<p>I just got an email today for an interview–RD–and the interviewer said he’ll call in a couple of days to set a day/time. Any pointers to make it go smoothly? The guy is a professor at another school I applied to (smh–better keep my facts straight!!). However, he’s a professor in Theatre and Drama, and I want to major in psych and go to med school… Not really seeing the correlation here :P</p>
<p>@mam1298: Alum interviews are often based on who’s available, not what your potential major is. While in some regions, there’s an abundance of alumni, most regions do not, and it simply comes down to who is closest to you.</p>
<p>Also, Harvard alum are generally pretty curious/well-read people. I wouldn’t worry too much about not having any thing to talk about.</p>
<p>Oh, ok. Thank you :)</p>
<p>In the email, he said that we will be talking for less than an hour. Am I reading too much into this if I’m thinking that he already knows that it’ll take less than an hour, so he already knows it’s going to be that bad? Or am I overreacting?</p>
<p>youre overreacting</p>
<p>My interviewer said we’d talk for under an hour but it ended up being an hour and a half, so I wouldn’t be so worried.</p>
<p>I basically have 3 questions:
- Is it okay that I almost didn’t talk about my academic performance? I mean, I did talk about my interest in certain subjects, but apparently I didn’t show my interviewers any statistics (SATs, GPA, honors…) I have rather high SAT and GPA and a certain number of honors but I thought since they were already in my application materials, I didn’t need to tell the interviewers again, and they didn’t really ask. When one of the interviewers asked i I had something to add after they were done giving questions, I basically told him the other things are already in my application, then I started asking questions ( as required)
- What does it mean if one of my 2 interviewers never replied to my Thank You Note? It’s been more than a week so I don’t think he will reply. Did this happen to any of you?
- Why did I have 2 interviewers? I highly doubt that I live in an area where the alumini are abundant.</p>
<p>my interviewer never replied to my post-interview thank you e-mail. its been about 2 weeks or so. i applied EA</p>
<p>It was your job to thank the interviewer. S/he is not obligated to thank you for thanking them.</p>
<p>I usually tell my interviewees that the interview will last between 1/2 hour to an hour. I love meeting bright, young hs seniors applying to Harvard (you’re all usually quite interesting kids) but I don’t have a lot of free time, and neither do most alum. Sometimes the interview might go on a bit longer, but we all have other things to do, and interviewing isn’t our full time job. </p>
<p>I’ve interviewed some 10-15 applicants in the past 2-3 years or so, and only once or twice did I receive a followup thank-you note. I don’t expect to get one, and if you don’t send one, it certainly won’t impact how I write about you (though I can’t claim to speak for others). For some, it’s almost expected. In any case, I think it’s a rather courteous gesture, and if you send a note, I’ll certainly reply, but don’t expect much other than the usually formalities. Don’t expect me to gush over the fact that you sent a thank you note. It probably won’t have any impact. </p>
<p>Again, don’t read too much about not getting a response. Alum actually ARE really busy.</p>
<p>i didnt get an interview, period. guh, and one more week until decisions come out. i believe its too late.</p>
<p>It was pretty good. It was a few towns away in the library and I prepared a folder for it… I forgot my folder. It was okay, though. My interviewer could tell I was nervous but we held a decent hour long conversation (the library closed, which cut our interview short) without any real awkward gaps. I was stumped by one question, but I don’t think it was very hindering. My interviewer was very interesting and friendly, and has a child that partakes in the same types of activities as I do. I was definitely sold on Harvard.</p>
<p>What did your interviewer say about your chances to Harvard?
- You fit in Harvard
- You will thrive in Harvard
- There are a lot of other schools you may fit in
- Harvard is very hard to get in</p>
<p>As I said before: The interviewer has no basis to evaluate any applicant’s chances.</p>
<p>Just did my RD interview. It lasted 17 minutes… I know that this is super strange but the guy was really nice and told me that it was a pleasure meeting me. He also said that he thinks that I will get in, unlike the last candidate he interviewed (yes he actually said that his last interviewee would be a tough sell). He also asked all of the other schools I’m applying to and was being really complimentary towards all of them (including BC…shocker lol).</p>
<p>My interviewer was a young doctor from Harvard Med School (Did Harvard Undergrad too). We talked for 2 or 3 hours (he told me initially it would last about 45 minutes). I ended up eating dinner with him and his wife, who is a news reporter for a local news channel here. We discussed current domestic affairs for a little but went on to global problems. Since I am Indian, we discussed corruption in India, its relations with other countries such as China, Pakistan, US. We then went on to stock market, investing basics, and later advanced investing topics such as information about specific companies (all three of us maintained portfolios). We ended with discussion of sports, especially tennis and football. </p>
<p>Overall, an extremely awesome experience and my interviewer was amazing. He did tell me that if he applied today to Harvard undergrad, he wouldn’t get in (and he got a 43 on his MCAT lol!). I guess that’s saying a lot. We did not talk for more than 5 min about scores, academics, etc. He read my resume, asked me about my EC’s, and then we just had good conversations. Oh and interview was completely informal. He told me I could wear whatever so I ended up going in a nice polo and jeans. He was in a t shirt and shorts haha. Wife was in a tank so overall I was a little too dressed up but underdressed for a traditional interview.</p>
<p>On the pre-interview form, do I put my best sub-scores from two different ACT tests?</p>
<p>How do I arrange an RD intverview?</p>
<p>did anyone get the message about turning in their application before the deadline? something about how they had the wrong date on the last email… it scared the crap out of me</p>
<p>My interview happened just this Sunday. He was an older gentleman from the class of '66 and a lawyer for a government agency. Needless to say, I was pretty nervous, but it was lovely talking to him. It lasted around exactly an hour and he didn’t ask me any of the expected questions other than, “Why Harvard?”</p>
<p>We talked about my position on the school newspaper for quite some time, and my volunteer work, my favorite teachers, my trips to India and whether I liked them/the impression they left on me, and he as well told me a bit about himself. I’d say I probably talked for half an hour and he talked for the remaining half hour. </p>
<p>Also, I actually was contacted for my interview FAR in advance before my application had even been sent. I think it was an accident on their part but I’m glad I got it out of the way.</p>
<p>I just got contacted today for a “pre-interview” (what the heck is that??) on Saturday. I just submitted my application last Friday. It’s a really quick turnaround time! My Columbia interview happened almost a month and a half after I submitted my application. </p>
<p>Does anybody know what’s the difference between an interview and a pre-interview? Does that mean that I’ll be doing a proper interview as well?</p>