<p>ON a Sunday morning a few months back, I interviewed my final Harvard applicant of the year. After saying goodbye to the girl and watching her and her mother drive off, I headed to the beach at the end of our street for a run.</p>
<p>It was a spectacular winter day, bright, sunny and cold; the tide was out, the waves were high, and I had the beach to myself. As I ran, I thought the same thing I do after all these interviews: Another amazing kid who won’t get into Harvard.</p>
<p>That used to upset me. But I’ve changed....</p>
<p>I found that her initial reaction to kids’ attempts at politeness and civility a bit odd…kids are darned if you do and darned if you don’t. If you don’t write a thank you note, you’re not polite; if you do write a thank you note, you’re ingratiating. Sheesh!</p>
<p>Many years ago, my son went for his interview with Harvard alum. Three hours later, I was ready to call police, thinking that the new driver had been in accident or gotten lost. When son finally got home, he was glowing with praise for the interviewer–his charm, accomplishments, and skill in promoting communication. That alum could have been thinking, “what a nice young man, too bad…”</p>
<p>I suppose this is why Stanford doesn’t have alumni interviews…</p>
<p>Harvard interviews in our area nowadays are held over two weekends at a local college gym. The kids come in at their appointed time, talk to the next available interviewer at their little table and chairs and go on their way. Not sure what the worth of this procedure is!</p>
<p>How about Young and Gifted are not for Harvard. As presitigious as it is, Harvard strikes me as for Young, Smart and Driven not necessarily Gifted. More into producing future leaders in the establishment than creating earth-shakes.</p>
<p>For years Stanford stood alone among HYPSM in NOT having admissions interviews. They started a small pilot program of interviews in a few areas a couple a years ago. I don’t know whether it has now become a widespread part of their admissions process.</p>
<p>^There were a lot of things I didn’t like about Stanford!</p>
<p>I wondered where this guy lived that he sees so few accepted students. I know in our area, nearly every high school seems to have a couple of Harvard acceptances a year.</p>
<p>Stanford has rolled out a limited pilot program. This year it will not be considered in admissions (they claim) as majority of applicants don’t have access to it. They will evaluate it when the pilot program is over and determine whether to expand. Must say I really dread my son’s interviews and am really not sure what the colleges think they get out of it.</p>
<p>How about young and gifted who never cared to apply to Harvard, not after invitation to apply, not after insistance of HS college advisor, not after UG pre-med advisor. They simply feel that they will do very well anywhere, getting the most opportunities and everything else at any place. They feel that it is much more up to them than the place that they end up going…just to discover in senior year that their UG state college has been ranked #2 nationally in undergraduate teaching, sharing spot with Princeton and actually beating Harvard at what was the most important for them at this stage of their life. …Just another proof that they were correct to begin with, they were right in not to listenning to anybody, forget about all kind of prestige talks and go where their heart led them.</p>