I have terrible luck with interviews...

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>I had an interview scheduled on Tuesday. On Monday night, I found out that my interviewer went into labor. The interview was cancelled, and another was rescheduled.</p>

<p>Next, I had one on Friday. My dad got a letter saying he must attend jury duty. He went (no choice here), and was my only transportation to the meeting place. I call the interviewer to say I might be late, and she says the office is closing. The only choice is to meet near her house the next day, at 8 in the morning, Saturday (yesterday).</p>

<p>I had a debate tournament that morning, and couldn't attend. I tell my interviewer, and she says she'll call the interview organizer to see if he can get me scheduled for another one, but mentions that they have a shortage of alums and I might not be able to get one.</p>

<p>So I am officially scared. Is it true that I may not get an interview, and how much could that affect whatever chances of admission I have?</p>

2

<p>Most top flight kids have a fully booked schedule. You might consider some option for transportation, bus, aunts, uncles, friends.
The interview is definately a plus (if you can get one).</p>

3

<p>I think that you need to be willing to move heaven and earth to get to your interviews. </p>

<p>It is hard for me to believe, for instance, that you had no transportation to get to the interview that was scheduled for Friday. Instead of telling the interviewer that you might be late, you needed to have figured out how to get there by taking a bus, cab (even if that is expensive) or getting a ride from a friend or another relative. </p>

<p>It's important to realize that interviewers are volunteers and their time is limited. If you turn down an interview or can't get there, there may not be anyone else who can help you.</p>

<p>Last year, there was a student who lived in an isolated area in Minn. who posted here that he was offered an interview that was a 2 hour drive away, but he requested a closer interview because he was living at home alone for a couple of months (his parents were abroad), and his parents had forbidden him from leaving his city.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, another interviewer could not be found, and after he (based on my advice here) got permission from his parents to drive to the interviewer's with a family friend, the original interviewer no longer had the time to see him.</p>

<p>If, however, he had gotten to the interview when he was first offered one, that would have been an outstanding way for him to have stood out in admissions because it would have highlighted his maturity and independence and the fact that even though he is from a rural Midwestern area (incidentally, something that stands out in a good way in admissions), he has the maturity and independence to be able to handle Harvard. Instead, he gave the impression that he is timid and sheltered, not ready for the big city.</p>

<p>You're in a similar situation. Since you are only 15, understandably, adcoms are going to wonder if you have the maturity and independence to handle the totality of college life, not just the academics, but the other situations. </p>

<p>Your not being able to make an interview because your dad had jury duty did not help adcoms view you as a rare 15-year-old who'd be able to fit in at a college like Harvard, which values independence and gives students carte blanche to run with their talents and ideas.</p>

4

<p>If your application is incredible, having an interview can't help all that much. If your application is so-so or bad, then the interview may be that little extra which helps you in.</p>

5

<p>Northstarmom - if someone wanted to go to Harvard for the prestige, would you still recommend they tell the interviewer this or would you say they should keep it to themselves?</p>

6

<p>"If your application is incredible, having an interview can't help all that much."</p>

<p>But even with an incredible application, one can get rejected by blowing the interview. </p>

<p>Ace,
I will not tell you what "correct" answers are in interviews.
I do suggest that everyone who applies to Harvard should have some thoughtful reasons for wanting to go there.</p>

7

<p>i agree with northstarmom
you don't have bad luck with interviews. you need to be more ambitious and willing to make sacrifices. i've sacrificed a lot to go to my 6 college interviews, and i don't regret having to take public transportation or missing sports practices/games because i know that a college interview is so important. it's your only shot at face-to-face interaction and it could really make a difference.</p>

8

<p>Chuck Hughes' book, "What it Really Takes to Get Into the Ivy League" gives a nice explanation of the importance of the interview, and why applicants should never decline the interview, or miss an interview opportunity offered them, if at all possible.</p>

<p>Hughes is a former Senior Admissions Office at Harvard.</p>

9

<p>"But even with an incredible application, one can get rejected by blowing the interview. "</p>

<p>Exactly, so having one can't do you all that much good, and you only have something to lose.</p>

<p>"I will not tell you what "correct" answers are in interviews.
I do suggest that everyone who applies to Harvard should have some thoughtful reasons for wanting to go there."</p>

<p>So you would suggest that some people lie at the interview? ;)</p>

10

<p>"Exactly, so having one can't do you all that much good, and you only have something to lose."</p>

<p>No. You also have something to gain. Everything I've noticed about the process indicates that at least when it comes to US applicants who are in areas where they can get interviews, the admissions officers won't make a final admission decision until reading the interview report.</p>

<p>A report encouraging acceptance of a candidate whom adcoms are strongly considering for admission probably may be all that's needed to make the acceptance final. A report documenting major problems with such a candidate is likely to tip a candidate out.</p>

<p>A strong candidate who was offered an interview, but turned it down without a good reason (Some people have posted on CC that they were thinking about doing this because they feel they are shy or inarticulate) may end up not getting accepted even though any interview short of an obscenity-laced disaster would have gotten them accepted.</p>

<p>"So you would suggest that some people lie at the interview?"</p>

<p>I suggest that applicants take the time and effort to figure out thoughtful reasons for applying to Harvard. </p>

<p>A lie is not likely to provide a thoughtful reason. </p>

<p>I have personally never seen anyone who gave a thoughtless answer to the , "Why did you apply to Harvard" question get in. </p>

<p>That doesn't mean at all that adcoms or the interviewers are rating students directly on the answer to that question. In fact, the instructions for interviewers specifically ask that interviewers NOT rate students on how much the students appear to want to go to Harvard.</p>

