<p>I’m sure this question has been asked before, but I’m very curious to know what kind of questions are asked and what discussions take place in the interview.</p>
<p>Firstly, how many people are interviewing you (at the same time), because I understand that in some British universities such as Oxford, many of the students were interviewed by up to seven people.</p>
<p>Secondly, what questions do they ask? Do they ask about you background, interests, EC activities, how you have contributed to certain causes? And what do they ask you about academics? Do they ever ask logical questions to see your thought process or questions related to the course you are taking?</p>
<p>Last of all, what is the attitude of the interviewer. Will he do absurd things or respond in a firm, strict manner to see your reaction? Do they ever “test” you to see reactions?</p>
<p>I know it’s lots of questions, so if anyone can, could you give me a link or somewhere where I can get more information on what they generally ask, or what they specifically asked you in your interview at Harvard? And if you could share any stories or things that they asked you, then that would be great!</p>
<p>Well not all interviews are the same. But here is a description of what mine was like.</p>
<p>My interview was fairly informal, I met at his house and we talked in his living room. I had sent him my application before so that we didn’t spend the whole time just talking about what I had did, and not how it was important. He started off by asking me to give more details about some of my more complex ECs. We got into a bit of discussion about language, he was really interested in Japanese so I explained a little bit about the alphabet, etc. One interesting question he asked me was, “Do you think there is much correlation between musical ability and foreign language ability?” He was obviously trying to see how I thought at that point. Then he asked me about a particularly meaningful experience I had in high school, and then about my favorite book. He asked me what attracted me to Harvard and why I thought it was a good fit for me, and then he let me ask some questions about the school. And that was the end of the interview.</p>
<p>As far as your reactions question, I don’t think they look for reactions so much…Be ready for your answer to a question to be challenged at least once, that happened in this interview and I’ve had it in several before. They like to see how well you can defend your answers and how well you take to differing opinions.</p>
<p>He said it was going to be 30-45 minutes, but we talked for an hour and a half.</p>
<p>If you have someone who likes to talk a lot, you’ll talk longer. Also, if you have someone who is taking the interview really casually, and is really interested in what you have to say for their own benefit (i.e. you can teach them something) you might talk longer. So I’d allow for an hour and a half but expect to talk for 45-60 mins.</p>