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Harvard Waitlist Interview

Paul CaintPaul Caint Alum Member
edited May 2018 in General 3521 karma

Holy holy holy crap

Harvard just invited me to interview off the waitlist.

What do I do

What does this mean?!

Comments

  • lsatplaylistlsatplaylist Member
    5249 karma

    That's good. Is it by phone, online, or in person?

  • goingfor99thgoingfor99th Free Trial Member
    edited May 2018 3072 karma

    @"Paul Caint" said:
    Holy holy holy crap

    Harvard just invited me to interview off the waitlist.

    What do I do

    What does this mean?!

    You're a beast. Congratulations, dude.

  • LSATcantwinLSATcantwin Alum Member Sage
    13286 karma

    Like I’ve been saying, this dudes gunna be POTUS one day. Everyone take screenshots now!

    Congrats @"Paul Caint" you’re doing great things! Good luck!!

  • Paul CaintPaul Caint Alum Member
    3521 karma

    Thanks all!

    @lsatplaylist It's via video-call.

    Idk what to make of it. I heard anecdotally that during the normal admissions process people who get interviews are very likely to be admitted - does anyone know of/have any data to support this?

    Also idk how this works with being an off-the-waitlist candidate. Is the whole process expedited? Will I go through a second round of faculty review? Are my chances good having gotten an interview?!?

  • LSATislandLSATisland Free Trial Inactive Sage
    edited May 2018 1878 karma

    Congrats @"Paul Caint"!

    I interviewed with them but not off the waitlist, so I can't speak to that specific context, but I'd be happy to answer any questions re: the interview and other stuff. This was 4 years ago, though, so my experience may not be super up-to-date. Regardless, good luck!

  • Leah M BLeah M B Alum Member
    8392 karma

    Wooooo! Congrats!!! I don't know about WL interviews but I have heard for regular admission, the interview puts you at about 80% chance of getting in or so. I'd imagine it would be at least that for a WL interview. It's definitely a good sign, but just focus on the now and celebrate your achievement! :)

    https://media.giphy.com/media/26gsvQrJ9X0BLMoSY/giphy.gif

  • Paul CaintPaul Caint Alum Member
    3521 karma

    Thanks @"Leah M B" :smile:

    @LSATisland Ya what questions were you asked? It's only 15 minutes so it's pretty short. I've been collecting a database of potential questions lol

  • lsatplaylistlsatplaylist Member
    5249 karma

    Do you know any alums, or can you maybe find 1-2 alums to connect with? I've read AdComs may like to hear alum-related anecdotes.

  • Paul CaintPaul Caint Alum Member
    3521 karma

    @lsatplaylist No sadly :disappointed:. I know 0 lawyers and none of my family members are lawyers lol.

  • JPJ July2021JPJ July2021 Core Member
    1532 karma

    Congrats! They’re definitely very interested in accepting you for them to interview you.

  • lsatplaylistlsatplaylist Member
    5249 karma

    Then maybe they can give you an alumni contact to connect with. I hope so.

  • akistotleakistotle Member 🍌🍌
    9372 karma

    @LSATcantwin said:
    Like I’ve been saying, this dudes gunna be POTUS one day. Everyone take screenshots now!

    Congrats @"Paul Caint" you’re doing great things! Good luck!!

    I'm gonna start making "Paul 2036" T-shirts now.

  • goingfor99thgoingfor99th Free Trial Member
    3072 karma

    @akistotle said:

    @LSATcantwin said:
    Like I’ve been saying, this dudes gunna be POTUS one day. Everyone take screenshots now!

    Congrats @"Paul Caint" you’re doing great things! Good luck!!

    I'm gonna start making "Paul 2036" T-shirts now.

    icwutudid

  • Paul CaintPaul Caint Alum Member
    edited May 2018 3521 karma

    @akistotle https://media.giphy.com/media/1136UBdSNn6Bu8/giphy.gif

    But srsly does anyone know anything about the getting-off-the-waitlist process or know anyone who went through this process in the past?

  • lsatplaylistlsatplaylist Member
    5249 karma

    Is HLS your first choice?

  • Paul CaintPaul Caint Alum Member
    3521 karma

    @lsatplaylist Yeah I'd say so

  • lsatplaylistlsatplaylist Member
    5249 karma

    Then you may be able to politely negotiate. How many offers have you received at this point? How many are contenders? Maybe also mention your enthusiasm for the 1L courses there and your interests in some of the career-building experiences. Also, maybe tell them you'd like to visit in May or June and ask if it's possible.

  • goingfor99thgoingfor99th Free Trial Member
    3072 karma

    @lsatplaylist said:
    Then you may be able to politely negotiate. How many offers have you received at this point? How many are contenders? Maybe also mention your enthusiasm for the 1L courses there and your interests in some of the career-building experiences. Also, maybe tell them you'd like to visit in May or June and ask if it's possible.

    They only do need-based aid, if you mean negotiate merit-based aid. I've heard that they sometimes will give very small amounts of non-need-based aid, but don't bet on it.

  • Paul CaintPaul Caint Alum Member
    edited May 2018 3521 karma

    @goingfor99th said:

    @lsatplaylist said:
    Then you may be able to politely negotiate. How many offers have you received at this point? How many are contenders? Maybe also mention your enthusiasm for the 1L courses there and your interests in some of the career-building experiences. Also, maybe tell them you'd like to visit in May or June and ask if it's possible.

    They only do need-based aid, if you mean negotiate merit-based aid. I've heard that they sometimes will give very small amounts of non-need-based aid, but don't bet on it.

    Yeah I don't think I could negotiate anything at this point haha. My LOCI's told them I would 100% attend if admitted off the waitlist. I even told them about my current commitment to UChicago and the generous scholarship offer they gave me. I think that's partially why I got an interview so early; they know I'm serious about attending lol.

