Why do some schools/programs interview, and others don't?

[DorindaAfterThyrsis]

Just a random question I have, and wondering if anyone has any insight. I've noticed (from perusal of these boards) that a lot of Comp Lit programs seem to do interviews (via Skype or in person) as a part of the admissions process, where most (if not all? I'm guessing here) English programs don't do any interviewing at all.

Any thoughts on why this might be? And anyone know which (if any) English programs do conduct interviews as part of their process?

Edited February 17, 2012 by DorindaAfterThyrsis

[Stately Plump]

I know Emory and Stanford do interviews for English. I think there are a few more. I'm not sure why some do and some some don't. Those that do can obviously get a better feel for the student they are accepting, above and beyond the paper-person they got to know in the application. But it is very, very time consuming, and can be expensive for the interviewee (especially if he/she isn't accepted... I would hate flying to Stanford for an interview just to find out I got rejected).

[Sparky]

If language proficiency is an issue, that could explain the Comp Lit interviews. (Adcoms are notoriously, and rightly, skeptical of unsubstantiated claims of language knowledge in SOPs).

My school does on-campus interviews in several humanities depts, including English, largely as a recruiting tool. Our location is, well, crappy, but apparently getting people onto campus prior to final decisions changes a *lot* in terms of people's excitement level at spending 5+ years here. Better than a prospective student weekend in March, I gather. IIRC Yale's stated reason for attempting to mandate graduate interviews was to increase PhD completion rate, but I have a hard time seeing how that's predictable in advance, especially for humanities programs, where less depends on the advisor/lab-student relationship.

As I understand it, schools that hold on-campus interviews generally either pay for the trip or provide reimbursement for travel expenditures.

[DorindaAfterThyrsis]

Interesting.

I was shocked (but ecstatic!) to discover while putting together my applications that an interview wouldn't be a part of the process for any of the schools I applied to. While this fact exponentially increased my odds of getting in anywhere (I am an automatic fail in an interview situation, no exaggeration), it seems a bit....rash for programs to offer to invest upwards of 6 years of time/effort and more than a quarter of a million dollars in tuition and fellowships/stipends in a product that they are purchasing sight unseen, essentially. I mean, I'm not complaining that my Grad programs don't interview (like I said, it's honestly my saving grace), but I had three interviews in order to determine if I was sufficiently "qualified" to work at Starbucks. Just sayin'.

The disconnect seems a little wacky.

Yet another thing about the admissions process that I will never understand, I guess. *sigh*