<p>Your post is really a straw man because Columbia doesn’t really do the “herd” interviews that other schools do, and this just reflects how little you know about Columbia. To the extent that Columbia does “herd” interviews, Columbia expects that you show up for them unless you have an emergency. “You can’t make it” isn’t really a good excuse. If you really wanted to attend Columbia, you’d find a way. One of the adcoms told me that there are applicants from China, etc. who travel 18 hours to go for their interviews.</p>
<p>I know of applicants who could not attend the group interview because they were competing on that day for individual state titles in their sports, as well as applicants who were ill on that day, neither of which affected their admissions decisions as another interview could not be arranged. It is ridiculous what you are saying about people traveling from China for their interviews. Those in China have alumni interviews. They are not expected to travel to New York for an interview. There are 20,000 applicants applying to schools like Columbia. Gone are the days when the admissions office interviewed each applicant. It would be an impossible tak. If an applicant requests an interview at the ivy league school itself, unless the applicant has some type of connection they are usually interviewed by someone else such as a senior student or someone else in the admissions office. Those interviews carry the same weight as the alumni interview.</p>
<p>Relevance as to Columbia, once again? You’re talking out of your behind, here. You can’t “request an interview at the ivy league school itself” at Columbia unless you’re a legacy. There’s no such thing as an interview by a “senior student or someone else in the admissions office.” Do you plan on giving up ever, or do you like pontificating about how much you know about other schools?</p>