  • lsatplaylistlsatplaylist Member
    edited May 2018 5249 karma

    It's good that you have the UChicago offer as an option. Then "make a great impression" is probably a better term here, rather than negotiate.

  • goingfor99thgoingfor99th Free Trial Member
    3072 karma

    @"Paul Caint" said:

    @goingfor99th said:

    @lsatplaylist said:
    Then you may be able to politely negotiate. How many offers have you received at this point? How many are contenders? Maybe also mention your enthusiasm for the 1L courses there and your interests in some of the career-building experiences. Also, maybe tell them you'd like to visit in May or June and ask if it's possible.

    They only do need-based aid, if you mean negotiate merit-based aid. I've heard that they sometimes will give very small amounts of non-need-based aid, but don't bet on it.

    Yeah I don't think I could negotiate anything at this point haha. My LOCI's told them I would 100% attend if admitted off the waitlist. I even told them about my current commitment to UChicago and the generous scholarship offer they gave me. I think that's partially why I got an interview so early; they know I'm serious about attending lol.

    Good for you. Smart move, imo. :]

  • 609 karma

    @"Leah M B" said:
    Wooooo! Congrats!!! I don't know about WL interviews but I have heard for regular admission, the interview puts you at about 80% chance of getting in or so. I'd imagine it would be at least that for a WL interview. It's definitely a good sign, but just focus on the now and celebrate your achievement! :)

    https://media.giphy.com/media/26gsvQrJ9X0BLMoSY/giphy.gif

    Packers fan?!?!

  • Leah M BLeah M B Alum Member
    8392 karma

    @OverRatedUnderAchiever said:

    @"Leah M B" said:
    Wooooo! Congrats!!! I don't know about WL interviews but I have heard for regular admission, the interview puts you at about 80% chance of getting in or so. I'd imagine it would be at least that for a WL interview. It's definitely a good sign, but just focus on the now and celebrate your achievement! :)

    https://media.giphy.com/media/26gsvQrJ9X0BLMoSY/giphy.gif

    Packers fan?!?!

    Haha... sorry, diehard Seahawks fan. But I do really like the Packers, prob my 2nd favorite team. :)

  • Paul CaintPaul Caint Alum Member
    3521 karma

    The interview is in 2 days. Let the prepping begin!

  • lsatplaylistlsatplaylist Member
    5249 karma

    Looking forward to hearing how it goes. From your comments, I think you have a good admissions profile and I hope it goes well.

  • Paul CaintPaul Caint Alum Member
    3521 karma

    Phew! It went really well!

  • Victor WuVictor Wu Alum Member
    661 karma

    @"Paul Caint" said:
    Phew! It went really well!

    I’ve been following this thread. I’m sure you did great! Just gotta wait for the good news.

  • LindsMitchLindsMitch Alum Member
    589 karma

    So exciting! Did they give you any hints about when you'd hear something back? What was it like ?

  • goingfor99thgoingfor99th Free Trial Member
    3072 karma

    @"Paul Caint" said:
    Phew! It went really well!

    Admitted. :]

  • Paul CaintPaul Caint Alum Member
    edited May 2018 3521 karma

    Hey @LindsMitch! So I was sending the following message to a fellow 7Sager via PM but I figure I'd just post it here. Here was my experience:

    My interviewer was Alex Feinson - the Assistant Director of Admissions. She asked me three questions. I worked on Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016 - so she asked me what my life has looked like post-campaign academically and in extracurriculars. I talked about doing work with a professor and volunteering on some Congressional races. Then she asked how the campaign informed my interests in law. I said I was interested in administrative law because I wanted to understand more about the process of affecting change post-elections. Then, because my personal statement was about my time as an ex-musical theater person, she asked "Do you still sing?" Which was amazing hahahaha. I said yeah! Not as much as I used to but when I can yeah! Turns out my interviewer is a musical theater fan - she was actually going to see one of the musicals I referenced in my personal statement. She had watched the musical Waitress while it was in Boston and I had spent that morning listening to Waitress' soundtrack :smile:.

    She then went into an overview of the waitlist process. She said that it was their first day of reviewing the waitlist and interviewing candidates. She also said candidates interviewing still might not hear back until late summer, and that at any point we wish to be removed from the waitlist to just contact the office. She then asked me what school I had committed to, to which I answered UChicago, and she brought up how UChicago gives merit aid but Harvard doesn't, though she said Harvard's need-based aid package will be competitive with what many school's merit-aid packets are. So she said I would have to weigh and consider that, and asked me how that all sounded. I said yes I understood the whole process, and after a lot of thought am still resolved to attend Harvard despite the generous scholarship offer UChicago gave me.

  • Paul CaintPaul Caint Alum Member
    edited May 2018 3521 karma

    @goingfor99th Let's not get ahead of ourselves haha. It's still not clear when I'll hear back (or that what I'll hear is good), though it's good I was in the first round of interviews so I may hear back sooner than most.

  • goingfor99thgoingfor99th Free Trial Member
    3072 karma

    @"Paul Caint" said:
    @goingfor99th Let's not get ahead of ourselves haha. It's still not clear when I'll hear back (or that what I'll hear is good), though it's good I was in the first round of interviews so I may hear back sooner than most.

    I have no crystal ball. Guesses are fun, though.

  • akistotleakistotle Member 🍌🍌
    9372 karma

    @"Paul Caint"

    If you get in, you have to thank Sara Bareilles and Jessie Mueller (Jenna in Original Broadway Cast Recording)!
    https://wordpress.todaytix.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Waitress-2-Gif.gif

  • LindsMitchLindsMitch Alum Member
    589 karma

    @"Paul Caint" sounds like it went really well. Wooo for the musical theater connection!!

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