Guides · Updated 1 November 2026

The Harvard interview: how it works and how to prepare

Harvard College interviews are conversations with a Harvard alumni volunteer, held by Zoom, phone or in person after you apply. Not everyone gets one: Harvard assigns them based partly on how many alumni are available, you can't request one, and your application is complete without it.

Your interviewer knows only your name, contact details and high school, so the hour is about you, not your file. Below is how the process works, the questions it's built around, a worked example and how to prepare.

How does the Harvard interview work?

When do Harvard interviews happen?

Harvard doesn't publish fixed interview dates. Interviews are arranged after you apply, so they follow the two deadlines: November 1 for Restrictive Early Action and January 1 for Regular Decision. Harvard's advice is to apply early in the cycle if you want the best chance of an interview being set up, since alumni need time to reach you.

An alumni interviewer contacts you by email. Reply quickly, offer a few times, and say whether you'd prefer video, phone or meeting in person.

Does the Harvard interview matter?

It is one more view of you, written up by someone who has met you. Harvard is clear that an application without an interview is complete and that not being offered one won't count against you. So the interview can add to your file, but missing it is not a mark against you. Treat it as a chance to show who you are in conversation: your interests, how you think, and what you'd bring.

What questions are asked in a Harvard interview?

Harvard doesn't publish a question list. In a Harvard student story about the interview, the conversation is described as covering what you do after school and "what makes you tick". Most alumni interviews are built around the same few themes:

A worked example: "What do you do after school?"

• Why it's asked: it's the easiest way into who you are when nobody is grading you.
• What a strong answer does: picks one thing, tells one specific moment from it, and says what it taught you or why you keep doing it.
• Weak answer: a list of six clubs with your titles in each.
• A likely follow-up: "What would you keep doing at Harvard, and what would you try that's new?"

Teaser of a strong opening (swap in your own): "Mostly [the robotics team]. Last spring our [arm] failed the night before [regionals], and I learned more fixing it at 2 a.m. than in the whole season." Then let the interviewer ask more.

How to prepare for a Harvard interview

1. Know your three stories. One about something you love doing, one about a problem you worked through, one about an idea that excites you. Most questions lead to one of them.
2. Make "Why Harvard" specific. Name a course, a concentration, a house tradition or a student organization, and link it to something you've already done.
3. Say your answers out loud. Written notes sound like essays when spoken. Practice until each story takes about a minute and still sounds like you.
4. Prepare two real questions. Ask about the interviewer's own experience, not facts you could look up. See questions to ask your alumni interviewer.
5. Check your setup for Zoom. A quiet room, your face lit from the front, the camera at eye level. Don't record the call.

On the day

• Dress neatly and comfortably. There is no Harvard dress code for interviews.
• Arrive or log in five minutes early.
• You don't need to bring anything. Your interviewer hasn't seen your application, so tell them what matters in your own words.
• Send a short thank-you email the same day.

AdmitMock is an AI mock interview app for Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, UCL and US college alumni interviews: an AI interviewer asks the questions out loud, follows up, and shows you what to fix.

AdmitMock is not affiliated with Harvard University. We use Harvard's published guidance and common interview formats, not insider information.