| GPA is an important factor for grad school/med school applications, but they only reveal so much. Numbers can't tell you anything about the applicant's character and personality.
For this very reason, many grad/med schools require interviews or highly recommend them. Top-tier med schools are looking for applicants with social skills, strong character, and roundedness. GPA and test scores enable you to apply with the minimum reqs, but without solid charisma and exceptional character get you through the second half of the process.
Even though some schools don't require interviews, not doing one may hurt your chances of even getting in. As quoted from MIT's admissions page "The admit rate for applicants who had interviews (or whose interviews were waived) is about three times the admit rate for those who didn't"
Something else MIT states clearly in its admissions blog "Your interview gives us a vivid sense of you as a person and how you would fit at MIT - something the paper application alone can never match."
GPA is useless as a standalone factor for admission, but beneficial when used in conjunction with an interview for grad/med school. |