It can go either way.... My daughter had already visited her number #1 and #2 schools, and due to PMS changes, when she visited her #2 she could not do the interview, then on her #1 school visit, it also did not work out timing wise (and we already had plane tickets there for another reason so could not change the date), one school was 500 miles away, the other one 1400....She asked the ROO at her second choice school if she should come back there and do her interview or do it locally, he said to do it locally since she had already visited, he said the cost/benefit didn't work out to justify the expense to come back. Similar to the above story, when she didn't get a national scholarship to the #2 school, the ROO called and made her an offer for a campus based there, I think that had a lot to do with the fact she crossed several state lines to go visit and that makes an impression. She ended up accepting the national scholarship to her #4 school, the local one she did the interview with. Whether you do the interview there or not, I highly recommend visiting that #1 school and meeting with the ROO if you have not already. If you cannot do that in time to get your interview done for the application, I really think that is okay to do the interview locally, but don't skip out on the opportunity to go visit, it really can help in so many ways.