Business School Drops Interviews From Admissions

Starting next year, applicants to the Business School will no longer have to undergo personal interviews with admission officials, it was announced yesterday.

Interviews in the past have often been criticized as an unfair part of the School's admissions program. A number of unsuccessful candidates have felt that the interviewer was personally responsible for their rejection by the Admissions Board.

The policy of conducting some 4,000 interviews a year is being dropped, Director of Admissions Lewis B. Ward said last night, because of its doubtful value in judging candidates and its expense. Omission of the interviews, he said, will give more weight in determining admission to the candidate's application blank, his academic record, and recommendations from his employer or college faculty.

Aptitude tests, given to candidates for the first time this year, will still have only a minor importance in the admissions program, Ward added. He explained that the tests are still in the trial stage and that the Admissions Board is not yet familiar enough with the significance of the test scores.

Since the last war the Business School has been one of the few institutions of its kind to require an interview of every admissions candidate. These personal talks have generally taken place in Cambridge with members of the Admissions Board, but in the case of candidates living far away, alumni of the School have occasionally conducted the interviews. The talks usually take from one-half hour to an hour and a half.

Each entering class at the Business School comprises approximately 600 students who have been selected from among 2,200 applicants, Ward said. Acceptance or rejection notices are sent out during the period from March to July.

So far this year 500 students have been accepted for the class entering the School next fall, Ward added.