until they have your app or you visit.

Some are all virtual. Some are in person and will interview starting spring break of junior year

Google is your friend. If you are visiting campus and it’s at least second semester junior year, see if you can schedule while you are there.

You are being more than somewhat dismissive of a PP describing their experience. That is not a good look.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ignore the PP above who says apply first. WM, for example is out of interview slots by now— they did most interviews over the summer. And ED just went in.

Vassar won’t schedule until they have your app. Carleton won’t until they have your app or you visit.

Some are all virtual. Some are in person and will interview starting spring break of junior year

Google is your friend. If you are visiting campus and it’s at least second semester junior year, see if you can schedule while you are there.

You are being more than somewhat dismissive of a PP describing their experience. That is not a good look.

Agree. Many schools would schedule an interview only after your application is complete

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ignore the PP above who says apply first. WM, for example is out of interview slots by now— they did most interviews over the summer. And ED just went in.

Vassar won’t schedule until they have your app. Carleton won’t until they have your app or you visit.

Some are all virtual. Some are in person and will interview starting spring break of junior year

Google is your friend. If you are visiting campus and it’s at least second semester junior year, see if you can schedule while you are there.

You are being more than somewhat dismissive of a PP describing their experience. That is not a good look.

Agree. Many schools would schedule an interview only after your application is complete

IDK. My kid applied to WM and 9 other schools. PP is right. We went to a panel at WM last month and it was “we strongly consider things like interviewing, but it’s too late for this years seniors”. Pitt doesn’t interview. The other 7 are SLACs ranked top 10 through 50. She had interviewed at 7 schools before school started this year (3 of which she ultimately decided not to apply to). She had done 2 more this fall prior to submitting an app. The last school you can request an interview and get a spot in line. But the interview itself isn’t scheduled until the app is in.

For SLACs, waiting until applying is a bad idea, especially if it’s a January app. Many have limited interview slots, stop interviewing by Thanksgiving or Christmas, don’t interview at all during peak admissions season, then start interviewing juniors in the spring. Some interviews are evaluative. Some are informational only. Some can “only help” unless your kid completely bombs it, because they are used mainly for demonstrated interest.

Every school is different. But in general, SLAC do not require a completed app.

[Anonymous]

For Stanford, DD was contacted about a week or so after the application went in asking if she wanted to do an interview. She said yes; interview was scheduled about a week later and lasted half an hour or so.

Interviewer was up front that it means basically nothing to her application, but it was a good experience for her.

[Anonymous]

I used to interview for the ivy league school from which I graduated. We attempted to interview everyone; if we didn't have capacity, it was based on where you live (proximity to interviewers), not anything in your application. We were not told anything about your application, not your grades or test scores or activities or anything else. Maybe a bad interview could hurt your application, but otherwise I don't think it counted for much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to interview for the ivy league school from which I graduated. We attempted to interview everyone; if we didn't have capacity, it was based on where you live (proximity to interviewers), not anything in your application. We were not told anything about your application, not your grades or test scores or activities or anything else. Maybe a bad interview could hurt your application, but otherwise I don't think it counted for much.

This sounds like my school. In this year’s interviewer training video, they said that they use the content of the interview summary as part of their picture of the student in the holistic process of forming a class. So it’s an additional source of potential information for admissions staff about the student’s interests and activities, as far as what they might contribute if they came to campus.

They emphasized that it’s never a deciding factor. No one gets in solely because of a good interview or rejected because of a bad one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ignore the PP above who says apply first. WM, for example is out of interview slots by now— they did most interviews over the summer. And ED just went in.

Vassar won’t schedule until they have your app. Carleton won’t until they have your app or you visit.

Some are all virtual. Some are in person and will interview starting spring break of junior year

Google is your friend. If you are visiting campus and it’s at least second semester junior year, see if you can schedule while you are there.

You are being more than somewhat dismissive of a PP describing their experience. That is not a good look.

Agree. Many schools would schedule an interview only after your application is complete

IDK. My kid applied to WM and 9 other schools. PP is right. We went to a panel at WM last month and it was “we strongly consider things like interviewing, but it’s too late for this years seniors”. Pitt doesn’t interview. The other 7 are SLACs ranked top 10 through 50. She had interviewed at 7 schools before school started this year (3 of which she ultimately decided not to apply to). She had done 2 more this fall prior to submitting an app. The last school you can request an interview and get a spot in line. But the interview itself isn’t scheduled until the app is in.

For SLACs, waiting until applying is a bad idea, especially if it’s a January app. Many have limited interview slots, stop interviewing by Thanksgiving or Christmas, don’t interview at all during peak admissions season, then start interviewing juniors in the spring. Some interviews are evaluative. Some are informational only. Some can “only help” unless your kid completely bombs it, because they are used mainly for demonstrated interest.

Every school is different. But in general, SLAC do not require a completed app.

