<p>^^ I certainly will. My interview begins in a little less than and hour and a half. :)</p>
<p>I just got back from my interview. It went really well. It lasted for like an hour (maybe a little shorter). She absolutely loved me. I did ask her why she thought Harvard was so interested in me. As a matter of fact, she beat me to the rigger. She said that somehting along the lines of..... The committee breaks down the interview process into 3 categories.. thos who aren't likely to get in.. the maybe category.. and the "likely".. She said that she always gets the likely candidates and that the school was really interested in me. She actually named a person-- Erin-- who she says is in charge of the whole thing. Apparently Erin was really interested to see if I'm really as nice as I appear on my application...</p>
<p>During the interview, I was spoken to as if I had already gotten in.. She asked me what I thought would be the worst thing about going to Harvard.. I said leaving my mom.. After her interview, she told my mom not to worry about me being away from home because Harvard is implementing this new policy that will shorten the school year... She also said that when I got in, I should let her know... but I guess that seems pretty standard.</p>
<p>I wish you well. However, to avoid the chance of disappointment, realize that no final decisions have been made yet. Also, I am wondering about the info that your interviewer told you because I've chaired my regional interviewing committee and have never been told such details by the admissions officer for my area. The admissions officer specifically has told me -- and all alum interviewers -- not to indicate at all what we think a student's chances of admission are. </p>
<p>Sometimes I've been called by admissions officers to arrange a second interview or to make sure that someone gets interviewed. The officers, however, have never stated why they needed such an interview. They have been very clear, however, that no decision has been made about the applicant, and the interviewer shouldn't indicate that the applicant is some kind of shoo-in.</p>
<p>As for the idea that "Erin" is in charge of the whole thing: The person who has the final say is Harvard's dean of admissions, not Erin. </p>
<p>Very hard for me to imagine that admissions officers would be using an interview mainly to find out only an applicant's "niceness." There are many important characteristics that are assessed, and whether you get in will probably be based on factors related to the rest of the composition of the class, not how nice the interviewer thought you were.</p>
<p>"My interviewer has been doing this for 20+ years and told me that she couldn't see Harvard not accepting me and how I was the most interesting student she'd ever interviewed."</p>
<p>That's exactly the kind of statement that Harvard asks interviewers not to make. No matter how experience an alum interviewer is, they can't speak for the admissions officers and shouldn't try to. That can just lead to crushing disappointments for students whom alum interviewers promised they would get in, but don't.</p>
<p>Northstarmom - So this should not be a standard thing that happens? Because it seems many people on CC have reported this, especially the second interview thing. From your interview experience, have you ever heard of that three category thing? I had my interview in early December though, so I guess the admissions committee probably had not even read my app by then.</p>
<p>I have not heard of the 3 category thing, though it may exist.
Second interviews are rare, and are only at the request of the admissions office. Believe me, it's enough work arranging for first interviews. Most people who get in have had only one interview. Not all who have 2 interviews get in, and the interview performance may have nothing to do with why a student doesn't get in after a second interview.</p>
<p>Hey, it sounds like awesome news, Rosh420! I am really excited for your chances. Try this if you want though: after a week or so, forget about what your interviewer said, and start preparing for the worst. That's what I did last year while applying early decision at a different school. I planted in my mind the thought: I am never going to get in. I find that this mentality actually worked for me, because if I had gotten rejected, I wouldn't have been crushed, and since I got in, I was ecstatic because I hadn't expected to get in.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I just got back from my interview. It went really well. It lasted for like an hour (maybe a little shorter). She absolutely loved me. I did ask her why she thought Harvard was so interested in me. As a matter of fact, she beat me to the rigger. She said that somehting along the lines of..... The committee breaks down the interview process into 3 categories.. thos who aren't likely to get in.. the maybe category.. and the "likely".. She said that she always gets the likely candidates and that the school was really interested in me. She actually named a person-- Erin-- who she says is in charge of the whole thing. Apparently Erin was really interested to see if I'm really as nice as I appear on my application...</p>
<p>During the interview, I was spoken to as if I had already gotten in.. She asked me what I thought would be the worst thing about going to Harvard.. I said leaving my mom.. After her interview, she told my mom not to worry about me being away from home because Harvard is implementing this new policy that will shorten the school year... She also said that when I got in, I should let her know... but I guess that seems pretty standard.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Rosh420, you just summarized my interview, and it was uncanny reading it. That's 98% how my interview went, including the parts of talking about "getting the strong candidates for interview" and "talking like you already gotten in".</p>
<p>Congrats. to you, and take it with 2 lbs of salt.</p>
<p>eternitygoddess, I thought you said your interview was strange and bizarre. MIne wasn't exactly that, but you seem to think that ours was 98% alike (how'd you come up with that percentage). </p>
<p>I will take what the interviewer very lightly. Interviewers do tend to be perhaps a little too overly optimistic at times I guess. At the end of our interview she told me to "tell her WHEN I get in". lol. I've seen that others have been told that on the board as well. I guess not all interviewers follow the rules..</p>
<p>Thanks Northstarmom for your responses. You're so helpful. I wasn't tyring to say Erin was in charge of the admissions process. According to my interviewer, she was in charge of making sure that all the interviews were done in the section of my state or something like that.</p>
<p>What are your stats?
