3 Takeaways From Harvard’s Alumni Interview Handbook

When Harvard University alumni interview prospective students, they’re directed to steer clear of questions about test scores. Instead, interviewers should ask students about their interests with questions like “What blogs or sites do you read regularly?”

That guideline and many others were made public when Harvard released its handbook for conducting interviews of prospective students. The step was taken on the third day of a trial in a lawsuit challenging the university’s race-conscious admission process.

The document, from 2013-14, provides a look at how alumni evaluate an applicant’s personality — a factor that Adam K. Mortara, a lawyer representing the plaintiff, the advocacy group Students for Fair Admissions, says often works to the detriment of Asian-American students during the admissions process.

The 2013-14 handbook is a comprehensive guide that includes interview questions and tips for checking any bias at the door. Interviewers are reminded to remain aware of their own biases during the interview and evaluation process.

The guide also provides background information for alumni to brush up on university history and the start-to-finish process of selecting a Harvard class.

Here are three takeaways from the handbook:

How Harvard Selects a Class

“We are eager to harbor the next Homer, the next Kant, or the next Dickinson,” a former member of the faculty standing committee on admission wrote in the handbook. “There is no reason why we shouldn’t expect such a student to spend his or her university years with us.”

The key to Harvard’s success in attracting top talent — if not the next Kant — is vigorous recruitment, the guide says. Active recruitment helps the university maintain its ability to “consciously shape the makeup” of the student body.

Potential recruits are identified by their junior year in high school. PSAT, SAT, and ACT scores are used to determine which high-performing students will receive direct mailings. Those students are about twice as likely as other students to be admitted.

Beyond high test scores, applicants are evaluated on the basis of “outstanding intellectual ability,” “unusual effervescence,” athletic talent, superior leadership, and creative aptitude.

Once an application is submitted, Harvard vets potential students through a committee process. First, applicants are vetted by an area representative, who reads each applicant’s folder within his or her geographic area. That person then argues the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate to a subcommittee. After several rounds of evaluation, a vote is taken on the candidate’s rating, from “clear admit” to “strong reject.” Those ratings are presented to the full committee, which makes the final decision.

How Harvard Recruits Minority Students

The guide also promotes Harvard’s dedication to maintaining a diverse student body, a goal that the university argues is threatened by the lawsuit.

“For more than a century, Harvard has placed a very high value on the creation of a residential community that brings together people with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences,” the handbook says.

Accessibility to the admissions processes for diverse students is a top priority, according to the guide. The university cultivates such an environment through efforts to attract minority students. Some of those efforts include recruitment through school officials, community groups, churches, and organizations like the Urban League, the NAACP, and American Indian tribal groups.

Alumni are encouraged to be familiar with “minority life” on the campus, but not to focus solely on that with applicants. Interviewers should be knowledgeable about multicultural campus organizations but “should not ask questions that suggest students are being ethnically screened … through a ‘special’ admissions process.”

How to Conduct an Interview

Among the best practices described for conducting the one-on-one interviews, the handbook suggests how to pick a location — avoid corporate boardrooms and Starbucks cafes — and how to initially contact the student.

Instead of grilling students on test scores or grade-point averages, interviewers are encouraged to discuss the applicant’s passions and interests. Sample questions: “Which courses do you enjoy?” “What do you do in the summer?” “What blogs or sites do you read regularly?”

Students’ responses are evaluated under such criteria as perceived potential, time-management skills, initiative, motivation, interests, and decisiveness. Other criteria appear to be more subjective, asking alumni to rate each applicant according to whether they’d want to share a room or meal with that student.

Applicants are not matched with interviewers on the basis of race, gender, or special interests, according to the handbook. The university does not want applicants to think that they are being evaluated on factors other than grades, personality, and extracurricular activities.

Follow Cailin Crowe on Twitter at @cailincrowe, or email her at cailin.crowe@chronicle.com.