My kid had a WM virtual interview a few weeks ago. It was with a current undergrad and was fine. Most of her interviews have been with alums.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For Stanford, DD was contacted about a week or so after the application went in asking if she wanted to do an interview. She said yes; interview was scheduled about a week later and lasted half an hour or so.

Interviewer was up front that it means basically nothing to her application, but it was a good experience for her.

Can confirm from other side as Stanford alum who did interviews this is all accurate. It may mean more than nothing if the applicant comes off really well or really poorly . . . but having interviewed ~50 applicants over a few years that was very rare. FWIW for Stanford interviewer gets no info about applicant other than name/HS/contact info - no essays, grades, test scores, etc.

Other schools are totally different.

Some do alumni/ae interviews
Some have admissions office do them
Some have students do them.

As to when to sign up, YMMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ignore the PP above who says apply first. WM, for example is out of interview slots by now— they did most interviews over the summer. And ED just went in.

Vassar won’t schedule until they have your app. Carleton won’t until they have your app or you visit.

Some are all virtual. Some are in person and will interview starting spring break of junior year

Google is your friend. If you are visiting campus and it’s at least second semester junior year, see if you can schedule while you are there.

You are being more than somewhat dismissive of a PP describing their experience. That is not a good look.

Agree. Many schools would schedule an interview only after your application is complete

IDK. My kid applied to WM and 9 other schools. PP is right. We went to a panel at WM last month and it was “we strongly consider things like interviewing, but it’s too late for this years seniors”. Pitt doesn’t interview. The other 7 are SLACs ranked top 10 through 50. She had interviewed at 7 schools before school started this year (3 of which she ultimately decided not to apply to). She had done 2 more this fall prior to submitting an app. The last school you can request an interview and get a spot in line. But the interview itself isn’t scheduled until the app is in.

For SLACs, waiting until applying is a bad idea, especially if it’s a January app. Many have limited interview slots, stop interviewing by Thanksgiving or Christmas, don’t interview at all during peak admissions season, then start interviewing juniors in the spring. Some interviews are evaluative. Some are informational only. Some can “only help” unless your kid completely bombs it, because they are used mainly for demonstrated interest.

Every school is different. But in general, SLAC do not require a completed app.

My kid had a WM virtual interview a few weeks ago. It was with a current undergrad and was fine. Most of her interviews have been with alums.

Then they got in just under the wire. WM is no longer scheduling IV interviews for class of 2026, well before RD applications are due:

https://www.wm.edu/admission/undergraduateadmission/how-to-apply/freshmanapplicants/application-checklist/oncampusinterviews/index.php

Most of my kids interviews with SLACs have been Ad Comms of a current senior. 1 was an alum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ignore the PP above who says apply first. WM, for example is out of interview slots by now— they did most interviews over the summer. And ED just went in.

Vassar won’t schedule until they have your app. Carleton won’t until they have your app or you visit.

Some are all virtual. Some are in person and will interview starting spring break of junior year

Google is your friend. If you are visiting campus and it’s at least second semester junior year, see if you can schedule while you are there.

You are being more than somewhat dismissive of a PP describing their experience. That is not a good look.

Agree. Many schools would schedule an interview only after your application is complete

IDK. My kid applied to WM and 9 other schools. PP is right. We went to a panel at WM last month and it was “we strongly consider things like interviewing, but it’s too late for this years seniors”. Pitt doesn’t interview. The other 7 are SLACs ranked top 10 through 50. She had interviewed at 7 schools before school started this year (3 of which she ultimately decided not to apply to). She had done 2 more this fall prior to submitting an app. The last school you can request an interview and get a spot in line. But the interview itself isn’t scheduled until the app is in.

For SLACs, waiting until applying is a bad idea, especially if it’s a January app. Many have limited interview slots, stop interviewing by Thanksgiving or Christmas, don’t interview at all during peak admissions season, then start interviewing juniors in the spring. Some interviews are evaluative. Some are informational only. Some can “only help” unless your kid completely bombs it, because they are used mainly for demonstrated interest.

Every school is different. But in general, SLAC do not require a completed app.

My kid had a WM virtual interview a few weeks ago. It was with a current undergrad and was fine. Most of her interviews have been with alums.

Then they got in just under the wire. WM is no longer scheduling IV interviews for class of 2026, well before RD applications are due:

https://www.wm.edu/admission/undergraduateadmission/how-to-apply/freshmanapplicants/application-checklist/oncampusinterviews/index.php

Most of my kids interviews with SLACs have been Ad Comms of a current senior. 1 was an alum.

This. Most interviews with SLACS this year have been seniors. A few alums. Some of the alum interviews have not been great because they have not kept up with the school and cannot answer simple questions.

[Anonymous]

do all Harvard rea aplicant get an inteview. My dd hasnt gotten one so far but her friends from school have. how is it decided who gets interview and when.