The Zinch Report

Hey Sarah, another great article that will definitely help me in any future interviews.

But I have a question about interviews in general that stems from your belief that an interview is one way to reflect your true self. I 100% agree with your statement that an interview is a great way to show off your personality and for an admissions officer to really get to know you. But last spring I attended this information session called "Discover Business Now" at NYU hosted by the admissions officers from both UPenn and NYU and I asked them if they had interviews. They replied that they didn't so I asked why. They both said that it was unfair for the applicants because interviewing someone from New York is completely different from someone from Kansas. She said that this plain difference in personality creates some bias in an interview thus those colleges don't have interviews to keep things fair.

So I'm just wondering is that true? That sometimes an interview does more harm than good and thats why some colleges don't have them?

Hey! :)

Since you've done interviews yourself, I was just wondering if you have any advice for those of us who may have to resort to having an interview over the phone. I've read that if you can't make it to campus that that is an option.

Thanks for everything y'all. :D

I really appreciate these blogs on the college interview, especially Part II. All of these posts on the Zinch Report are helpful!

I do, inevitably, have a question: When would you say it's worth it to schedule an interview? Is it something you'd suggest for every school I'm applying to if possible, or only if I think it will significantly affect my chances? What are the advantages?

Jessica -

I've never heard of colleges doing phone interviews before. Very interesting....

Whenever I've heard of people having phone interviews for jobs, I've always thought it must be a little awkward. So much of an interview involves non-verbal cues that I wonder how a phone call flows.

If you're offered a phone interview by a college and are comfortable with the idea, take it. It could also be a nice alternative to traveling to a college that may be far away. These interviews will probably be more formal - question, answer, question, answer - so don't be thrown if it doesn't have the "feel" of an in person interview. There's still a lot of personality you can share with just the words you say. Other than that, my tips would be about the same.

Kevin -

On the one hand, yes, there often is a bias so, in an effort to make things equitable, they're denying all students an interview opportunity. This has some logic behind it.
On the other hand, it is the job of the admissions officer to keep personal bias in check, be flexible, understanding, open and curious about learning what makes students from different parts of the country tick. In my opinion, this openness to the diversity of students is what provides the strength and drive that flows under every admissions decision.

If these schools value diversity, they will respect the differences between students and the strengths they would bring with them to a college. It's surprising to me that some schools would view this diversity as a reason to eliminate an interview program. Rather than adjust, be open minded, and welcome regional differences, they eliminate the program entirely. Seems odd. Maybe it's a staffing issue, though, as these two schools have many applicants - perhaps too many to feel they could sustain and equitable interview process.

Nonetheless, I find this disappointing because I'd worry how this bias doesn't enter into the application reading process, and then the student life experience for all the students from around the world who attend these top tier institutions. I believe that every element of the admissions process should reflect the underlying educational philosophy of the institution. Reasoning that makes sense at the interview stage should also apply at the applicatoin reading stage. The upside, I suppose, is that if they feel the bias would damage the chances of some students in the process, it is good that they've taken measures to eliminate that bias. It's an honest approach. It's just unfortunate that the anticipated bias isn't viewed as an opportunity to let students from different backgrounds shine for who they are and make the interviewers step up.

When I ran the interview program at Dartmouth, we made sure to hire interviewers who represented the diversity of Dartmouth - in terms of where they came from, what activities they participated in, gender, race, sexual orientation. Then, we trained them with mock interviews and discussions about diversity to be sure that, even though we all have biases (both favorable and unfavorable), we were all aware of them and of how they color our views about others. It may be impossible to wash out our biases completely, but it is vital to a healthy admissions process that each individual involved in the selection and evaluation can identify preferences and not act inappropriately on them.

I can't speak for the schools you spoke with, but their reasoning draws concern.

Thanks for the feedback Sarah. As always it is much appreciated. This just means I will have to find other ways for my personality to shine and Zinch will definitely help!