How critical is the interview?

raisincane · 11-16-2009, 06:54 PM

Brown is my daughter's first choice. Her numbers are great; her recommendations are great; her extracurriculars are thin. We are from California, and flying her to Rhode Island would be tough right now financially. Likely, she can interview out here with an alum. We worry how much it will hurt her if we don't fly her out to Rhode Island for an in-person interview. Any experience?

franglish · 11-16-2009, 07:27 PM

The following is from the Brown admissions site's Q & A:

Quote:

Are interviews with admission officers offered on campus or in my area?

Given the large number of candidates and our small staff, we are not able to conduct individual interviews on campus or elsewhere. We try to save as much time as possible, though, to answer questions from visitors and callers, and to provide group information sessions and tours to students and their families who come to the campus.

So, don't even think about it. If an alum contacts you, then you will have an interview where you live or on the phone (or, I suppose, these days one can do it on Skype). Brown admissions does no interviews itself.

stressed!!! · 11-16-2009, 08:09 PM

Yeah, all Brown interviews are conducted by alums they do not expect anyone to come to Rhode Island. So, don't worry about it.

NapoleonInRags · 11-17-2009, 05:41 PM

it means very very little

fireandrain · 11-17-2009, 06:53 PM

The interview is crucial, according to Admissions.

fredmurtz2 · 11-17-2009, 09:30 PM

The interviewers can really play an important role ( granted can doesn't always mean does). But, don't dismiss it.

flibbertygibbet · 11-18-2009, 11:13 AM

<-- from CA, female, great numbers/recs/essays, thin ECs, great interview (though due to a confusion I arrived half an hour late), got in

NapoleonInRags · 11-20-2009, 05:44 AM

fireandrain, you're simply incorrect

franglish · 11-20-2009, 07:12 AM

From the Admissions site Q&A:

Quote:

Interviews are recommended but not required. Once your application has been received, an alumnus/a in your area is contacted. Where possible, this applies to international applicants as well. He or she will then contact you and, if you so desire, arrange a time and place to conduct an interview. Although we try to reach all of our applicants, we are not always able to do so due to the nature and demographics of this all-volunteer organization. Please keep in mind that it will not negatively affect your application if you do not meet with one of our alumni volunteers. We do not offer on-campus interviews.

fireandrain · 11-20-2009, 08:03 AM

Sorry Napoleon, YOU are the one who is incorrect.

jimonthewall · 11-20-2009, 01:44 PM

My interviewer told me that it holds little weight. Another interviewer I talked to said they do not have much of an affect. Another told me he gave two positive write-ups and two negative write-ups and none of them got in. And still another told me she gave four thumbs ups and only one got in.

I'm sure you don't want a bad interview, but if you're applying Early Decision, you obviously are extremely interested in going to Brown and you'll do fine.

NapoleonInRags · 11-20-2009, 08:32 PM

where are you getting this information? i'm basing it off personal and others experiences, and a train of logic (this may not be yours) that says a subjective personal interview from someone they don't know will hold little weight. most applicants impress their interviewers and get good reviews -- there's little to distinguish one itnerview review from another so it goes out the window. if you bomb it, that's another story.

fireandrain · 11-20-2009, 10:02 PM

My information comes directly from numerous conversations with admissions officers -- you know, the ones who read the interviews and decide who gets accepted -- over a couple of decades. That includes the opinion of the dean of admissions.

dawgcity · 11-21-2009, 01:16 AM

under what conditions do you write a negative review, fireandrain?

wolfmanjack · 11-21-2009, 06:54 AM

I still have my doubts about how much the interview means to the application just because of the issue of standards and how that varies from one random persons pov to another. Give the same interviewee to 5 people and you get 5 opinions. Until I hear otherwise from an adcom I'm not drinking that kool aid.