After posting and deleting (by accident) the thread, here we go again Time to start HBS story... HBS, as promised, released essay topics for class of 2012. Very similar to last season except for Q4 (which I think is cool b/c one can show creativity/personality) and Q3. 1) ESSAYS (source: https://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/writ ... ation.html ) 2) DEADLINES (source: https://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/appl ... dates.html ) 3) PAST THREADS 2009: calling-all-hbs-fall-2009-applicants-63410.html 2008: calling-all-the-harvard-gurus-fall-49915.html 4) IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS (source: https://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/blog.html and https://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/inte ... tions.html and https://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/writ ... ation.html ) 5) GMAT CLUB CANDIDATES R1: STATS: Total applicants: 51 Invited to interview : 16 Matriculating: Admits: 11 Dings: 31 Waitlisted: 4 Unknown: 5 Admit: HCGirl10 - invited to interview Icarus - invited to interview Izen* nerdgirl - invited to interview PatrickBateman - invited to interview PBateman- invited to interview redrobot* sc - invited to interview forzviol motionny Biology - invited to interview Waitlist: sharstarz12 - invited to interview skkingdom - invited to interview 2010HereICome - invited to interview warriorM33 Ding: 2009mba2012 adude* all - invited to interview audacityofhope DucRR eteusch1 - invited to interview fzt39806 - invited to interview Gelopwez JordinT* javaexe laurenbcn mba4me2010 MBAgirl2010 mbahopes2009 - invited to interview milias pook oompm* shadowsjc - invited to interview sm332 river zyskind cublu2 LetsGoMets NCMBA2012 Deepauk sapphireka CarpathianRidge - invited to interview USMCCommO zaphod shacster - invited to interview Aldrak CANDIDATES: 2012dreams ACNguy bigfernhead cacky1983 cassie2012 CharlieChaplin chrisahn112 Comrade CrushTheGMAT csino david2008 duderanch ezekiel2517 gmatbschool gravity1914 guitarguru hohoo JamesT - invited to interview jcol jolt kokkiri latammc lionvish mschumy Noodles nutmba radeal spiritworld steeler99 stillhoping surychen taken20 thedeadlyone tq17749 R2: STATS: Total applicants: 52 Matriculating: Admits: 21 Dings: Waitlisted: Unknown: ADMITS: Anonymous13 biotechgirl bunny27 bwizzle Demonic11 fsj434 HERM3S heywhassup jag120 kohlia LB20 Magellan matanga mba2012lfh meridian17 oneschoolwonder pilot RonMexico TorontoGirl ttocsik waitinganswers CANDIDATES: 2012dreams AceofSpades aditi123 Aenigma agnok aj1545 andrewcs Ashish369 BangaloreKid baxter bwizzle cesc4 christinee co2012 colequinn con Demonic11 egy ezekiel2517 fall2010mba gkumar GoalMBA2010 GordonBombay gravity1914 HBS2011 hbsr2 HERM3S hokiegenius infanteed jankynoname jimmyfunk Jivana kohlia lakai777 LB20 lbiggs mba12tech mp2437 mustafaj nikheel nlt22 nutmba pochcc qaum RonMexico Skysurf slingfox tdave theDreamChaser triple5soul Turnpike westsew R3: STATS: Total applicants: Matriculating: Admits: Dings: Waitlisted: Unknown: CANDIDATES: 6) USEFUL STUFF a) Sandy's HBS advice: blog with plenty of info on HBS: https://www.hbsguru.com/blog/ essays' analysis: https://forums.businessweek.com/n/pfx/f ... &tid=10180 b) Forcefeed's application tips from last season: calling-all-hbs-fall-2009-applicants-63410.html#p464989 c) CS @ HBS essay advice: https://www.computersexy.com/blog/2007/ ... lishments/ d) Chat with Deirdre Leopold, Director of MBA Admissions & Financial Aid at Harvard Business School: https://www.businessweek.com/bschools/c ... 175992.htm e) Take it with a grain of salt! About social life at HBS: https://www.asktheharvardmba.com/page/3/ f) About case method: HBS website on case method: https://www.hbs.edu/learning/case.html Entry from Harvard Bound blog: https://myharvardmba2010.blogspot.com/2 ... dents.html Entry from Mark and Jie's Journey to B-School blog: https://markandjie.blogspot.com/2004_03_01_archive.html Entry from AGirlsMBA at Harvard Business School blog: https://agirlsmba.blogspot.com/2007/12/ ... ation.html g) Weaknesses of HBS educational model: https://media.www.harbus.org/media/stor ... storiestab h) Advice on leadership essay from AGirlsMBA at Harvard Business School blog: https://agirlsmba.blogspot.com/2007/08/ ... ssays.html i) BusinessWeek's "Make Your Leadership Case for B-School Admission": https://www.businessweek.com/bschools/c ... 219087.htm j) HBS on recommendation letters: Entry from June 17, 2008 on https://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/blog-all.html 7) OTHER INFO a) Link to 2+2 program: https://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/2+2/ . Note that it has different deadlines and app process. b) Class profile (2011): https://www.hbs.edu/mba/profiles/classprofile.html c) Additional class profile stats: https://www.hbs.edu/about/statistics/mba.html d) Podcasts: https://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/podcasts.html 8) DO I FIT? LIFE AT HBS - i.e. HBS blogs so that you can better understand the culture 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 Fall 2010 Candidates

