HBS 2012 - Calling All Applicants

From Dee's blog? Well if Dee says it...alrighty.

Pardon my tone it's just that there is so much anxiety on this forum and unfounded rumors spread like wildfire, upping the paranoia. You see it all the time ("Only internationals got the invite today!" "It's 1:00! All calls must be over for the day and we are all dinged!"). It gets a bit annoying. Lucky for me, I have no place in this section of the Paranoia rain forest, as I didn't apply to HBS. I just know a lot of folks who did who either post or lurk here and just didn't want any unfounded speculation to send them into a tizzy. Good luck next week.

@riskylvrg:

Hey - after thinking about your post (I felt similarly for the last 2 hours), I've applied my keen MBB consulting skills (such as they are - not worth an invite on Day 1 sadly ) and really dug into the numbers.

First off, let's take the percentages. Obviously the exact same % won't be sent out, but we're going to be in the ballpark. Now, here's the thing: the general body of knowledge states that Round 2 apps go up over Round 1 apps. If we take that as true, but still hold HBS readers to the same volume in their 3 weeks of reading, we can argue that the percentage of total invites sent out is probably a little lower just because there's more volume to plunge**. Let's call it 75-80%. Now, additionally, if we stick with our initial assessment that R2 is bigger, let's say - for the sake of argument - that there are more interview slots, call it 850-1000. Picture's looking a bit better, right? I would strongly suggest that even if the % are exactly the same, the absolute number of invites to go out is still higher. Or in other words, let's not be optimistic, fine, but don't droop with despair for one more week (at that point it's almost certainly curtains).

Given that back of the envelope analysis, I'm ranging the remaining invites at about 170 - 250. That's probably too high for the low end, so if we force it down a bit - add a nice fudge factor - let's say somewhere between 120 - 250 with the lower side being the sweet spot. 105 went out after Day 1 in R1 so I doubt I'm horribly off here.

For those of you who want to get into MBB post MBA, that was your first lesson in making up numbers - you're welcome

** Now, we can argue about hail mary applications and cutoffs, but even shredding apps below 500 GMAT and 2.0 GPA is a timesink - you have to do a little bit of rationalization, make sure you're not tossing someone who's gone on to be the king of the investment bank or is currently curing cancer, right?

I dont think so, my guess is they can chomp thru the apps by D-Day 1 and then use the other two dates to refine the mosiac, have relaxed gal talk, compare threats from donors (and in cases, take, ahem, 'a close look' at some outstanding cases). And of course, as per post below, read travel brochures about Shanghai, Paris, and San Paulo, not to mention, San Francisco, that outpost in the wilderness, soooooo far away from any other interview hub.

hbs.edu/mba/admissions/blog.html

I'm not typically a black and white thinker (I'm a consultant after all), but when it comes to this I am. Having people review your application and advise you how to present yourself is a great thing (you'd be kind of crazy not to do it, even if just asking advice from friends), but relying on someone else to write the essays for you or to flat out copy them is wrong. It defeats the whole purpose of the essays in the first place as they are essentially personal statements. I mean if you can't define why you want to go to business school, what your approach to leadership is, or what your three greatest achievements are, is it really worth the significant investment? You can only fake your way through this so long.

Hey guys,

I'm still licking my wounds from my HBS interview in November (got a ding if you couldn't tell), but thought I'd share my advice. Take it for what it's worth.

I recommend spending at least 75% of your prep on interviewing techniques (e.g., poise, taking time to think through your answers before speaking, remaining calm). I am in consulting and regularly lead meetings with client executives so I felt pretty comfortable in this area and focused most of my attention to prepping for various questions. I even did a mock with Sandy in which he praised my poise and communication style (BTW, I recommend Sandy)...

All that went out the window in Dillon House...I turned into a babbling idiot as if I had never talked to anyone in my life. Oh, and I only got one question that was even remotely similar to any questions I had prepped for.

Long story short, don't worry about the questions, you'll know all the answers. Just make sure you're able to convey them without sounding like an idiot

Good luck!

Right...to me it feels like when you get a girl's phone number at a bar and give her a call a few days later. If she doesn't call you back in the next couple days you know she's not interested, but for a week or two there's always the slim chance she was on vacation or lost her phone (hey I said SLIM chance).

I've already accepted defeat at HBS so any good news is like playing with house money.

nothing here either! I am holding out hope that they will send it out later until i hear that one person got an email!

I applied for the MPA-ID at HKS, and I visited the program director just 2 weeks ago and asked her a few questions. Based on her answers I can say for sure that schools DON'T talk to each other at all... They have independent decision making process. However, I understand that HBS has a preset number of places for candidates on joint degree programs. So getting to HBS might be harder for those who apply to a joint degree because there are more applicants per place than in the "regular" competition. Regardless, I also hope that HBS is just leaving these complex applicants for the final week, because there are more aspects to analyze in their case...

