<p>HELP! My interview is next Tuesday, but I’m clueless about current events! I hate politics and absolutely refused to follow the Presidential race! I am clueless about local events…what should I do? Should I try to hide my ignorance? If so, how? If not, what do I say? I honestly have not had time to read the newspaper daily, but I can’t say that because just about every other applicant has had time to do everything and read the newspaper…HELP! Also, I haven’t had any other interviews before this one!!! I don’t know what to do!</p>
<p>LAgal...i completely understand what you're going thru and actually i dread the time when i'm going to be in your situation...(which can be anytime now!)...i don't think everyone who attends harvard HAS to take interest in current events and politics...but like so many ppl (including interviewers) have said on cc before...they want to know about you...i'm sure they're not gonna start the conv. with a 'what do you think about gay marriage' type of question...they're probably going to start with you and if you can talk about what you've done...what's important to you etc...you should be fine...(haha..i love how i can tell you that soo easily right now...watch me freak out when i hear from them!)...but good luck with your interview!...be confident!</p>
<p>If you're not into it, don't try to pretend to be--it'd be reallllly hard to "prep" over the weekend and have it come out naturally (plus, it's against the purpose of an interview, which is to get to know YOU). Just think about why you're NOT interested so that if they ask you about current events, you can have something intelligent to say about why you don't follow them.</p>
<p>As a Harvard alum, it is hard for me to imagine any person fitting in at Harvard who has absolutely no interest in politics. I think that as an alumni interviewer, I would be speechless if a student had absolutely nothing to say about the recent presidential election. I would not mind if a student's politics differed from mine, but I sure would be turned off if a student had no politics and no current events knowledge at all.</p>
<p>Are you sure that you wouldn't be happier applying to something like a modeling school?</p>
<p>Wow...wow...did you really say that NSM?</p>
<p>Only about 60% of Harvard students registered with a dorm/house address voted last Tuesday.
It is true that MA is heavily Democratic that those students' votes probably wouldn't have changed anything anyway, but it is sad that they did not exercise that right... which I sometimes wish I had.</p>
<p>Northstarmom, what topics are important to know in politics (e.g. the election, what else)?</p>
<p>What about sports? I don't like sports that much, but I live in MA (and the Red Sox won the world series-- so that is probably important). Should I learn something about baseball also?</p>
<p>i know you're a valuable asset to the board NSM but that was bit off-mark. i'm personally very politically active but i understand that there are many people who feel disenchanted by politics in general. are you saying there is something wrong with hating politics? i'm sure there are plenty of extremely productive and valuable members of society who hate politics. there is nothing wrong with that, in my opinion, and perhaps it is even justified to a certain pt. i know how we love to talk about the duties of "the Responsible American Citizen" to follow everything, but it's really just a gimmicky horserace in a lot of ways, and although i wish more people would be involved in the democratic process, i respect people who have no interest in following BS. </p>
<p>i would attempt to steer conversation from the outset immediately away from current events by grasping onto more familiar topics and going very enthusiastic/anedoctal. if the subject gets brought up, you could explain forcefully that you find politics to be BS. i would be more impressed by that than by a typical left-wing response.</p>
<p>oh, it's a bad idea to do your EA interview first</p>
<p>yes, Justice, I realize that it's a bad idea to start with that interview, but i have no other choice...any suggestions now that i can't change what's happened?<br>
NSM, I'm highly thrown off too...i haven't absolutely not followed the election...
i know who won and mostly what states voted for whom (NE and much of West coast for kerry, rest for bush, right?)...i did watch a couple of the debates, but i hate elections!<br>
i personally preferred kerry (like the rest of MA! i really did...not just saying that to suck up to the harvard ppl), and probably would have voted for him, but i hated how he kept changing his views...and watching a couple of the debates, i realized that bush rarely answered the questions he was asked...instead, he answered his own questions, completely throwing me (and i'm sure others, too) off...i could not bring myself to follow fence straddlers and people who refuse to answer the questions!
