<p>What's the interview like? Is it like interviewing for a job they ask you questions like where do you see yourself in 5 years blah blah? or, is it more like a chat session with your GC?</p>
<p>My understanding, from talking with my classmates about their interviews, is that Harvard interviews are extremely non-standardized, but they all take the form of an informal chat. It's not like a job interview.</p>
<p>It varies very much, as I've heard. Mine was very informal and based off a questionnaire; others I heard about were more structured. My interviewer was very straightforward - he didn't ask anything remotely difficult for the average senior...let alone Harvard applicant...</p>
<p>My Princeton interviewer was my water polo coach (who loves me).</p>
<p>My Yale interviewer was my dad's boss and close family friend.</p>
<p>My Columbia interviewer was my neighbor.</p>
<p>My Harvard interviewer was a *****. (First choice too)</p>
<p>One would think that some of those interviewers should have recused themselves? (My first Harvard interviewer did, since she had been my pediatrician.)</p>
<p>Good point--you're not supposed to be interviewed by someone you have previous close association with, I believe.</p>
<p>As for interview questions...haha, well. My interviewer was very nice, but he did not steer away from touchy issues. In the middle of the interview, he catapulted from the topic of trail running to abortions, posing to me, "Are you worried for women of your generation that, with all this Supreme Court packing Bush is trying to do, Roe v. Wade will be overturned?" What do you say to that? A little caught off guard and not completely sure of his political allegiances, I just looked him in the eyes and said "No, no, I am not."</p>
<p>Other parts of the interview were more standardized but challenging all the same. He asked me what I was reading in school and i mentioned some short stories, so he then went on to ask me if I thought the short story was more effective than the novel and why.</p>
<p>In other words, not all interviews are walks in the park. I'm someone who enjoys a challenge, so I came away from it feeling kind of exhilarated, but the point is: Be on your toes in your interview, because you never know when you're going to get my interviewer (or someone like him)! He must've liked me I guess, because I got in EA.</p>
<p>One more thing: Don't be a slob in your interview. Take a shower, brush your hair, put on some nice clothes. Regardless of whatever cliches people may hold up--"I don't think judgement should be based on appearance," etc--appearance matters, so be on the safe side and be tidy. Oh, and BE ON TIME!</p>
<p>Good luck you all--Have fun with the process.</p>
<p>My interview was much more conversational. My interviewer, a retired clergyman, asked me what classes I was taking this year, what books I read this year, how long I lived in my city, etc. In reality, the only thing that made this a Harvard interview was the question, "Why do you want to go to Harvard?"</p>
<p>However, the people from my school who applied to Harvard last year had to travel two hours to Grosse Point (near Detroit) and were then cross examined by a (from what they've told me) lawyer who hasn't found much success in life. I, on the other hand, had to drive only about ten minutes to downtown for my interview.</p>