In any case, in just a few days it will be clear. Did you apply only to HKS/HBS combination? Or you applied to HKS in combination with other schools as well? I applied to Sloan in R1 and they accepted me, on the interview they told me that even if I don't get into HKS or if I change my mind in the meantime and choose to go only to sloan, the admission decision will not be canceled. As far as I understand, if HKS accepts you it works the same way. You can still go to any of the schools that accept you, even if the other one denies you, or if you change your mind after getting admitted to both school.

Good luck next wee, and pls keep us posted!!!

Yeah, is everyone really sure that only a few invites go out on Tuesday before the game is over?
It seems like only a fraction of the Rd 2 has been invited, and still plenty more will get in

On this board 34% of round1 people were invited to interview.
But only 9% of round 2 applicants have been invited
And HBS 2+2 is 27% vs. 0%

Just by those numbers alone I would say less than half of the invites have gone out, giving up hope now seems like the wrong attitude.

Even if rd 1 applicants have 50% more acceptances and interviews than round 2 applicants (like everyone says), still logically we would expect an additional 20 invites to go out just to the round 2 kids on GMAT club. Right?

But your optimism is still heartening enough for all us mere mortals waiting to get that mail tomorrow noon.

12pm EST

i wonder if Dee's career goals essay 30 years ago was to work for HBS admissions.

Prabhakar, everyone has different experiences but I'd say the "basic" questions are usually the same and can be found in the Harbus guide and/or Clear Admit Wiki: https://www.clearadmit.com/wiki/index.ph ... dInterview

The interviewers are generally trained (from what I've seen) to ask questions based on their dialogue with you. Thus, if you give an answer that you're not completely sure of (or make an offhand remark about something you don't know much about), the interviewer may press that point.

As for who your interviewers are, I don't think that you will know until you get to the site. I had checked in a bit on the earlier side on-campus (went to a class earlier in the day) and they didn't tell me anything. Good luck!

SO FAR:
Dee herself in SF (nice trip)
Hil and Lauren in MP
Quinn in Paris
Good ol Charlie in NYC
Lamb et al in London (I think)
TBD
Dubai/Mumbai, dunno yet, but could be same gals as last coupla rounds: Lucas and Jennet
Shanghai: Chang
DK
Sao Paulo --maybe Dee in Rodeo gear

hmmmm, having done 60 (not a figure of speech) mock interviews so far THIS ROUND and gotten feedback on lots of them, mostly nothing really new except this, "do you think you will get bored reading 500 cases?"
and of course wild-man Charlie in NYC, of tell me what you want to start doing, keep doing and stop doing fame with corkers like this:

Tell me about constructive criticism at Job 1 that you agreed with? Tell me about constructive criticism at Job 1 you disagreed with? What would your high school best friend say are your 3 strengths? 2 weaknesses? College roommate - 3 strengths, 2 weaknesses?

Intermittent HRH question, "what is a stereotype about your [country, business, etc] that is true and what is a stereotype that is not true?"

Superlative mega account of interview w. Her Majesty right here, this is what it is like:

Hi Sandy, Just got out of my interview with Dee Leopold. Double down! It was exactly as advertised: very intense, rapid-fire, with many follow-up questions and then abrupt changes in direction. Many times she asked for multiple examples of something and then seemed satisfied after the first and moved on. The questions were very specific to my application. You nailed a bunch of them.

UPDATE--
: Charles Allision is doing HBS interveiws in Dubai and maybe Mumbai, sooooooo, do start composing answers about what you'd like to start, stop and cont, doing as well as strengths and weakness as a toddler, 3rd grader, Jr. High, High school student, college student and all around person.
2. Looks like Chang is back in Shanghai!!!
3. HRH Dee Leopold is doing inter. in NYC!!!! In between peeks at Cindy Sherman exhib at MOMA

New post...

https://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/blog. ... 12-03-26_2

Round 2 Notification
Date: March 26, 2012

Finally.

Plan is to send emails out at noon on Thursday. Congratulatory calls will follow, but we don't do admissions notification via phone.

A few things:

HBS doesn't make any financial aid awards at the time of admission. So don't feel slighted that you don't see any $$ mentioned. We have (very) generous financial aid available to our students - both US and international citizens - but it's all need-based. One more thing about financial aid: it's not a "rolling" process - as in, we don't run out of need-based money. Round 3 admits have access to exactly the same resources as Round 1.
The waitlist. Yes, there will be waitlist invitations going out on Thursday. I know for sure we are going to use the waitlist - probably beginning in early May and trying to wrap it up by early June. My guess is we'll be able to make somewhere between 25 and 50 offers to waitlisters - some from Round 1 and some from Round 2 - in addition to the 50 or so we made earlier this month. At this point, this is a guess - Dana Scalisi will keep waitlisters updated.
Feedback for denied candidates post-interview. I carve out time to respond to calls from candidates who have been through the interview process. These calls are rarely dramatic - and I am resolved to not be prescriptive about the future. The vast majority are reassurance that it wasn't anything that is or went wrong...but simply the challenge of comprising a class rich in diversity of backgrounds and perspectives. Details about phone hours will be in the decision letter.

As always, I hope this is helpful. To all of you who are waiting, please know that we appreciate your enthusiasm and patience.