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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sapphireka

Joined: 05 Jul 2009

Last visit: 01 Oct 2011

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Location: Australia

Concentration: General, Management & Org Behaviour

Schools:Chicago Booth class of 2012

WE 1: Consulting

WE 2: Small business/Start up

WE 3: Strategy - Large Corporate

Posts: 132

Kudos: 31

06 Nov 2009, 22:49

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Deepauk

billyjeans

Kudos for admitting someone from a "lesser known" school with a 4.0 gpa and 780 gmat?

Now that's diversity.

LOL! I figured it is just HBS' way of telling me. Hey your college that doesn't have a CEEB code isnt the reason you didn't get in. YOU are!

Haha, I enjoyed this. Hard life lessons from Deepauk.

thedeadlyone

Joined: 07 Nov 2009

Last visit: 16 Feb 2011

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07 Nov 2009, 09:57

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If there was any hope left for internationals....HBS blog has quashed it completely...(well almost)

"maybe" 50 more invites...and mainly for Boston and some for telephonic interviews...

Icarus

Joined: 13 May 2009

Last visit: 23 Feb 2011

Posts: 32

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Concentration: GM, Strategy

Posts: 32

Kudos: 1

07 Nov 2009, 12:34

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IMHO, the telephone interview is primarily meant for international applicants.

I`

Aldrak

Joined: 01 Sep 2009

Last visit: 13 Aug 2010

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Location: Saudi Arabia

Concentration: Finance

Posts: 27

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09 Nov 2009, 01:33

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Did anyone get a "reject" email?

International applicant here.. and haven't received anything from HBS.

audacityofhope

Joined: 21 Oct 2009

Last visit: 19 Dec 2013

Posts: 27

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Given Kudos: 5

Concentration: General Management

Schools: Booth '16 (A$)

Posts: 27

Kudos: 3

09 Nov 2009, 02:20

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Aldrak

Did anyone get a "reject" email?

International applicant here.. and haven't received anything from HBS.

The status of your application will not change until the decision deadline which is 15th December.

souryab

Joined: 09 Nov 2009

Last visit: 12 Mar 2010

Posts: 31

Given Kudos: 1

Affiliations: Triple Nine Society (High IQ)

Location: Mumbai

Concentration: Finance, Marketing, Entepreneurship

Schools:Ross, Booth, CBS, Simon

Posts: 31

Kudos: 0

10 Nov 2009, 07:43

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Finally, how many from India got that coveted HBS call? Trawling across forums, I have come across very few such lucky people...

Turnpike

Joined: 03 Oct 2009

Last visit: 06 Apr 2010

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11 Nov 2009, 02:04

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Can anyone tell me if there's any indication that the volume of applicants at HBS will be as high as last year? And will HBS take the 930+ admits this year as they did last time. I believe both are related.

audacityofhope

Joined: 21 Oct 2009

Last visit: 19 Dec 2013

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Concentration: General Management

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Posts: 27

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11 Nov 2009, 03:02

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Turnpike

IMO they are not related. They admitted a lot of guys last year assuming that the Yield might go down a bit. There have been rumours that the class size will go back to ~900 this year but that's pure speculation. Some people also say that they will go to a 1100 class size eventually when the 2+2 guys join in 2011, which justifies the gradual increase in class size.

I'm guessing application volumes are higher this year for round 1 but overall should remain pretty much the same.

anonymba

Joined: 11 Nov 2009

Last visit: 28 Mar 2012

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Schools: Haas EWMBA '15 (A)

GPA: 3.8

WE:Consulting (Energy)

Schools: Haas EWMBA '15 (A)

Posts: 45

Kudos: 8

11 Nov 2009, 14:32

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I echo souryab's Q - where are all the indian candidates invited for HBS interview???????
I am still not losing hope

mavaali

Joined: 28 Jun 2009

Last visit: 30 Jun 2011

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Concentration: Social Entrepreneurship

Schools:Kellogg Wharton

Posts: 57

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11 Nov 2009, 15:45

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All the slots for Mumbai are full. There are plenty of Indian candidates. Including some from Delhi who posted on BW forums. I would be realistic about HBS. They can afford to miss a few. With the large class size, they don't even care if they get a few bad apples and miss a few gems. The perfect applicant profile for India is 24-25/F/750+GMAT/IIT or metro Univ./non tech/McK/Bulge Bracket...

ezekiel2517

Current Student

Joined: 01 Jun 2009

Last visit: 10 Aug 2010

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Location: New York

Concentration: Strategy

Schools:Tuck Class of 2012

Posts: 76

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11 Nov 2009, 16:04

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Please move me from R1 to R2 (didn't get enough time to get in an R1 app).
Cheers.

Turnpike

Joined: 03 Oct 2009

Last visit: 06 Apr 2010

Posts: 81

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Kudos: 3

11 Nov 2009, 22:11

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audacityofhope

Turnpike

I was reading a Harbus interview with Dean Jay Light here: https://bit.ly/1M4qXK and he made it explicit that HBS will not go 1000 admits in the foreseeable future. a larger class size might mean a larger international student population. There were approx 35 indians the year before. I wonder how many they might take this year.

Turnpike

Joined: 03 Oct 2009

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11 Nov 2009, 22:13

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mavaali

yes, i heard the mumbai slots are all filled. do they have interviews in delhi? i'm 25/M/700/delhi univ/Law. wonder where i fit in

baxter

Joined: 12 Nov 2009

Last visit: 26 Mar 2025

Posts: 57

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Schools:Stanford R2 2012 (wl w/int); Stanford R1 2013 (int)

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12 Nov 2009, 16:50

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Hey guys!

I just joined and have been reading through your emoticons of pain, and (some) joy! Anyway, since you guys seem to be pretty well-informed on what profiles get in and what profiles don't get in to HBS, I wanted to know your thoughts on my unorthodox profile. I'm applying R2.

Graduated in 2006, 3 Yrs of work experience. 27 years old, however. (2 Yrs away from school to do athletics)
GMAT: 690 (will retake)
GPA: 3.42 from Ivy League, Econ major GPA: 3.63
-Olympic Team member, trained full-time while in school (when injured, GPA jumped to 3.93; however, when not injured.......you can do the math)
Working for bulge-braket ibank
Trustee of $60 million foundation
Significant leadership experience in Olympic federation for my sport

Any feedback or application strategies would be awesome guys!

AND best of luck!!!!!!! I'll add a couple happy emoticons to make up for the overwhelmingly sucky ones.

audacityofhope

Joined: 21 Oct 2009

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Schools: Booth '16 (A$)

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12 Nov 2009, 22:24

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baxter

I think you have everything going for you... Infact, if you're going to have to invest a lot of time into preparing for the GMAT, i suggest you concentrate on the rest of the application instead... but a better score will definitely help... Although I don't think they'll reject you because of a 690 GMAT. But again, coming from ibanking, you will be competing against an overwhelming majority of applicants. Just try to balance both things. If you can
, do take the GMAT. I personally think you have a very good chance. So all the best. :-D

Turnpike

Joined: 03 Oct 2009

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13 Nov 2009, 03:46

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baxter

*sigh* People like you make me so jealous.

It's true that you'll be competing in a rather competitive pool and a high GMAT will certainly be useful. Try not to leave anything sub-par. If you can better something, then do it. You have an excellent profile - one which many can only dream of, and do dream of - and you MUST bring it out in your essays. That said, remember HBS is a reach for everyone. No matter how great one is, HBS probably has a dozen of such individuals already on their rolls. So try to stand out. Tell them your unique experiences, thinking, rationales, hopes, dreams. Tell them why they should take you in and not the other person who won the gold medal in Beijing. It's not easy, but you're almost there. So keep up the pace.

Good luck

go2bizSkool

Joined: 25 Sep 2009

Last visit: 09 Apr 2010

Posts: 96

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Location: USA

Concentration: Tech Entrepreneurship

Schools:HBS, Sloan, Columbia, Stern, Tuck

Posts: 96

Kudos: 11

13 Nov 2009, 08:14

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you are going somewhere good. make sure you emphasize sports in your essays as its your truly differentiating factor. a 700+ would be good because i think there is a psychology problem with a 690. the perception jump between 690 and 700 is significant (we are all so dumb

)

baxter

Joined: 12 Nov 2009

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Schools:Stanford R2 2012 (wl w/int); Stanford R1 2013 (int)

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13 Nov 2009, 15:24

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hey guys, thanks for all the feedback and advice (and for making me feel cool) . I guess it is an uphill battle for just about all of us and we're all wild cards in the end. Are any of you lucky ones with interviews grandparents (ie 26 or older)? I'm going to retake the gmat and write some awesome essays and will keep you posted on if I hear anything in a few months. If I do score precisely a 700, do you think my chances will increase exponentially?

From those people that I know who've gotten into HBS, it seems like people who have all boxes checked, but nothing fantastic, are the ones that get in. And I unfortunately have a few empty boxes. So does HBS give wild cards a chance?

On that note, I'd like to propose that this awesome discussion board create a depository of submitted essays that have been adjusted to preserve anonymity. I am a bit tired for reading the published "Successful H -bs- Essays." What say you to that idea?! :-D

shadow

Joined: 25 Aug 2009

Last visit: 01 Nov 2016

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252

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Affiliations: Consortium (CGSM.org), NSHMBA

Location: New Haven

Schools:Yale SOM Class of 2012

WE 1: Investment Banking Summer Associate (Boutique tech M&A)

Products:

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16 Nov 2009, 00:58

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baxter

nope, i'm a baby (24 and under). i do agree that we're all wildcards in the end.. some of the people with the seemingly "best" profiles might not get a call, while other more "average" joes might. it's what makes the whole HBS application process so nervewracking

Quote:

I'm going to retake the gmat and write some awesome essays and will keep you posted on if I hear anything in a few months. If I do score precisely a 700, do you think my chances will increase exponentially?

my opinion is that a 700 - while visually more appealing - won't put your app in a different pile than a 690 would. remember there are a thousands of other applicants that scored a 700 or higher. you should be focusing on how you are different (leadership in sports, etc.)

Quote:

From those people that I know who've gotten into HBS, it seems like people who have all boxes checked, but nothing fantastic, are the ones that get in. And I unfortunately have a few empty boxes. So does HBS give wild cards a chance?

ah yes, HBS - the pinnacle of mediocrity! :lol:

Quote:

On that note, I'd like to propose that this awesome discussion board create a depository of submitted essays that have been adjusted to preserve anonymity. I am a bit tired for reading the published "Successful H -bs- Essays." What say you to that idea?! :-D

i think the problem with this is that the essays are necessarily personal. most of the essay will not be transferable to another applicant, except things like vocabulary, etc. but filling an essay with colorful imagery alone will not get anyone into HBS (or any b-school together). i think it's the combination of your experiences, stats, and interview that will get you in. after the R1 applicants get their responses though, i will try and get a few essays from those who were admitted, and will add them to the essay vault.

HCGirl10

Joined: 31 Aug 2009

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Schools:HBS, Stanford, Wharton, Kellogg

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Kudos: 9

16 Nov 2009, 21:33

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Hi guys,

Just wanted to share that I had my HBS interview on campus today. The questions were pretty specific to my application, so I won't go into too much detail, but I did want to say that it was MUCH more relaxed and manageable than I expected! I wish I hadn't stressed myself out so much over it. It just made me nervous during the interview and affected my performance for no good reason...

The questions covered how I had chosen the various jobs I have had, why I'm passionate about my industry, a few "macro" questions on that industry, and a few questions about organizations I have started (how & why I started them, whether they will be sustainable without me, why no one else had filled that gap before). There were really no odd-ball questions, nothing behavioral, etc. My interviewer was extremely friendly and comforting.

I was also given a packet of information before the interview that included a letter from Dee stating that ~60% of interview candidates will be accepted - so that number is actually legitimate, it appears. Who knows what will happen from here, but good luck to the other interviewees!