High school students who apply to Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., have the opportunity to sit down in their own homes and try out what could become the new trend in college admissions - webcam interviews.
The university began offering webcam interviews to early decision applicants last fall and opened it up to other applicants on Dec. 1, according to Tamara Blocker, Wake Forest's associate admissions director. Approximately 200 of this year's 9,000 to 10,000 applicants have used the webcam interview, she said.
"We this year decided to make interviews a more important part of the process and we realized not everyone was able to get to campus," she said.
According to Wake Forest's Web site, the university is placing more emphasis on interviews because it no longer requires scores from standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT.
Blocker said most of the interviews are conducted using Skype, but some are conducted through Adobe Connect.
Although the webcam interviews are more convenient for many students, face-to-face interviews are still more commonly used, she said. Written interviews with randomly generated questions are another alternative for Wake Forest applicants.
AU has no plans to implement webcam interviews in the near future, Acting AU Director of Admissions Greg Grauman said in an e-mail. The university does not require interviews or use them to help determine whether an applicant is accepted.
"Although the University has no immediate plans to consider webcam interviews as part of its admissions process, each spring the Office of Enrollment does re-assess all of its admissions practices and policies to ensure we are recruiting and evaluating our students in the most responsible and professional manner and are using the practices and policies consistent to other universities across the nation," he said in the e-mail.
National Association for College Admissions Counseling Public Policy Director David Hawkins told myfoxdc.com he thinks the use of webcam interviews will grow, but added that at present, some financially-challenged students might not have access to the technology required for the webcam interviews. This "digital divide" between wealthier and poorer students had not created too many headaches at Wake Forest, according to Blocker.
"We have had people use a friend's computer, we've had people do it at their school," she said. "It hasn't presented itself as a problem."
The webcam interview is not meant to replace face-to-face interviews for applicants who are able to get to campus, Blocker said.
"Of course, we want people to come and sit down face-to face with us if they can," she said. "We of course would never use this as a replacement."
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