@Peterlim, how do you know that “Harvard only offers interviews to students residing in countries with limited or no interviewers that have a decent or positive chance of admission?”
@hgrad2010 do you have an estimate of the percentage of internationals had an interview (in a country with Limited Interviews) and then got accepted?
any from Singapore?
@worldwide1 , from what I’ve read on CC threads, only internationals who have been offered an interview are accepted. On the Harvard website, it says that the absence of an interview if you live in a country with no interviews will not affect your candidacy, but the absence of an interview if you live in a country with limited interviews will not ‘adversely’ affect your candidacy. Because there are so many applicants in these countries and less alumni, it seems understandable why they would regionally shortlist candidates and offer them interviews. I’ve read some older threads, where the students who have been offered interviews say that their interviewers explicitly told them they have been regionally shortlisted.
What I do not understand is why no student from any country with limited interviews (India, Germany, China, Korea, etc.) has described having already been contacted for an interview on CC this year for SCEA, even though it is quite late in the admissions process.
No sorry my insight is limited in this arena.
I feel that if we are going to get contacted for an interview, it must be this week as this is the week the full committee convenes. Also, did anyone of you receive this message on the status portal? “In your country, we may either not have any interviewers or the number of applicants may be too great for all to be interviewed. You will be contacted if the Admissions Committee requests more information. The absence of an interview will not adversely affect your candidacy.” Thus, IF i get an interview it has to be with an admissions officer, and anyone who got an interview in Thailand has been one with an admissions officer.
Do you guys know if it’s harder for internationals to get admitted SCEA?
I read somewhere (perhaps in the Harvard 2023 SCEA forum) that Harvard sometimes chooses to defer internationals to compare them with the entire applicant pool from their region. Is this likely to be true?
*Please note that I do not have any evidence that the statement above is correct (hopefully, it’s not). I’m only asking because I read it somewhere and it made sense.
@independent413 @hgrad2010 Do internationals get admitted SCEA? (see post #26)
I’m from East Asia and received my interview request on the 5th, interviewed on the 18th. The deadline for interview reports was the 25th! Judging from past admits from my country, most were deferred SCEA and accepted RD except for one hockey recruit, so it might be the case that Harvard wants to review international applicants later on, especially those from competitive countries.
@salamandereyes Which country are you from?
@independent413 Japan.
Oh, congratulations on receiving your interview btw! That probably means you have a good shot at being accepted. How do you know that the deadline for interview reports was the 25th? Someone on the thread commented they received a request just yesterday.
@independent413 Thanks! I’m trying not to keep my hopes up too much, though 
My interviewer told me the deadline, although it may be region-specific.
@salamandereyes Congratulations! You got a really early interview. Was it with an admissions officer or alumni? I am really surprised it was that early because years ago, someone from Thailand got his 3 days before results came out!!! And another recent one got his around 2 weeks before decisions came out. Also, all admits from Thailand got interviews from admissions officers.
@Peterlim Thanks! My interview was with an alumni, coordinated by a rep at the Harvard Club in Japan. I’m going to take a wild guess and assume that Thailand’s Harvard Club isn’t as active / have an alumnus willing to coordinate interviews, so the adcoms contact directly?
Given the data released during the trial and Harvard’s admissions thoroughness I would find it improbable that anyone would receive the letter of acceptance before an interview. The interview could be a mere formality but it is check box that has to be ticked off on admissions form for any admit.
But for internationals it is probably true that most admissions take place during the RD. Unlike the US admits where EA vs RD is roughly 1 to 1, the international admits probably have a ratio of 1 to 2 or higher. Last year for example, there were only four admits of Chinese nationality during REA, two of them were attending privates in US and one was a recruited athlete and one was donor’s kid. In another word, Harvard admitted no unhooked student inside China during the EA round, but RD saw eight admits. So, for unhooked international applicants, Harvard admission is probably in no rush to interview everyone, as most admissions will happen in RD anyway.
@jzducol Do you know if unhooked internationals (non-Asian) can be admitted SCEA?
Sure, they can be admitted SCEA, but I imagine their number is small compared to RD.
@salamandereyes Does the fact that the adcom interviews are usually super late mean something?
Why do some people interview with an adcom and not an alumnus?