<p>Looking through the decision thread from last year (2013), I only saw a few (like maybe 1-2) people who were accepted without an interview. Lots of people were waitlisted without an interview, but there weren't too many actual acceptances. What does this mean? (I don't have an interview yet). I know that a lot of people bring up the question of what it means to not have an interview and the general consensus is that it means nothing, but looking through last year's thread worries me.</p>
<p>No interview means there wasn’t an alum interviewer available to talk to you. However, I personally think that if you’re in an area like NYC or Boston that has lots of alum interviewers, and you don’t get an interview, that’s an indication that your chances of acceptance are less than the 7 in 100 that’s the norm. I haven’t been told this by Harvard: I just assume this is the case because I think that if you’re in an area with lots of alum interviewers, and Harvard were seriously considering you, they’d find an alum interviewer to talk to you. I don’t think this is the case, however, in areas that don’t have many alum available to interview.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, don’t give up hope yet because alum interviews will be done as late as mid March, and all will be considered by admissions officers.</p>
<p>@Northstarmom-
</p>
<p>I won’t assume that this year. I live in the NY/NJ metro area, and was only recently recruited. I received another email from my local rep asking to take one or two more interviewees, while getting another mass email asking us to call our friends to volunteer. I think there’s a serious shortage of volunteers even in Ivy-alum-dense regions this year.</p>
<p>I agree that due to the rise in applications, there’s a shortage of alum interviewers in those interview-dense areas, but I still think that if there are a lot of potential interviewers in such an area, if Harvard is very interested in a student, Harvard will manage to get an interviewer for that student.</p>
<p>The test of our theories will be whether students from interviewer-dense areas get accepted even though they weren’t interviewed.</p>
<p>Hypothetically, let’s say I were athletically recruited by Harvard. I live in a “Harvard-dense” area, but can I still decline to be interviewed and not have it affect me? Can you even decline an interview, period? Not that I’d want to; just curious.</p>
<p>you can do anything you want to! how the adcoms will see it though is a different story</p>
<p>What I’ve gleaned from last year’s decisions thread is that an interview doesn’t necessarily mean acceptance, but not having an interview seems to indicate a significantly greater chance of non-acceptance (either waitlist or rejection).</p>
<p>Keep in mind that not all applicants are familiar with College Confidential. Many Harvard-goers did not post their interview status, so it may be that while it seems that the people who didn’t get interviews have a lower chance of getting in, there are plenty of people who didn’t have interviews but still got in.</p>
<p>This is what my alum interviewer told me:</p>
<ul>
<li>That because I got an interview, its a good sign (possibly moreso because I’m an international).</li>
<li>However, he knows people who got in and did not have an interview, so its not a HUGE deal.</li>
</ul>
<p>So to answer the question posed by the OP:</p>
<p>NO. No interview does NOT equal no admittance.</p>
<p>Judging from what my interviewer told me, I don’t thi8nk that no interview = no admittance. It’s not like MIT where the difference is about 11%.</p>
<p>We are in an “everything dense” area (big city, all schools represented). At a Harvard Club reception, we were told they try to interview everyone (if possible), and you’ll see that stated on CC many times. They also said “if you are admitted…you just drew the lucky lottery ticket…don’t be discouraged if you didn’t…these days it’s just THAT competitive”. Now, obviously that’s not true for ALL applicants (the 3.5s and 1800s). But…it’s true of the upper tier. Don’t spend 2 months worrying about whether or not your interview, or lack thereof helped or hindered you. You might even be better off not getting one! Gosh - one of my D’s interviews was a nightmare. The interviewer (not Harvard) was really really really…um…not nice, offensive, etc. No WAY she’ll get a good report from that one, even though all the others went extremely well. She would have been better off without it. So - try and count your (possible) blessings.</p>
<p>“The interviewer (not Harvard) was really really really…um…not nice, offensive, etc.”</p>
<p>Please let Harvard admissions know about any interviewers who are rude or offensive. Admissions asks interviews to be courteous and leave applicants with a favorable impression of Harvard even though most interviewees will be rejected. Letting Harvard know about a rude interviewer won’t hurt a students’ chances. It’s likely that Harvard will discretely try to arrange another interview, and will discretely ask the regional alum interviewer chair not to use that interviewer again.</p>
<p>Oh no, I wasn’t clear. It was NOT the HARVARD interviewer that was so offensive and haughty and hateful and condescending (and just plain old weird…seemed born with a chip on their shoulder and it grew). </p>
<p>Truth be told, Harvard was my D’s absolute FAVORITE so far (and…teehee…I don’t want her to get into the “other” school anyway).</p>
<p>@R124687. </p>
<p>I think NSM was just generalizing the point. In case anyone ever runs across a bad Harvard interviewer, please report him or her. Ditto for any other school, so future applicants won’t have to suffer in the hands of an insufferable alum. :)</p>
<p>With that said, I’m glad the Harvard interview went well for your D!</p>
<p>I don’t think that no interview= no admittance. I got a Harvard likely letter, but was contacted for an interview after receiving the letter. Obviously, they made a decision on my application without the aid of an interview.</p>
<p>I don’t think an athletic likely letter is the same as normal admittance. Congrats on the letter though! And you got one from Columbia?!</p>
<p>Seeing as applicants to Harvard from my area have tripled over the past 2-3 years, I cannot imagine Harvard holding it against me for (possibly) not being able to interview.</p>
<p>Hell, Princeton is holding mass interviews at a central location simply because there aren’t enough alumni to do individual in-home interviews.</p>
<p>My D has not yet received an interview request but another strong applicant from her school has. She knows she sent in her application before the other student- so it <em>is</em> a bit discouraging 
. </p>
<p>What is the latest that she would get notified about an interviewl? We do not live in an area with a high density of applicants (or alumni).</p>
<p>Mid March is the latest. Who gets interviewed first usually is pretty random. Whoever heads the regional alum committee may match up students and interviewers based on proximity or the interviewers’ preferences. For instance, when I headed my regional alum interviewing committee, most of the applicants were planning to major in bio or biochem, but most of the interviewers were in the social sciences or humanities, and preferred to interview students with interests similar to theirs. Consequently, the first students whom I matched with interviewers were those rare ones who weren’t aspiring doctors.</p>
<p>I have found it curious that most college interviewers seem to have majored/concentrated in the social sciences and humanities.</p>