Pomona On-Campus Interview

capandgown
Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:18:21 +0000

Quote from the CMC website:

“Interviews at CMC are informational in nature, not evaluative. You should expect to get answers to any quesitons you may have about CMC or the admission process. Also, expect to discuss why you think a CMC education could be right for you.”

My question: If the interview is strictly informational, why should the student “expect to discuss why you think a CMC education could be right for you”? Clearly, the CMC interviewer is going to be evaluating the answer to this question, and to other questions as well, and is going to be making judgments about how the student carries him/herself.

There are a number of colleges that say that interviews are informational, not evaluative. Even if this is the stated intent, any interview results in the formation of impressions, by both parties. I just can’t imagine that the interview has no effect whatsoever on the admission process. A particular school’s policies and procedures may minimize this effect but won’t eliminate it.

Hypothetical question: If CMC knew that an applicant had come all the way from out of state to visit the Consortium and didn’t spend an extra hour to interview, how would that affect their perception of the applicant? (I don’t know the answer.)