Get Involved
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Connect with Future Students
Interview DC/MD/VA Students
Do you want to get involved? If you are a graduate of Harvard College or Radcliffe College, we welcome you to join the Harvard Club of Washington, DC’s Schools Committee. The Schools Committee is the Club’s largest volunteer activity.
Each year, approximately 350 Harvard/Radcliffe alumni/ae interview candidates from all over the greater Washington, DC area. Most importantly, the Schools Committee assists the Harvard College Admissions Office by interviewing applicants locally. The interview may be conducted in person or virtually. The interview is perhaps our most important recruiting tool. The Schools Committee interviewers may be the only personal contact applicants have during the admissions process.
What is the interview process? Ensuring that the interview experience is positive, comfortable, and helpful is the cornerstone of the critical personal outreach you, as an alumna/us interviewer and official admissions representative, provide to applicants. The Harvard Admissions Committee expects interviewers to treat applicants with respect. The Admissions Committee also relies on interviewers’ ability to make recommendations for applicants’ admission. Blessed with so many accomplished applicants—many more than we have room to admit—the Admissions Committee often makes fine distinctions among candidates. Many of these decisions hinge on intangible factors that alumni/ae can substantiate with interview reports that breathe life into applicants’ folders.
Volunteer to Support Outreach to Local Schools
In addition to interviewing applicants, the Schools Committee alumni/ae interviewers act as ambassadors for Harvard in the DC-area community. Schools Committee volunteers attend college fairs and school visits when they are offered. As the competition among colleges for the best students increases, so does the need for your help. Volunteers will likely find the work personally rewarding, intellectually stimulating, and occasionally perplexing.
Award the Harvard Prize Book
The Harvard Club of Washington, DC (HCW) participates in the Harvard Prize Book program. Originally started by alumni in 1910, today Harvard Prize books have been presented annually in more than 1,000 high schools around the world. In the DC/MD/VA area, almost 60 schools per year participate.
The Harvard Prize Book Program is an important way for local alumni to recognize students in our community. Recipients are exemplary students in the next-to-graduating high school class who display excellence in scholarship and achievement in nonacademic fields. Outstanding high school teachers who inspire curiosity and excellence in their students can also receive the award. Recipients are nominated by their schools, and typically receive the awards at the school’s graduation exercise or other awards program. For some schools, the alumnus/alumna who donated the book is invited to present the award in a ceremony at the school. In addition, the Harvard Club usually throws a reception for them to which we invite their families and teachers. The Harvard Club handles all the details and will contact the school to arrange for the awarding of the prize.
If you would like to volunteer to be part of the Harvard Prize Book Program, please contact Betsy Wanger at betsy.wanger@gmail.com
Popular Questions
Below you will find the most frequently asked questions, with answers:
Are interviews in-person or virtual?
Interviews can be in-person or virtual. If you would like to offer an in-person option, also provide a virtual option and select the option that is most comfortable for the applicant.
How can I become a volunteer with the Schools Committee of the Harvard Club of Washington, DC?
Welcome! We need you!
- First, you must be a graduate of Harvard College or Radcliffe College.
- Second, please contact the Schools Committee, hcwschoolscommittee@gmail.com to receive a registration link to the Harvard Admissions Alumni interview Portal.
- Third, you must fill out the registration forms (the Annual Interviewer Eligibility Form and the Alumni Information Form). The Annual Interviewer Eligibility Form asks you to agree to the expectations the Harvard Admissions Committee has for all interviewers: you have not been convicted of a crime; your internet presence would not potentially be considered inappropriate or potentially affect the perception of integrity; you do not volunteer your time helping students prepare their college applications; and you do not have a conflict.
How many interviews do you expect me to conduct?
It would be great if you could sign up for at least three interviews in a season. Some of our more prolific interviewers conduct as many as 10 or more.
What is the URL for the Harvard Admissions Alumni Interview Portal?
Are there other requirements to interview?
