(Please read everything before commenting. And yes, I’ve read the other threads)
I’m a domestic student who applied to Harvard earlier this year, but I haven’t received an interview yet. A classmate of mine who was waiting on an interview recently found out that his interviewer forgot a letter in his email address so she never reached him (this was for a different school though).
Since I know that Harvard tries to interview every domestic applicant, and I know that some people in my area have received interviews, should I contact the admissions office to double-check to make sure I didn’t unintentionally ignore any interview requests?
Probably doesn’t help that I submitted my application 30 min before the deadline either
I wouldn’t bother the admissions office with that question at this busy time.
You are supposed to wait for the interview invitation. You’re not supposed to request an interview. Check your spam folder if you think it went in there. You might be in an area without enough interviewers.
Perhaps not, but it is a negative not to read the website and follow directions.
The Harvard admissions website states (for domestic applicants): “Please note that we will reach out to you if we would like to schedule an interview. You do not need to take any additional actions to set up an admissions interview. If an interview cannot be arranged, you will not be at a disadvantage during the application process.”
If you ask a general question, they won’t know your name and won’t have to spend a lot of time. If you ask for an interview, they will need to take down your name and spend time.
It’s never a negative - true. But Harvard, for all its great things, has a number of faults. One of which is hubris. The attitude is “of course all applicants have an interest.” And its corollary : “of course Harvard is your #1 choice.”
I wouldn’t be asking for an interview, I would just be clarifying whether or not I was supposed to get an interview since I am afraid of what happened to my classmate happening to me. I don’t want them to think that I didn’t care to respond to a potential interview request when the request never reached me in the first place.
The reality is that the interview has your full contact details, including your phone #. The interviewer will not let an email (or phone call) go unanswered. If they can’t reach you one way, thy will try another.
Go ahead and contact H, but I’m 99.999% certain that the reason you have not been contacted is not because they have the wrong email address.
Panda2024, typically what happens is that regional AOs, and usually two of them, have to select you and present you to the full committee where your candidacy is going to be voted by 40 people. The summary page for the full committee has a section of interview score, which needs to be filled in. Lots of times AOs would like to have a confirmation from the interviewer about the applicant before they move forward with a recommendation. So its safe to say that they will try to get hold of you for the missing piece of info—in this case the interview— if they are prepared to present you to the full committee.
@skieurope and @jzducol
My D received the first interview request within 48 hours of applying. At first, she was receiving email on every Wed. with link to select interview date/time. However, each week there were no availabe slot. She patiently waited for 3 weeks then finally contacted local alumni rep. Then she was matched with a interviewer at late Jan. She contacted him twice but was not able to schedule interview yet due to her interviewer’s schedule availability. Should she contact alumni rep again or just wait?
This year, the full admissions committee will discuss candidates from February 24 to March 6, based on geographical area, and the interview should be done before an applicant’s geographical area is discussed.
I know on some of the other threads you mentioned that some students are admitted without an interview. Under what circumstances would this happen? If the admissions officers would go to the extent of interviewing themselves if alumni aren’t available, then how would some students be admitted without an interview? Would this ever be the case for domestic students?
The AOs are busy and might not have time to conduct the interview, or the recommendation letters and application are detailed enough to present a full picture.
International students (from most countries) have a potential language barrier, as well as cultural hurdles, so Harvard really likes to have interviews for international applicants to assess fluency in English, maturity, resilience, flexibility and personal qualities in general. International dmissions are rare without an interview.
A small percentage of admitted students from the U.S. have not had an interview. AOs only rarely do interviews of U.S. students. They rely primarily on the alumni network, and some areas have no interviewers within a reasonable distance.
Some areas, such as NY, DC, Boston, and SF have an excess of interviewers, and I don’t know why they aren’t asked to do Skype interviews of students from remote areas.
