<p>Oops, I didn't exactly mean what I had said in my last post.. "applicants in the 90s wouldn't have gotten in today.." i meant to say that they would have had a tougher time getting in :P</p>
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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).
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<p>googled "split infinitives" and I think that's a quirky and interesting answer.</p>
<p>If she wanted to major in English, that would fit right in.</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. "</p>
<p>I don't think they are trying to be hurtful. They're probably comparing the students to the kind that got in when the interviewer was accepted. Back in the old days when I was accepted, for instance, 1 in 4 female and 1 in 3 guys was accepted, which was the most competitive Harvard ever had been because -- as is the case this year -- it was the largest group of graduating h.s. students ever in the U.S.</p>
<p>The interviewers don't realize that someone who seems like a shoo-in to them may not stand out in the greatly expanded pool of outstanding applicants that exists now.</p>
<p>Still, it's too bad that the interviewers didn't keep their thoughts to themselves because I think that their words will cause some students to be even more disappointed than they would have been when they get a rejection.</p>
<p>split infinitives are usually considered bad in the world of crazy grammar freaks i guess. i don't mind them much. to quickly go, to happily skip, to more than double. basically to go is an infinitive and shouldn't be split up by other descriptive words. like instead of to quickly go.. you should write to go quickly</p>
<p>"oogled "split infinitives" and I think that's a quirky and interesting answer.</p>
<p>If she wanted to major in English, that would fit right in."</p>
<p>Nope. She sounded idiotic and shallow to say that if she could change one thing in the world, she'd end split infinitives.</p>
<p>Harvard really is interested in students who have a desire to make a difference in the world -- a substantive difference.</p>
<p>hmm i was told that it wasnt really a problem with her answer.. but how she answered it. she gave the interviewer the impression that she was very disconnected with the world (remember the question was if you could change one thing in the world what would you do). also, she got a second interview and the second interviewer agreed that this is not the type of girl you want at harvard. so perhaps there is more to the story that i am not conveying</p>
<p>"I just want world peace!!"</p>
<p>I can't think of a way to answer that question that doesn't sound trite and cliche. At least the girl gave a funny answer that you wouldn't expect. And I don't think she really feels that the biggest problem with the world is split infinitives.. she was just joking..</p>
<p>well.. from what my interviewer told me. the REAL problem was that her husband was not satisfied with this answer and kept prodding the girl to give another serious and she wouldnt budge. i think he would of been okay with this as a joke, but when he asked "are you SURE this is what you want" and she said yes, she was sort of asking for it. obviously she is so attached to her views that she isn't able to pick up clear signals from her interviewer. and yes she does sound interesting, but my big thing is that the second interviewer also felt that she would not be a good person to have at harvard. something about her personality must rub people the wrong way.</p>
<p>" can't think of a way to answer that question that doesn't sound trite and cliche. At least the girl gave a funny answer that you wouldn't expect. And I don't think she really feels that the biggest problem with the world is split infinitives.. she was just joking.."</p>
<p>I can think of ways to answer the question that are sincere and don't seem cliched. I also think that a hallmark of Harvard students and alum is that they do want to make difference in the world. They care about it and do what they can to make a positive difference.</p>
<p>Someone who gave the answer that girl gave (which did seem to be her real answer, not a joke since she never bothered to say anything more) clearly isn't the type of person that Harvard wants to attract. It really does want students and alum who make a difference, not people who are so stuck on themselves or technical academic things that they can't give a thoughtful answer to the question that was asked. </p>
<p>Lots of people erroneously think that Harvard just wants people who are very smart. That's far from the truth. Harvard doesn't want people who care only about themselves or academics.</p>
<p>BTW, if someone had said, "I just want world peace," probably an interviewer would have followed up to ask how they thought that would be accomplished, and what they were doing toward that goal. Of course, the applicant wouldn't have been expected to be leading international peace talks, but presumably if s/he cared about world peace, she would be doing something positive to help others even at the level of her school. The same kind of demonstration of commitment to her ideals would have been expected from her in regard to any serious answer that she gave.</p>
<p>For instance, I do want world peace, and I do lots of activities in my community and elsewhere to support the spread of peace. Think globally, act locally.</p>
<p>" so perhaps there is more to the story that i am not conveying"</p>
<p>Nope. You've conveyed very well why Harvard didn't want her. I'm sure that the other alumni interviewers who are on CC would have no problem seeing why the girl wasn't accepted. In fact, I think that the ability to quickly see why this student wasn't accepted would be a better predictor of one's chances at Harvard than one could get through chances threads here, which are a waste of time.</p>
<p>Ok! I got in! And I think I mentioned an Erin in this thead sometime back... She's actually the Admissions Officer for Harvard in my section of the state.. so... hmmm..</p>
<p>congratulations, Rosh</p>
<p>Thank you! :)</p>
<p>Congratulations!</p>
<p>Has anyone else communicated with their interviewers since being accepted?
I emailed mine to thank him for his help and tell him I got in, and he told me he already knew. He'd been told a full day before I had! Is that normal?</p>
<p>Yes, it's normal that the head of the interviewing committee for a city will get a list of admittees very promptly, and they may share it confidentially with the interviewers. We aren't allowed to contact the students until we're sure that they have received official word, though.</p>
<p>^Thanks Hanna. I was wondering about that, thinking, "is my interviewer really that important of a guy, or is that just Harvard's way?"</p>