Calling all HBS Fall 2009 Applicants

I just finished my interview. It was very similar to everybody else's here: no "why HBS, why MBA" type questions. Instead they were very focused on my company, my role, and follow up questions were all related to that. Some questions related to my group/company specifically because they have been in the news lately. It was definitely the most nerve wracking one I've had, probably because it's a bit more formalized than other schools- you're not sitting with an alum chatting away at a coffee shop, etc. The one piece of advice I will give is do not bullshit- it is not necessarily a stress interview but they will press you on anything you say that piques their curiosity. As long as you know what you are talking about, you will be fine. Good luck to everybody and I hope we do well come January 21st

Congrats! Sounds like it went well! The next 44 days will be not fun.

what is the right form for the adcom's email addresses? <firstinitial><lastname>@ what?

they gave us pieces of paper with our interviewer's name and a generic admissionsboard(or someting like that) @hbs.edu address. I just wrote my thank you there. I was worried about the appearance of sending to a specific address when one wasn't given to me. that said, if you are intent on reaching your individual interviewer... yes it is <firstinitial><last name>@hbs.edu

I also got no why HBS or why MBA questions. They were focused on all the same things for me as well. I haven't done any other interviews, but I was surprised at how friendly and conversational (although we did cover a lot in 30 min) my interviewer was because past reports indicated adcom was very serious and poker faced.

on a scale from 1 to 10 (1 being serious/cold, 10 being outgoing/extremely friendly) what have people experienced in terms of friendliness of adcom for interviews?

Mine was maybe a 7-8. During the interview they were more professional (maybe a 6-7), but before and after, and during closing remarks, they were maybe an 8. How about you?

Also- are you basketball on the BW forums? Any idea as to what happened to the HBS thread?

A 10, for sure. She was probably the friendliest and most receptive interviewer I have encountered.

We probably had the same person! Mine was definitely a 10.

haha, maybe we all had the same interviewer, because mine was extremely friendly as well. i was a bit shocked actually after hearing stories from current students.

yep. nope, no idea what happened the thread. I emailed the moderator asking about it but haven't heard back. GC > BW.

Hi guys,

I'm applying for round2 and I need some advice on my essays.

I'm not sure what strengths to elaborate in each essay question. I have strong community involvement, however, I will be writing this in the "how have you been involved in the community" essay question and I do NOT want to repeat this in my accomplishments essay (main essay), although it is one of my main accomplishments.

The way I see it, each accomplishment gets 200-words max in the first essay and it won't do justice for my community involvement portion of the application.

Instead, I've chosen to use 3 of the following accomplishments:

1) a proprietary product I built at work
2) proof my leadership and initiative at work
3) my undergraduate experience which includes a summer where I first became involved in this non profit organization along with while taking up leadership positions in several organizations, playing soccer for the college team, leading a tutor program and graduating with very good grades.

There already is an "undergraduate experience" essay, but I rather use my 400-words to talk about the community involvement instead. I'm a little concerned with using my undergraduate experience in my accomplishments since I've been working for four years now and I know this essay is generally used by applicants who have limited work experience.

Would this be the right approach?

Any feedback/suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Here's another sure way to get into HBS.
Date Jenna Bush or President's daughter. You won't even need a college degree....

Blake Gottesman—An argument could be made that Gottesman, the high-school boyfriend of first daughter Jenna, is the biggest winner of the Bush White House. He started off autopenning signatures in Governor Bush’s presidential campaign, then instead of going to college became the President’s “body guy,” took a break to get an MBA from Harvard (despite still never having graduated from college), and this summer returned to the White House as assistant to the President and deputy chief of staff—at 28, the youngest member of the President’s senior staff.


https://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticl ... 10155.html

Funny, when i was at my class visit at hbs, Bush's current "body guy" was visiting as well. Apparently that's a good path to hbs.

I've always been astonished by the fact that he was admitted. I've read his story a few times and simply don't see why they had an interest in him. So the guy is good at making sure the President always has socks in order. Big woop - any dope can do that. What value could he possibly have added to his class other than a few funny stories about the White House (which anyone can get from a $10 book from Barnes & Noble). While I'm usually impressed by the people HBS admits, on occasion they really surprise me.

does anyone have Jenna bush's number? I would like to date her too...just cause it will get me accepted into Harvard...studying for gmat and writting essays aint my thing..

Too late buddy. I think she's either engaged or married...(the guy probably beat you to your idea..)
But she does have a twin sister.....