Harvard Business School Application for the class of 2013 is online. This thread will also serve as a master thread for the 2+2 applicants for the class of 2016 (June 2011 Applicants!) APPLICANTS: Please fill out your stats in the Google Doc attached and keep updating your information whenever you see fit! We will keep this thread updated as well (GIANT Post - Be warned ) Current Students: Harvard Admits 2+2 APPLICANTS REQUIREMENTS: GENERAL APPLICATION INFORMATION: 1. Essay Questions : 2. Application Deadlines : To be announced for the Summer of 2011. For the Summer of 2010 class: 3. Letters of Recommendation : 4. Sandy's Advice for Students Applying to 2+2 : REGULAR APPLICANTS All quoted sections of this post are from the Harvard Business School Admissions Website GENERAL APPLICATION INFORMATION: 1. Essay Questions : 2. Application Deadlines : 3. Letters of Recommendation : APPLICANT LIST: HBS Applicant List Google Doc 0Avb_1Ns4jB92dHp0UTJQcWpEajJwdENjYW9PVEc1TEE OTHER RESOURCES: Useful Web Pages for Application * HBS Director's Blog for All Important Updates * Last year's thread for HBS (Regular Applicants) * Last year's thread for HBS 2+2 Applicants * Veritas Prep School Report for Harvard Business School (Please register your email id, and Veritas will send a link to the download and you can download multiple school reports at once if you want!) * Class Profile for 2+2 * FAQs * HBS Director's Blog for All Important Updates * Clear Admit's Essay Analysis for Harvard Fall 2011 * Veritas Prep Essay Analysis for Harvard 2011 Life at HBS - Blogs a) CS @ HBS - https://www.computersexy.com/blog/ b) Harvard Bound - https://myharvardmba2010.blogspot.com/ c) Inside HBS - https://www.insidehbs.com/ d) Sync - https://sync.bradleylautenbach.com/ e) Mark and Jie's Journey to B-School - https://markandjie.blogspot.com/ f) Will Hsu's HBS Bubble - https://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=wphsu99 g) AGirlsMBA at Harvard Business School: https://agirlsmba.blogspot.com/ h) Military to Business: https://militarytobusiness.blogspot.com/

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

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mbacandidate2011

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23 Oct 2010, 09:52

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waiting4hbs

julianllee

Can anyone post the latest slot/location info?

Also, at this point are some applicants simply still not reviewed? I'm curious... waiting4hbs- what do you do at MS? I'm at another bank, similar stats and mindset, and I'm curious whether the guys at banks are invited yet (we could be in the group for next week).

I am on the MSSB side (Graystone Consulting - we focus on Institutional Asset Management)

Yes and No - I do believe that there are some applications that have not yet been reviewed. But, every attempt we've all made to try and come up with some "system" they are using to organize the stack (by region, by GMAT, by job function, etc) doesn't seem to pan out.

My theory is this - 1. They print all 4000 R1 applications out. 2. They hand them out to adcom members for review. 3. They go through them 1 by 1 at a rate of about 1000 per week. 4. From that 1000, they invite about 200 per week (on the 15th we saw about 400 from the 2 previous weeks), adding interview slots as necessary.

So if Dee plans to interview 800 people, that means there are roughly 200 more invitations to go out (actual numbers look to be closer to 150).

In my mind, our only hope at this point is if we are at the bottom of the stack, and for some reason something in our application sticks out to the person reading it. I don't think there's any more to it than that.

Again, that's just my theory.

I agree with your general assessment of the process. I highly doubt the adcom releases invitations to particular demographic all at once. Instead I think (as Dee mentioned in her blog) that they review on a rolling basis. If they come across a consultant at the bottom of the stack, and they've already sent out a high number of invites to consultants, it may be less likely that they'll extend another invitation. Just my two cents though.

Jterm2011

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23 Oct 2010, 11:00

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Esom

Hi guys, Im seeing all these slots but nothing on Africa or any African country... A long shot - but does anyone know what the usual procedure is for African applicants and are there any African Applicants also awaiting invites... Or have any been invited yet and where are you interviewing??

You will either have to travel to a location or do it over the phone

julianllee

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23 Oct 2010, 12:08

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So in other words (according to your theory, which I agree with), that there is a 75% chance that we have been review and outright rejected:waitlisted, and a 25% chance that our app simply hasn't been reviewed (1000 out of 4000) is pretty large number.
Waiting4hbs - it seems that your numbers are more than solid (but them, that's what I thought for myself too). Hopefully we are simply not reviewed yet (and will get invites of course). I really wish the best of luck to us.

