A graduate of Harvard University with a degree in English, Kema interned in the Admissions Office during her sophomore summer. Here’s what she has to say about talking to hundreds of students applicants (and their parents!).
What did your role involve?
I was in charge of giving on-campus tours, conducting info sessions, meeting 1-on-1 with families and students, and answering about 200 student emails a day. (There were 4 interns working in the recruitment office that summer, so that was about 800 emails a day split between us!)
What was the most challenging part of the job? What did you learn?
It was definitely tough handling the high volume of student questions per day – especially since many students would respond with follow-up questions. On a personal level, I was motivated to give students the confidence to apply because remember how scary it was when I was a senior in high school. On a professional level, it’s a great lesson in customer support: the way that you make any organization – including a university! – successful is to ensure that the customer knows there’s a real person on the other end who truly wants to help. In a way, my job was to help make Harvard more human to these students.
I was also able to acquire the mindset “do as much as you can, as soon as you can.” It taught me to handle immediate tasks as they came up instead of wasting time complaining about how much work there is to do.
You probably got a ton of “How do I get into Harvard?” questions. How did you handle them?
We never told students that there is an exact formula for admission because there isn’t one (which is a good thing since it allows for the diversity of the student body). What I will say is that you don’t have to be at the top of your class in order to get in. One of my favorite days on the job was when my 3 coworkers and I were giving an info session to a group of about 100 people. One of the students raised his hand and asked, “Do you have to be a valedictorian to get into Harvard?” We all looked at each other and said, “I wasn’t the valedictorian.” One of my coworkers even added, “I made B’s in high school,” which made everyone laugh. You obviously have to work incredibly hard, but I do think there’s a myth about there being one type of person who’s a shoe-in for acceptance.
What was your favorite part about giving tours on campus?
Harvard is a historic school (founded in 1636!), so it’s hard not to enjoy people’s reactions as you explain the significance of each building on campus. We would share anything from nerdy facts to fun facts like, “Natalie Portman lived in this dorm!” Plus, I loved my time at Harvard, so it was great being able to share that with other people.
What were some fun perks to this job?
Free on-campus housing and meals! I was able to save a ton and make money! (Kind of like students who get jobs on WayUp.)
You must have met with a ton of parents trying to get their kids into Harvard. Were they intense?
Oh, absolutely. I once had a one-on-one meeting with a family where the dad interrupted me to ask about my SAT score. We kept that information private because we didn’t want to give students the (wrong) idea that a certain score would be the deciding factor in their acceptance. I kindly declined to answer and the dad was not having it. I was like, “Do you have any other questions for me?” and the dad snapped, “Well, I asked about your SAT score, but you didn’t answer my question.” His son was so embarrassed – he apologized for his dad right in front of me! So awkward. But at the same time, these parents really just want the best for their kids, so it’s always important to keep that in mind.
What was the craziest experience you had working in the admissions office?
While we normally only speak to high school upperclassmen and their families, I once had a dad contact me asking if I would talk to his two sons, a 6-year-old and 10-year-old, about getting into Harvard. I checked with my supervisor, who said that it was ok to take the meeting, but I was pretty nervous: even though I’d dreamed of going to Harvard since I was 8-years old, I didn’t want to put that kind of pressure on two young kids.
Thankfully, I was able to turn it into a talk about the importance of higher education rather than stressing two kids out about getting into Harvard before they’d even started middle school. The family was so sweet and the dad was especially thankful: “I just want them to have high goals and see someone who achieved them, so thank you.” It was so heart-warming.
Any advice you’d give to students who want to intern in admissions?
If you’re passionate about your school and eager to help students, you’re already the perfect for the job. You can’t do this job well if you’re not empathetic: it’s so important to put yourself in applicants’ shoes and add a personal element to the advice and information you’re giving — it makes the meeting more genuine and worth their while.
You also need to have great memory retention: all the important facts about the school, all the information that’s not acceptable to share, and all names of the students you meet in person. The latter is extremely important since these students will very likely follow up with you by email or on the phone. Since you’re representing the university, it makes them feel so valued when you remember who they are.
