<p>Hello! </p>
<p>I have an interview with Harvard next week. It's not only my first college interview, but my first major interview, period. Is there any advice you can give regarding ways to highlight strengths, downplay weaknesses, etc.? Perhaps there are some specific body language techniques? Any questions I should prepare for beforehand? I'm googling like crazy, but any extra interview tips you all have would be great. Thank you very much! :)</p>
<p>It sounds silly, but test out your handshake on someone in advance. There’s no greater turnoff than a limp, weak handshake . . .especially if you are male, but I think either way it should be pleasantly firm and give an impression of self confidence. </p>
<p>Before the interview, think of examples from your life that highlight the strengths you want to emphasize. It’s good to be able to relate anecdotes or tell stories that act as evidence of your strengths. </p>
<p>I’m sure other parents will have many additional suggestions! </p>
<hr>
<p>Here’s an example of what not to do.</p>
<p>My mother actually forced me to apply to Harvard because she knew someone who knew someone in the Admissions office. I actually turned in my application late (because I had no intention of applying, and she decided I should apply even though it was late). I had an interview with an alum, and because I seriously didn’t even want to go to Harvard and knew with certainty that I wasn’t getting in, I didn’t prepare. He asked me what I wanted to do after graduating, and I said “investment banking”. Not sure why I even said that, but I guess I thought it sounded impressive somehow. Then he asked me what I thought “investment banking” actually entailed. I had no idea. The rest of the visit was a horrible blur because even though I didn’t care about getting into the school, I did care about humiliating myself. It was a good life lesson for me . . .if you don’t know something, don’t pretend that you do!</p>
<p>A firm handshake is a good idea. Make sure you’ve done your homework. I have a friend who interviews for Harvard and it drove her crazy that kids would say they wanted to major in business when there is no such undergrad major. It’s perfectly fine to be undecided by the way. Don’t sweat it too much - just be yourself. My older son when asked why he hadn’t applied early action told the interviewer, “Because it’s not my first choice.” The interviewer spent much of the rest of the interview trying to sell my kid on Harvard over MIT. Harvard ended up accepting him, MIT did not. And since he really was looking for a more techie school, he ended up attending Carnegie Mellon.</p>
<p>Thank you very much! Any further suggestions would be welcome!</p>
<p>Research, read the Harvard website, it’s okay not to know your major.</p>
<p>Be yourself.</p>
<p>Don’t try to impress. Bring a resume or activities list and be ready to talk about anything on it that they might ask.
Have some kind of “Why Harvard” answer. Be modest without being phoney. Look the interviewer in the eye.
Smile a lot, if it’s natural for you, and be friendly. Don’t be too serious. Generally, interviewers have very little influence in the admissions decisions, so as long as it’s not awful, it will be fine. Good luck!</p>
<p>Don’t show up wearing a Yale sweatshirt.</p>
<p>My daughter was a dancer, it was her major EC. At the interview she was asked a lot of ballet related questions, and most of them didn’t have much to do with the actual dancing itself. She was asked to compare various styles. Since Harvard interview counts, I would make sure you know your ECs well and whatever you put down on your application.</p>
<p>Just be yourself!</p>
<p>You know, this question is asked and answered year after year, multiple times. Use search and read previous answers. There is also a very funny thread of ‘worst interviews’ and it might make you relax because nothing could be as bad or funny as some of those stories–puts things in perspective. Plus there are specific Harvard threads on this in the Harvard forum.</p>
<p>I have a quick question (I have my Harvard interview in a few days). Is it normal, given the circumstances, that a parent stay with you during an interview? Especially if your interview is scheduled at the interviewer’s house, and the interviewer is much older than you and of the opposite gender? </p>
<p>No, it’s not normal at all. If your parent drives you, he /she should just drop you off, go to a coffee shop or such, and wait for you to call to be picked up. Think of this like a job interview. The fact that it’s at the interviewer’s house is irrelevant; same advice as if it were held at a public library or the interviewer’s workplace. </p>
<p>Does your parent have a concern that the interviewer is of the opposite gender? Because you’ll be alone with professors of the opposite gender at college if you go to office hours. </p>
<p>No parent should just drop the kid off. My son didn’t have a cell phone for my older son’s Harvard interviewer so I asked the interviewer when I should come back. They weren’t quite done and he invited me in at that point. (They were at the point in the interview where the interviewer was trying to sell Harvard to my son as opposed to my son trying to sell himself to Harvard.) Since I was an alum, we also had a little chit chat about what Harvard was like in my day. It really was very relaxed. I urge you not to worry about it too much. Most interviews aren’t going to do more than confirm what’s in your application.</p>
<p>Showing up at the end at the pickup and engaging in a little chit chat (esp if you were also an alum) feels different from staying there the whole time, IMO. </p>
<p>I only met the interviewer when son had an interview on campus. Otherwise, he drove himself, or I’d disappear for a while. If I came back early, I’d sit in car and read.</p>
<p>Of the 3 local interviews son had, the Harvard interviewer was by far the best. He looked at son’s CV, asked questions that drew my kid out. He told my son how his career had taken many turns, and the career paths of his children. My son was with him for 1 1/2 or 2 hours. He came home elated. For the record, my son was rejected by H.</p>
<p>If you or your parents feel uncomfortable about you being alone in the interviewer’s house, you should try to see if the interview could be held in a neutral location. I am an alumni interviewer for another school, and we are specifically told NOT to conduct the interview in our house (or the applicant’s house), and I’m pretty sure Harvard has the same guidelines. IMO, an interview in an interviewer’s house is a bit different from office hours in a professor’s office.</p>
<p><a href=“Do I allow my daughter to go to the home of Ivy alumnus to be interviewed? - Parents Forum - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/855533-do-i-allow-my-daughter-to-go-to-the-home-of-ivy-alumnus-to-be-interviewed-p1.html</a></p>
<p>This thread discusses it all - no need to reinvent the wheel. </p>
<p>And of course, whether it’s Harvard or Southeast Montana State doesn’t really make any difference.</p>
<p>My older son had all interviews at the alums houses, three years later the younger son had all of them at Starbucks. The Harvard guy had recently broken his leg - I think in the past he had done them outside his home, but that year it was easier for him to have people come to him.</p>
<p>I left out a comma, to be clear, parents should not be at the interview, though it’s okay if your kid doesn’t drive to say hello to the interviewer at the beginning or end.</p>