<p>OP- thanks for posting this topic. My D had her interview back in Oct. for Gtown and it was such a disappointment. Interviewer did not even go to Gtown for undergrad, had never lived "on campus" and did not come across as a true Hoya. My D has been prepping for that interview for YEARS, and knows that regardless of what her vitae looks like, chances are - she won't get in. But her interview did not lend an ounce of perspective or encouragement. I understand your disappointment as well as your love of a school. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>what kind of conflicting information, northstarmom? scores and rank?</p>
<p>One person mentioned reading a book that I was very familiar with and that it was also very clear that the person had not read. I am sure that the person chose the book to impress, and didn't imagine that I would have read the book.</p>
<p>One person lied about their parents' educational background (indicating that their parents were not college educated), then contradicted themselves in the interview (saying they had gotten interested in a subject by reading their parents' college books), and when I confronted the person on the contradiction, the student dug themselves in deeper by saying they had forgotten that their parents were college educated.</p>
<p>Another person lied about their involvement in an extracurricular, indicating they had been very involved in a community activity that coincidentally, my own son was a top officer in, and I volunteered with, knowing all of the students who are very active in the organization.</p>
<p>One person made a big deal over a trivial EC, greatly exaggerating the significance of something that they did, which looked wonderful on paper, but when I asked follow-up questions, there was nothing there. They acted like they had gotten a select national honor, but it ended up that was not at all the case. (Incidentally, this was not one of those "honors" that people pay through the nose to get.)</p>
<p>And many students have claimed to have created volunteer projects for themselves in foreign countries. The interview revealed that their parents had sent them to stay with relatives in the parents' home countries, and those relatives had sent them to volunteer with relatives or friends. The student themselves had had little to do with setting this up, had no history of being interested in the issue related to the volunteer work, and had gotten nothing out of the experience except a line on their resume and learning that "people are people" or "there are poor people in the world." </p>
<p>Bottom line: Be yourself, your honest self. Do not lie. Do not exaggerate.</p>
<p>whoa, i didn't know harvard applicants would lie about these things. </p>
<p>you seem like a good interviewer. at least you asked them about their activities. my interviewer didn't even ask me about anything...</p>
<p>moni, your D has been prepping for that interview for *years"??!!!</p>
<p>Last year, my Harvard interview had me bring my test scores on a piece of paper. When the interview started, he took the paper and put it away--not looking at it until the interview was almost over. I thought this made a lot of sense; we had a great conversation, free from any "test score bias" (positive or negative), and then at the end, he got another bit of information that we could discuss + he could use in his report. Is this what you do, NSM, Hannah + Byerly? I really like the idea.</p>
<p>To the OP: I think you should definitely try to get another interview.</p>
<p>why only test scores? not class rank, gpa, etc. but test scores?</p>
<p>I was thinking that GPA/rank/etc might be hard to understand without a school report, but then again interviewers should have a good idea of the quality/competitiveness of the school districts they cover.</p>
<p>If your GPA/class rank is something you're proud of, you should definitely bring it up in the right context in an interview.</p>
<p>It seems that Harvard values scores as much as grades.</p>
<p>I think you're overextrapolating, if that's a word.</p>