<p>I know that the lack of an interview won't put an applicant at a disadvantage, but that means it won't be able to help either. I have not been contacted for an interview, and while I understand that perhaps the local alumni (I know there are a number of them; all my friends have been contacted) had too many to do, I really would like an opportunity to interview. </p>
<p>Is there anything I can do? I sent an email to my local Harvard club a few weeks ago - no response. Would emailing Admissions be fruitful?</p>
<p>You would have been contacted for an interview if there were an alumnus willing to interview who had availability. Your application without specification that you did not wish to be interviewed is a tacit request for an interview; to explicitly contact Admissions now would probably do more harm than good, since it could be interpreted negatively (Harvard states that you do not need to contact them to be eligible for an interview) and would not make an interviewer available who was not previously.</p>
<p>If, however, you have reason otherwise to believe that your application was neglected and/or mis-processed, contacting Admissions is appropriate.</p>
<p>Regarding the lack of an interview, don’t worry. I suspect that it is highly rare for an applicant who interviewed to be accepted when he or she would have been rejected without an interview report. Applicants who stand out that much in the interview probably do so on paper too. Good luck.</p>
<p>Yeah, but if you had had an interview, it wouldn’t really be able to help you either. Silverturtle is right. Again. </p>
<p>Admissions committees give very little weight to alumni interviews. And they shouldn’t rely on them heavily. They’re conducted by thousands of alumni in all areas of the country, with very little oversight. Interviewers have different standards, different expectations, different biases.</p>
<p>Add to that the fact that a lot of Harvard applicants are kids who interview really well. They’re smart and articulate; they’ve done interesting things. Having a great interview really wouldn’t do much of value to boost your chance.</p>
<p>But if everyone around me has an interview and I don’t, wouldn’t I technically be at a disadvantage, assuming we all interview well?</p>
<p>Should I call Admissions instead of emailing and ask what to do? If what silverturtle says is true, asking Admissions for an interview wouldn’t help, so maybe I could ask them about the situation in general and see if asking for an interview would be worth pursuing?</p>
<p>Maybe I’m overthinking this, but I’ve interviewed with most of my other top choices and would just love to do so with Harvard as well.</p>
<p>No. If the admissions officers are reasonable people, they would assume, in cases in which interviews could not be offered, that you would have interviewed as well as the average person whose application was otherwise as strong as yours. If you would have interviewed incommensurately well, then the circumstances do put you at a disadvantage, but again I don’t suspect a decision-altering difference would be made.</p>
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<p>An anonymous call asking about what they advise in your general situation seems harmless to me.</p>
<p>You really seem to *want *to be disadvantaged by this interview thing. If it will make you happy, I’ll say yes.</p>
<p>But, really, if you don’t have an interview, it won’t make a bit of difference. And all those glowing interview reports that the good interviewers get–they don’t make a bit of difference, either.</p>
<p>Remember, even though applying to Harvard is probably a new experience for you, evaluating applicants is hardly a new experience for them. They evaluate applicants tens of thousands of times every year. They’re not going to be thrown off because some other applicant was haphazardly matched with a volunteer alumnus and you weren’t.</p>
<p>Sikorsky, I’m sorry if I was unclear, but I don’t want to be at a disadvantage. Why would I want to be at a disadvantage? I’d love to go to Harvard, and I’d love an interview if possible. :)</p>
<p>But everything else you said makes sense - thanks for the information, Sikorsky and silverturtle. I had just assumed that an interview is one of those things that would give a boost if needed (even if it doesn’t mean that much in the whole application process), so I was hoping for the opportunity.</p>
<p>Oh, batfan, I understand all that perfectly well. It just seemed surprising that we were giving you the answer you’d obviously want, and you seemed almost unable to believe it.</p>
<p>And I absolutely understand why you’d want to have an interview, even if you know that it’s really of no consequence. It still feels unsettling when seemingly everyone else is having one, and you’re not. But understand, that feeling is nothing more than a feeling. Kind of like having a headache is just a feeling, but usually nothing of any real significance. I’m sorry, though, that out of all the applicants in your area, you’re one of the ones that got stuck feeling oddly left out.</p>
<p>In cases of headache, I think I’ll hereafter swap my acetaminophen regimen with the consolation by analogy that no-interview fret is but a perception. </p>
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<p>Not exactly sure what you meant to ask. People have been accepted to Harvard who haven’t interviewed, and people have been accepted without receiving likely letters (such is the norm, in fact). Some have also received likely letters who did not interview.</p>
<p>Tangential question: Does the re-introduction of early admissions mean no likely letters during RD this year? Sorry if this is clearly answered elsewhere.</p>
<p>Are international students accepted without an interview? In our country, and region, belief is that “no interview from Harvard” means ‘’ The dreaded rejection"…</p>
<p>Harvard’s website explicitly states that the students from these countries (including my own) will be contacted after their file has been reviewed? </p>
<p>PS- My country rarely (like one student in may be ‘three’ or ‘four’ year) sends someone to Harvard…</p>
<p>^ I don’t know the answer to that from anyone’s experience, but I will speculate. In the countries you describe, I imagine that there are three groups of students: competitive applicants whom Harvard finds it worthwhile to interview so does, non-competitive applicants whom Harvard finds it resource-inefficient to interview so doesn’t, and competitive applicants whom Harvard would like to interview but is unable to accommodate.</p>
<p>The two types of applicants I could see being accepted without an interview are some of those in the last group (which may be very small or nonexistent) and some of those who would be in the first group but decline for whatever reason the offer to interview but are strong enough otherwise to survive that decision (again, this group may be very small or nonexistent).</p>
<p>Either of the first group or the third one (according to your previous classification) are very small as far as my country is concerned… As far as I know, one or two students in every three or four years to Harvard… ( may be even not that)…</p>
<p>I was delusional even to apply ( this is the third time I have posted this sentence on CC, Gosh! I am in bad bad state of morale)…</p>
<p>^ I don’t know anything about your application, but I highly doubt that you sent it without a valid hope. If you’ve put level-headed thought into the matter and Harvard seems like a good college for you, the labor costs of applying are minimal enough to justify taking the chance in more cases than many people realize. Not applying out of fear is a more common mistake. </p>
<p>The whole matter should, however, be contextualized by the awareness that even if Harvard rejects you (which is the worst-case scenario here), you’re not losing an opportunity that cannot be meaningfully substituted. Good luck in the admissions process and thereafter, and remember that the day-to-day specifics of where you end up will matter more than the setting in which they take place.</p>
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