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Jmw125

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23 Oct 2010, 13:05

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Emarc182

Look - plenty of people like to claim they are unique, but the fact of the matter is, very few people are unique enough to be interesting in what is essentially a self-selecting group of highly qualified applicants. I'm simply agreeing with what they are saying.

Not to be an a** but unique means one-of-a-kind. There aren't degrees of unique-ness. It's binary.

waitingforemail

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23 Oct 2010, 14:39

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I agree, this appears to be the most logical.

I gave myself a 50/50 chance at an interview, so assuming they read applications at random.

75% chance they read my app and said no
25% chance they have yet to read and I have a 50/50 chance in this bucket

I'm down to only a 12.5% chance of getting in.

It's possible they read by categories e.g., geo (africa, india, us), job type (consultant, banker, operating) which could give me a higher chance if my group has yet to be read. But I suspect this to be unlikely as lots of gray area for a computer or someone to make a quick sort then pass to adcom members e.g., someone who is from India but who has lived in Cali for a long time, or someone who was both in consulting and banking.

My two cents. Totally speculative and with little facts, but that's all I have to go on.

Good luck to all who have yet to receive invites.. if not, there's still the SW in HSW and many other top-ranked schools still to come.

waiting4hbs

julianllee

Bac2School

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23 Oct 2010, 14:46

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I don't understand why adcoms, in general, don't share their process. Having a little bit of insight into the process will help our anxiety and it won't do them any harm. Even an update at this stage will help

mbacandidate2011

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23 Oct 2010, 15:22

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Bac2School

I completely agree. Last year, Dee posted periodic updates on the process through the HBS director's blog. This year, it's been quiet. Also, she said the major motive for switching to this system (rolling invites ending Nov. 3) was to relieve student anxiety, but I think it adds to it. Every day you don't get an invite during the window is stressful. There's so much confusion and angst around the number of invites sent and remaining. In that regard, I much prefer the Wharton method where invites are only sent on two days.

hbsguru

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23 Oct 2010, 16:07

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uprightcitizen

Emarc182

(although I do plan on contacting Sandy for the interview, can't hurt!).

well good idea, IMHO, not only can it not hurt, it can, in several cases, really protect you from an interview meltdown, of various kinds, which is what the Interview process is about -- not screwing up. Basically 90 pct of interview is investment by HBS in weeding out kids who cannot deal w. case method, the rest is cootie check e.g. are you repulsive in terms of values, presenting style, attitude, etc.
Int prep. can help you control things like not going on too long, not getting lost in weeds, and also help you deal w. 1. freq asked HBS questions, and 2. HBS stinker questions, e.g. "what is a commom misperception about you?"
check out my interview prep services, I do about 100 a year, and get follow up, I really know the process.
https://hbsguru.com/prices.html#4

DudeManBro

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24 Oct 2010, 06:10

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So, based on the latest numbers posted by those among us with access to the interview scheduling system:

Location / Available / Taken
Boston / 7 / 96
CA / 5 / 73
NYC / 0 / 42
Asia / 5 / 75
Europe / 9 / 79
M. East / 0 / 14
S. Amer. / 4 / 17

The tally shows 396 slots Taken, 30 slots Available. Seeing how most people around here seem to be expecting 700 - 800 interview invites in R1, I take this to mean that just over 50% of invites have been sent out; I may be too much of a glass half full kindda guy but if we were to accept the "rock stars got invites early" hypothesis then not only are we still waiting for 300 - 400 more invites, we are also sitting in a substantially less competitive pool.

Another interesting note; the International slots "Taken" so far represent 47% all slots taken (185 of 396).

If we were to assume that the number of Americans interviewing abroad number is roughly similar to the number of internationals working / interviewing in America then, contrary to what seems to be popularly accepted on this forum, internationals are actually over represented in the pool of folks with invites so far (when keeping in mind a magic number of 36% int'l representation in previous years)

Lastly; a question for those in the know (I'm looking at you Sandy): Does HBS ever do phone interviews for candidates in international locales far away from interview cities? Do they frown upon it?

hbsguru

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24 Oct 2010, 07:15

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SORRY, BUT HBS IS TAKING DOWN INVITE PAGES (VERSUS LAST YEAR WHEN THEY DID NOT) AND NUMBER OF INVITES NOW OUT COULD BE IN 650-750+ RANGE, MEANING ONLY 50-100 MORE TO GIVE, JUST BEST GUESSTIMATES --SEVERAL KIDS HAVE POSTED TO POINT THIS OUT.
HBS IS GLAD TO DO PHONE INTERVIEWS, ALTHO I RECO AGAINST IT, ESP. IF YOUR ENGLISH IS NOT SUPER, SUPER GOOD. LISTENING TO FLUENT BUT ACCENTED SPEAKER ON SO-SO PHONE CONNECTION BECOMES FATIGUING DESPITE YOUR BEST INTENTIONS, JUST DESTABLIZING. I DO LOTS OF MOCK INTERVIEWS AND HAVE FELT THIS FIRST HAND, EVEN THO I TRY TO FIGHT IT. IF

DudeManBro

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24 Oct 2010, 07:45

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Ouch. Well pencil me in for a ding report

hbsguru

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anxiouslywaiting

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24 Oct 2010, 07:51

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OK so im confused....

