Is there anyone who has applied for this year’s program, and have you gotten emailed back about whether you’ve been accepted for an interview yet?
Our high schooler applied, no email yet. Has anyone received any updated communication? They said late February, which is today and tomorrow, and Monday.
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Our daughter applied and has not gotten an email yet about getting/not getting invited to interview. Last year she received her invitation Feb 15th after 5pm Eastern time (but program was eventually canceled).
Were the interviews over zoom? How long after she interviewed was she notified of acceptance or not?
@ipadqueen, Yes, last year her interview was virtual. HSD ended up not notifying anyone last year of finalist status. They had planned to notify by April 1. But then a day or two before that, they let semifinalists know that they needed more time to determine the best way forward given the pandemic situation. They stated that they would contact people by May 1 instead. On April 30th, they sent out notification that the program was not going to happen in 2021. Hope that helps - I know it’s hard to wait!
We are waiting as well! Fingers crossed.
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Anyone get any update emails? We’ve still seen nothing yet. And the last day of February is Monday.
Nothing for us. The last communication we had was the confirmation that they had received the application (which I think was just an automated reply to the submission).
Fingers crossed for Monday, I guess!
My daughter heard a little while ago that she is moving onto the final/interview round. Good luck to everyone!
My son, too! Exciting! Good luck to your daughter! 
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My son just got the email moving him on interview round as well. Sounds like such a great program. Good luck to everyone interviewing
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Our daughter got a no. So sad but happy for your guys! Do you think they prefer juniors over sophomores? I’m not really sure what they’re looking for! She is so bummed.
I’m sorry to hear about your daughter. It’s so hard to know what they are looking for. My son is a sophomore, but I’m sure it has to do with how many from each gender, grade, etc., applied. There is so much that takes place behind the scenes that we will never know.
Here’s another question…does it matter when in the application period you apply? She applied the first week in January, but next year should she apply earlier? Does that increase chances?
My son applied at the very last minute, but he’s a Junior so that might have helped. He’s a strong student with decent extracurriculars, but his most relevant one is that he’s interned for a local Japanese language & culture program for the last 2.5 years. He traveled to Japan as a participant in that program for a month the summer before his freshman year and then started as an intern and was supposed to travel last summer with a group, but due to covid, his group was delayed to this year and they just found out they won’t be able to go again this year 
HSD would be such a cool opportunity to get some more exposure to Japanese culture.
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My sophomore daughter applied and got an email for an interview. She is very excited and nervous. Does anyone know when they will be scheduling those? We are in Virginia, so assume the interview will be in Fairfax?
@DJMona Congrats to your D! I think in the past, they’ve done in-person interviews for those in Virginia, but last year I think all interviews were via Zoom, so I’m not sure what the plan is for this year.
Last year, my D was contacted very quickly (just a few days after notification of semifinalist status) by her interviewer. But this year she has yet to hear from the person who will be interviewing her. I believe the kids were told they should hear from someone no later than March 20th about scheduling the interview.
Has anyone here received that contact from his/her interviewer yet?
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My son has not heard anything yet.
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Thanks! I am hoping the interview is virtual! Does anyone know if there is more than one interviewer? Or what type of questions she can expect on the interview?
Last time my D had one interviewer, and the questions were straightforward - nothing that threw her off…just similar to the kinds of things your D would have shared in her application about her interest in the program, etc.
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