<p>I mean in terms of applying to Harvard.</p>
<p>ppl on this board are intense about college admissions, so i think its likely they also do really well in school. i would guess that cc posters have slightly above average stats for harvard</p>
<p>Yeah, sean you are probably right.</p>
<p>What is confusing to me is that I have been getting radically different claims with regards to the intesity of admission. Many teachers that have gotten students into top schools locally paint admissions to Harvard as easier than it looks from Zuma' s stat roster or other stat's on this board. But I feel that these boards adequately reflect the true intensity. Thus I am in a state of confusion.</p>
<p>The Harvard applicants on this board are not a cross-section of the applicant pool; they are a far more consistently qualified group than the pool overall, which you can see from the fact that a lot more than 10% of them get in.</p>
<p>Actually, Matt from Wesleyan's PRStat site is uncannily on the money, with 19 Harvard admits out of 193 applicants!!</p>
<p>They seem very representative of what I see as an alum interviewer. Most applicants to Harvard are outstanding students, and have excellent scores and good ECs. It is unusual for me to interview a Harvard applicant whose background would put him or her out of contention for a top 15 college.</p>
<p>Northstarmom,</p>
<p>Are the applicants culled before you get them?</p>
<p>Nope. Every applicant gets an interview.</p>
<p>Because most applicants are interviewed by alum volunteers, it is not possible for all applicants to be interviewed. There are, for instance, areas in the US where there are no alum volunteers within a couple of hours drive. A student posted on CC earlier this year about being in that situation.</p>
<p>The adcoms go abroad over the summer to interview applicants, but, of course, they are not able to interview all prospective foreign applicants. That combined with the lack of enough alum interviewers abroad means that many international applicants are not interviewed.</p>
<p>Harvard adcoms say that they will not count the lack of an interview against applicants if that occurred because of the lack of an interviewer.</p>
<p>I imagine, however, that if an applicant were offered an interview and declined for no good reason, that would count against the applicant. I have seen students posting on CC considering declining interviews because they felt that they would be too shy to interview well. A student that shy would not be happy at Harvard nor would such a student have much to offer the college, which is interested in students who can relate to other people, not just get good grades.</p>
<p>Yeah... I was talking with a UPenn representative on Monday, and she told me she cringes every time she gets a report back saying that an applicant declined an interview.</p>
<p>A funny story I heard once elsewhere online was about a guy who was a star in an EC that I follow closely. He was described by a guy who knew him well as "weird--so weird that he didn't get into any college that interviewed him, even though he got into all colleges for which he didn't have to interview." The interview process makes a difference in campus culture, for sure. Some colleges are where all the noninterviewers go. </p>
<p>In answer to the original question, I wouldn't count on voluntary participants on this site being representative of ANY particular group they may think that they represent. The best way to know whether or not you are a competitive applicant to Harvard is to make an application.</p>
<p>I was scheduled for interviews with Harvard & Dartmouth alums, but never heard from Yale (you'd think they would have at least on alumnus living in this city, even with it being located in the armpit of the universe). Even though I was by no means the most socially able applicant to these schools, I got through the interviews ok; they could have been better, but could have been a lot worse. Just go relaxed as possible, be yourself, and be prepared for any of their questions. Most of these interviews, unless bombed, will likely not make or break the Adcoms' decision--my Dartmouth interview was very laid-back and informal, but I've heard Harvard has a more inquisition-style interview, which somewhat fit with my experiences.</p>
<p>My advice--do NOT decline an interview! Not only, as others have posted, would this bring you under scrutiny from the Adcoms, if you decline, you're probably not the kind of student these schools are looking for.</p>
<p>Back to the OP's question, I believe that the avg applicant to Harvard has roughly a 3.9UW & 1400 SAT, if I recall. Someone w/ these stats would have about a 10% chance of being accepted.</p>
<p>Someone correct me if you have better data...just going off of something I remember hearing.</p>
<p>I second that about interviews. Your first interviews might be total eff-ups, but it gets better really fast. I remember being totally nervous about them and reading all of northstarmom's advice to calm my nerves (:),northstarmom) but by the last of my interviews, I felt agitated that there was no Yale alumnus able to interview me. There's so much you can say/express in an interview that you're really not doing yourself justice if you decline.</p>
<p>Different Princeton alumni contacted me (around 4) to interview me... I declined and told them I had already interviewed on campus (I live in New Jersey). I didn't get in. Hmm...</p>
<p>thinkjose1,
I wonder if Princeton asked those alum to interview you because you were on the admissions bubble. Sometimes Harvard asks for second interview for that reason. I suppose it's even possible that an interview report could have been lost.</p>
<p>When you declined the interviews, Princeton may have assumed you weren't interested or had something to hide.</p>
<p>I have a question... since Harvard is my #1 and I will be applying EA, Harvard will most likely be my first interview... does anyone have any suggestions so that I might not screw it up?</p>
<p>Do your best to have some college interviews before you interview at Harvard.</p>
<p>Read some books on interviewing.</p>
<p>Harvard was my first interview. This was back in the stone ages when it was easy to get an on-campus inteview (something virtually unheard of now).</p>
<p>I had a horrible allergy attack that hit virtually the moment we drove into Cambridge. I was sneezing, eyes itching, nose running during the interview.</p>
<p>I still got in. :)</p>
<p>i am actually happy there is an interview because i am great around people and taking about myself passionately. btw does anyone recommend that when you visit you should also have an off-campus interview?</p>
<p>Find some safety schools that offer on-campus interviews, and go visit these colleges and have the interviews sometime during the summer or early fall, so you have some practice before your EA school interview. I did that by interviewing at Wellesley (ok, not exactly a safety) before the Yale interview. It turned out to be a good idea because after the Wellesley interview (person was really nice), I wasn't as nervous for all the other interviews.</p>