<p>Here are some basic questions that nobody can seem to answer:
INTERVIEWS: Do most colleges contact you to do interviews after you apply or do I need to start trying to get an interview for all of my schools that I might apply to now, or should I just wait until I apply?
ESSAYS: Everybody says “demonstrate interest in your essays” ect. My question is, what essay are you referring to? The supplement? The common app? Do most people re-write the common app essay for each college to show interest in that college specefically or are people referring to the supplement? Which essay is the most important, common app or supplement?
thanks</p>
<p>Some schools have supplement essays that ask why such and such school. They don’t want kids who applies to a lot of schools through common application without doing any research on the particular school.</p>
<p>Okay but should a person right a different common app essay for each school?</p>
<p>No, that’s defeating the purpose of common application. That is why each school has a supplement section.</p>
<p>okay, thanks “toorichforaid”, does anybody have any info on interviews?</p>
<p>Do a search on the college’s web page. Each is different- some will contact you, others won’t (and often the interview isn’t mandatory).</p>
<p>I don’t know of a single university that “contacts you” for an interview. You have to request one, and then, if they can’t make the appointment over the phone, they contact you to determine when it will be. And that’s true even for schools where an interview is evaluative; you have to complete your application by asking for it - they don’t chase you.</p>
<p>Some schools don’t let you ask for an interview until after you’ve applied (for example, Vassar), and some begin interviews in the spring of your junior year going through about January or February (for example, Wesleyan). So yes, you do have to check the individual websites to see how each school handles it.</p>
<p>And due to changes in the Common App, you can no longer edit or change the essay (or, indeed, any other part of the Common App) once you’ve submitted it to a single school. It’s locked and you’re done.</p>