Should I contact the admissions office? Interview Question

[jazzing]

@panda2024

@jazzing

@panda2024

@jzducol

Panda2024, typically what happens is that regional AOs, and usually two of them, have to select you and present you to the full committee where your candidacy is going to be voted by 40 people. The summary page for the full committee has a section of interview score, which needs to be filled in. Lots of times AOs would like to have a confirmation from the interviewer about the applicant before they move forward with a recommendation. So its safe to say that they will try to get hold of you for the missing piece of info—in this case the interview— if they are prepared to present you to the full committee.

That makes sense, thanks! Out of curiosity, does anyone know what is the latest they do these interviews?

This year, the full admissions committee will discuss candidates from February 24 to March 6, based on geographical area, and the interview should be done before an applicant’s geographical area is discussed.

I know on some of the other threads you mentioned that some students are admitted without an interview. Under what circumstances would this happen? If the admissions officers would go to the extent of interviewing themselves if alumni aren’t available, then how would some students be admitted without an interview? Would this ever be the case for domestic students?

The AOs are busy and might not have time to conduct the interview, or the recommendation letters and application are detailed enough to present a full picture.

International students (from most countries) have a potential language barrier, as well as cultural hurdles, so Harvard really likes to have interviews for international applicants to assess fluency in English, maturity, resilience, flexibility and personal qualities in general. International dmissions are rare without an interview.

A small percentage of admitted students from the U.S. have not had an interview. AOs only rarely do interviews of U.S. students. They rely primarily on the alumni network, and some areas have no interviewers within a reasonable distance.

Some areas, such as NY, DC, Boston, and SF have an excess of interviewers, and I don’t know why they aren’t asked to do Skype interviews of students from remote areas.