Common Data Set · Section C7
Of the 143 colleges with Common Data Set filings in Trajecta's dataset, 6 rate the admissions interview very important in their admissions decisions, 8 rate it important, 38 considered, and 88 say it is not considered — as self-reported in each school's CDS section C7 ("Interview").
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The interview is a conversation with an admissions officer, a trained alum, or a current student. Most college interviews today are informational (for you) or only lightly evaluative; a shrinking set of schools makes them a genuine factor. A school’s Common Data Set C7 rating tells you which kind you are walking into — "not considered" means the interview cannot hurt or help your decision.
Princeton University#1
Stanford University#2
Harvard University#5
Rice University#7
Yale University#8
Vanderbilt University#10
Duke University#15
Cornell University#18
Bowdoin College#19
Dartmouth College#22
Northwestern University#23
Swarthmore College#30
Washington and Lee University#32
Emory University#33
Harvey Mudd College#42
Haverford College#44
Hamilton College#51
Babson College#52
Tufts University#55
Bates College#57
Grinnell College#60
Carleton College#61
Lehigh University#66
William & Mary#69
Vassar College#83
Stony Brook University#85
Colorado College#96
Rutgers University-New Brunswick#106
Brandeis University#110
University of Delaware#157
Indiana University-Bloomington#170
Worcester Polytechnic Institute#176
Michigan State University#193
University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus#207
Drexel University#208
Pepperdine University#229
The University of Alabama#339
University of Kentucky#371
California Institute of Technology#4
University of Chicago#6
Johns Hopkins University#9
University of Pennsylvania#11
Brown University#12
Williams College#13
University of California-Berkeley#16
University of California-Los Angeles#17
Pomona College#20
Amherst College#25
University of Notre Dame#26
Wellesley College#27
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus#28
Colby College#29
University of Virginia-Main Campus#34
Davidson College#35
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor#36
Carnegie Mellon University#37
University of Southern California#39
University of Florida#40
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill#41
Colgate University#43
University of California-San Diego#45
Northeastern University#46
Barnard College#47
Boston University#48
University of California-Irvine#49
Middlebury College#53
New York University#54
Wesleyan University#58
University of Maryland-College Park#59
The University of Texas at Austin#62
University of California-Davis#64
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign#67
University of California-Santa Barbara#71
University of Washington-Seattle Campus#73
University of Wisconsin-Madison#74
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo#75
Villanova University#76
Florida State University#77
University of Miami#78
University of Richmond#79
University of Georgia#81
Brigham Young University#84
Purdue University-Main Campus#86
Binghamton University#88
Santa Clara University#89
George Washington University#91
Tulane University of Louisiana#97
Clemson University#103
Texas A&M University-College Station#105
Skidmore College#108
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University#109
University of Connecticut#114
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute#117
San Diego State University#118
Ohio State University-Main Campus#120
University of Central Florida#125
Southern Methodist University#131
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities#133
Texas Christian University#134
University of Massachusetts-Amherst#135
Loyola Marymount University#144
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville#145
Auburn University#153
University of Maryland-Baltimore County#158
University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus#164
University of California-Riverside#174
American University#181
University of California-Santa Cruz#183
University of Colorado Boulder#185
University of South Carolina-Columbia#187
Baylor University#199
University of Houston#201
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus#211
University of Missouri-Columbia#227
San Jose State University#234
University of California-Merced#264
University of Arizona#269
University of Iowa#270
Howard University#289
University of Oregon#304
Towson University#328
University of Kansas#329
Texas Tech University#336
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University#345
Arizona State University Campus Immersion#380
Temple University#5133 colleges in the dataset did not report this factor in their CDS filing.
It depends on the school. Evaluative interviews produce a written report that joins your file; informational interviews exist to answer your questions. The Common Data Set C7 rating is the tell: schools that mark the interview "considered" or higher use it evaluatively, and "not considered" means it plays no role in the decision.
At schools where interviews are optional and offered by capacity, declining is officially neutral — though at the handful of schools that rate interviews important, taking one when offered is the safer choice. At schools listing the interview as "not considered", it cannot matter either way.
Of the 143 colleges with Common Data Set filings in Trajecta's dataset, 6 rate the admissions interview very important in admissions, 8 rate it important, 38 considered, and 88 say it is not considered. Colleges rating it very important include Columbia University in the City of New York, College of the Holy Cross, Syracuse University, United States Air Force Academy, United States Military Academy.
Ratings are self-reported by each college in its Common Data Set, section C7. Every school links to its full data page. Explore the college rankings →
