<p>Hi CCers. As most of you would know, Harvard has its own SlideRoom portal for applicants wanting to submit supplementary academic material (research papers, projects etc.) I wanted to know WHO reviews these papers/projects? I'm pretty sure adcoms usually don't have the background or time required to judge such supplements, so in such a case who reviews the work? Is it the senior professors related to your field (like Noam Elkies for number theory in math for example) or is it the junior faculty like preceptors/Benjamin Pierce fellows (for Math, I guess)? Or is it grad students?</p>
<p>Also, my niece has submitted her (un-mentored) project via SlideRoom. Curious that she is, she wants some kind of feedback from Harvard about her work. Will she get any direct feedback for her work from professors during/after the admissions process? Or should she contact people at Harvard directly by email right now for feedback? I've heard of a few students (including a friend's son) getting feedback during the admissions season, but I don't know if every student gets such feedback..</p>
<p>Harvard’s full Admissions Committee has about twenty senior faculty members on it. For example, Harry Lewis who is the Dean of Harvard’s Computer Science Department, who taught both Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, sits on the Committee. I’d be willing to guess that Professor Lewis is responsible for reviewing all CS materials that have been submitted by students. If there isn’t a math department dean sitting on the committee, research materials would probably be forwarded to the head of the department. I have sometimes heard of Admissions Directors contacting students for further information, but I’ve never heard of anyone getting feedback from Harvard about their submitted work. Please counsel your niece that it would be intrusive to directly ask for feedback and it probably would violate the confidentiality of the process for a Harvard Admissions Director/professor to provide such feedback.</p>
<p>As Harvard doesn’t want students, their parents, or relatives contacting members of the Admissions Committee, they do not publicize the names of senior faculty members who participated in this years selection process until after April 1st. Once all accepted students have been notified, there usually is an announcement from Admissions thanking faculty members by name who sat on the Committee. Until that announcement, students and their families are in the dark.</p>
<p>Your academic submission will be reviewed by someone with expertise in that field. Beyond that, you can’t know. Even if someone from that field is working with admissions this year, there are various reasons why your work might be viewed by some other expert. What matters is that it will get a knowledgeable read.</p>