Calling all HBS Fall 2009 Applicants

I also received an interview invite. That is 3 out of 3 (H/S/W) for R2 for me

Magellan,

What's your business background?

I got an invite today and really wasn't expecting it given how competitive it it is this year.

quick stats:
23, Asian-American male.
GMAT: 720 (50q, 38v, 6.0 awa
GPA: 3.95 in econ from large state schools. tons of math,stats, and science classes, too.
WE: 2 years with Teach for America. Significant results in first year alone, currently in second year.

congrats to everyone who got an invite and good luck to everyone-- as has been mentioned above, still a lot of invites to go out.

Good Luck to all the R2 interviewees!

The most helpful (and calming) advice I had was from a current RC student. He said they test the following three areas during the interview:

1. Can you speak English well enough to succeed with the case method?
2. Did you lie on your application? They will probe your essays for detail. If you told the truth, you have nothing to worry about here. Just re-read your essays and refresh your memory with the details.
3. Can you pass an 'airplane test'? In other words, if the interviewer were stuck next to you on a long flight, would he/she be happy to chat with you for hours? My advice here is to be yourself. Don't be arrogant or pretentious. Be friendly, personable, down-to-earth and respectful. Shower

If you read back to the posts from R1, you'll find that almost everyone reported that their interviewers were really nice!

Are they still giving out invites ? I mean what was the time stamp on your email ...yesterdat everyone reported 12:07 EST....damn...how paranoid one can get..this is a perfect example

Sorry for the confusion-- i had the same timestamp as the other invites-- right at about 12:05pm. I just didn't check my e-mail till later on in the evening.

I have a few questions about the interview:

Is there any difference between a hub interview and an on campus interview, in terms of the interview itself?

Also, are these interviews blind or will the interviewer have viewed the application?

Thanks

As far as I know, there is no real difference in the interviews.

The interviews are definitely NOT blind.

are all invites for HBS R2 sent out? Will they be sending out more invites or is it safe to assume
that if you haven't got an invite so far you want get it anymore?

most of r2 invites are out. 50~100 may still be released. if you haven't gotten one, chances are not looking good... (as is the case with me)

HBS has released around 750 Invites in one bunch. Close to 100 are pending which may trickle ...but its almost over if your not in the first bunch

Good luck to all currently waiting, and apologies if this has already been covered previously...

How many places are available for the 750 HBS R2 interviewees? And what is the perceived relative importance of the interview (i.e. is it 'make-or-break' or just another piece of information to sit alongside the rest of your case file)

Many thanks, and best of luck to all those still waiting.

All the 750 have been already released !! For the second part of your question some admitted student may be able to shed some light... ..Good luck

Apologies, i meant roughly how many places are available in R2? If say roughly half a class, then 450 from 750 isn't 'too' horrific... well until you factor in the high standard of competition

I think there are anywhere from 400-450 spots available for R2. Historically, I think they've taken ~450 in R1 and R2 and ~100 in R3. However, if you read Sandy's forum on bweek (https://forums.businessweek.com/n/pfx/fo ... &tid=10180), he's been hearing rumors that ~500 were accepted R1 due to 20-25% increase in apps and R2 being flat. If that's true, you're looking at ~400 spots for R2 (but I think this is worst case scenario)

People have differing opinions on HBS interviews, but the consensus is that it is more important than other schools due to the fact that they interview so few people and the admit rate post interview is very high (50-60%). How much more important is up for debate. My personal view is that for some people (regular and marginal candidates) it is make or break, but for others (superstar clear admits) it can only break you. I don't know exactly where the lines are drawn, but my advice would be to take it seriously and do the best you can... you don't want to kick yourself afterward for taking it too lightly and not prepping potentially obvious questions (3 weaknesses or mistakes or something).

3 people on the BW forums have posted interview invitations after Feb 9th! HBS is definitely still sending out those 50-100 interview invites.

Here is also some interesting information from the HBS blog:

"More About Round 2
Date: February 12, 2009
Here's a question I've been asked a few (hundred) times in the past few days:

Why doesn't HBS send out denials at the same time we issue interview invitations?

We don't send out final decisions until the notification date because we need to see the results of the interview process before we extend offers to join the waitlist. After we've finished interviewing, we want to make sure we are still considering enough candidates from certain profiles - which include nationality, gender, industry background, leadership styles...and other dimensions - to compose the overall portfolio of next year's class. This is why it is important for us to keep EVERY round 2 applicant under consideration until notification day. I know this process isn't perfect, but I am absolutely certain that it's thoughtful and thorough."