I had my interview for Harvard RD today, and my interviewer asked me a lot of questions that I thought were pretty inappropriate. He asked what other schools I was applying to, why I was applying to them, etc. He also talked in great detail about his Harvard classmates who ended up in prison or drug rehab. I felt like I lot of it was pretty out of line, so I want to contact the right person in Harvard Admissions and just tell them about my experience. Is there a specific email contact I should be looking for? The Harvard website is unhelpful. Thanks.
Unless you’ve gone ahead and removed Harvard from the list of schools that you’re considering, do you not want to wait until you get your admissions letter and then contact the admissions office?
@HappyAlumnus I just don’t want my interviewer to write a report on me based on information I wasn’t comfortable sharing with him. Do you think it would hurt my chances to contact the admissions office about it?
Yes, your comments might hurt your chances – as it would call for an investigation of both the applicant’s responses and the interviewer’s questions. And if that occurs, it’s anyone’s guess as to what will happen. If the interviewer has had a history of prior complaints, it might get them removed from the list of volunteer alumni. On the other hand, if Harvard Admissions has admitted many students off this interviewer’s reports, it would call into question your judgement, maturity, and preparedness for the interview.
While that question might have put you on the offensive (especially if you were admitted EA to another college), IMHO it’s fair-game in the interview process. My son’s Dartmouth interviewer asked that question, and then proceeded to tell my son why he should choose Dartmouth over HYP if he were so lucky to have those options.
That conversation is indeed awkward, but I’m sure classmates of Ted Kaczynski and Adam Wheeler could tell their own tales.
I agree with @HappyAlumnus. You should contact Harvard AFTER March 31st, as you don’t want your comments to negatively influence the outcome of your acceptance – unless, of course you’ve written Harvard off of your list.
After acceptances have come out, I would write a letter to Marlyn McGrath, Director of Harvard Admissions (mmcg@fas.harvard.edu) and send a copy to Drew Faust (president@harvard.edu).
I met a guy who bullied Ted Kaczynski in high school. Not related to the OP’s problem, but couldn’t resist. Carry on. (But I agree with wsiting to notify them)
Wow
just as an update: I did end up telling the admissions office about my interview, and a few days later I got an email from my regional admissions officer asking if we could do a 2nd skype interview. my second interview went much much better than the first, and my admissions officer was very enthusiastic (it wasn’t like she was angry about having to do a second interview). so i guess in the future, if you have a problem with an interview, don’t be afraid to tell admissions about it. she thanked me for letting them know so they could improve the interview process in the future.