interviews in college admissions

[Anonymous]

My DC did an interview for MIT - was mandatory. I guess this proves the point about test scores being lower for schools that require evaluative interviews.

[Anonymous]

To 19:22: Hear! Hear! And this may in part explain why the atmosphere at MIT is so much more vibrant and energetic (in it's understandably own weird way) than at other equally selective schools not requiring interviews. One of my good friends is a graduate of MIT. He's English and a world class sailor. He taught Edward Heath how to sail his new transatlantic sailing yacht when he was just 23. This friend said without the interview he would never have been accepted. They loved the fact that he was a sailor and had real world experience. This was not really highlighted on his application. He didn't think much of it, but the interviewer did. He went on to work for Lockheed and helped develop F-22 Stealth technology. He's still sailing. A happy man.

[Anonymous]

Just because MIT has an interview doesn't mean it's evaluative pp. It's just a plain old interview. The evaluative ones are done by schools not as high on US News List.

[Anonymous]

No offense PP but I just looked it up for you. 19:22 & 19:45 are right. Check out MIT requirements. Interview is "reccomended", which these days means you better do it (code for required), and they are evaluative. I agree it's probably one of the important reasons MIT is such an outstanding university and getting better all the time.

Proud SIL of MIT alum.

[Anonymous]

Indeed!

Mens et Manus

[Anonymous]

In support of PP.

MIT Interview Counts! And is evaluative.

You can probably believe MIT stats more than most.

From the MIT Admisssions website:

"Interview
Interviews are conducted by Educational Counselors, or ECs - MIT alumni volunteers who meet with prospective students in their home communities. You'll find your interviewer's name and contact information in your MyMIT account. Though an interview is not required, it's a very effective way for us to learn more about you and for you to introduce yourself as a real live individual. Last year, of eligible applicants, we admitted 13.4% of those who had an interview (or who had their interview waived) but only 3.6% of those who chose not to interview. Schedule your interview by October 20 if you are applying Early Action, or by December 10 if you are applying Regular Action."

This should close the MIT case.

[Anonymous]

The bottom line is that if your kid has an appealing personality and is at ease speaking with strangers, the interview can't hurt and may help. Our oldest had an alum interview for Dartmouth, and, though he might have gotten in anyway, I think it probably gave him a little boost. He hit it off with the interviewer, who shared his interest in architecture, so the conversation flowed easily. It also re-affirmed our son's interest in the school.

[Anonymous]

I know that it made all the difference in the world for Joel Goodson.

[Anonymous]

A college interview probably isn't going to be make or break for most kids; in my experience, the majority of college interviewees are fairly unremarkable and unmemorable.

However, the more atypical the interview, the greater its impact. The applicant who is unusually mature, has a "plan" or greater-than-average sense of direction and purpose (commensurate with a believable degree of accumulated wisdom and life experience for a 17-year-old -- in other words, has a "plan" of his own development and not one planted in his head by his parents), can articulate compelling reasons for wanting to attend a particular school and shows an element of passion about a particular school (that's a huge one), asks insightful yet not canned questions about the school and demonstrates knowledge of the school and what it has to offer, and so on, can really increase his chances. Likewise, a kid who can't bear to make eye contact with an adult, smells like cigarettes or pot smoke, or drops an "F bomb" during the conversation is likely to get extra scrutiny and get called out in the interview report in a not-so-good way.

A college interview is not something to be gotten through like a hair cut; it is an opportunity to be leveraged. The unfortunate thing is that so few teenagers (and their parents) are aware of that; the kids simply put on some nicer clothes, show up, answer the questions that are put to them, and leave it at that. Preparation and practice are important for most things in life, and college interviews are no exception. The same goes for SATs.

[Anonymous]

I didn't apply to any ivies but had two interviews. This was back in 95. I think it was for Boston college and some other northeast school.

[Anonymous]

I once interviewed a kid who told me he had only applied to the college because his mom made him, and that he really, really didn't want to go there. Very good to know for all involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I once interviewed a kid who told me he had only applied to the college because his mom made him, and that he really, really didn't want to go there. Very good to know for all involved.

Amen to that. Saves a lot of time and energy.

On the other side of the coin, however, I've interviewed kids who've said to me, "[College X] is hands down my number one choice, and if I'm accepted, I'll be there next fall." If I think the student is telling the truth, that can become very powerful (presumably that sentiment has also been expressed in essays and recommendations, but one never knows).

There have been other occasions where a prospective student has tiptoed around the issue, and ultimately I've ended up saying, "I get the sense that you'd really like to go to [College X]," at which point it's like the weight of the world has been lifted, and the kid basically breaks down and says, "Yes, getting into [College X] would be an absolute dream come true for me." Always wonderful to hear, but holy cow, I should have to beat it out of you like it's something to be ashamed of.

[Anonymous]

Just completed application process for highly selective Ivys and small liberal arts schools with DD. Every school she applied to had interviews, but for none were they "mandatory" I think because with 36,000 applicants and a 6% accept rate at Harvard and the like, they simply can not arrange on campus interviews or local interviews with alumni for every single applicant. However, in the DC area there are so many alums for most schools that every one of my daughter's friends has seemed to have interviews for every school they applied to, except the big state schools like Michigan or Wisconsin. At the highly selective smaller liberal arts schools, some of her interviews were on campus during her visit, and were with actual admissions officers, or trained students who lead tours and do lots of intereviews, get the impression they probably are taken more seriously, compared to some recent grad alumni interviews in DC where in one case the interviewer trashed the school, and in another tried to ask my daughter out for a date. As other posters have said, probably can make a difference for the top and bottom 5% of interview experiences but probably not much else.