<p>^I see no clash between the information stated on Harvard website and what I said before; actually, it is clearly stated that while they will try to make interviews as widely available as possible, it will not be always possible to offer them for everyone - which is a very good reason to first scan all app’s to get a sense of which students should be given the opportunity.
Moreover, it’s also stated that the lack of an interview won’t hurt the applicant, which might very well be true (although, I must admit, little bit misleading): the lack in itself won’t hurt, but the fact that a certain student didn’t get an interview is likely to be a good indicator that he or she was a priori not good enough to be selected in this “first round” of the process.
Those are just speculations, though, and I would really appreciate if an international student from one of such ‘limited interviews’ areas who got admitted without an interview could post here!</p>