<p>I'm about to have an interview and I need some advice on what type of questions they ask and how to they judge you. What are some important qualities to have when in the interview?</p>
<p>Wear clothes and speak in coherent sentences.</p>
<p>Don’t try to outguess your interviewer. if this is just for general admission purposes, it’s probably as much of a chance for them to sell you on Harvard as a chance to judge you. They’ll be more interested in a real person than an automoton who does nothing but study and has no interests beyond getting into graduate school (even before getting out of high school). Be ready to talk about your nonacademic activities.</p>
<p>Be ready to explain why you want to go to Harvard, beyond the obvious (“Uhmmm, because it is a really good school”). Make a case for how you can contribute to the campus life there as well as benefit from it.
Be yourself. Smile. Get there a few minutes early. Bring along a resume although the interviewer may not want it.
Ask intelligent questions - not basic things that can be found on the website.</p>
<p>There is no set list of questions for a Harvard interview, though your guidance counselor should be able to provide you with and rehearse you for some typical questions. Best is to go in ready to explain and expound on your passions - the things about you that won’t show up on the admissions paperwork. Good luck from this interviewer!</p>
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<p>Close, but the reality is a bit bleaker than that. </p>
<p>Harvard feels pretty confident that a sufficient number of really strong applicants will be sold on Harvard every year. They’ve been right about that for generations.</p>
<p>The Admissions Office tells interviewers that for the vast majority of applicants, the alumni interview is the closest contact they’re going to have with Harvard. They want interviewers to be a friendly and likable face for the College, so as to leave those applicants who will be disappointed in the spring with as favorable an impression of Harvard as possible.</p>
<p>I told you it was bleak. On the plus side, however, it means that any interviewer who really puts you through the wringer is being a total jerk.</p>
<p>Be ready for the standard opening question in any interview anywhere: “Tell me about yourself.” This is your chance to direct the interview towards the topics you are most comfortable discussing and an opportunity to make a good first impression.</p>
<p>The closing question will always be, “Do you have any questions for me?” And the answer to that is never a question to which you could have found the answer on the school’s web site. That just looks like you didn’t bother to do your homework. Better questions are things like: As an alum, what was most memorable from your 4 years at X University? and Is the school making any significant changes to their programs, direction, or strategy that would impact me if I were to be admitted? </p>
<p>The rest should be a friendly conversation about the things you are most interested in. Like Sikorsky says, anyone who tries to make you feel awkward is just a jerk and is definitely not doing it because the school asked them to.</p>
<p>I literally just got home from my interview. It was great! The person who interviewed me had to travel 200 miles, but she said she didn’t mind. She apparently had a stop along the way to talk to some kids at a school anyway. She was a psychology major from 2007 and was really relatable. She pretty much left everything open-ended. I actually had to encourage her to ask questions because it’s pretty hard to talk about yourself for an extended period of time (well at least for me it is). In total our conversation lasted about two hours and she encouraged me to ask any questions I had about the school. She really made me feel good about my prospects even though I think my application is lacking (I didn’t do a second essay). She asked no current events questions, which is what I was really worried about. In short, I’m glad I got an interview; I think it really helped me–even if it doesn’t count for much.</p>