<p>What I have noticed, however, is that students who are unable to give a thoughtful answer to a basic question like, "Why did you apply to Harvard," are also unable to give thoughtful replies to other questions such as about their ECs, research papers, etc. </p>

<p>People who are too lazy or disinterested to figure out why they've bothered to apply to a college also tend to be too lazy or disinterested to do analytical thinking that is even less related to their futures.</p>

11

<p>I think you're right, Northstarmom. It's really a shame, what happened on Friday, because when I was talking about a friend after it happened, he told me he would have made the 45 minute drive. It had never occured to me to ask him, not because I was taking it lightly, but because I didn't want to burden him with something that ultimately was my concern.</p>

<p>By the way, Houston has one of the worst public transportation systems in the country, and it's a 30 minute walk to the closest bus stop (I would have missed the interview had I set out walking after school). A cab would have been a good option though.</p>

12

<p>Anyway, the important thing is, what should I do to facilitate getting a new interviewer?</p>

<p>Should I call the old ones and see if they are available? Should I call the admissions office? Should I call Northstarmom???</p>

13

<p>There's nothing more that you can do to ensure an interview. If your local schools committee can find another interviewer, and if you're willing to juggle things to meet that interviewer's schedule, you'll get an interview. Calling Harvard won't help. </p>

<p>You could, though, wait a week or so and follow-up with the person whose interview you missed. I suggest offering deep apologies, expressing strong interest in Harvard, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to to show up for any time and place that interviewer offers. </p>

<p>You might also explain to the interviewer that because you're 15, you were not able to drive yourself. That would help keep the interviewer from wondering the obvious: Why you were relying on Daddy for a ride.</p>

14

<p>I was thinking along those lines as well (calling the interviewer, I mean. The problem is that I called on Friday night to cancel for Saturday morning, and that just sealed the deal, from her vocal inflections. Hopefully she'll have pity. When I told her I couldn't come because I had jury duty, she answered "I know how it feels to not have a car." Either she knew I was 15 (looking at my file, perhaps?) or thinks I'm poor (not entirely false, lol), but I should still follow up.</p>

<p>My main issue is that the interview would be extremely forced and awkward if it was a pity-view, if you see what I mean. She probably doesn't think highly of me for missing two opportunities that were given, so I don't want to risk it with an interviewer that might potentially be angered/annoyed.</p>

15

<ol>
<li>It is highly unlikely that she knows your age. That's not included on the info that is routinely given to interviewers.</li>
</ol>

<p>Getting an interview out of pity at least would give you a chance to make your case for admission. The person who was supposed to interview is probably your best chance to have an interview.</p>

<p>Having no interview would not only give you no chance to make your case, there's a big chance that the adcoms would hear that an interview was cancelled due to your calling at the last minute saying you'd probably be late, and you refused an alternative time for an interview. </p>

<p>The combination of those 2 things could lead adcoms (who probably are wondering if because you're just 15, you're mature and independent enough for college) thinking that you're: egotistical and selfish and believe that you're a shoo-in for admission, and therefore won't take the effort to get to an interview or to respect the interviewers' schedules; too passive or immature to figure out how to get to an interview.</p>

<p>"The problem is that I called on Friday night to cancel for Saturday morning, and that just sealed the deal, from her vocal inflections."</p>

<p>I have to admit that if you'd done that to me, I would have been very ticked off particularly since you already had messed up on a previously scheduled interview. </p>

<p>I am curious: What was so important about the debate tournament that you couldn't skip it and interview for Harvard? Why would you cancel at the last minute? Did you not have any consideration for the interviewer's schedule? Did you honestly expect that you'd get another interview?</p>

<p>About the interview that was cancelled because you called at the last minute to say that you might be late, you said, "It's really a shame, what happened on Friday, because when I was talking about a friend after it happened, he told me he would have made the 45 minute drive. It had never occured to me to ask him, not because I was taking it lightly, but because I didn't want to burden him with something that ultimately was my concern."</p>

<p>Did it not occur to you that by being late, you would be inconveniencing the interviewer, a stranger who was not only doing you a favor, but also was your potential ticket to a top college?</p>

<p>And surely you knew that your father was scheduled for jury duty. You were being irresponsible not to have had a back-up plan to get to your interview.</p>

16

<p>Just got another one scheduled. It's do or die this time!</p>

17

<p>Good Luck JohnDoe! - Give it your all, but be yourself!</p>

<p>I believe my daughter had the same original interviewer. She was rescheduled the following Saturday and then re-rescheduled for the very next day...and she dropped everything to attend. It was all very spontaneous and D said that actually helped her frame of mind. (She's a spontaneous kinda girl...lol!) Her interviewer was able to see the 'real' her, the interview ran long and my daughter came away truly enjoying the experience. </p>

<p>To the person that asked if prestige is a good reason to want Harvard or a good reason to share with an interviewer, I would say this. Surely, there are more reasons to want to go to a school than prestige. Consider in what way an experience at Harvard can enrich your life, and in what way you can contribute to Harvard. If you can't think of anything (other than prestige), then perhaps there is a better school for you. (But I'm going to bet you can come up with many reasons to want Harvard and for Harvard to want you.)</p>

18

<p>Good luck, JohnDoe!</p>

19

<p>Thanks a lot. By the way, to answer the previous post, that debate tournament is the last one of the year, and my last chance to qualify for Tournaments of Champions. I lost, if you're curious. :)</p>

<p>And for the record, she told me Friday night to meet Saturday morning, and I canceled Friday night.</p>