<p>Given the large number of students that attend Harvard Summer School, though, and recommedations they receive from HSS professors, I'm not sure it would really make a difference.</p>
<p>I did go to HSS, got my recommedations, talked about it in my essays -- the whole deal. I was also rejected last year...and probably will be this year as well.</p>
<p>Hey, I just had my interview. It went very well, I think. My interviewer was a sweetheart! I think my interview may have been a bit different from others, because my interviewer said she had been the reader of my application (she's an admissions officer). She said that now the applications are in the hands of the committee though.</p>
<p>She also said that faculty get involved in assessing applications, that junior-year transfers can only start in the fall (so those who start in spring are always sophomores), and that they are aiming for fifty spaces.</p>
<p>Are people sending thank-you letters or just e-mails to their interviewer?</p>
<p>wow. fifty spaces. that is TOUGH. if i get in i bet it will be as a spring admit since I'm a sophmore.</p>
<p>also, confetti, glad that your interview went well! what kind of questions did she ask you? mine is in a hour and a half, gah! did she perhaps mention how many people got interviews and/or how many people applied this year?</p>
<p>for shag-- Well, she said that there is no official number of available slots yet. I think 50 may have just been an estimate. I meant to ask how many people get interviews, but I forgot! If you find a nice way to ask your interviewer, please do! </p>
<p>She did say that about 1,100 people applied. And she also said that they keep the freshman application on file! I did not know that.</p>
<p>And some of the questions she asked me were a little specific to my file, I think. But mainly they were generic questions such as "what was your hs like/why do you want to leave your school/why do you want to come here" stuff.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, confetti tea!! Good luck, for shaganov!</p>
<p>wow that went well. for anyone who still has to do theirs (is that possible? mine might have been last) I ended up talking to the guy for an hour, he told me at the end that he thought I was obvioulsy very intellectually curious and passionate and that I was a great fit for Harvard. His last question was why I wanted to go to Harvard, and I seriously talked for a full five minutes. When I finished, there was a long pause and he said. "Wow. That's one of the best answers to that question I've ever heard."<br>
I am glad I got the interview, but I feel almost worse than I did when I didn't have one. It sort of gave me this hope that I know is false that I might get in.... ach.... je ne sais pas.... who knows what will happen!</p>
<p>for shaganov,</p>
<p>that is so awesome that your interview went well! congratulations!
i still have to have my interview, in person in a few days. it seems to be a little late, but i hope that doesn't negatively affect anything. what sorts of questions were you asked? i won't have time to prepare because i am moving houses the day before!</p>
<p>hey! my interviewer didn't have any of my file in front of him because he said his job was to find out who I was as a person indepedent of my application. He asked me a lot about my classes, which ones I liked and didn't like. He asked me if any books I'd read or ideas I'd heard lately were particularly interesting, so I talked about the Bahagavad Gita, which is semi-bad because that's what I wrote my essay about on my application, but then I also talked about this great book called 'the book of laughter and forgetting' and this albert camus essay called 'the myth of sisyphus.' He asked me what I did outside of the classroom, what I wanted to do with my life, I basically talked about college democrats, STAND, my internship, reading, writing, running and how I wanted to be a campaign manager. I would deffffinetly suggest having a well thought out answer to 'why harvard.' I think that's probably the most imporatnt question that they ask. Good luck and let me (us) know how it goes!!</p>
<p>Also, yes, if anyone can find out how many people got these, that would be awsome. It seems like a lot of us just on this forum got one...</p>
<p>I would agree with For Shaganov about having a well-developed "why harvard" response. My interviewer asked me why I wanted to go to Harvard, aside from my academic considerations. I also am curious as to how many people received interviews.</p>
<p>I'm a little worried that maybe the committee thought something was weird about my application, because my interviewer was so familiar with my file. Most people seem to have interviewers who initially know nothing about them. I also never received that generic e-mail. Oh welll.</p>
<p>confetti tea, me too (about both the familiarity and the generic email). I'm going to try to stop speculating in the back of my mind. :) ... still wondering why my interview is late.</p>
<p>It's not as late as mine... I finally got contacted by the local coordinator today and was given the name of my interviewer. I was also told that everything should be in Cambridge by May 1. So I have time until Sunday to hold my interview.</p>
<p>actually, mine's after may 1. it was supposed to be before, but my moving out of the house and other last minute things meant that i had to reschedule. the office said that may 1st or 2nd would be ok.</p>
<p>OK, then, I was given the wrong information: "All interviews must be back in Cambridge by May 1. "</p>
<p>For Shaganov: did your interviewer happen to say how much weight the alumni interview holds? (I forgot to ask my interviewer.)</p>
<p>i think it's pretty imporatnt for us. from what i gather, they are on the fence about a very small number of transfers and decide to give them interviewers. since all interviewers all not equal, i'm sure they don't make their final decisions based solely on the interviews, but i tihnk that they either reaffirm or refute the picture an applicant has painted of themselves. i don't really know, that's just what i sort of think...</p>
<p>It's all speculation. And yet it's so tempting to speculate...</p>
<p>i'll have my interview on Saturday...i was just curious about what is supposed to be logical answer to 'why harvard?'..well, i have my own reasons which I wrote an esssay about...i just wanna hear other opions if you guys dont mind....thx</p>
<p>If anyone is on right now, do you mind talking about where you go to school? I'm at Penn and am applying to transfer to Harvard as a Junior, and some days I am so sure I have a chance, and other days I ask myself why I set myself up for a letdown. This is so stressful! Oh well, if any of us make it and talked on here, we should meet in person in Cambridge. Also, I didn't get an interview, but I've noticed they've been updating my "Application Accepted" page with information, making me think I got at least a second read. I don't have the best grades - about a 3.6, but I worked at the American Embassy in Mexico City, speak 6 languages, and am more or less just a crazy intellectual-wannabe who wants to be around other smart people who aren't distracted by Wall Street. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Your "Application Accepted" page? You mean, the status check page (with the gigantic Harvard logo at the top)?</p>
<p>How can you tell that they've been updating it? With what information are they updating it?</p>