Harvard mentions in their emails that “Please be assured that the absence of an interview will not adversely affect your candidacy.” But I’ve seen no one (in particular international students) who have been accepted without an interview.
Does anyone have concrete evidence that it is still possible to be admitted without an interview (especially for internationals)?
I fear that what Harvard means by this statement is that the interview itself isn’t weighed much in the process, but that not receiving one to begin with means you are not being considered anymore. I fear especially that this is true for international students like myself.
Certainly out of 380+ years some one gained admission without an interview. It will be impossible to know what you’re asking unless all incoming and/or currently enrolled students answered that exact question. It’s likely not something that is a public data point. I personally know of a student who was Harvard class of 2019 (just graduated) that was not interviewed yet was deferred (not admitted/not rejected) from this early action round and ultimately was accepted during the regular decision round. I don’t know if they were interviewed for that regular round so I guess what I’m sharing is not all that helpful. Sorry.
If no interviewer is available, it does not hurt your chances.
I qualify that by saying if you are a dynamic, charismatic person, you lose out by not having the chance to show that in an interview But it’s not a big deal.
None of us here are likely to know for sure whether some applications are already weeded out and therefore have no interview. I doubt it. Most people seem to have interviews but Harvard does state that in some areas, no alumni/ae interviewers are available and that having no interview won’t jeopardize you.
If you are being considered for EA admission, you will be offered an interview (Skype, phone, etc) no matter what. This is highly evident in the lawsuit data. It would be very rare, but remotely possible that you be admitted EA without an interview (don’t buy anecdotal evidence). It is, however, highly probable that you are deferred if you meet statistical benchmarks. In this case, you may be offered an RD interview and admitted.
Unless you live in a part of the world that does not have internet and you requested the application package thru a postcard, completed all on paperwork by hand and sent it in via mail, you should assume no interview means no acceptance offer.
How many of the 2000 acceptances each year had the application completed non-electronically? that would be interesting to find out.
It actually is public information, for domestic applicants. In the multiyear lawsuit sample, 21% of unhooked applicants did not interview, and 2% of unhooked admits did not interview. The students who did not interview appear to have a much lower admit rate than the students who did interview. However, the reasons for that relationship are unclear. Students who choose to not interview are far less likely to be hooked, probably tend to be weaker applicants, and choosing not to interview also may be treated as a negative when evaluating applicants for admission. All of these factors may contribute to the lower admit rate.
I expect the 2% who were admitted without interviewing are primarily students who were unable to interview for reasons beyond their control, such as interviews not being offered in their region or problems on the side of the alumni interviewer. I’d be very surprised if Harvard applied a direct penalty to students who were unable to interview for reasons beyond their control. Instead it might have a less direct influence, such as not having the opportunity to present additional information not found in the application.
Note the full statement on Harvard’s website is as follows. The “If an interviewer is not available sufficiently close to you to make an interview possible” part of the statement is relevant.
“If an interviewer is not available sufficiently close to you to make an interview possible, the absence of an interview will not adversely affect your candidacy.”
I imagine the multiyear data included many from ten years ago, when smart phones and video conferencing were not the norm. I would be surprised if there are still a few dozen unhooked admits a year now, who could not even do a Skype interview for reasons beyond their control.
Hello good day everyone, I am an international applicant to Harvard 2024 EA. I was not contacted for an interview and I fear that this is bad news. However I did apply to the class of 2023 and I received an interview then (decided to take a gap year to reapply). Ultimately I was waitlisted. Should I be worried that I didn’t receive an interview this time around?
My son applied RD to Harvard 2024 in early November 2019 and was called by a local Harvard alumnus to interview this December 2019. Other “Harvard interview” threads on CC claim that - based on data disclosed in the recent lawsuit against Harvard - Harvard does a quick read of applications, prioritizes applicants into “high priority” and “low priority” for interviews, and that not getting an interview for RD means rejection (unless an interview was not possible). Any thoughts on this?
“Please note that we will reach out to you if we would like to schedule an interview.”
Clearly, they do not try to interview all applicants; they make a determination of which applicants they would like to interview; and then they reach out to those applicants for an interview.
That’s Harvard’s way of being as vague as possible because they can’t guarantee an interview and to let students know that they should not ask for an interview. Some colleges want students to ask, but Harvard doesn’t.
Most domestic S&S committees try to interview all or almost all of their applicants. Some students can’t be interviewed, and others are interviewed later than others, and the admissions office doesn’t want students to contact them to ask about an interview.
The interviewing process is decentralized. Harvard itself interviews few applicants. Most interviews are conducted by the S&S committees associated with the Harvard clubs, which are all independent of the university. Each club does it differently, and most domestic clubs assign interviews before the admissions office gives priority ratings to the applicants.
My DS has been receiving interview request every Wed. at 6 PM since beginning of Jan. They attached link to choose interview time. However every week when she click link to choose interview time, there are no more available time for interview. I am getting nervous that she will not have a chance for interview. Anyone with the same issue here? We are in Chicago area.
@OverseasFather I just asked the same question on another thread. Someone said the interview report should have completed by yesterday. No sure how accurate the information is though.
But it’s not a big deal.