Harvard Interview

[Anonymous]

My child got a Harvard interview invite? Does every applicant get it or does it mean child is in the shortlist? What are they looking for in these interviews?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child got a Harvard interview invite? Does every applicant get it or does it mean child is in the shortlist? What are they looking for in these interviews?

Just about everyone gets it. Forget Harvard, it is declining rapidly.

[Anonymous]

Every kid that they can schedule one for, they do. It's not evaluative. So tell your kid to practice good interview habits, but also ask real questions they have. it won't hurt them.

Yale is the only interview to get nervous about

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every kid that they can schedule one for, they do. It's not evaluative. So tell your kid to practice good interview habits, but also ask real questions they have. it won't hurt them.

Yale is the only interview to get nervous about

It is evaluative, but less so that Yale's.

[Anonymous]

Good luck! DC just finished theirs last week and it went ok but a bit stilted. Interviewer said he does evaluate on how quickly the student replies to email to schedule. Which I didn’t think was fair. But just don’t drag out the response or scheduling.

[Anonymous]

Good luck! Based on who H admitted in our school, H seems really like the ones with big spikes in music. Another type is the biggest leadership. Other kids, even in prestigious math competitions or publishing in top journals, can’t beat. Not sure about other schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every kid that they can schedule one for, they do. It's not evaluative. So tell your kid to practice good interview habits, but also ask real questions they have. it won't hurt them.

Yale is the only interview to get nervous about

It is evaluative, but less so that Yale's.

these days, it's only to raise red flags.

after the court case, they're not taking in any other information

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good luck! DC just finished theirs last week and it went ok but a bit stilted. Interviewer said he does evaluate on how quickly the student replies to email to schedule. Which I didn’t think was fair. But just don’t drag out the response or scheduling.

It's a matter of professionalism, plus respecting a volunteer interviewer's time and interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good luck! DC just finished theirs last week and it went ok but a bit stilted. Interviewer said he does evaluate on how quickly the student replies to email to schedule. Which I didn’t think was fair. But just don’t drag out the response or scheduling.

Do these interviews usually happen during the weekends? Back in the days, I did my HYPSM interview on a Saturday. I had to travel all the way to his office and we met in the conference room

[Anonymous]

A lot of these interviews can be scheduled on zoom for student convenience. I think most students have busy schedules and do the zoom option.

[Anonymous]

I'm an interviewer in DC--the interviews are done through the Harvard Club of DC. We do try to interview everyone who applies from the DC area (I'm not sure how far out into the suburbs and exurbs we go since I do my interviews in DC and they usually try to match with kids who either live or go to school near your workplace or home).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good luck! Based on who H admitted in our school, H seems really like the ones with big spikes in music. Another type is the biggest leadership. Other kids, even in prestigious math competitions or publishing in top journals, can’t beat. Not sure about other schools.

WTF is "spikes in music" or "big leadership?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good luck! DC just finished theirs last week and it went ok but a bit stilted. Interviewer said he does evaluate on how quickly the student replies to email to schedule. Which I didn’t think was fair. But just don’t drag out the response or scheduling.

Do these interviews usually happen during the weekends? Back in the days, I did my HYPSM interview on a Saturday. I had to travel all the way to his office and we met in the conference room

I'm the PP who is an interviewer. They tell us to schedule at a mutually convenient time. So, in many cases, that ends up being the weekend or early evenings.

[Anonymous]

PP here. I usually offer a couple slots near the end of the workday and a couple weekend slots, and let the student pick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good luck! Based on who H admitted in our school, H seems really like the ones with big spikes in music. Another type is the biggest leadership. Other kids, even in prestigious math competitions or publishing in top journals, can’t beat. Not sure about other schools.

The big math spike kids are for MIT! HYP like well-rounded kids, which fit their liberal arts education.
https://blog.tanyakhovanova.com/2009/07/what-does-it-take-to-get-accepted-by-harvard-or-princeton/

Just curious: What are those big music and leadership spikes?