but about the election...you said you'd be thrown off by someone who didn't have anything to say about the election...what do you mean by "something to say"? what would you consider enough to say? please help so i can do at least a little bit of research and make sure the opinions i already have aren't completely misguided...</p>
<p>also, i am offended :(...a modeling school? like to be a fashion model? i have spent 12 years of my life working my butt off...i have taken the hardest courseload imaginable at my school and scored the highest on the ACT and SAT of anyone at my school...i have received nearly every honor that our school gives...i have aspirations to be a vascular surgeon....and now you're telling me that i should go to a modeling school?!?! i am very hurt :(</p>
<p>I stand by my statement. It is very hard for me to imagine a Harvard student with no interest in politics or current events. I am not saying that all Harvard students vote or belong to a political party. I honestly can not think of ever meeting a Harvard student with no interest in current events or politics regardless of what the student's major was. Regardless of major, students were interested in current events and politics.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, if 60% of Harvard students who were registered voters voted, that actually is a very impressive statistic because in 2000, only 32% of 18-24 year olds voted nationwide. I wasn't able to quickly find the stats for this year's election, but I doubt that 60% of people in that age range voted.</p>
<p>Harvard welcomes a diverse student body including students with a variety of political beliefs. However, I don't think that the welcome mat is out at Harvard for students who are willfully ignorant about an important aspect of society. Among the things that Harvard takes pride in are the various world leaders (including several US presidents and presidential advisors) that it has produced. </p>
<p>If I were interviewing a student and asked about their thoughts on the election and the student responded that all politics were BS and consequently they refused to follow the presidential race, I would make sure to write down exactly what the student said. I would want to make sure that the adcoms could see what the student had to add to Harvard's intellectual environment.</p>
<p>LAgal, what your original post said was, "I'm clueless about current events! I hate politics and absolutely refused to follow the Presidential race! I am clueless about local events..." You are now changing your tune. Since I do not know you, I don't know which version reflects the real you. However, I do know that if the real you is the clueless about current events one, I doubt that your interviewer will be impressed, regardless of what your scores, grades and ECs are.</p>
<p>I also think that it's too late to find something to say about the elections. I doubt that the interviewer will be playing 20 questions with you. There is a good chance, though, that they will introduce the elections into the conversation, not to test you, but to see how you think about world-shaking events.</p>
<p>This is not something that one can figure out over a weekend of scanning news headlines. Asking strangers on message boards like CC what Kerry and Bush's opinions of the war also won't give you information that will impress an interviewer. I notice that you posted a message tonight asking that question. </p>
<p>Did you know that adcoms read these sites and often can identify applicants? I actually once corresponded on CC with a student whom I ended up interviewing. I don't know if the student knew I was NSM, but I sure knew who the student was since the student had posted enough info here to be very identifiable.</p>
<p>OK, I apologize for coming across as completely ignorant. Yes, my tone in the original post was off. As I said, I have followed the election somewhat. But I was not heavily involved. I did not actively compaign or attend rallies for either candidate (because I could not sincerely support everything either one believe in)...is that a problem?
Let me rephrase my original question: I am not an avid follower of politics. I am more interested in less political issues--not necessarily entertainment issues--but stuff like the latest breakthroughs in medicine, new evidence to support something historical, etc. Is that a problem? That my interests for these things overshadow my interest in politics? I really did follow parts of the election, but how much would you expect an applicant to know? I have opinions on the issues that were at stake and on the candidates, but I couldn't tell you exactly which states voted for which candidate or give you a detailed plan that either candidate proposed about the situation in Iraq.<br>
Based on what I'm saying now (and ignoring the original post, please), do you think I have enough political knowledge to survive the interview?<br>
Please, NSM, give me advice on what else you would look for (as far as political knowledge goes) in someone you're interviewing.
