Originally published at https://easedit.co/blog/harvard-undergraduate-alumni-interview-2025
What the Harvard Undergraduate Alumni Interview Is Really Like in 2025
Most people hear "Harvard interview" and expect something intimidating. A serious person asking hard questions. A test to get through.
It's almost never like that.
The Harvard undergraduate alumni interview is a conversation — a genuine one. The person sitting across from you, or on the other side of the screen, is a Harvard graduate who volunteered for this. They're not an admissions officer. In most cases they have your name and your resume, and that's all.
They haven't read your essays. They don't know your grades.
Their job is to get to know you and write a short report.
What makes it different from other admissions interviews
Harvard's alumni interviews are described as "blind" — meaning the interviewer has no access to your application materials, only your resume.
This is actually good news. The interview is genuinely about you as a person, not a review of your paperwork. What you say in the room isn't checked against your essays. There's no hidden trap.
What alumni interviewers are specifically looking for is intellectual curiosity — a real interest in ideas. Not specific knowledge, not the right answers, but evidence that you find the world genuinely interesting and think about it seriously.
What actually gets asked
The questions tend to be open and conversational. What are you reading? What do you care about? What did you do last summer, and what surprised you about it? Tell me about a teacher who influenced how you think.
You cannot script answers to questions like these. And honestly, you shouldn't try — a rehearsed answer to a conversational question kills the natural exchange that makes these interviews go well.
What you can do is spend some time before the interview thinking honestly about what matters to you. The books that actually changed how you see something. The project you're most proud of. The question you keep returning to.
Not the impressive answer. The honest one.
What a good interview looks like
Alumni interviewers write reports that go back to the admissions office. The reports that come back strongest tend to describe students who were engaged, curious, and specific.
Engaged means: you asked questions too. This isn't a one-way presentation. When the interviewer mentions something interesting, follow the thread. When you have a question, ask it.
Curious means: you talked about ideas you're genuinely interested in — not ideas you think Harvard wants to hear. The difference is obvious to the person on the other side.
Specific means: you gave real answers. Not "I love learning" but "I spent most of last year reading about game theory — I started with the obvious stuff and ended up fascinated by how it applies to international climate negotiations." One real example beats five general statements every time.
What to avoid
Don't try to perform "Harvard material." The interviewer went to Harvard. They know what genuinely curious students look and sound like, and they know it doesn't look like someone reciting accomplishments.
Don't spend the whole conversation on your extracurriculars and awards. Harvard already has your activities list. The interview is supposed to go somewhere the application can't.
Don't treat every question as a prompt to deliver a prepared speech. Answer the question. Then be present for the next one.
The simplest version of the brief
Be the kind of person the interviewer found genuinely interesting to talk to.
The best preparation for this interview isn't memorising more facts about Harvard. It's spending an hour thinking about what you actually care about — and being ready to talk about it like a person, not a candidate.
That's what they're looking for.
Want to put this into practice?
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