<p>I would imagine that since Harvard gets to pick the cream of the crop, they go for personality in addition to test scores/grades. My interview went great, I think, so how much of a boon will this be in terms of the admission process? Was it purely informative, or is there an evaluative aspect to it, as well?</p>
<p>Definitely evaluative, though I'm sure it's not considered as strongly as academic record, honors and awards, EC hooks, etc.</p>
<p>I read that Harvard is no longer interviewing every applicant. Does anyone know about this alleged change?</p>
<p>If Harvard doesn't interview every applicant, it's simply because the resources aren't there. Particularly, not every international applicant is guaranteed an interview.</p>
<p>As for how it's considered - the key thing they're trying to gauge is how you would interact in social arenas (i.e. dorm life, classrooms, dining halls, etc.). If it seems like you won't be contributing well to the social atmosphere you'll be under slightly more scrutiny, otherwise, it won't have much effect.</p>
<p>History side not - interviews were popularized by Pres. Lowell in the Harvard application process to prevent certain ethnicities, cultures, etc. from being accepted. Though, obviously, interviews are no longer used for bigoted, discriminatory purposes.</p>
<p>The way I see it,
an interview can break your application, but it won't make it.</p>
<p>Believe this or not:</p>
<p>My Harvard interviewer said something along the lines of this:</p>
<p>"You're interview means nothing. In fact, they scan the paper, look for red flag words, and if find none you move past that point. There still is a small % of students who are socially awkward, bomb interviews, and are dropped out of thought at that point.</p>
<p>Getting in is a series of steps. First step, GPA. Above recommended? Great, you're past barrier one. SATs. Good? Okay, step 2. Interview. No red flags? okay, put em through."</p>
<p>Those were her words, not mine</p>
<p>Man, that's an awkward start to an interview.</p>
<p>My interviewer was gorgeous.....</p>
<p>And also like....eight years older than me..oh well.</p>
<p>my interviewer for princeton pretty much said the same stuff to me that wfxcoppercx's interviewer said... and i still haven't gotten contacted for a harvard interview, so i guess i won't be having one... in all honesty, though, unless it's an admissions interview, it probably isn't that big of a deal, IMO</p>
<p>my harvard interviewer said she was more of an advocate rather than an evaluater</p>
<p>If you put any kind of effort in and get through the conversation without coming off as haughty or incredibly socially dysfunctional, you've passed the test. Glowing reports versus average reports are way too subjective because applicants can just relate better to different (particularly younger and female) people. My Yale interview was great and my Harvard one was a bit of a struggle, but I'm still the same person. I think the colleges are cognizant of this variance and just scan for "red flag words" as somebody mentioned earlier.</p>
<p>I believe that I'm a decent interviewee as my Yale interviewer called me after I got in not only to congratulate me, but also to tell me how impressed she was with my interview and how she wrote in her report that I was the top interviewee she's seen in her years interviewing. </p>
<p>That being said, my Harvard interview did not go too well. The interviewer and I did not click, and she asked mostly about my test scores and gpa. We only briefly touched upon nonacademic subjects and the overall interview was only about half an hour. My Yale interview focused more on my interests both inside and outside of school, as well as just regular conversation. I feel that my Harvard interview barely began to show that I am human. Do you think this would affect me negatively?</p>
<p>well, it isn't your fault that you and your interviewer didn't click--it just wasn't a good match. And I think that unless you are really socially awkward or some other MAJOR flaw, then the interviewer won't say bad things about you...perhaps at worst average things.</p>
<p>As for me, my Harvard interview went great. We talked about our crappy cars, and our mutual taste in music that is sung in languages we don't understand :)</p>
<p>Funny story is that my Princeton interviewer and I also talked about our crappy cars lol</p>
<p>i've had 3 interviews so far (Harvard, Yale, and Brown) and they all started the interview by saying that the admissions comittee has my application and essays and my decision will be based mostly off of that and that this interview has very little impact on my decision...</p>
<p>don't stress over it...get in, talk about yourself and (insert college here), get out, you're done</p>
<p>My Harvard interviewer started off rather differently by asking "what do you want to talk about?"</p>
<p>I then proceeded to get all my major talking points down for the next hour, while he took extensive notes. Luckily for me he also loves video games and used to play the violin :)</p>
<p>After that I thought we were done, but he got out this massive list of questions and then proceeded to go down the list. Altogether the interview took 2.5 hours but it flew by...it was my first interview and after that I can't imagine a 30 minute one LOL</p>
<p>What do you get when you drop a lolcat on its head?</p>
<p>an upside-down lolcat? :P</p>