<p>My son had a Harvard interview the other day. During the interview, the subject of our state’s full-ride scholarship came up (one awarded by a foundation), along with the comment that my son would be competitive for that scholarship. The interviewer basically asked, given the choice of Harvard vs. a full ride in-state with this scholarship, which he’d choose. I am wondering whether this was just asked out of curiosity, or whether the interviewer wanted to be able to indicate to Harvard how ready my son is to commit, thinking that maybe Harvard wants to be sure about acceptances before admitting someone SCEA. Do you think my son’s response makes any difference? (He would choose Harvard, but he’s not sure he was clear in indicating that).</p>
<p>The question was NOT asked out of curiosity, but of genuine interest and whatever your son said was probably reported back to Harvard. </p>
<p>BTW: Two interview questions my son and daughter encountered from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth and Brown: (1) What other colleges are you applying to? (2) If you were accepted to Harvard and to YPDB which school would you choose and why?</p>
<p>@gibby: Just curious: why would they need that information? I thought Harvard didn’t consider demonstrated interest and that their yield was high enough to where they didn’t care about commitment.</p>
<p>Harvard Admissions is very proud that it’s yield is higher than any other US college:</p>
<p>[Harvard</a> Yield for Class of 2016 Soars to 81% | News | The Harvard Crimson](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/5/10/admissions-yield-2016-action/]Harvard”>Harvard Yield for Class of 2016 Soars to 81% | News | The Harvard Crimson)
“This year’s yield, which measures the percentage of accepted students who choose to enroll at Harvard, marks the first time this number has reached 80 percent since the class of 1975 was admitted.”</p>
<p>[High</a> yield for Class of ?15 | Harvard Gazette](<a href=“http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/05/high-yield-for-class-of-’15-2/]High”>High yield for Class of ’15 – Harvard Gazette)
“At nearly 77 percent, the yield on admitted students exceeds last year’s 75.5 percent, and may rise further.”</p>
<p>[A</a> is for Admissions | Stories | Harvard Alumni](<a href=“http://alumni.harvard.edu/stories/for-admissions]A”>http://alumni.harvard.edu/stories/for-admissions)
“Harvard also bests Yale when it comes to yield, or the number of admitted students who ultimately decide to matriculate. Harvard’s yield for the Class of 2016 is 80.2%, while Yale’s yield is 68.4%.”</p>
<p><a href=“http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/05/yielding-to-an-invitation/[/url]”>http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/05/yielding-to-an-invitation/</a>
“Nearly 81 percent of students admitted to the Class of 2016 have chosen to matriculate at Harvard College. The last time the yield on admitted students reached 80 percent was in 1971 for the Class of 1975. The yield for the Class of 2015 was 75.9 percent.”</p>
<p>I could find more articles about Harvard bragging about its yield, but I think you get the point. Harvard wants its yield to be #1, therefore they seek students who given a hypothetical would place it #1.</p>
<p>@Gibby: I actually disagree.</p>
<p>@AllEars: I wouldn’t worry too much about it. The official position of the admissions office is that decisions are not based on how interested a student is. Their yield rate is/has been relatively stable, and is among the highest if not actually the highest of all universities in the country. </p>
<p>Yes, they are proud of that. And precisely because of that (and the appeal of Harvard in general) they’re not like some other schools that try to protect their yield by denying very very good candidates because they don’t seem to be super jazzed about Harvard. They’re confident the Harvard name will ultimately pull in most of the most desirable candidates. </p>
<p>Interviewers are not explicitly requested by the admissions office to inquire about your other applications. Some might be curious, others less so. I almost always ask because I’m curious; I’ve never included that in my report to the AdComs.</p>
<p>Harvard alumni interviewers are not supposed to ask to what other schools one has applied, or what school is one’s first choice, etc. Explicitly verboten. Asking just to satisfy your curiosity is bad.</p>
<p>It’s not explicitly, absolutely forbidden, but we are asked to tread carefully: </p>
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<p>The Harvard Admissions Officer (not alum) that I interviewed asked me where else I’m applying. Answered honestly.</p>
<p>I don’t think the interviewer should have asked that question, but I wouldn’t worry about it much. Harvard is (justly) proud of its incredible yield, but it knows – everyone knows – that Harvard’s incredible yield is a function of the incredible strength and attractiveness of the university and its top-notch financial aid. I believe its attitude is, and always has been, that once an applicant has a Harvard acceptance letter in hand and compares opportunities rationally he or she is overwhelmingly likely to pick Harvard, no matter what the applicant thinks or says now. Harvard doesn’t need to indulge in yield maintenance to maintain its yield. </p>
<p>When you think about it, if Harvard systematically excluded the applicants most likely to turn down Harvard for another opportunity, it would be penciling out many of its very strongest applicants, the students it wants most.</p>
<p>So Harvard offers admission to what it thinks are the best applicants regardless of demonstrated interest, and lets the chips fall where they may. I am sure a considerable number of Harvard students – and a considerable number of applicants Harvard rejected – were offered meaningful, prestigious merit scholarships elsewhere.</p>
<p>My son wasn’t asked this when he had his Harvard interview. He was asked by the interviewer from Washington University in St. Louis (or, perhaps, it conveniently came up, LOL). If I recall correctly, it also came up with Yale, but not Princeton.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, he didn’t think his Harvard interview had gone all that well. He felt that his interviewer was very reserved, and that he didn’t make a good connection with him. Much of the interview comprised the interviewer describing the good and bad of Harvard culture and academics. He was careful to note some of the attributes that might put folks off. It was almost as if he was communicating, “Look, this school isn’t for everyone, tell me now if this doesn’t sound like the right place for you.”</p>
<p>However, upon being accepted, the first or second call he received was an enthusiastic one from his interviewer, expressing congratulations and perhaps a certain bit of pride that “his” interviewee had been admitted. That phone call lasted nearly as long as the interview, LOL.</p>
<p>“perhaps a certain bit of pride that “his” interviewee had been admitted.”</p>
<p>We LOVE that! Interviewers usually only get one admit every few years, so it is exciting for us.</p>
<p>Outside of the Northeast Corridor, local Harvard clubs also feel pride about the whole group admitted from our region. Each club wants to increase its local placement.</p>