whhhat? harvard interview after being waitlisted?

<p>I was waitlisted and I just received a call from an alumni requesting an interview. This is slightly of strange, since I've practically given up hope for Harvard. I haven't received an interview prior to this, so I don't know if this is just Harvard making up for it, or if it means anything. Anyone have a clue?</p>

<p>This can only be positive. I would guess that it means even Harvard is nervous about its yield this year and is preparing to go to the waitlist. Good luck!</p>

<p>It is a very positive sign. If you were not being seriously considered, they would not be interviewing you at this stage. Play up whatever you consider to be your major "hook"</p>

<p>did you send an update to them?</p>

<p>Harvard isn't going to waste it's alumni interviewer's time in order to make a rejected student feel good. The only reason that Harvard would line up an interview with you is because Harvard is seriously considering you for admission.</p>

<p>Do look in the CC archives for advice on how to be at your best during the interview.</p>

<p>Thanks a lot for the words of encouragement. Haha I had my interview today, one day after being notified, so I didn't have much of a chance to prepare. I think it went well - well enough, at least. Hopefully this will mean something and won't be another case of bringing my hopes up and then crushing it. :)</p>

<p>This is also a good sign for the rest of us. They are going to take people off the waitlist i gather?</p>

<p>I've already had a local alumnus with connections in the adcom talk to my regional representative. Apparently she was very encouraging and loved my app. Woohoo!</p>

<p>And yes, chances are they'll use the waitlist. A lot of people got into Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Stanford this year and odds are not all of them are going to go to Harvard. Also, if you're a humanities major, rejoice! 52% of the admitted class is either social studies or humanities, so you and I stand a higher chance of getting in.</p>

<p>i definitely hope you guys make it in but! i would think you had less of a chance.. ? i'm not playing devil's advocate or anything, but i just thought that they would look for people with more unique major choices? just trying to figure it out for myself, since i think a lot of people are looking at the same majors as me!</p>

<p>I may be wrong, but the sources I've heard tell me the waiting list doesn't work like that. When they take someone off the waiting list, it's generally to take someone else's place who didn't accept. With 52% of the admittees being interested in the humanities or social sciences, there will almost certainly be spots to fill.</p>

<p>just wondering, are ppl in social sciences/humanities more likely to enroll at harvard or not?</p>

<p>No, according to Harvard's own study, they're more likely to go to Yale, then Stanford. A larger % of the class at Yale is socials/humanities than at Harvard.</p>

<p><a href="http://post.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/hoxby/papers/revealedprefranking.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://post.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/hoxby/papers/revealedprefranking.pdf&lt;/a> (See Page 44)</p>

<p>oh, ic. thanks for the info! what about in other majors, like the sciences, or engineering?</p>

<p>According to that study, Harvard is the most desirable school among science/engineering applicants. However, as only about 17% (or so) of the admitted class are in the science/engineering fields, those statistics weren't very promising to begin with.</p>