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jankynoname

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14 Feb 2010, 20:29

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[quote="hbsguru"][size=150][b]QUIZ[/b][/size]

[color=#BF0000]What is the most common question asked at HBS interviews? [/color]
[serious, and important, and not a joke, altho I am game for joke answers too][/quote]

How was your flight? :wink:

cesc4

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15 Feb 2010, 06:00

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Looks like HBS is a no-go.

Thanks for all the help - good luck to those still in the hunt.

Cheers.

latammc

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15 Feb 2010, 06:31

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just for the sake of stats, I was included in R1...please move me to R2 with Interview.

pd19823

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15 Feb 2010, 08:01

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waitinganswers

I got an interview invite on the 12th. international.

So how do you prepare, any bank of questions you know of?

Same here, got an interview on the 12th. I hear that the HBS interview is critical to admission much more so than interview at W (am fortunate enough to be called to interview at both for R2 - VERY nervous!).

There is the Accepted interview questions log which is very helpful, Clear Admit reviews, i also do blogsearches and find some interesting stuff, and am planning to do a mock interview with the HBS Alum from the EssayCritique blog as well (did one for W yesterday which I thought was very useful).

Please post interview experiences here.. good luck to everyone

LUGO

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15 Feb 2010, 08:33

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what a lot of rubbage is that? all interviews are important at all schools - get your facts right

Janus

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15 Feb 2010, 08:41

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Well I suppose it could be astroturfing rubbish...either way I haven't heard anything about what HBS or any other school weighs more heavily.

Also don't really know what they're looking for? Good answers, or just observing your composure, sense of humor etc?

Posted from my mobile device

jon82

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15 Feb 2010, 08:43

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Lugo,

I think you mean 'rubbish'. Also, different schools weigh interviews differently. For some schools the interview is the key element in choosing candidates, while for most schools it is just one piece of the equation. I am not familiar with HBS' decision-making guidelines, but to say that all interviews are equally important for all schools is simply misinformed.

J

hbsguru

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15 Feb 2010, 08:58

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jon82

I agree. At HBS, you are interviewed by adcom, who has read your folder, and is sometimes conferred w. by decision makers on adcom. At Stanford, you are interviewed by alums only, and interview counts WAY less, as adcom director has admitted in honest lapses b4 reverting to party line. Stanford only started interviewing kids recently (last 5-6 years ago) as a sop to appplicants who wanted it, not b.c. school thinks it was impt. Then they figured out they could get adcoms to do the interviews, sooooooooooo, they turned it into marketing plan for school and also 'feel good' jive for alums. But fact is, there are several reports of kids saying Stan interview went really , really bad and they still got it. That does not happen at HBS, if you blow interview, say bye-bye (I mean really slip up, not just give your friends some "aw shucks" that sucked report b.c. you are just that type). So, at HBS interview can really ding you, if it is bad. See next post.

hbsguru

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15 Feb 2010, 09:03

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HBS interview: what to expect
I have my HBS interview on Monday. Do you have any last minute tips for what to expect?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is an HBS interview a make-or-break interview? How do they view it? Does the adcom generally know which of the candidates that have been invited for interview that they want? Or do they make their final decision based on the interview?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It can be a break exp. but not a make exp, if you screw it up, and blather, or cannot explain yourself, or piss off the interviewer: YOU WILL BE DINGED.