Sandy - why do you say that 650-750 invites are out when the online scheduling system only shows 400+??

Thanks

mbacandidate2011

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24 Oct 2010, 08:29

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anxiouslywaiting

OK so im confused....

Sandy - why do you say that 650-750 invites are out when the online scheduling system only shows 400+??

Thanks

"SORRY, BUT HBS IS TAKING DOWN INVITE PAGES (VERSUS LAST YEAR WHEN THEY DID NOT)" - Sandy
The interview slots shown don't represent all the interview slots that have been opened/assigned. A student with access to the system posted an update earlier in the week that showed more slots filled than the most recent update. The only logical conclusion is that HBS has taken down slots (ex although the system currently shows 42 NYC slots, they could have extended 100 and simply removed the extra 58 from display)

uprightcitizen

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24 Oct 2010, 08:31

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Yes. When I received my invite on Friday, there were hardly any filled interview spots. I am assuming that all of the spots were new, and the old ones were taken down.

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Aegis

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24 Oct 2010, 12:52

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In my opinion, the evidence presented suggests the applications may go out to the committee in order of descending GMAT score (and possibly sorted by employer and/or age, but methodology starts getting less certain and certainly less P.C. here). Think about the MBA application process. This process is a sell process where the school tries to convince you to turn down other offers. Forget that HBS has a 90% conversion rate on admits. They don't like losing that 10%.

If you're hauling in several thousand applications, you want to review the most elite candidates first so on the 15th, the first day of interview invitations, they get their invitations. You make a poor impression on a candidate if you cause him or her the pain of waiting even one additional day. Those of you who haven't gotten invitations yet, well, you know how you are feeling right now. GMAT score is the most P.C. way to sort the applications that has the added plus of being highly correlated with all the other good stuff HBS likes. If they aren't currently sorting by GMAT, I'm pretty sure they'd better maximize their utility by doing so.

What we saw this year was a big chunk of invites on the first day. I don't think that's indicative of a 1000/1000/1000/1000 random draw- instead I think it represents a higher kill rate on higher GMAT scores. I don't claim to know the exact numbers, but I suspect it goes something like this. Of every five 750+ GMAT score applications HBS reviews, 3-4 are invite worthy. Of every 720-750 GMAT score applications, say 2-3 are invite worthy. 1-2 for 690-720, and maybe 1/10 for sub 690. This method isn't by design, just the idea that higher scores are well-correlated with a solid application. This theory provides for the leftward skewed distribution curve we have seen over the time of the interview invite window.

So where does all this lead? This may make some laugh, but I think those who applied to HBS with lower GMAT scores have the highest chance of not being reviewed yet and thus have the highest probability of receiving an invite this week (or next). But regardless, everyone who paid the money will get reviewed by 2 admissions officers as promised before the "mid-decision" day. Some may be on track for the Waitlist to R2 game. So just relax... it'll all be over soon. If it helps you pass the time, feel free to construct a counter-argument to my theory!

Jeanette

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24 Oct 2010, 13:03

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While your theory is plausible, I don't think there's much to suggest it's based in reality.

mbacandidate2011

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24 Oct 2010, 13:32

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On the AskSandy BW forum, anxiousapplicant posted that she received an invite on Friday (10/22). She described herself as "770 3.8 Ivy Consultant." Under your theory, shouldn't she have received an invite in the first batch?

waiting4hbs

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24 Oct 2010, 13:35

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760 GMAT
3.92 GPA
6 Yrs Morgan Stanley w/considerable leadership experience (working with sr. management, etc).

No invite. Go figure.

peroni

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24 Oct 2010, 14:43

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GMAT: 720
GPA: 3.9
WE: 5 years of top bb investment banking / top fortune 100 corp dev

No invite either...

mbacandidate2011

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24 Oct 2010, 15:06

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There isn't much rhyme or reason to the process. A friend of mine was admitted last year with average stats (3.2 gpa from USC, 720, 3 years at Legg Mason) while another was rejected with stellar numbers (3.8 Berkeley, 760, 3 years at well known consulting firm).

Unfortunate truth is that a lot of qualified candidates won't get invites. Outside of the obvious rockstars (750+, 2-4 yrs at GS/McK, 3.5+ H/Y/P) it's a crapshoot.