[pinko]

I wouldn't challenge your general advice, as I am just one data point... but just to underscore what a crapshoot this all is, I actually got into to college on the basis of an interview in which my primary schtick concerned why Dungeons and Dragons made me smart.

(How do I know? The head of admissions, who interviewed me, told me so a year later. It was a small school, I was applying for January admission, and she basically made the decision herself. I had nothing on paper to recommend me above anyone else -- she just loved the interview.)