Is a Late Interview Worse than an Early One?

[MikeCaton]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I read a lot about rolling admissions, but discussions seem to focus on getting to the interview stage. So:

Is the chance of admission LOWER at a rolling school with the same stats but a later interview date? Does this mean that they're essentially interviewing as a CYA (they've sent enough acceptances to fill the class, and the candidates they're currently interviewing are just-in-cases?)

I'm a 37 MCAT 3.62 GPA non-traditional with clinical research experience, have two interviews scheduled (UCSF and UCSD in late Feb/early March resp.). Stanford and UCLA said no post-secondary, Harvard hasn't responded post-secondary but at this point it would be quite surprising to hear from them.

 

[starfishprime]

Is the answer to this question valuable? Will it alter your behavior? Will knowing make you more likely to be accepted?

My guess: No, it would just feed your neuroticism.

Unless, of course, you have the opportunity to trade your February interview date for one last November. Do you?

 

[mbe36]

No- unless you are told specifically that you are interviewing for the waitlist.

Many schools have open spots until the very last day. NYMC has spots until their last interview day which is May 5th.

Good luck...there are still plenty of spots available!!!!

 

[Mobius1985]

With your stats, it's hard to imagine that you wouldn't qualify for their A-list. Those schools have no need to offer interviews just to be polite. I don't know specifically how those schools rank folks after the interview, but at my school, it didn't matter when you interviewed, as you got ranked according to a total score that included interview impression. Even the last person interviewed had a chance at being inserted into the top of the list for "next to receive an acceptance offer."

 

[scarletgirl777]

I read a lot about rolling admissions, but discussions seem to focus on getting to the interview stage. So:

Is the chance of admission LOWER at a rolling school with the same stats but a later interview date? Does this mean that they're essentially interviewing as a CYA (they've sent enough acceptances to fill the class, and the candidates they're currently interviewing are just-in-cases?)

I'm a 37 MCAT 3.62 GPA non-traditional with clinical research experience, have two interviews scheduled (UCSF and UCSD in late Feb/early March resp.). Stanford and UCLA said no post-secondary, Harvard hasn't responded post-secondary but at this point it would be quite surprising to hear from them.

You're not interviewing for a waitlist spot, but the point of rolling admissions is that it's better to interview earlier. Maybe different schools are referring to different aspects of the admissions process with the word rolling, but for some schools chances are definitely better earlier.

 

[MikeCaton]

Thanks for the responses. These seem in line with what I've seen elsewhere, i.e., they don't interview people they're not interested in; and they haven't said that I'm interviewing for the wait list. Starfish Prime: you're right, I have an interview now and not November and it doesn't change my decisions about how to respond at the interview, but it does help manage my expectations (of a possible offer this year vs. re-applying next year).

 

[virusgirl]

I think late interviews are pretty much just as good as early ones. Are the schools you mentioned the only ones you applied to? Because if so, your choice of schools might be the issue here. Your MCAT is awesome, and your GPA is also fine -- for most places. But when you start talking about Harvard/Stanford/etc, that's a whole different ballpark. I don't think a 3.62 is going to cut it.