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/

Last visit was: 22 Apr 2026, 17:44

It is currently 22 Apr 2026, 17:44

Toolkit

Business School and MBA

MBA Archive

GMAT Club Daily Prep

Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.

Go to My Error Log Learn more

Request Expert Reply

Confirm Cancel

Back to Forum

Create Topic

Calling all HBS Fall 2010 Candidates

1 ... 24 25 26 27 28 ... 79

shadow

Joined: 25 Aug 2009

Last visit: 01 Nov 2016

Posts: 928

Own Kudos:

252

Given Kudos: 113

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:

Posts: 928

Kudos: 252

08 Dec 2009, 16:43

Kudos

Bookmarks

eminent

shadowsjc

no one will get dinged or accepted until dec 15th

Posted from my mobile device

Wow, time has flown by. Only one week left? Fingers crossed for you buddy.

thanks - i've got my fingers crossed too (for me and for everyone else on here applying)!

Updated the roll call page

MBAgirl2010

Joined: 02 Jun 2009

Last visit: 26 May 2013

Posts: 446

Own Kudos:

178

Given Kudos: 36

Posts: 446

Kudos: 178

08 Dec 2009, 17:02

Kudos

Bookmarks

Its interesting that even though forums like the GMATClub have a selection of candidates more competitive than the average, we still matched the Wharton and Harvard interview % for R1 to the T. 20% for HBS and 50% interviewed by Wharton. Wondering if that trend will stay applicable in the acceptance % as well.

mbahopes2009

Joined: 10 Nov 2009

Last visit: 28 Jan 2010

Posts: 18

Own Kudos:

Concentration: General Management

Schools:Stanford (R1-Admit), Wharton (R1-Admit), HBS (R1-Ding)

Posts: 18

Kudos: 2

08 Dec 2009, 17:14

Kudos

Bookmarks

could I please be added to roll call? interviewed in early November. thanks, and good luck everyone!

milias

Current Student

Joined: 26 May 2009

Last visit: 18 May 2012

Posts: 685

Own Kudos:

Given Kudos: 4

Schools:Ross 2012

Posts: 685

Kudos: 36

08 Dec 2009, 17:15

Kudos

Bookmarks

shadowsjc

no one will get dinged or accepted until dec 15th

Posted from my mobile device

Is it possible to get waitlisted without an interview?

mbahopes2009

Joined: 10 Nov 2009

Last visit: 28 Jan 2010

Posts: 18

Own Kudos:

Concentration: General Management

Schools:Stanford (R1-Admit), Wharton (R1-Admit), HBS (R1-Ding)

Posts: 18

Kudos: 2

08 Dec 2009, 17:20

Kudos

Bookmarks

re: Is it possible to get waitlisted without an interview?

yup--dee said that would happen in a blog posting. good luck!

PBateman

Joined: 23 Oct 2009

Last visit: 14 Oct 2011

Posts: 175

Own Kudos:

Given Kudos: 7

Concentration: Finance

Schools:HBS 2012

Posts: 175

Kudos: 22

08 Dec 2009, 17:24

Kudos

Bookmarks

mbahopes2009

re: Is it possible to get waitlisted without an interview?

yup--dee said that would happen in a blog posting. good luck!

Can someone explain that to me? I don't get the logic of it.

In a round, you are either:

(a) Interview -> accept
(b) Interview -> waitlist
(c) Interview -> ding
(d) No interview -> waitlist
(e) No interview -> ding

Other than the possibility they just couldn't interview everyone they wanted to, how do you justify keeping (d) in the running for a spot while putting people in (c)? Maybe I'm not making sense.

mbahopes2009

Joined: 10 Nov 2009

Last visit: 28 Jan 2010

Posts: 18

Own Kudos:

Concentration: General Management

Schools:Stanford (R1-Admit), Wharton (R1-Admit), HBS (R1-Ding)

Posts: 18

Kudos: 2

08 Dec 2009, 17:28

Kudos

Bookmarks

PBateman

mbahopes2009

re: Is it possible to get waitlisted without an interview?

yup--dee said that would happen in a blog posting. good luck!

I'm not going to pretend to understand the AdCom's logic

What I found particularly interesting is that there is such a high number of WL that Dee noted that were explicitly not interviewed--does that mean they have a higher chance than those who were interviewed, then WL? Shrug.

But here's Dee's posting, for those interested:

"Greetings!

We continue to send out interview invitations to Round 1 applicants. As I said before, I don't know how many are still to go, but it is a significant number. The timing of when you receive an interview invitation is no reflection on the "strength" of your candidacy.

