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

Sandy,

Could you please give us a rough estimate... example: approximately 10 ppl or 20 ppl or 5 ppl have received invites

I've been wondering the exact same thing all weekend. I want to know if interviews are going out on a rolling basis or if the wave of invites was huge and only very very few more invites will be sent.

i dont think they send out everything all at once and Dee did say, "We'll send interview invitations out up until the notification date of May 5" but the big question remains, how many? Idk, 10-20-30? Who knows? May be sandy does? He did say he has been getting phone calls for mock interviews.

Hey Sandy,

What kind of backgrounds do your clients for R3 mock interviews have? PE, consulting, etc? I kind of want to know exactly what is meant by "diversity" on 3rd round or being from a non-traditional background.

Great Question.... Now awaiting the Guru's wisdom

Has anyone read some other details on other forums? Pls share!

hbs round 3 interviews :
based on history and info I have at hand, and some guess work,
1. they sent out a bunch of invites on Friday--how many, impzz. to say b.c. the whole universe is so small, my guess is less than 50pct of total, based on my own numbers and on the fact that so few (ONE ) kids have reported getting an invite here.
2. not much seems to have happened today--I got a feeling some more are going out in next two days.
3. invites were mix of reg. PE schmuks and some normal oddballs like comp. founders, with maybe a more than average tilt away fr. Standard types, but I'm working on small data set.
4. AS NOTED, I THINK ENTIRE NUMBER OF INTERVIEWS FOR R3 COULD BE 70-120, or not even that. Someone who went on sign up sheet early said there were 70-100 slots avail at HBS, and dunno about Cali, the only two places interviews being offered (plus Skype). They usually post more slots than they do interviews, so slots is HIGH END, altho they can and do add slots (in the past anyway).
4a: SOME UPSTANDING PERSON WITH AN INVITE CAN GO ON THE SIGN-UP SHEET NOW AND TELL US HOW MANY SLOTS ARE LEFT
5. Interviews ran thru April 27th --don't count on them sending out any invites past then, or even much after the next 5-8 days, despite what Dee says on blog. Yeah, they may interview some overlooked hotdog who has bigshot call in on Apr. 27th and that could be his decision letter (come for interview) but that is going to be ONE KID and NOT YOU. Also outside chance of being on WL on decision day instead of dingbat if you have not been interviewed, THAT ALSO WILL NOT BE YOU.
sorry to be blunt, but that is the way I read it.

Thanks Sandy for the candid update... We always appreciate your honesty and insight.

Yep! I agree. Im just keeping my fingers crossed. Good luck to you all as well.

To anyone who has received an invite to interview in any round:

At what time did the invite come in the mail? I dont want to be refreshing my email all day. Can you give the timeline in Boston time (i.e. it got to me @ 10am Bostom,EST time even though you live anywhere in the globe?)

Thanks!!!!

I got my invite at 12:24PM EST in round 2. You may want to look back at R1 and R2 of this thread to see when other people got theirs. There is plenty of information available.

Historically the invites came in the afternoon around 11-12PM. That was for Round 2. Can't speak for the other rounds.

WELL, HERE IS THE WHOLE SET

2+2 Application: Essay Questions for Applicants

All application questions below are required.

Tell us about three of your accomplishments. (600 words)
Tell us three setbacks you have faced. (600 words)
Why do you want an MBA? (400 words)
What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience? (400 words)
MILDLY ODD, IN BOTH THREE SETBACKS AND DIRECTNESS OF WHY MBA QUESTION.

BUT READING THE TEA LEAVES OF THESE QUESTIONS IS A FOOL'S GAME, THEY ARE NOT WRITTEN W. HYPER SCRUTINY, AND NOTHING REALLY SEEMS THAT DIFFERENT FR. PAST QUESTIONS EXCEPT FORM.

I THINK THEY ARE GETTING THE SET BACK IIDEA FR. TEACH FOR AMERICA, WHERE SETBACKS ARE OFTEN A FREQ. TOPIC OF INTERVIEW FODDER (BECAUSE TEACHING IS SO FRUSTRATING). I FIND IT SLIGHTLY ODD, ESP. THREE. BUT BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, WHO CARES WHAT I THINK, HERE IS HOW TO ANSWER.

RULE ONE: AT HBS--THERE IS NO 'WRONG' ANSWER, THEY JUST USE THE QUESTIONS AS A CORKSCREW TO GET INFORMATION AND STORIES OUT OF YOU, SO DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO KNOW IN THE FIRST INSTANCE AND THEN FIGURE OUT HOW TO DEPLOY THAT 'INFO' SO IT FITS A QUESTION PROMPT.

E.G. I WANT HBS TO KNOW HOW HARD MY MOTHER WORKED SO I COULD GO TO COLLEGE.

DUH, TURN THAT INTO A SETBACK. 'ONE OF THE MOST HEARTBREAKING SETBACKS IN MY LIFE WAS HOW LITTLE I COULD HELP MY MOM AS SHE STRUGGLED SO HER TWO KIDS COULD GO TO COLLEGE. IN HIGH SCHOOL, I WAS NOT FULLY AWARE OF HER SACRIFICE, AND ONCE IN COLLEGE, WE WERE IN A DOUBLE BIND, WHERE ALL SHE WANTED FROM ME WAS SUCCESS AT SCHOOL, SO I DARED NOT WORK, OFTEN NEGLECTED TO CALL AS MUCH BLAH, BLAH

I NOW REALIZE I COULD AND CAN DO SO MUCH MORE, BLAH, BLAH

HEY, THAT IS PRETTY GOOD ACTULLY................

MOST PEEPS, ESP. COLLEGE JUNIORS, DONT HAVE REAL SETBACKS, BUT ANYWAY, BE CREATIVE AND BE REFLECTIVE.

AS TO WHY MBA--THAT CAN ONLY BE ANSWERED W. A GOAL STATEMENT--YOU NEED TO SKETCH OUT WHAT YOUR GOALS ARE, OR HOW YOUR CURRENT PASSIONS LEAD TO GOALS AND HOW MBA FITS IN.

THEY DO NOT, PER SE, WANT A LOT OF WHY HBS B.S. BUT THEY WILL NOT PUNISH YOU FOR IT.

YOU DO NEED TO FORMULATE SOME GOAL VISON FOR WHICH AN MBA IS 1. TYPICAL, 2. HELPFUL.

Any interview invites out today?

Not here
I will post within 2 minutes of getting it, that I can promise

Looks like the two of us are lurking around the forum for some news... hillarious!