<p>I'm a bit confused. I just got a call from a Harvard alum in the area who said that Harvard wants her to interview me. She realizes I've already been interviewed (I applied SCEA) but she talked about reading about me in the papers (for winning 3rd place in the Siemens Westinghouse Competition) and they just want to interview me again...Is this routine? If not (or if so), does anyone know how to interpret this? Is it good or bad? Thanks!</p>
<p>This is your opportunity to get into Harvard. Sometimes they have second interviews because they can't make up their minds on whether or not to admit you. I hope you make it a good interview and have some good "people-person" skills.</p>
<p>Check out the thread started by Phat Albert on 12/05/05</p>
<p>Thanks, both of you! So it looks like this is a pretty important interview for me...does anyone have any advice, on how to handle it? I have pretty good communication skills but I didn't really click with my last interviewer (and she didn't seem like the friendliest person--very young, too), so I'm not sure if it was an interviewer problem, or if I'm just doing something wrong, so any advice would be very much appreciated! Thanks!!</p>
<p>And, if the interview is this Sunday and we're finding out our decisions later this week, is there still time for this interview to impact my decision?</p>
<p>Northstarmom and Byerly are two alumni interviewers for Harvard who might be able to answer your questions knowledgeably, so I'd suggest you PM them. From a general standpoint, I suspect the interviewer also didn't quite click and Harvard may want to see if this was a one time thing. I would recommend you approach the interview with "What information can I give you about myself that will help Harvard to know me better?"</p>
<p>GuitarManARS, this is what I told PhatAlbert about the same topic. And Harvard will accept the interview report until the last possible minute.</p>
<p>"Hi, guys, I am a new CC member and a Harvard alumna interviewer. In the past, Harvard has asked me to do the second interview for three different applicants. In each case, the first interview report was not great, but the adcom really liked the candidate, so it wanted to reconcile a questionable interview with the fact that the adcom liked him/her. Harvard does not want to admit applicants whose interview reports were questionable, but if they like the applicant, they will see if the interviewer was off. It's also true that Harvard will request a second interview when the first interviewer was incompetent AND the applicant looks good enough to be re-interviewed.
However, I don't want to make you nervous about your interview. The best interviews are with students that are naturally engaged and can show a genuine passion for whatever interests them plus comfort with and depth in their academic areas of interest. So at the right time during the interview, show them what excites you academically and extracurricularly. The best thing about being genuine is that you won't have to worry about getting caught faking an interest you can't really talk about. Good luck!"</p>
<p>Mom555--Thanks!! I saw that but it's very nice of you to post it here too :) A question--of those three, were most good interviewees who seemed to have a disconnect with the particular interviewer, or were they kids who just didn't interview well or have desirable personalities period?</p>
<p>In one case it was a bad interviewer, in another case it seemed a little of both: a somewhat uncommunicative student and a cold interviewer that didn't try to make the student feel at ease. I don't know about the third.
Also, an original interview I once conducted was itself re-done by someone else. I'm an experienced interviewer who really likes to make students feel comfortable. This one student arrived chewing gum in my face and acted arrogantly and rudely, like he didn't want to be there, and answered most of my questions very superficially, not nervously but without interest (by the sound of your posts, you seem like a nice person, so I'm sure this doesn't apply to you, just a story). I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I still couldn't write a good report. Harvard trusted my reports, but this kid was a total super star on paper, so they had him re-interviewed. The second interviewer wasn't bothered by the same things I was and said he was fine, so he got in. Harvard uses these interview reports mainly to make sure there are no red flags they've missed about someone. If they really like someone, they'll try to give him the benefit of the doubt with a second interview if the first one wasn't as strong. </p>
<p>Here's something else I posted on another thread about the content of interview reports. Good luck! You sound like a wonderful student and a good person.</p>
<p>"I agree with Northstarmom (I'm a new member, alumna interviewer). Harvard wants interviewers to evaluate one or more of these: the quality of an applicant's academic engagement, the significance of his/her extracurricular contributions, and his/her personal qualities. Specifically, how does a student feel about the things she identifies as important?; has he made use of his academic opportunities?; how deeply did she participate in her extracurricular activities?; in what areas does he show ability, commitment, or leadership potential?; would other students want to room with this applicant and work with him/her closely? This all sounds like a lot of words, but it's what they want to know. The best interviews are ones in which the student is genuinely excited about some academic area and some extracurricular activity and has shown meaningful achievement in these, or has some special life experiences to share (special life experiences are not required, by the way). Be youself, and above all don't try to fake it or to give them what you think they want - interviewers can smell this a mile away. Everyone has his/her own story, and most interviewers just want to chat about yours."</p>
<p>I've responded to your PM.</p>
<p>Mom--thanks so much for both the kind words and the advice!! That could be one of the reasons my interview maybe seemed disconnected from my application: I have so much passion for what I love (astronomy, and my research), and that came across well in the application, but I feel like it was barely touched upon in the interview. That could very well have been the (or an) issue. Must keep that advice in mind though this Sunday!!</p>
<p>Byerly--Thanks so much :) Responding right now.</p>
<p>I've responded to the second PM.</p>