Calling all HBS Fall 2009 Applicants

Yes, everything could go down but then Harvard is better off comparing to everyone else. If we have an Armageddon scenario with hyper inflation or deflation; it does not look good for anyone. Though others schools with their comparatively puny endowment will feel the brunt of it. Who knows, may be their cash is all in TIPS; hence no need to worry about inflation, that would be smart.

Hummmm, in a bad scenerio where Harvard would not be able to guarantee or extend loans, I doubt that any bank would loan us anything and I don't know how much our portfolio would be worth... lol Any one has a solution ??

Was this an adcom on-campus interview?

first hbs interview recap i have read...thanks for sharing

i had a very similar experience... except no questions about "why mba" or "why hbs".

Thanks for sharing Rosav! It does seem like people's HBS interviews have been very standard so far. Guess it is really just another part of the application process!

wow, interesting. you must have done a really good job explaining these in your essays then!

I had pretty much no Why MBA or Why HBS questions as well. I was most surprised that I got virtually no questions about what I do, strengths/weaknesses, accomplishments/failures. My questions were mostly general things about my industry, hobbies and my thoughts on organizations/inspirations. Some fairly abstract stuff. I took the "anything else you'd like to cover" opportunity to discuss more specific job-related things that I didn't go into detail on in my essays.

One of the adcoms said that they don't ask "Why HBS?" in their application for a reason. They are confident with their yield % and their competitive advantage. She implied that with limited space/time adcoms will oftentimes focus on other areas since yield is less of a problem at HBS.

(This was also a bit awkward since adcoms from other schools were also present).

Interesting. for all this talk about HBS interviews counting more than other schools, it seems like everyone's experiences has been uneventful / anti-climactic. I really wonder how adcom makes decisions after interviewing...

I'll tell you how: I saw two people who when greeted by their friendly interviewers and asked how they were doing simply responded "good". No, "thank you", "and you?", that's it. Just silence. Silence!

:facepalm:

So either they were rude or lying about their answer (real answer being "scared ****!").

Yea that and they have poor English skills... unless they actually are "doing good (deeds)".

yah.. people were sooooo stressed in the waiting room. it was rather funny. there was a guy pacing around mumbling to himself... there were a few people playing with their cell phones... one guy looked like he had drugged himself. Another kept going to the bathroom.

i was by no means not nervous... but jeez. I actually enjoyed the interview. my person was very friendly and i really enjoyed talking to her.

I agree 100%. While I'm not joyous about my interview, I actually quite liked it. The admissions group there is super friendly and easy-going.

i agree with egy and rca215. the adcom at harvard are super nice and friendly!
i had my interview yesterday--while the adcom members are very nice, it is nearly impossible to read them at all during the interview! i was hoping and praying for some signals of approval or disapproval but nothing at all. that was expected, but still can be frustrating if you are interviewing! no trick questions--my interviewer asked me a lot about career development and my plan post MBA which i thought was interesting..

btw, question for ppl who had their interviews on campus already--
did you guys write a thankyou email to your interviewers? if so, how did you guys go about it?
i'm wondering if 1) it is customary to send a thank you note to an adcom member 2) while i got the full name of my interviewer, i actually did not ger her email address. all i have is "admissionsboard@hbs.edu", which i'm guessing is everyone on the admissions board...

if you're typing a thank-you email how do you address your interviewer (if her name was say Mary Smith, do you say "Mary" or Ms. or "Mrs. Smith"?)

i would start with "dear mary" not "ms. smith"
i think that sounds more personable since you've met the interviewer in person but thats just my two cents...

If they said "call me Mary" during the interview, go with Mary. If they just introduced themselves with their full name, I would say "Ms. Smith" (not Mrs. unless you know she is married... for a fact). For all my interviews they all stated "call me [insert first name], so my decisions were easy.

So thats my take.....


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Recent article on HBS debate regarding future of MBA program.

Do you guys believe current HBS MBA program needs to be updated?

https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6053.html