HBS 2012 - Calling All Applicants

Go for Sloan

I'll add my voice to the chorus of dings. Best of luck to those interviewing!

Ding

Ding as well. Kind of figured, oh well, time to focus on my Booth interview. :D

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Sloan...

1. Opportunity cost of being a Sloan grad vs HBS 2nd Year in 2014 is the pay bump between your current salary and post-MBA salary. $50-$75k for many of us.

2. MIT is almost as awesome as Harvard, especially in the tech world. The long-term impact of HBS vs MIT Sloan is smaller than you think. HBS grads are more successful, but probably less due to HBS than being great enough to get into HBS in the first place. You'll get access to all the big recruiters at Sloan (who probably are there for HBS and Sloan anyway) and 10 years down the road it will be your career accomplishments and business network that matters more than your MBA. Look at the bios of any successful alumni from these schools and you'll read all about their professional accomplishments and down at the bottom there will be a note about where they went to school. Bottom Line: The cream rises to the top. If you are awesome, you will have awesome success anyway.

3. What will make you a better applicant next year? It better be something good or expect another ding. Sloan may not appreciate the snub and ding you the second time around.

Life is short... Don't delay your inevitable success just for slight prestige and ego boost.

So no one got WLed without interview? That was supposed to happen today, right?

jjoe you were WL w/o interview in R1 werent you? I was, got dinged today.

Sandy,

Are there any "traditional" finance candidates among your pool of HBS 2+2 kids who were invited R2? Or were they all "quirky" and atypical.

Got rejected today. I'm trying to piece together what went wrong. I'm working at a $1B VC fund post-graduation focused on healthcare, which I thought might have classified me as a non-traditional as opposed to in the PE pure finance pool. Does that count as a traditional finance job?

Thanks.

Ding here as well...

At 32, I'm certain this is a one-and-done for me. It's sadly ironic. While I did some great things at a very well known company my first 5 years after college, I knew it wasn't "sexy" enough for my dream schools. Plus, to save money for my future MBA, I attended an unknown college w/a full ride vs. graduate w/debt from ivy league. So, the last 5 years I spend doing sexier HBS-quality work (my peers were Tuck, HBS & Booth grads) hoping to be a more attractive candidate. Turns out none of it was good enough. I know there's nothing I could do for the next 7 months that would make my application stronger for next year. Maybe a retake of the GMAT would've helped, but I think 5 years of doing quantitative analysis on $100M+ decisions is ample evidence the coursework won't be an issue...and it's not like a 690 is way outside the lines anyway. Only the 1st ding, but it seriously makes me wonder if the odds of being over 30 and getting an MBA were a lot steeper than I realized.

I once had my sights set on a rotational development program. I thought it was the "perfect" next step for my career. I didn't get it...I later learned there was an unwritten code they only take those who have an MBA and preferably are married (i.e. no reason to leave after starting). I ended up in a new role back-filling someone who did get it. While that person went on to spend the next several years doing budgeting and reporting work, my role transformed into far more exciting and meaningful strategy work, from M&A to $2B asset sales.

Point is, I've found a successful career is all about what you do with the road you DO take...not how perfect the road first seemed on paper. Passing on Sloan now could very well take them off the table next time, and you're still left with slim chances at Stanford & HBS which already passed on you - not great odds. That being said, I had to pass on a sure-thing to take a risk on my MBA pursuits. For me, knowing I didn't try would have been far worse than trying and failing. You just have to decide where you stand in that. If you feel you gave it your best this time and left nothing on the table, be proud of your accomplishment with Sloan and make the most of it.

I guess misery loves company. I've been observing as a guest for a couple weeks, but got the ding today as well.

Gone4it - you raise a great question for me, and I feel like I'm in the same boat. I'm 29, married, with a baby coming in June. I spent some time abroad, I did a masters in engineering, and I've been working for a Fortune 100 in a management position for four years now.

My point - I really thought I had a decent shot at this. Is 29 too old to be applying to HBS and Stanford?

P.S. I don't mean to imply that the rest of my application was perfect or that the only reason for my rejection was my age. I'm just wondering if people think that 29 (or 30 if I reapply!) is too old.

Hey, don't give up! i know somebody who got into HBS at 31. However, i think you may represent an over-subscribed pool of applicants (finance, male). If you are in finance, did you mention why it took you so long to think about getting an MBA? it's common for pple in finance to thin about their grad schools early. I'm your age too but i come from a non-traditional background. For my application i explained why it took me longer to realise why i needed an MBA. There are other options like EMBA and European schools take in older applicants.

one of the reasons why i didn't apply for HBS in the end was that i think the average age of 26 is just abit too young for me. HBS is a school that likes them young.

Obviously I'm not the best judge given my perspective might be skewed by my recent ding. Certainly with Stanford, it seems like age is a greater negative than elsewhere (though I'd LOVE to be wrong). I think a lot of it has to do with your reasons for an MBA. Recruiters come to the school expecting to find candidates who fit a certain profile and salary requirement...something you might have already met or exceeded before you decided to pursue your MBA. Personally, I think if a 30+ candidate desires to take 2 years off of an already established career, that person has thought through the decision way more than someone 5+ years younger and they should respect that decision...not choose for them if it's right or not. I certainly don't think 29 should be too old, but definitely know why you want it.

Contrats on the baby btw.

I'm 24, going to be 25 in April and I got dinged by HBS without interview. I applied to 6 schools and HBS was the only one that dinged me without even inviting me to interview. So, I would say the school is just very selective. This was the applicantion I worked the hardest on as well. I have no idea how Wharton invited me to interview and waitlisted me considering ALL my efforts of rd1 went to the HBS application. I'm as young as they get and with a solid 3 years of WE and also got dinged. There is no rhyme or reason, apparently.

Just trying to offer a different perspective for the 'oldies'.

Thanks. If my target schools don't work out, I'll likely go the EMBA route, though it doesn't provide the experience I'm hoping for.

I haven't been doing finance for 10 years. My first 5 years were doing process improvements and after that 5 years in strategy/finance. I focused more on why I need the MBA now (specific entrepreneur ambitions) vs. why I didn't get it earlier (which frankly, I didn't need it earlier). One of the concerning points about the HBS ding is, like Wharton, HBS doesn't limit essays to the last 3 years. Theoretically, they have a far more "complete" story of a candidate than schools which limit the timeframe of essays - which seems to speak volumes on their age bias. Oh well, just the first ding and my ideal school is still out there.

Just got the DING, and I find myself feeling relieved. I think this was probably not the best fit for me, and yet I am not sure if I would have had the stones to turn down HBS if they had seen it differently. Has anyone else had a similar reaction, or is this GMATclub sacrilege?

Best of luck to all who have their interviews coming up.