Interviewer may have spoken those words to be nice.
If she spoke honestly, then congrats.</p>
<p>SAT I Math 740
SAT I Critical Reading 710
SAT I Writing 700
SAT II Literature 730
SAT II Math Level 1 (IC) 770
SAT II Biology - M 700 </p>
<p>On the low side, but I am an URM and my essays were really good (I think).</p>
<p>Strange and bizarre because interviews, esp. for the more selective ones, don't go like the way mine did (or yours for the matter).</p>
<p>Maybe we're special :D</p>
<p>Or maybe we just had the same interviewer :o </p>
<p>Who was your interviewer?</p>
<p>If you read posts about interviews, like the ones in the How Was your Interview? thread that I started in the Harvard board, you'll see just how many people report "fantastic interviews" featuring their interviewers reassuring them that they can't see them possibly not getting in, that they are extremely strong for Harvard, that the interviewer will personally try their best to get the person in, etc etc etc. That thread is littered with interviewer statements like that. I've seen many interview summaries that sound pretty much exactly like yours. I'm vacillating between disbelief that so many Harvard interviewers, arguably relatively smart people, disregard the fact that they are told NOT to predict their interviewee's chances (according to Northstarmom), and simply guessing that either posters are exaggerating or lying. Whatever it is, don't think that your chance at Harvard is great simply because an enthusiastic interviewer tells you to "call WHEN you get in" or whatever. Some interviewers are naturally optimistic and friendly people, while others are more reserved and formal. Other parts of your application carry a lot more weight than the alumni interview, I think.</p>
<p>if you can find other people your interviewer interviewed and ask them what the interviewer said to them, it might help</p>
<p>Rosh420, I don't think I live in the same state as you, which rules out the same interviewer.</p>
<p>amb3r, I read alot of those interviews too. Idk the specific details of Rosh420's interview, but my interviewer didn't just 'reassure', I kind of felt that she came out and 'stated' it, which took me aback.</p>
<p>Or maybe I'm misconstruing and re-interpreting the whole scene.</p>
<p>Who knows. I still have my feet planted firmly on the ground.</p>
<p>^^ Well, I don't know how anyone can make a statement like that (that you or anybody else is definitely in). I actually think that's a very hurtful thing for an Harvard interviewer to say. Unless you're the president of International Key Club, have won gold medals in olympiads, or won 1st place in Intel, it doesn't even make sense to say something like that. This is just a hunch, but since competition for spots at HYPMS has gotten so much stronger in the last ten years, and applicants that would have gotten in in the 90s won't get in today, maybe naive or unexperienced interviewers don't really understand that it is more difficult to get into Harvard today than when they were applying themselves. Maybe some are comparing their own applications many years ago to ours, and reasoning that since we have better scores and better ECs, and they got in, we must be able to also. Otherwise, maybe Harvard just has a lot of very (too) kind alumni. I don't know.</p>
<p>hmm same thing happened in my interview. I wouldnt take it too seriously. I would say most interviewers are nice ppl. (my interview lasted 3 hours.. i think we got carried away talking. i wouldn't say that a positive interview means anything tho. my interviewer told me about a boy last year that she was shocked didnt get in)</p>
<p>so similar to o/p, my interviewer said harvard told her that they needed an interview from me for sure. (apparently my first interviewer just didnt have time and neglected to call me). she said that there were other ppl in the area who had not been interviewed, but harvard basically didnt bother interviewing all of them.</p>
<p>i think you can interpret this as your stats are good enough by harvard's standards that they are willing to consider you as an applicant. im guessing some applicants (my interviewer told me stories of kids with 17 on act expecting to get into harvard) dont make it very far and an interview isnt necessary. </p>
<p>also just a comment on 2nd interviews, i noe my interviewer told me her husband once had a really bad interview with a girl and wrote a really negative review. (apparently despite the protests of her interviewer, she was insistent that if she wanted to change one thing in the world she would get rid of split infinitives). harvard requested that she get a second interview to confirm this negative evaluation. 2nd interviewer agreed with the 1st. (no surprise she wanst accepted)</p>
<p>^what are split infinitives?</p>
<p>My interview didn't tell me that I was in... She said that the school had a lot of itnerest in me and that "someone" [and this someone was a person of high authority apparently] kept telling her "I really want you to meet this kid". At the end she said "tell me when you get in", but that was obviously said as a joke. I know a lot of people are told that.</p>