We do not send out interview invitations on Saturday and Sunday!

A note about the waitlist - remember, this year we are making Round 1 decisions before we see Round 2 applications. On December 15, I expect there will be a significant number - maybe 100 or so - of invitations to join the waitlist to candidates who have NOT been interviewed. As we review Round 2 applications, we may be inviting some of these candidates to interview in the Round 2 interview timeline."

shadow

Joined: 25 Aug 2009

Last visit: 01 Nov 2016

Posts: 928

Own Kudos:

252

Given Kudos: 113

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:

Posts: 928

Kudos: 252

08 Dec 2009, 17:41

Kudos

Bookmarks

PBateman

mbahopes2009

re: Is it possible to get waitlisted without an interview?

yup--dee said that would happen in a blog posting. good luck!

Can someone explain that to me? I don't get the logic of it.

In a round, you are either:

(a) Interview -> accept

self evident. you're good. please come to our school

Quote:

(b) Interview -> waitlist

you look good on paper. we wanted you to come in so we could speak face to face. after speaking with you, we found that you had no major faults, but at the end of the day, we found someone with your similar profile (age/race/industry) who would be a better fit. if they choose to go to S or W instead, then we will invite you in off the WL during the spring.

Quote:

you looked really good on paper. we invited you in to have a chat with us. however, from this conversation, we were not too impressed with how you presented yourself. you did not give honest responses, or repeated yourself too much. we regretfully cannot extend an offer to your institution.

Quote:

(d) No interview -> waitlist

you looked decent on paper, but we could not warrant sending an invite to you just yet because there were so many people from your group (industry/age/race) with similar or better stats. however, by placing you on the waitlist, you still have a chance at an interview in the spring, based on how the R2 applicants shape up.

Quote:

(e) No interview -> ding

mbahopes2009

Joined: 10 Nov 2009

Last visit: 28 Jan 2010

Posts: 18

Own Kudos:

Concentration: General Management

Schools:Stanford (R1-Admit), Wharton (R1-Admit), HBS (R1-Ding)

Posts: 18

Kudos: 2

08 Dec 2009, 17:45

Kudos

Bookmarks

shadowsjc

PBateman

mbahopes2009

re: Is it possible to get waitlisted without an interview?

yup--dee said that would happen in a blog posting. good luck!

Can someone explain that to me? I don't get the logic of it.

In a round, you are either:

(a) Interview -> accept

self evident. you're good. please come to our school

Quote:

(b) Interview -> waitlist

you look good on paper. we wanted you to come in so we can speak face to face. after speaking with you, we found that you had no minor faults, but at the end of the day, we found someone with your similar profile (age/race/industry) who would be a better fit. if they choose to go to S or W instead, then we will invite you in off the WL during the spring.

Quote:

(d) No interview -> waitlist

Quote:

(e) No interview -> ding

Just a thought on d--I know several folks who looked amazing on paper and were not invited to interview (GMATs in 99th percentile, top 5 UG with great GPA, great ECs, cool job experience, essays, etc). None of these folks, however, were female or URM. Small sample size, however...

shadow

Joined: 25 Aug 2009

Last visit: 01 Nov 2016

Posts: 928

Own Kudos:

252

Given Kudos: 113

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:

Posts: 928

Kudos: 252

08 Dec 2009, 17:51

Kudos

Bookmarks

^the problem with that is every "rock star" is going to be gunning for H/S/W, so invariably you'll have A LOT of people with 99th % gmat, top 5 , bulge bank / MBB / etc. as an institution, what do you do - interview all of them? probably not - you take the ones with the most complete app (including essays and LOR), and interview those.

i think this is one reason why the essays matter probably even more so when you're a rock star, since you're technically directly competing against other rock stars for a spot to interview. maybe your friends had average essays, and therefore fall into d).

mbahopes2009

Joined: 10 Nov 2009

Last visit: 28 Jan 2010

Posts: 18

Own Kudos:

Concentration: General Management

Schools:Stanford (R1-Admit), Wharton (R1-Admit), HBS (R1-Ding)

Posts: 18

Kudos: 2

08 Dec 2009, 17:55

Kudos

Bookmarks

shadowsjc

fair enough

we'll see how it all shakes out on d-day.

shadow

Joined: 25 Aug 2009

Last visit: 01 Nov 2016

Posts: 928

Own Kudos:

252

Given Kudos: 113

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:

Posts: 928

Kudos: 252

08 Dec 2009, 17:59

Kudos

Bookmarks

one more thing that i don't have a firm grasp on is the importance of yield. if you're a rock star, then it's obvious that any one (or all 3) of H/S/W would want you. H and S traditionally have the highest yield (# of students matriculating / # of students offered admission). from an adcom perspective, you'll definitely want to try and weed out students who are gunning more for the other school (either H or S presumably).

how do they do this? i have no idea. maybe through your essays they can see if you're truly passionate about the program, the school, etc. maybe in your interview they see how knowledgeable you are about the facilities and professors. or maybe they just use blind luck and throw darts at a board. whatever the method, yield definitely comes into play as well i would assume.

