Harvard (HBS) Calling all applicants - Class of 2016

I think too many people are confusing expectations with potential.

To tie this to a sports analogy, getting into Harvard is like winning a medal in the Olympic 100m final. There are three medals and 8, highly accomplished athletes fighting for it, all of whom have the potential to win. A 750+ GMAT McKinsey consultant/ibanker/etc. who wrote solid essays is like a person with a best time of something like 9.85 seconds. That is an amazing time and that person has the potential to win, but winning is far from a certainty. You have to be the best on the day that counts. For example, maybe your application was reviewed at the end of the day by a tired, grumpy adcom. Had you been reviewed in the morning, you would have made it through. But those are the breaks.

Even the person who is clearly the best doesn't always win a medal (i.e. Usain Bolt did not win a medal in the 2011 World Championships). People have off days. Other people are like Tim Montgomery - less talented, but they still can win because they use steroids (i.e. kids whose parents are alumni / CEOs of fortune 500 companies, etc.).

The bottom line is that its Harvard. People with great GMAT scores, above average essays, and solid professional pedigrees are the norm, not the exception. Harvard does not "need" any particular person with such stats. If Harvard wanted to, it could fill a class with a GMAT average above 750. But they don't. So there is clearly a lot more to it.

People fretting over not getting an interview invite should take solace in the fact that they are incredibly smart and talented and are going to succeed at whatever they want to do regardless of whether or not they get an MBA from Harvard.