<p>Harvard is my first choice school and I am pretty certain that I will apply there EA. Does doing the on-campus interview instead of the alumni interview actually add to your application, and is it evaluative/added to your file?</p>
<p>I don’t really know if this works, but:
bump?</p>
<p>(BUMP, works)</p>
<p>It would be wise to do both, that’s if you really want to do an on-campus interview. The reason being, the alumni interview is the only one that will be considered in your application (therefore it will be more evaluative). Whereas, the on-campus interview will likely be a combination of informative and evaluational, but it does not count towards your application. Yale is the only Ivy League school that offers evaluative on-campus interviews. </p>
<p>Hope that helps!</p>
<p>But do you think the fact that I did an on-campus interview will help?</p>
<p>I don’t think it adds anything because it’s not evaluational. That said, what it does is it demonstrates interest in Harvard. I think the only way it would help someone is if he or she thoroughly impressed the admissions officer who interviewed he or she, to the point that he “personally” promises or remarks that he’ll advocate for you come time for deliberations on your application. </p>
<p>Hope that helped!</p>
<p>"I don’t think it adds anything because it’s not evaluational. That said, what it does is it demonstrates interest in Harvard. "</p>
<p>Harvard doesn’t factor in demonstrated interest.</p>
<p>"I think the only way it would help someone is if he or she thoroughly impressed the admissions officer who interviewed he or she, to the point that he “personally” promises or remarks that he’ll advocate for you come time for deliberations on your application. "</p>
<p>While a favorable impression can be left, interviewers tend to be graduating seniors so will not be part of the deliberative process. It’ll just be a write up. Plus, it’s doubtful that you’d find a H admissions officer so unprofessional as to tell you that he/she will be your advocate considering they haven’t seen anything about you beyond the 40 minute interview session. That’s foolishness.</p>
<p>^Noo IBAustralia I disagree. It’s more likely that the on-campus interview be evaluative because of two factors.
One, that the guy interviewing <em>is</em> an adcom who will read your app (or at least sit on the board and vote for you). This means that he/she will remember you from the notes he has from the interview.
Two, the admissions office doesn’t consider alum interviews that seriously, because of the variable nature of the that kind of interview. That means the interview is more informational than anything.</p>
<p>joon: even the admissions officer interview write ups are very lightly considered. Don’t go in thinking that you’ll nail some 40 minute face to face and that seals your accept. The interview is consistently the thinnest portion of any evaluation – by an alum or an admissions officer. Period.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. :)</p>
<p>I stand corrected! :)</p>