Harvard Club of Sarasota

Giving Back / Schools Committee

Alumni Interviews, College Fairs, & Harvard Prize Book Awards for local High School students

• As an Alumni/ae volunteer resource to the Harvard College Admissions Office, the Committee’s primary purpose is to arrange for personal interviews of all local applicants. The interviews provide Admissions officers with indispensable insights into applicants’ personalities, interpersonal skills, and potential “fit” for today’s richly diverse Harvard College undergraduate community.
• The Committee also operates a Public Relations initiative by assigning alumni volunteers to attend select Sarasota area College Fairs and High School Career Events. These alums share information and experiences with high school guidance staff and prospective student applicants and their families in order to answer questions and promote appropriate interest in applying to Harvard.
• To volunteer, email Schools Committee Chair Manda Jordan: mandajordan7000@gmail.com

Why you should consider participating:

• Provide an invaluable service to Harvard College Admissions Officers, enabling them to go beyond documented credentials and learn about each Applicant as a real person;
• Contribute the benefit of your Harvard, professional, and life experiences to engage the Applicant and enhance decision-making for Harvard Admissions;
• Engage with a new generation of Harvard College applicants and stay current on Harvard College students' lives, challenges, and what’s new at Harvard as a whole.

What is the Schools Committee’s role, and why is it so important?

• The Club’s Schools Committee arranges for personal interviews of all local applicants to Harvard College
• These interviews are also invaluable to Applicants, who are provided the opportunity to learn about the Harvard experience from experienced alums.
• The Committee also arranges for alumni volunteers to attend between two to four local College Fairs and High School Career Events each year. Typically, two alums are assigned to each event to answer questions, hand out information to high school guidance counselors and prospective student applicants and their families, and to promote interest in applying to Harvard. Each event lasts about 2-3 hours. Informational materials are provided by Harvard.  The Club is usually represented at college fairs each interview season in the months of September/October and January.

How do you volunteer?

• The Schools Committee is headed by a Chair who manages the relationship with Harvard College Admissions, coordinates alumni volunteers to conduct interviews of applicants identified by Harvard, assigns interviewers, and reviews online interview reports submitted by interviewers to Admissions.
• The Chair of the Committee will email all local Harvard alums in August-September, inviting interested alums to respond and go online to complete an Alumni Interviewer eligibility form received by the Harvard College Admissions Office.
• Or better still, don’t wait – email Schools Committee Chair Manda Jordan: mandajordan7000@gmail.com to get the latest on becoming an interviewer.

What’s involved?

• Each alumni Committee member interviews between one and four Applicants in each admissions cycle (depending upon alumni availability) and submits an online report to Harvard College Admissions.
• The Admissions cycle occurs in two stages:  first, the Early Application (EA) pool each year runs October-December, and then the Regular Application (RA) pool runs January-March.

Interviewing ‘refresher’ and reporting guidelines

• The Harvard Admissions website (where alums may register as interviewers) provides informational resources and guidelines for alumni interviewers.
• To verify your Harvard Alumni status and Interviewer eligibility, email SSInfo@fas.harvard.edu. 
• To complete the Alumni Interviewing Eligibility Form, go to Harvard's Alumni Portal at alumniportal.fas.harvard.edu 
• Volunteering alums also have the option to attend the annual Cambridge Admissions Conference at Harvard, which offers a chance for alumni to learn about new Harvard College developments. For dates and registration information on the annual Cambridge Admissions Conference (CAC), please email Schools Committee Chair Manda Jordan: mandajordan7000@gmail.com