Interviewing and Numbers

[surfdevl02]

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I was just wondering what the consensus on SDN is concerning the importance of numbers once you get to the interview stage. Are numbers for the most part disregarded in favor of the impressions you give at your interview? The thing is i have two interviews in Jan and Feb where I'm POSITIVE i'm nowhere near their numbers in MCAT and GPA but i think i interview well. Hopefully my laziness in college won't catch up to me now....for those curious, my interviews are at ucsf and georgetown

 

[souljah1]

if you kick ass on your ucsf interviews...i'd bet your worse case scenario is a waitlist (which gives you a very good chance at ultimately getting in). ucsf puts a lot of emphasis on their interviews. in the end, they go over the whole application and make the final decision. if your interviews are seen to be poor, you don't have much of a shot. if they are interviewing you they think you can handle their program. if you interview well and give them the impression that you fit with our program..you are golden. you have almost a 50% chance of an acceptance, either directly or off the waitlist, just by interviewing.

by the way, my numbers were below their averages and i got in. you have to remember that they are averages, not cut-offs.

 

[KyGrlDr2B]

If you didn't have a chance, they wouldn't bother interviewing you. Therefore, if you have great interviews, I would think you would at least be waitlisted. Numbers aren't everything....that's why they have interviews and essays in the first place! And remember that many schools wait list a lot of people that eventually get accepted, so don't worry if you wind up with all waitlists. Good luck! 🙂

 

[manicmaven]

I have the same concern about Northwestern. I am much lower than their average GPA and MCAT. I know they accept 50% and waitlist like 40% of interviewees, but I wonder if I'll be automatically waitlisted even with a kick ass interview because the committee will look at my numbers and be like, 'ummm...no.'


Has anyone had a similar experience with positive results at NU?

 

[Mutterkuchen]

I think that the OPs original question is whether all interviewed applicants are on a level playing field, once they have been offered an interview.

I would say that the answer to this question is generally no, your stats still matter after you get an interview. When the committee meets after the interview, I believe that they try to look at the whole package, GPA, MCAT, ECs, and interview. However, I would like to think that if you have been offered an interview, you do have a serious chance of admission.