If interviewing is one of your strong suits (very personable, speech, debate, psychology, and communications background), and you are looking at the schools in the top 50, is it possible to get an on campus interview? If you would just love to tell the schools what you feel you could bring to their campus life and how much you love their school, is there a way to do this in person? I saw my cousin who came from a top New England prep school and who graduated magna cum, get passed over by many colleges. He said he was not invited to interview, but told it didn’t matter much…that the interview is not a very important piece of the puzzle. I just think if they had met him, they would of had at least an inkling of what a motivated, selfless, kind, brilliant boy he is. I don’t want to make the same mistake.
I think it depends on the school. Lots of schools offer on campus interviews. You would need to check with each one to find out the process of being granted an interview.
Some colleges strongly encourage on-campus interviews and make them routinely available by appointment. Other schools appear to limit the opportunity. Should you feel that interviewing would help you demonstrate your personal strengths, then you should consider including at least some schools from the former group in your college search. The added benefit, beyond enhanced admissions prospects, would be that the process of interviewing might help you find your best fit as well.
You should look at each school’s website and see if there is information about how to request an interview. If the information is not there then contact the admissions office and ask if an on campus interview is available and, if so, how to schedule one.
Also realize that many top schools do not offer on-campus interviews. It’s just too time-consuming with the number of students who would request interviews. The most you might get will be an off-campus alumni interview at many top schools. Your essay is where you show who you are and what you will contribute to the school.
Schools that offer on-campus interviews often have on-line registration - check the admissions pages.