How much do extracurricular activities affect application acceptances to Harvard?

Hello!! So recently I had my Harvard interview. Everything was going really well until my interviewer out of the blue said “your extracurricular activities aren’t showing me anything at all about what you have as a passion.” I put my major as neuroscience, but my extracurricular activities center around healthy living, wildlife, and volunteering to teach autistic children tennis. I explained to my interviewer how I was rejected by various medical programs and that’s why I wasn’t involved in any research or volunteering within the medical field. At the end of my interview, my interviewer said that I would be a perfect fit for Harvard…if I got in. The caveat worries me greatly.

I’m really worried that Harvard, and the other schools I applied to, will not accept me because none of my extracurricular activities point toward my interest in the brain. I’m ranked number one in my high school class currently and have gotten only 4s and 5s on my AP tests. I’m on varsity tennis and my overall SAT score was something like a 2180. My subject test scores were in the 740 range.

Do you think that my lack of medical-based extracurricular activities will affect my admission to my top choice schools? At this point, I’m really worried that I won’t get in anywhere because of this!!

Thanks in advance.

That’s quite strange, considering that most interviewers are not given an applicant’s information. I wouldn’t really worry about it since the interview plays a very small role in the decision.

So no, you will not be rejected just because you do not have any extracurricular activities related to the brain. Passion is definitely helpful, but if you do not get in, rest assured that your lack of neuroscience activities will not be the only reason why.