<p>The interview is not an important part of a Yale application. The interviewer’s report seldom makes any difference to the Admissions Committee. I interviewed high school seniors for four years and never had any evidence that my reports influenced admissions decisions. Candidates who underwhelmed me were admitted if they had something Yale wanted, i.e. serious athletic prowess in a sport in which Yale competes or significant accomplishment in music. The few candidates who in interviews demonstrated unusual poise, imagination, depth and breadth of intellectual curiosity, moral intelligence – well, if they had test scores that were not high in every subject, they didn’t get in.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the Admissions Office in its periodic newsletter to YASC interviewers acknowledged that the interview report was of minimal use to them. And finally, I was admitted to Yale many years ago without ever having been offered an interview.</p>