Ivy League Interviews

I just recently applied to Princeton University and got contacted for an interview. I know they aren’t “required,” but how poorly would it reflect on my application if I did not respond to the email? Of course, it could just be that I didn’t happen to see it in my inbox…

Oh, and please don’t leave answers like “ummm why would you not go to the interview???”

Thanks for your help!

I’m not understanding the question. You applied to Princeton. You were then contacted for an interview which could potentially bolster your application to one of the most competitive schools in the country. Now you are asking if you should rudely ignore the interview request with an immature ruse of not seeing “it in my inbox…”?

Great Princeton material. Good luck with that.

Is this why schools like Princeton boast such low acceptance rates? They obviously have many, many applications from people who do not understand the level of competition to get that coveted admissions spot.

I once read a Q&A with an Ivy League admissions officer, and she said it does not look good to turn down/ ignore an interview when you could have had one.

It might not be the most positive thing, but it likely won’t affect you that much either.

I have my own reasons for not wanting to do an interview; my nervousness in those situations may have a greater negative impact on the application than my ignoring the request. And yes, believe it or not, I understand the “level of competition”–no need to be rude and take your own problems out on anonymous strangers on the internet. Relax.

Thanks for your reply, @ilovethecity!

I interview for an Ivy. If I sent an e-mail and didn’t hear anything back, I’d probably send another and then call the phone numbers I had for you. Why not be considerate and save your interviewer a lot of extra work. If you don’t want an interview just send an e-mail back. How hard is that.

Might as well just email them to cancel your application because you obviously don’t want to attend Princeton that badly.

The OP said he/she might not do well in a one-on-one interview. Is that too hard to understand? I concur with his/her choice not to interview.

I have read in many posts and articles that people have gotten accepted even if they didn’t do that well in the interview… I think that what matters the most is that you actually accept and do the effort (no judging here) :slight_smile: If you accept and it goes wrong then you will still have the chance, but if you do not respond then it may be seen as lack of interest. And yes people have gotten rejected for not showing enough interest.

As another student who has also been contacted by Princeton for an interview and actually freaked out for it (in the good sense). I recommend you accept the interview and do not regard it as a test or a life or death situation, but an opportunity to learn more about Princeton from the experience of another student.

Good luck!

If you don’t respond, your interviewer will likely assume one of three things:

  1. You accidentally missed it in your inbox. This would make you seem pretty disorganized and disinterested in Princeton, and the interviewer would likely email you again or call you.
  2. Your email is incorrect. This would probably also make you seem pretty scatter-brained for entering the wrong email, and your interviewer would probably call you.
  3. You are ignoring him/her. This would make you look rude and inconsiderate.

I understand not wanting to do a one-on-one interview. However, I don’t think ignoring the request is the right way to go through with it. Why not just email your interviewer explaining?

@purgatoryandpie‌: I have interviewed for Duke for many years and I fully acknowledge that you don’t want to interview and that you understand the Princeton’s extreme competitiveness. I post only to offer a thought you may not have considered. Universities exist to educate (and to conduct scholarly research). A major element of undergraduate education occurs beyond the classroom, the laboratory and the library . . . it is peer/student-to-student teaching and learning, sometimes scholastic, but often not.

If you are perceived as so socially awkward (and I intend no offense) that you don’t wish to interview, then you’re likely to viewed as a less-than-ideal peer participant in beyond-the-classroom teaching and learning. This is critically important to universities, especially to those that are the most-selective. It would be entirely legitimate for a school to decide: “x” is a great student, but s/he won’t be an equally excellent peer teammate, we have an abundance of applicants who do not have this deficiency, and we’ll admit one of them.

Undergraduate school involves a GREAT deal more than individual, academic work; universities have the responsibility to assess that significant element of your “college readiness,” too.

Do not ignore this interview request. This will not be the first time in your life you will be uncomfortable and interview skills are required beyond undergraduate admissions.

While you might be understandably nervous… go get some practice interviewing done with friends/teachers/parents. Practice some questions beforehand and then have some intelligent questions lined up to ask the Princeton interviewer about their school/programs etc.

It would be grossly rude and immature to claim that you just did not see the interview request… Good luck, take a deep breath and just go have a conversation (stop putting so much pressure on yourself).

You have come to CC with a legitimate problem/issue, but I think that TopTier has answered your question better than anyone else could. You have a fear which I’m sure is very real but you are going to have to face that fear at some point in your life. As I’m sure you realize, you will have to go through interviews (and probably many of them) when you apply for real jobs in the future. It is possible that Princeton could ignore your ignoring the interview request but that probably would depend on what the interviewer told Princeton about her attempts to contact you. As TopTier explained, the Ivies have no shortage of candidates who excel both with their transcripts and in face to face interviews. Although I have no doubt that your fear of interviewing is very real, I would still suggest setting up the interview and telling the interviewer at the outset that you are quite nervous. Hopefully the interviewer would not hold it against you and I would actually expect that the interviewer would do everything she can to allay your fears. From what I understand, most schools use the interview process to gauge interest and to also give the student a forum to have his questions answered. The interviews are not designed to “weed out” candidates. Good luck.

@Ljtjrose‌: What an excellent, thoughtful post (except, of course, for the parts where I am mentioned :wink: )! I entirely agree with you; your recommendations are outstanding.

@purgatoryandpie‌: I am sure Princeton’s alumni interviewer will be helpful, sensitive, and understanding; after all, if s/he didn’t fundamentally and deeply care for “kids” and for their futures (as well as for Princeton, obviously), s/he would never have volunteered and devoted considerable time, effort, and even a little cash to admissions interviewing.

It’s not uncommon, ime, for an interviewer to mention the candidate was nervous at first, but warned up during the meeting. It’s also not uncommon for them to be frank about being miffed when the kid entirely blows them off.

Just not a good sign about maturity and judgment. Adults know about nerves and can deal with that. But trying to slide by under the pretense you missed the request: bad form. Agree with TopTier and others.

Wouldn’t the “holistic” admissions process say that we need more students who can’t face an interview in positions of importance determining exactly these kinds of things?

I want to be careful to point out that this is only a single anecdotal example, but one of my students “selective college” interviewers stated outright that they would not be doing this if their kids weren’t preparing to enter the applications mill themselves.

@JustOneDad‌: That’s really awful, and I find it difficult to believe (not that I doubt your veracity). For whatever it’s worth, some most-selective universities specifically prohibit alumni undergraduate admissions participation by those with “competitive conflicts of interest.”

As an aside, please don’t quote me and then excise part of my quotation.

Frankly, “holistic” is a pretty vague term and one school’s idea of holistic might be a lot different than another school’s. In my opinion, holistic simply means that we are going to look at the “whole package” and we are not going to base our acceptances or rejections on any set formula. But the simple fact remains that most Ivy league schools interview their candidates and running away from this challenge is probably not in Purgatory’s best interest (either in terms of actually getting into Princeton or long-term, in terms of having to interview for jobs in the future). I don’t know where Purgatory lives but I know that many of the bigger high schools, including the one that my two high school students attend, offer all sorts of help to their students with the admission process and I specifically recall a seminar that was offered earlier this school year to help students with the interview process. I would strongly suggest to Purgatory that he seek help, either from his parents or from officials at his school, to help him confront his fear of interviewing.

You have to respond. There’s an expectation that the email landed in your inbox, not that it never reached you. It’s unforgivably rude to ignore the interviewer’s request and it could end up hurting you far more than a nervous interview. You’re better off responding and declining the interview than ignoring the request entirely.