<p>hey guys..i really need your help!
im going to the stanford summer school program this summer and on my way back to Pakistan I'm going to stop off in Cambridge for an interview ---- i really want it to make a difference because I'm travelling from so far away just for the interview. I've been to the ssp program at Harvard (last summer) and I know my way around Cambridge...but the Interview part is very intimidating.
please give me some pointers from past experiences. what type of people interview you? are they friendly? open to international students?
tell me everything i need to know!! PLEASE!
thank you</p>
<p>Why arent you going to SSP again this year? See nowadays the competition is so intense that colleges want to you if you really want to go to their school. Therefore, to them it may seem your undecided on which college you like, and they dont like that : )</p>
<p>Going to Harvard Summer School makes no difference whatsoever to Harvard Admissions.</p>
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<p>I'm going to stop off in Cambridge for an interview ---- i really want it to make a difference </p>
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<p>Interviews with admissions officers in Cambridge are informational, not evaluative. When you apply, you'll be required to interview with a local alumnus in your home city, just like everyone else, and THAT'S the interview that matters for your application. So it's not going to make any difference whether you visit Cambridge on the way home or not. Do it if it will help you make an informed decision about the university, not because you think it will give you an admissions edge.</p>
<p>but last year i was told that they offer early interviews to international applicants. there aren't many alumni in our country (i dont even think there is one.) - so just because im an international applicant they might make a difference? what do you think? </p>
<p>dha_6 : yeah I thought about that...but I've already had the Harvard experience..and I feel the people looking at my application would be impressed with the fact that I've spent time at so many different locations. columbia during my ninth grade summer...harvard during my tenth grade summer..and now stanford during my eleventh grade summer. its going to look impressive because I dont even live in the states..i live in Pakistan which is practically on the other side of the world and the effort it takes to get to all these various places should make a difference.
harvard summer school might not specifically help..i mean all the officers are trained to say that it doesn't make a difference, the same way they can't give you a standard SAT score that would guarantee admission...but they will be impressed with the fact that the summer has been utilized. during my summer at harvard..we had a lecture by the head of the admissions department and he said that attending ssp is like legacy...it can't hurt you - but if you end up equalizing with another candidate...you have an edge =)</p>
<p>I Need People To Tell Me What The Harvard Interviews Are Like..and If They Are Intimidating!!</p>
<p>Well, I only had a Harvard alumnus interview - that was intimidating for me because it was my first alumnus interview! H/e, I acted like it was no big deal, almost like I was happy to be there. I treated it more as a conversation than an interview - remember, this interview goes both ways - it's also a chance for you to find out more about Harvard. Anyway, the interview, I thought, went extremely well. I knew that because by the end (it was a long one) it was definitely more of a conversation than an interview. </p>
<p>In terms of interviews in Cambridge, I never had one, but I did have a Yale interview in New Haven. That was my very first interview overall, but again, went really well. I think that no matter how nervous you are, don't show it and act genuine and down to earth. I'm sure they appreciate it a lot more than if you are tense and uptight.</p>
<p>It's normal to be nervous in an interview. This is true even for experienced adults. Unless you are so nervous that you literally can't talk, the interviewer will not hold it against you. Frankly, people who are too calm in interviews look like they aren't interested in the opportunity.</p>
<p>thank you!!</p>
<p>my harvard interview went horribly</p>
<p>I looked up my interviewers stats Harvard, Oxford, Rhodes Scholar, Berkely Law and was intimidated. I walked into the interview as nervous as I was for all my other interivews. But, this guy gave me a GRILLING. I usually try to shift the topic of the convo to politics since its my biggest ec but when I got into civil liberties and the patriot act this person started asking me about the various restrictions on getting a warrant, what parts of what laws the patriot act altered. </p>
<p>Did he think I was some sort of witness on cross-examination?</p>
<p>Anyway, I left the interview somewhat shaken. All I can say is BE PREPARED to know every single shred of info you are going to talk about.</p>
<p>My interview was a logistical nightmare, but it ended up going OK. Unlike all my other colleges (where I'd go to the interviewer, who was typically in London), Harvard sent the interviewer to my school (just for me - I was the only one applying RD, EA interviews had already been done elsewhere) - and the interviewer wasn't exactly local (she travelled about 100 miles to get to me), and upon arrival my school had managed to double book the room I was meant to have my interview in, so I ended up in a cramped little office next to the boiler room. </p>
<p>But the interview itself went very well...it was just getting there that was the problem.</p>
<p>hey you guys!! ure scaring me now!
how did you find out about your interviewer ahead of time?</p>
<p>type in your interviewers name in google</p>
<p>I looked mine up, never even found out what he did, except he's one of the heads of our local rowing club. I never did find out exactly what he majored in (might've been Psych).</p>
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<p>But, this guy gave me a GRILLING. I usually try to shift the topic of the convo to politics since its my biggest ec but when I got into civil liberties and the patriot act this person started asking me about the various restrictions on getting a warrant, what parts of what laws the patriot act altered. </p>
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<p>Sempitern, I would really appreciate it if you would PM me your interviewer's name, or at least where you live and where you go to school. Harvard interviewers are NOT supposed to grill students about anything, much less give them some kind of law school oral exam. If that's what happened to you, the coordinating committee for your town needs to know about this and make sure it doesn't happen again.</p>
<p>That being said, for any interview, it is always a good idea to be well-informed about the things you say are important to you. If your interviewer is a professional dancer, don't steer the conversation toward dance unless you're prepared to have an in-depth, serious talk about it.</p>
<p>I agree with Hanna. The guidebook that Harvard gives alum interviewers even gives an example of an interviewer who asked an undergraduate applicant a question that would have been suitable for an application to the business school. The guidelines emphasized that that kind of questioning is not appropriate for high school seniors.</p>