And perhaps I misunderstood you. Could you please elaborate what you meant by "modeling school"?</p>
<p>To give an example, Paul Farmer, the brilliant international public health/medicine man and Harvard med school grad and professor, thinks that all politics are BS. He claims that they cloud people's understanding of how society actually operates and who is actually suffering and needs help. If LAgal's opinion was derived from disdain from seeing politics in action, then it is a rather hypocritical stance to take to belittle that opinion. If she is completely clueless about current events as she says (something I highly doubt), then I agree that I would not want to go to school with someone like that, but if it is simply a dislike of politics, so what??? There are others ways to be active, informed, and vocal other than following each twist and turn of a campaign saga. Do you feel more of a citizen for knowing the details of Swift Boat legitimacy? </p>
<p>Note that this isn't my personal stance on politics. I'm a compassionate conservative. I enjoy politics and political discussion. I do not condone lashing out at those who do not have the same interest; perhaps you do.</p>
<p>for once, allow me to clarify what i said...
i am NOT completely clueless about current events...however, i don't consider myself as informed as someone on our speech and debate team, which, i guess is reasonable, considering that i am not on the team...
however, i am a more avid follower on breakthroughs in science or literature or newly uncovered information on history, new theorems in math, pretty much news that generally (in my highly political community!) would not make front page news, but would probably be in the first section, just second or third page news...
please reevaluate my original question...is there anything i can do now about the interview?
all help is very greatly appreciated...thank you!</p>
<p>"To give an example, Paul Farmer, the brilliant international public health/medicine man and Harvard med school grad and professor, thinks that all politics are BS. He claims that they cloud people's understanding of how society actually operates and who is actually suffering and needs help"</p>
<p>I bet, though, he followed the presidential election. I also would bet that even though he's busy, he reads the paper every day, including following political stories. If he truly thinks that politics are BS, I bet he could thoughtfully support his views by giving some examples from the recent election, and those examples would not be cliches or simply warmed over views of folks who posted on message boards.</p>
<p>Ok, I guess I kind of follow in Paul Farmer's footsteps...what do you guys think? I cannot bring myself to support a candidate who constantly changes his views on Iraq, like Kerry, or a candidate who cannot answer the question posed, like Bush. The abortion issue: Bush calls it murder (i'm assuming he believes that life starts at conception), but he says that murder is ok in some cases (rape, notably) but not ok in others...? I don't like these vague stances. I would have a hard time voting since I can't quite tell exactly what either candidate believes on some issues.</p>
<p>If you were to follow in Paul Farmer's illustrious footsteps, you'd know a lot about politics. </p>
<p>An example from a book about Farmer: "A circuitous argument followed. Farmer made it plain he didnt like the American government's plan for fixing Haiti's economy, a plan that would aid business interests but do nothing, in his view, to relieve the suffering of the average Haitian. He clearly believed that the United States had helped to foster the coup -- for one thing, by having trained a high official of the junta at the U.S. Army's School of the Americas. Two clear sides existed in Haiti, Farmer said -- the forces of repression and the Haitian poor, the vast majority. Farmer was on the side of the poor. But, he told the captain, "it still seems fuzzy which side the American soldiers are on." <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1472188%5B/url%5D">http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1472188</a></p>
<p>Here's another site quoting him. As you can see, he has strong, very informed views about politics and government: <a href="http://haitisupport.gn.apc.org/farmer.htm%5B/url%5D">http://haitisupport.gn.apc.org/farmer.htm</a></p>
<p>If you are to follow in his footsteps, you'd need to learn how government works, and follow various issues closely. You can't just learn about health or whatever your field is in isolation.No matter what one's field is, governments will affect it.</p>
<p>He calls partial-birth abortion murder. Threre's a difference.</p>
<p>well, then, why is he against abortion?</p>
<p>You are not going to be able to BS an interviewer with knowledge you picked up from message boards. The world is much smaller than you think. If you try to get other people's thoughts and pass them off as your own, I guarantee that the interviewer will see what you're doing.</p>
<p>You could no more be impressive in a Harvard interview by rehashing ideas culled from message boards than you could write an A paper at Harvard by using Sparknotes instead of primary sources.</p>
<p>For the same reasons a lot of people do not support it. (Look at pro-life websites for some ideas.)</p>