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<p>Close, but the reality is a bit bleaker than that. </p>
<p>Harvard feels pretty confident that a sufficient number of really strong applicants will be sold on Harvard every year. They’ve been right about that for generations.</p>
<p>The Admissions Office tells interviewers that for the vast majority of applicants, the alumni interview is the closest contact they’re going to have with Harvard. They want interviewers to be a friendly and likable face for the College, so as to leave those applicants who will be disappointed in the spring with as favorable an impression of Harvard as possible.</p>
<p>I told you it was bleak. On the plus side, however, it means that any interviewer who really puts you through the wringer is being a total jerk.</p>