Outreach to UK Schools
The Harvard Club of the UK’s Outreach programme exists to support the Harvard College Admissions Office in the interview process to the College, and to promote Harvard across the secondary school spectrum as a positive alternative to other top academic institutions. Its mission is to reach out to all secondary school sectors, and to deepen its relationship with regional schools as well as London ones, by building relationships through dedicated volunteer members.
The Club manages the interview process for students applying to Harvard College from UK institutions and fields a substantial group of trained volunteer members to interview each year’s applicants. It also devotes its resources to getting to know schools through the efforts of individual club members who sponsor the Harvard Prize Book at a chosen school, who visit schools to make presentations about Harvard to students, staff and parents, and who train and mentor new generations of interviewers and schools ‘activists’. The Harvard Club also is present at the annual Fulbright Commission College Fair in London, and various other university fairs.
The Harvard Club has seen growing interest in application to the US university system in general, and to Harvard in particular: this past year, over 800 UK applicants applied to Harvard, from over 120 schools across the country, nearly all of whom were interviewed by alumni. Every June, the Club hosts a welcoming reception for the incoming Admits and their families, which is also attended by current and recent British Harvard graduates.
Stuart Gordon and Caroline Costin-Wright are in charge of the Club’s Schools and Scholarship Committee.
The Committee also promotes the Harvard Prize Book, a long-established Harvard tradition worldwide, at over 100 UK schools, with a majority of the books sponsored by individuals who have a particular interest through family connections. For information contact Daphne Siniscalco: harvardbookprize@hcuk.org
Harvard Outreach also has fostered strong ties among Recent Graduates now living in the UK, who have their own social network and class reps. Many Recent Grads are actively involved in presentations to schools and in the interviewing process. For information contact membership@hcuk.org and reference Outreach.
If you are a Club member and might be interested in getting involved in our work, please contact us. We are especially interested in members from outside of London who could become involved in interviewing applicants.
If you are a student in the UK interested in applying to Harvard, please visit this website: http://www.harvard-ukadmissions.co.uk/ .
For more information, please contact Verity Langley, Interview Coordinator vll@me.com