The Truth about admissions decisions and alumni interviews

A.k.a. More Bad News

It's a great time to be an admissions counselor at the University of Chicago.

Early action admissions decisions will be emailed this year to every applicant. Regular notification decisions will not.

We are trying to get this email out before December 15. We are not quite sure when it will go out. It depends on how fast we can read and how many hours we can put in. I'm happy to say that we've been reading a lot and working a lot, and making a ton of progress on our record-breaking early action pool. However, we still have a long way to go.

We readers have been noticing that more interview reports are coming in this year than ever, and they are really helping us out. Of course, since there are more of you, more requests were made, and more people will hear that they won't have an interview. If you have not been contacted by your alumni interviewer yet, you probably will not get one for the early action cycle. If you are deferred, you will have another chance at an alumni interview.

I don't know if I've already told this story on this blog, but back when I applied to college, there was no internet. I checked a box on my paper Basic Information Form that said I would like an alumni interview. A month later, I got a letter that said no alum lived within 75 miles of me. AND my science teacher recommendation never made it.

Not having an interview, and not having two recommendations, does not hurt your chance of admission.