Of the 1800 kids they interview that happens in maybe 180 cases (10 percent). OF those 180, maybe 80 actually know it was a disaster, and walk out REALLY BUMMED, no fooling. Like a kid who wrote me, in response to my wondering about initial report, if this person was just having normal second thoughts, “I cannot tell you how bad it was…………..” That convinced me. THAT KID WAS DINGED. (Phone call w.kid, and details of back and forth really did it). Of the 100 kids of the 180 SCREW UPS who DO NOT KNOW they screwed up, it will be a matter of irritating the interviewer, w. a pattern of evasions, jargon, sports talk, bravado, tin ear replies, and interviewer is not the type (and most are not) who overtly expressly dislike but rather just silenty says, “Keep it up, it’s your funeral……………….” That report gets written up as answers were evasive, arrogant, not aware of audience, etc.etc.

Of the remaining 700 kids who get dinged anyway and are not part of the above 180–their interviews were mostly non-events, but after interview they lost out to better candidates in their silo, however defined, see DeeDee’s explanation of this above.

What interview does not do, IN MOST CASES, is get you in, e.g. turns a marginal app. (by interviewed app. standards) into AN ACCEPT, altho who knows, I imagine if you are borderline, and some guy very similar to you has ok inter. and you have boffo interview, well, maybe you will get in, but that dont happen as much as you might predict.

What to expect: interiewer will be courteous but not empathetic, or gushy, or even warm; inter. may take lots of notes, which can be disconcerting, you will walk out saying, “that was an anti-climax, I did fine, but I did not get a chance to unroll my super leadership answers, or boffo stuff I researched about treks, or my great OTHER failure not in my app…..it was just a chat, and pleasant, with only one substantive team question at the end, s what gives??” WHat gives in most cases is you did fine, and your admit will be determined by rest of app.

KarBare33

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15 Feb 2010, 09:25

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how fast do interview slots fill up? i will be in a meeting tomorrow at noon so will be unable to sign-up until a couple hours later. I'm planning on traveling to boston for an on-campus interview but only some of the dates work for me since i will be on vacation during the middle of the allotted times. should i try to get someone else to sign-up for me or do on-campus slots fill up slower?

shadow

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15 Feb 2010, 09:39

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the on campus slots do not fill up that quickly. they are held pretty much daily, and there are 10 or more slots per day (they are in 30 min intervals). the off campus slots fill up very quickly though (especially NYC, which filled up in a few minutes in R1).

hbsguru

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15 Feb 2010, 10:04

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KarBare33

should i try to get someone else to sign-up for me or do on-campus slots fill up slower?

DO NOT GET SOMEONE else to sign in for you--if you read letter they sent, you are not supposed to forward access to that sign-in board to anyone, and stated penalty is DING.
Slots fill up real, real fast, esp. since all 800 kids will be pounding on door at same time. HBS can usually accommodate you at HBS at times not listed, they sorta run interviews all the time, so if you cannot get a working slot by signing in later, just call them, and see what they can do. They give interviews at HBS almost every day. They are geared up for it, and it is no big deal.

flofio

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15 Feb 2010, 10:29

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Hi guys I didn't get an invite either. Kudos to those who did

I am 27 F from Italy and will try again next year MIT (even if someone here said I might be too old

) I'd be starting at 28/29

I tried Sloan but my application wasn't 100% good...they were right (in retrospect) not to accept me.

Question: I haven't read of any European woman of R2 to get inteviews. I know that I should give up hope, and believe me, I did, but I wanted to understand better what kind of F candidates in Europe got invited in my pool (someone from adcom explained to me that we all "compete" in big categories i.e. FEMALE BANKING EUROPE).

I know that there are 10000 factors in each application and I have sort of made peace with my self, but I just wanted to get more info as I don't really know any HBS current/perspective student...

Thank you guys! I think this blog rocks, you guys cheered me up a lot in the past months!

I join the others who said that you guys are ALL great candidates... chapeau!