As mentioned above, you must fill out the Annual Interviewer Eligibility Form and the Alumni Information Form on the Harvard Admissions Alumni Interview Portal. In addition, new interviewers and those who have not interviewed in the Washington, DC area in the last two years must attend a training session hosted by the Admissions Office or the Schools Committee of the Harvard Club of Washington, DC. Several training sessions will be available, both in person and virtual. As you will learn in the training session, there are also other interviewing requirements such as abiding by the NCAA rules, maintaining confidentiality, not prejudging applicants, being an ambassador for Harvard, etc.
Who do I contact if I have a question about anything related to the interviewing process?
Please feel free to contact Angela Mok or Vivian Moore, the Schools Committee Co-Chairs, with any initial questions. The Schools Committee email is hcwschoolscommittee@gmail.com. Once you start interviewing, you may contact your Section Co-Chairs assigned by the first letter of your last name.
- Interviewers with last names beginning with A to G should contact Peter Wilensky and Sean Robinson, harvardatog@gmail.com.
- Interviewers with last names beginning with H to P should contact Susan Green and Mark Hoffenberg, harvardhtop@gmail.com.
- Interviewers with last names beginning with Q to Z should contact Michelle Levine and Allison Gold, harvardqtoz@gmail.com.
The Harvard Admissions Alumni Interview Portal is requiring me to sign in with my “HarvardKey.” How do I find my HarvardKey?
In order to access the Harvard Admissions Alumni Interview Portal and the required forms, interviewers must use their HarvardKey.
If you have not already done so, please take the following steps in order to claim your HarvardKey:
- Visit the HarvardKey website, https://key.harvard.edu/select-user-type
- Select the “Alumni tab” and click the “continue” button
- For the following process, interviewers will need:
- Their 10-character Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) number (find this at the bottom of any recent email or mailing from the Alumni Association)
- Last name
- Degree year (holders of multiple Harvard degrees can use the year of any of their
degrees) - A personal email address to use for account reminders
If you have any problems along the way, feel free to email ithelp@harvard.edu or call 617-495-7777 for
assistance.
Become an Interviewer
If you are interested in volunteering, please email hcwschoolscommittee@gmail.com for the registration link and further information.
Connect with Current Students
Post a Job or Internship
The Nation’s Capital is always a popular internship or job destination, particularly for Harvard undergraduates and graduates. And yet, it’s often difficult to find an internship or job here. To the extent you might know of an opportunity, why not share it with the Harvard community?
Become an Advisor
You may not have an internship or job to offer a Harvard student or graduate, but you certainly might have sage wisdom. The Mignone Center for Career Services offers several opportunities for you to mentor Harvard students and alumni, and even to participate in career programs.
Connect with Others
Community Service
Our volunteers join hundreds across the DC/MD/VA region to make a meaningful impact through community service. Together, we have helped to pack 325,000 meals in partnership with Hunger Free America and stood among thousands of volunteers placing more than 260,000 wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery each year. From supporting Habitat for Humanity and DC Central Kitchen to serving with So Others Might Eat, our members are committed to strengthening our community. Join us to help the DC Capital Food Bank, 9/11 Hunger Free America, and non-profit charity races like the Rock n Roll Marathon and the Turkey Trot.
Contact communityservice@harvard-dc.org to volunteer.
Recent Grads
Miss your Harvard friends? They’re still around! The purpose of the Harvard Club of Washington, DC’s Recent Grads network is simple: to reconnect with old friends, to meet new faces, and above all, to have fun. The unofficial definition of a recent grad is someone who graduated from the College or any Harvard school within the last 10 years. In addition to happy hours, Recent Grads are most involved in networking events, sporting events, community service events, young Ivy joint events with Yale, Princeton, Stanford, etc., and, of course, general Club events. If you want to catch up with Recent Grads, come to an event, help at an event, or even have an idea for an event, please email recent_grads@harvard-dc.org. Check out our Recent Grads tab on our Events page as well.
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