Turnpike

Joined: 03 Oct 2009

Last visit: 06 Apr 2010

Posts: 81

Own Kudos:

Given Kudos: 17

Posts: 81

Kudos: 3

08 Dec 2009, 23:09

Kudos

Bookmarks

LetsGoMets

Please add me to the list of people who will likely be dinged in a week. R1 here, no interview invite.

Therez still the waitlist. They can't possibly ding you on a 780 without an interview.

Turnpike

Joined: 03 Oct 2009

Last visit: 06 Apr 2010

Posts: 81

Own Kudos:

Given Kudos: 17

Posts: 81

Kudos: 3

08 Dec 2009, 23:19

Kudos

Bookmarks

H/S/W are interested in those who can:

a. Provide something distinctive to a classroom discussion. (Read: experience, unique industry, specialisations)
b. Provide endowment. ($$$$$$$)
c. Hire future Grads. (I-am-going -to-be-too-big-to-fail-types)
d. Won't run to another school for love or money.

And that is not a 'choose one' list.

LetsGoMets

Joined: 10 Nov 2009

Last visit: 18 Aug 2024

Posts: 248

Own Kudos:

Given Kudos: 11

Concentration: Finance

Schools:Emory 2012

GPA: 2.5 Applied Math Major

WE 1: 1 yr proprietary trading

WE 2: 2 yrs global ibank in municipal derivatives

Products:

Posts: 248

Kudos: 50

08 Dec 2009, 23:26

Kudos

Bookmarks

I have a 2.5 GPA (from a top school in applied math), because I goofed off and played poker. If they ding me, I know why.

Yes, there's still hope for the wait list.

sapphireka

Joined: 05 Jul 2009

Last visit: 01 Oct 2011

Posts: 132

Own Kudos:

Given Kudos: 19

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

09 Dec 2009, 00:42

Kudos

Bookmarks

LetsGoMets

I have a 2.5 GPA (from a top school in applied math), because I goofed off and played poker. If they ding me, I know why.

Yes, there's still hope for the wait list.

Haha. I've read many poker blogs whining about how they didn't get into Harvard, and coming to the conclusion that harvard is biased against poker players. Assuming you have an actual job now, you probably have a better chance than they do.

Did you explain this is your essays? I'd be interested to know. I got a lot of advice to leave out any reference to poker (I am also a keen player) based on the fact that it is still generally considered a hobby for degenerates. I put it in anyway. Maybe we can do some kind of stats on this?

LetsGoMets

Joined: 10 Nov 2009

Last visit: 18 Aug 2024

Posts: 248

Own Kudos:

Given Kudos: 11

Concentration: Finance

Schools:Emory 2012

GPA: 2.5 Applied Math Major

WE 1: 1 yr proprietary trading

WE 2: 2 yrs global ibank in municipal derivatives

Products:

Posts: 248

Kudos: 50

09 Dec 2009, 01:16

Kudos

Bookmarks

I don't think they biased against poker players. I think they're biased against 2.5's. I survived, landed a job from school at a large proprietary trading shop (one that was started by poker guys), and from there went to a major I bank. But, I'm sure HBS can have their pick of the litter when it comes to finance guys. They don't need to take a risk on a bad gpa, even with a 780 gmat.

No sense worrying about it now. I'll know soon enough.

Joined: 28 Oct 2009

Last visit: 14 Feb 2011

Posts: 40

Own Kudos:

Given Kudos: 2

Posts: 40

Kudos: 1

09 Dec 2009, 11:10

Kudos

Bookmarks

I am ready for Dee's update about notifications!

laurenbcn

Joined: 08 Dec 2009

Last visit: 09 Aug 2011

Posts: 16

Location: Barcelona, Spain

Schools:Harvard, Wharton, Kellogg

Posts: 16

Kudos: 0

09 Dec 2009, 13:00

Kudos

Bookmarks

Hi! Add me to the roll call (and likely-to-get-dinged-next-week list). Applied R1 and no interview. Still trying to figure out what HBS is really looking for. All I can figure out is that I don't have alumni recommendations, and I don't work for Bain/McKinsey/GS/JP.