My profile, if you want to read a "loser" profile (meaning no BS for me this year)... high GRE, high gpas com laude (humanities), one BA from an Italian University, one from a US college (not top school), 1 year in a mayor US pr firm in NYC, 2 years in the biggest PR firm in Italy, just started up my own business (in the internet and service industry). Speak 6 languages, martial art pro, volunteer.

bwizzle

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Updated on: 19 Mar 2010, 12:34

Originally posted by bwizzle on 15 Feb 2010, 13:35.
Last edited by bwizzle on 19 Mar 2010, 12:34, edited 1 time in total.

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Sandy, I'm excited to have you join our forum. Welcome!

Of the 80 R1 kids you interviewed this year, could you provide a rough acceptance rate? Any over-arching themes among the admits?

gmattest12345

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15 Feb 2010, 13:37

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flofio

Hi guys I didn't get an invite either. Kudos to those who did

I am 27 F from Italy and will try again next year MIT (even if someone here said I might be too old

thats an absolute winner's profile! great profile!

flofio

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15 Feb 2010, 13:45

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gmattest12345

flofio

Hi guys I didn't get an invite either. Kudos to those who did

I am 27 F from Italy and will try again next year MIT (even if someone here said I might be too old

thats an absolute winner's profile! great profile!

thank you but evidently not

you know what really bugs me? that I know a guy who is at HKS and is a total idiot and got in because he had a strong recommendation holding him up. He has a good resume because he has an important dad who put him in great positions... and then I read about so many great people who would love to go to HBS and do not have a chance... Maybe I am just jelous because I am standing on my feet but I am proud

hopefully next year will go better

hbsguru

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15 Feb 2010, 13:59

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bwizzle

Sandy, I'm excited to have you join our forum. Welcome!
THANKS

Of the 80 R1 kids you interviewed this year, Any over-arching themes among the admits?

How about age? I'm ask because I'm 26, going on 27... and was lucky enough to get an interview.

There are no new themes, some recent themes continue to be important. Not many bankers, MC, or PE guys and gals who graduated college in 2004 or earlier managed to get in, that is the biggest and most imprt metric. They just use the 2004 grad year as a proxy for age, and altho a few 2004 kids were accepted, the fall off fr. 2005 is DRAMATIC! That impression is confirmed by other reports on blogs. (The exception is military kids, PhD's and M.D.'s and some one-off types in entrep. or non-profits, but even there . . . 04 is death zone). The other confirming recent development is the importance of blue chip and in cases, ultra blue chip work experience. In first year HBS class now, e.g. out of ~936 kids, 100 have worked at some pt. for McKinsey. And so it goes, w. Bain, BCG and other feeder firms in MC and the usual suspects in banking. If you are applying to HBS, a good question to ask is, HAS ANYONE FROM MY FIRM EVER APPLIED AND BEEN ACCEPTED BEFORE. Of course, that is not destiny, and there is always a first time, but HBS and Stan and Wharton have favored firms, no secret who those firms are. Aside from that, none of which is new, it's pretty much same as last 1-4 years.

I realize the outlook on this Forum is not as skeptical as it is on Business Week boards, so I apologize if I am upsetting anyone or raining on your dreams. Continue to dream on, and by all means, apply to all schools you feel you have a passion for. I just want to report what I have discovered fr. my extensive exp. of being an admissions consultant focusing on H/S/W over the years. I get surprised every year w. outcomes I would not have predicted -- so please post in, if you have beat the odds I have outlined above. Glad to hear it.
Sandy Kreisberg --hbgguru (for webiste, see avatar, I am on five day probation here and I cannot post internet addresses. 8-)

theDreamChaser

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15 Feb 2010, 14:40

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hbsguru

bwizzle

Sandy, I'm excited to have you join our forum. Welcome!
THANKS

Of the 80 R1 kids you interviewed this year, Any over-arching themes among the admits?

How about age? I'm ask because I'm 26, going on 27... and was lucky enough to get an interview.

thanks for sharing your insights with us Sandy. And you are absolutely right about the differences between BW board and GMAT Club. There is actually a community here where people meet face-to-face in different cities to connect with each other. And not everyone is obsessed with H/S/W or why I didn't get in H/S/W but the kid "inferior" than me got int. It's a self-selection kind of thing and as an applicant, I like it here.

machg400

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15 Feb 2010, 16:39

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No invite for me....
M/29 :twisted: