Calling all HBS 2011 Applicants!! (Including 2+2)

I bet every Indian who applied to HBS knew that IIT Mumbai (Chemical Engineering) by the way.

Look left and you'll see mine--PM me if you want additional details.

Well there aren't that many of us haha but I'm a college senior and I have not gotten one yet and neither have the handful of others I know.

Haven't yet recd. an interview invite for R2

33/F/Indian/univ topper in both B.Sc.(Electronics) and M.C.A/25+ academic awards/2 prof awards/PMP, OCP/ IT experience 9 yrs/Employers EDS,Oracle, JPMC, BCBSM/Voluntary teacher,Running a senior citizens home,cricket coach to my boys aged 11 and 8/polyglot 5 indian languages,french,german.

Beginning to think if I'm a little bit on the "older" side

GMAT 700/4.5
B.Sc 85% and MCA CGPA 9.37 out of 10

Well, there are nealy 100 profiles of admitted students from the last 3 batches on the Harvard website. very clearly Harvard seems to go for pedigree. They look for people who already managed to get into Mckinsey or KKR or such other organizations. This tells them that such a person can get and excellent job easily post-MBA.
Given that India and Indian universities are not that well-known in US except for the IT/BPO sector, I guess it is all the more important for Harvard to admit Indians with pedigree. They know that if some one is from IIT means he is pretty smart. and if he managed to get into Mckinsey he stands out even among IITians and can find a good job on his own.
Alternatively, Harvard also looks for people who have done Bachelors/ Masters from good schools in US and worked in US in well-known companies; this again means better employability- the recruiters have a better confidence in a candidate who has done Bachelors/Masters from US, from a pedigreed school and worked in a pedigreed company like Microsoft or Apple.
Other than these two kinds, Harvard does admit a very small number of people who studied in non-pedigreed Indian institutions and without any US pedigree; but obviously the odds for such applicants are very very low.

I am also from IIT and know many people who got into HBS from IITs over the past 2-3 years. Almost each one of them was topper of his/her class, tons of EC and most importantly went to mckinsey. Last year alone, I know of four IITians from Mckinsey who got admit. So diversity is not taken so seriously within the Indian applicants pool!

I applied with a GRE score (1420, verbal- 730, Quant- 690, AWA- 4.0), medical doctor/2yrs WE/ dont have a GPA cos medicine does not use/ West African/ went to the best school in my country/

I guess I will be writing the GMAT, CMA and CFA level 1 before September....anyone know how I can volunteer at Mckinsey or KKR (seriously cos right now that seems like one of the surest ways of going to HBS)

has anyone from the Middle East received an invitation?

In the book "What They Teach you at Harvard Business School", the author Philip Delves Broughton also mentions that the whole diversity thing in HBS is a bit of a let down as one discovers post joining that a lot of the students admitted from various nationalities have in fact done their under-grads from the US itself.

Doing your undergraduate degree in the US doesn't take away the fact that you're primarily a foreign national - your culture and senses might have adapted to living in the US, but it doesn't make you American, by ANY means. I'm in the same boat the author describes and I beg to differ that it lowers "diversity"

Such innate cultural tendencies don't go away from living somewhere for, what, 4-8 years.

I'm interviewing this Friday in Boston.

Profile:
26 year-old male from small town in Texas
750 GMAT (48 Quant, 45 Verbal)
3.9 GPA at a top 10 US undergraduate finance program
Completed year-long grad school fellowship through Rotary International
Post-grad diploma with distinction from Scottish university
3 years experience in corporate turnaround & management consulting with mid-cap privately held consulting firm (two promotions)
Extensive involvement with Rotary over the past 8 years

Wishing you all the best luck, and god speed!

I thought the book pointed out those that have essentially lived in the US their entire lives but born outside of the US. That is, if your family moved to the US when you were 2 and have never left the country then considering yourself "international" is a bit of a stretch.

Impressive!!

wow
impressive.

there's no competing with that

did any entrepreneurs get an invite?

Your compliment is appreciated and very well received, but the HBS students I met during a campus visit seemed to represent a wide range of backgrounds and unique stories (e.g. a number of students from enterprenerial, non-traditional, and non-profit backgrounds). All immediately struck me as incredibly passionate about life and equally brilliant. I mention this so as not to discourage aspiring fellow applicants with experiences and accolades far different from my own.

Will let you all know what sort of questions I receive in the interview.

All the best!

So, how did the interviews go?

Posted from my mobile device

anyone know of any business owner/entrepreneurs that have invites?

I scored a 760 on the gmat, 3.7 GPA with ex curric and run my own business for 3 years.

Just curious if any have gone out.

Monday and Tuesday are going to be interesting - I predict at least 30-40 invites are going to go out. Not sure about 16th - I presume that's reserved only for ding notifications.

I am still hopeful though - I think my application is strong and I have a decently strong profile. In any case, I'll know whether I make the cut or not in a few days!