Yale is Dec. 14 and UPenn is Dec. 8. Not sure about the others.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2017/11/21/politics/harvard-affirmative-action-justice-department/index.html
This won’t affect our admissions cycle but it still is a bit disturbing.
Did anyone from the Indian subcontinent (or nearby) receive their interview (with alumni or admission officer)?
@Tahir4321k any updates on interview?
@nekanorneki Applying from Oman. No interview.
Pakistan, no interview call. Has ANYONE from any of the “limited interviews” countries got one yet?
@ThatapplicNt Not me, but I have to admit that my application is complete: every important aspect of me is in the application/letters of recommendation etc. so I wouldn’t know why the admissions officers would want more information. Note that Harvard says the following on their website (link: https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/application-process/what-we-look/interviews): “If the Admissions Committee requires more information about you, you will be contacted by the Admissions Office.” Thus, if you get an interview, it shows you have at least a chance, because if you wouldn’t, your app would have just been thrown into the bin. However, if you don’t get an interview, it simply means that either they don’t have any questions that might be a dealbreaker, or they’ve already made a decision, even without all information. No worries :-).
@MaybeHarvard2022 I feel like that affirmative action case against Harvard may affect this year’s turnout, considering they’re dealing with a lot of pressure in the admissions office regarding the issue.
@LeBirthdayBoss I dont think it will especially since Harvard has been fighting it for a while and President Faust has time and time again said that Harvard is committed to diversity and access. It would only affect admissions IMO if a lawsuit as filed by the DOJ and a court ruled against Harvard.
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/8/30/faust-convocation-speech/
@MaybeHarvard2022 Maybe, I just feel like with the amount of pressure on the admissions office, they won’t try to weaken their own case and may step away from AA slightly, as they deem appropriate.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/8/8/kenny-myth-meritocratic-admissions/
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/8/15/peck-contextualizing-fairness/
Other great articles by the Crimson.
“Maybe, I just feel like with the amount of pressure on the admissions office, they won’t try to weaken their own case and may step away from AA slightly, as they deem appropriate.”
I respectfully disagree. Since Harvard is arguing in support of AA and believes that they’ve done nothing wrong, they’d logically continue doing what they’ve been doing in terms of admission practices. Anything different would suggest that the opposing argument has validity, and that Harvard is changing they’re ways in an active attempt to right previous wrongdoings. So, if Harvard were to stray away from established admission practices in order to appease DOJ and those against AA, they’d actually be weakening their case.
@Tomas1355 You have a point. And I think if admissions officers really like you, they will always want to know more about you. Besides, because almost every US applicant is interviewed (if s/he requests for one), they’re dealing with bunch of native interviewed applicants whom they’ll reject. Because the rejected ones are also interviewed, won’t you (as an admissions officer) want to interview an international kid you’re about to accept? Moreover, in-person interview reflects stuffs that aren’t on the application. For instance, someone might be extremely awkward in social interactions and that may not be reflected in the application. Or maybe, someone hasn’t expanded on a particular ECA or the reason that drove her/him into it. Or at least, interviews maybe conducted for the sake of knowing how you really are as a person (because in interviews, if you are rated 1 or 9 depending upon the college, you’re a sure denial because of extreme arrogance/personality problem). So they will want to make sure you aren’t in that category.
However, not every alumni will instantly respond to Harvard. And in countries with limited alumni, alumni interviews may not be possible in such case. But admissions officer will surely contact the potential admit, probably by the first week of December.
Hey guys, I’m a Korean SCEA applicant living in China. Did any applicant in China have an interview yet?
@timingsniper I haven’t seen any on this thread yet. However, interviews in China are selective and rigorous. Since there has been rampant abuse of power, forgery, bribery, etc in China with admissions, Harvard contracts a private company to conduct interviews to ensure that interview environment is secure and interviewee is who they say they are. If you do get an interview, expect to be videotaped, asked for passport/ID, and be questioned. Based on a Chinese applicant who applied SCEA last year, he said that he had 2 interviewers who asked him very direct questions and also repeatedly interrupted him. He also said that interviews were cut off after 1 hr so the next person could be interviewed. Best of luck.
@Tomas1355 Thing is no one from Pakistan has EVER in the last 8 years (I’m not well informed about how it was before that) got into Harvard without first getting the interview call, and last year 4-5 students across the country received interview calls of whom 3 were selected; no one outside these 5 was given admission. Although this seemingly contradicts what Harvard says on the website, I wonder whether prescreening applicants for the interview might be an unofficial policy in certain countries. There certainly seems to be precedent. According to what people are saying, a similar situation seems to be true for India, Iran, China, and a few other countries (which seem to be the ones on the limited-interview-countries list).
@MaybeHarvard2022 Whoa damn. I didn’t know anything about things like that in China. Thanks for your information and best luck for you too:)
@ThatapplicNt hmm. Does that mean that Harvard makes applicants from the same country compete among themselves?
@ThatapplicNt True and I believe they might want to wait out and see their entire applicant pool before making a decision esp if they only take so few from a country. From what I’ve heard they took regular and not in early last year.
As there seems to be quite a lot of international students expressing interest in the interview process here are a few threads for international students worth reading, if you have not seen them already. They all largely corroborate my own findings and other statements in this thread that in some countries, where there are limited interviews, there is strong anecdotal evidence of pre-screening to find strong candidates - sometimes students have reported the interviewers themselves stating as much.
There is only one case I can find on this site of an international student accepted without an interview - and they were from the UK, so not a “limited interview” country (mentioned on page 2 in the second link below). From what anecdotal statements we have on this site over the past few years, it seems all reported cases fit the profile of: if you are in a limited interview country, Harvard will contact you for an interview if you have a serious chance of getting in.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1864685-harvard-interview-international-applicant-p1.html
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1620087-harvard-interview-offered-only-to-good-international-applicants-p1.html
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1474316-any-international-accepted-without-an-interview.html
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/302649-acceptance-without-interview.html
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1828362-my-interviewer-is-an-admission-officer-p3.html
The last link is of note, someone from Iran asked the admissions officers interviewing them why they were contacted for a Skype interview so early, the response was:
Which very clearly suggests that “interesting” candidates are pre-screened and then selected, not randomly, for these admissions office interviews. I hope that helps clear some things up.
@Telluric so it basically means those of us who belong to limited-interview countries and haven’t yet received our interviews are almost sure deferral/denial on the early round? Because in the comment you cited, it is mentioned “they interview those whom they find interesting around this time (a.k.a. Nov 12. Also, @crimsondream22 was interviewed on the same timeline but by an alumni. And I belong to a different country).” In our country, past admits have been interviewed by alumni. So there must be some alumni available and s/he should have been informed by Nov 22 (before thanksgiving holiday). We don’t have thanksgiving here, so I should have been contacted by the interviewer in that context. And I doubt admissions committee will wait until very late November to assign alumni interview.