<p>I do interviews for Penn. First, they tell us to make sure applicants know not to dress up. Don’t be a slob, but don’t wear a fancy suit or anything different that you would wear to school. Second, yes interviewers vary, but they give us a zillion typical questions to pick from. Some are indeed ridiculous and doubtful how your answer would affect whether you got into Penn or not.</p>
<p>I am definitely a younger interviewer, not 50 yet, so that gives you an idea too. Don’t be shocked if the interviewer graduated <em>well</em> before you were born or even before your parents were born. I try to put the applicant at ease, and ask them about extracurricular activities or things at school that would tell something about themselves. I was nervous when I was interviewed before I was accepted to Penn, so being nervous isn’t a deal breaker.</p>
<p>But showing lack of interest in Penn, not having visited, not knowing much about it means you don’t want to go there. This will be noted. I think the main reason for these interviews is to determine if the applicant is well-rounded and can speak about their activities with some confidence, in addition to interest in Penn. No one wants to be one of twenty schools someone was accepted to; why offer a spot to someone who wants to go somewhere else?</p>
<p>Of three interviews I did, one was outstanding both for interest in Penn and activities. Another applicant was pretty good, and the other was a nice person, but didn’t seem to know or want to know much about Penn. In this last case, I felt like I had to try to convince him to want to go to Penn, he wasn’t very sure at all. I would think he wasted his application fee if he really wasn’t interested.</p>
<p>If you really do want to go to Penn, the interview may help you along in the process, change you from maybe to a yes. But it also could change a maybe into a no if you just aren’t interested enough.</p>