<p>Hey, I'm planning a trip to Harvard during the second week of August. I emailed admissions and asked about interviewing since it's very unlikely that there will be any Harvard alumni to interview me in my area, and they told me I was welcome to schedule an interview at the admissions office.
I scheduled my interview, but I find that I'm /really/ nervous. I know it's not a huge part of my application, but I'd still like to do really well as I am by no means a sure bet for Harvard. I've read a lot on CC about alumni interviews, but not much about interviewing with adcom. Has anyone here had an adcom interview at Harvard (or anywhere else) and would be willing to tell me about the whole process/answer a few questions?</p>
<p>-How long did your interview last? (Mine is at 11:15, so I assume it will be around 45 minutes due to lunch.)
-Was the interview conducted by one or multiple Adcom officers?
-I was told it was unnecessary to bring a resume. Should I bring one along, just in case?
-What did you wear? (I'm currently thinking a nice dress and cardigan, but I don't want to be overdressed.)
-What was the most difficult question you asked?
-How much earlier should I show up to Admissions? I want to be early but not inconvenient!
-Is there anything else I /need/ to know about this interview?</p>
<p>This is my first college interview, if you couldn't tell, haha. Anyway, thanks for your time. Any information would be really helpful!</p>
<p>I did an adcom interview at Chicago. My Harvard interview was with an alumna, so I’m just basing these answers on the Chicago interview.</p>
<p>-Somewhere around that time.
-1 adcom.
-It truly is unnecessary, but it may be a sweet gesture. Keep it Very Short though, interviewers mostly just glance at it.
-Don’t where anything that will be seasonally inappropriate (too hot).
-She started interrogating me about the difference between Norse and Classical mythology, in terms of what each revealed about the cultures that created them. This is unlikely to happen to you. She had done an independent major in mythology, and half my ECs are classical myth. I was like whaaaa (talks with hands a lot)…but it didn’t really matter, I think, because I (while not articulate on the subject) clearly wasn’t just making up an interest for the sake of the application.
-15 minutes early is probably good. Maybe 10.</p>
<p>When I did my Harvard visit, they said that adcom interviews could be additional to but not an adequate substitute for alumni interviews. I assume that you have confirmed with them that yours will be a substitute interview (because of your circumstances)?</p>
<p>D had three Harvard interview - 1 alum, 2 adcom</p>
<p>-How long did your interview last? (Mine is at 11:15, so I assume it will be around 45 minutes due to lunch.)
alum about hour, adcom 1 about 45-50 min, adcom 2 anout 30 minutes</p>
<p>-Was the interview conducted by one or multiple Adcom officers?
each one was one interviewer</p>
<p>-I was told it was unnecessary to bring a resume. Should I bring one along, just in case?
D brought an activities resume to every college interview</p>
<p>-What did you wear? (I’m currently thinking a nice dress and cardigan, but I don’t want to be overdressed.)
sounds appropriate</p>
<p>-What was the most difficult question you asked?
every interview was different</p>
<p>-How much earlier should I show up to Admissions? I want to be early but not inconvenient!
maybe 15 minutes before</p>
<p>-Is there anything else I /need/ to know about this interview?
prepare for it like any other interview</p>
<p>My S had an alumni interview. It was unusual in that they hit it off and so it lasted for almost 3 hours. He wore a jacket, collared shirt and nice slacks. He didn’t bring a resume, but as he had already applied, the interviewer had some idea about who he was (the British Harvard alumni network is very on top of things, I would assume that an adcom meeting would be as well…). My S writes ballet scores and the interviewer dislikes ballet so the toughest question(s) were about why should someone care about ballet and why would a composer write ballet music. He arrived a couple of minutes early, but the interviewer was already there (it was at a Starbucks). </p>
<p>I interview both for college and fellowships and I can tell you that there are a few absolutes–number one: HAVE FUN. If you are having fun, it is almost always a sure sign that the interviewer is as well…remember that the interviewer wants to get to know YOU–not your resume, and the best interviews are those in which your personality shines forth. If you don’t know, say so. The interviewer can almost always tell if someone is slinging the hash and unless they are very very good at it (and there for it is fun to watch–remember the FUN advice) it will go very badly. In almost all cases (unless their babysitter took ill or they got a flat tire that morning or something…) the interviewer wants to like you and wants you to like Harvard (fellowship interviews are another beast entirely, but that isn’t at issue here…) so don’t be nervous but enjoy it.
(BTW–my S answered the tough question by betting a Pound that he knew the one word that characterized ballet for the interviewer. She she took the bet. He guessed right (Nutcracker) and took the coin from the table – they both began to laugh. He knew then that she would be an advocate for him…)</p>