Early interviews for non-rolling admissions?

[yuumiplayer]

From what I understand, it seems that for rolling admissions schools, having an earlier interview generally means that the school is more interested in you. I was wondering if it's the same case for schools that don't do rolling admissions, and also whether interviewing earlier would be helpful at all in this case?

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[LizzyM]

Sometimes, schools will interview applicants "earlier" than later if they think that the applicant will have many invitations and may start to decline invitations after receiving an offer from one or more schools. This used to be more common when all interviews were in person and some people were traveling 7-8 times for interviews. Now that many interviews are virtual the time and expense is minimized and, I think, applicants are less likely to decline an invitation. Still some schools might try to get to the applicants they see as in greatest demand earlier in the cycle.

However, you can't judge yourself less worthy if you get an interview in November or December. I've been doing this for 20+ years and lately I've not seen a decline in quality as the season wears on.