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Harvard (HBS) Calling all applicants - Class of 2016

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gamesfreak

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12 Mar 2014, 23:42

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ryansemail7

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gamesfreak

On a related note (considering how my mind keeps drifting), I am trying to figure out how has the HBS adcom managed to interview 800 applicants based on the timeslots/locations provided in the initial interview mail. Assuming 1 candidate per slot, for every slot, across every location, I got to 350 interviews. Throw in another 50-100 via Skype that is still shy of the 800 number.
Wondering if my hypothesis of 1 candidate per slot is flawed - do on campus interviews/US based interviews not follow this rule? (I know all of this doesn't matter, but trying to keep myself distracted and entertained in the process

I interviewed on campus and about 8 other people interviewed during the same time slot as me. We each went into a bunch of different rooms.

Same here. There was about 50 people interviewing on my interview day.

This makes so much more sense now. Off-campus interviews (atleast non-US) from what I have heard are generally one candidate per slot. That is about 300 candidates off-campus (add another 50-100 for Skype interviews) and 400 candidates on-campus (50 people/day for 8 days) - getting us much closer to the 800 number.

gamesfreak

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13 Mar 2014, 00:00

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ryansemail7

ElGrampo

Quote:

I interviewed in mid February, so the wait has been excruciatingly long. I have spent a lot of time just reflecting on the process and discerning how they go from 10,000 applications to 1,100 acceptance letters.

I know exactly what you mean. I interviewed on campus, and I thought that pretty much everyone I met all day was incredibly talented (and did not seem like the type to get rejected due to bad English, extreme introversion, lack of ability to articulate, etc.). I have no idea how they take a pool that strong and then cut off 50% of it.

Well judging from posted numbers and the data from posted users on this site, if they interviewed 800, ~480 will be accepted ~140 will have the option to be wait listed and another ~180 will be rejected. So that means you are absolutely right. The vast majority of the people interviewed will get amazing or stressful news on March 26th. A smaller group will get pretty sad news considering that many of them invested time and serious cash to apply and travel to participate in the interview process.

Of the ~480 people who are accepted, ~160 will probably be international students. That group is probably pretty self selecting because of English proficiency. Of the ~320 domestic students accepted, ~130 will probably be female and ~190 will probably be male. They have, correct me if I remember incorrectly, 10 sections of a little over 90 people. Dee mentioned in my "whats next" session that they try and keep the demographic parameters equal among all sections (to try and keep each section pretty similar so to create more of a standardized education experience).

All of these numbers don't account for the fact that some of these positions were predetermined by the 2+2 applicants who applied in 2012, but since there are 2+2s also applying now this is probably a numbers wash. What it does affect however is the demographics of the class. I would be surprised if they don't keep track of the 2+2s to see what industry experience they are bringing into their respective class.

So long story short, if you are coming from a traditional background, it is really difficult to get through (after all this is one of the world's most selective schools). If you are not coming from a traditional background, you have a higher chance of getting in. Ultimately, the biggest factor affecting your chances at this point is your fellow applicants. That makes this process stressful regardless of your GMAT, GPA, or level of experience.

Yes, I have thought way too much about this process over the past couple weeks.

Solid Logic and very interesting to read.

I would be interested to know if they actually keep that large a number on R2 waitlist? (I would have thought that such a high number would only be for the R1 waitlist, where the adcom leaves some wiggle-room to read R2 apps before deciding on 'almost-there' candidates)
Considering they have nearly shaped the class once R2 decisions are announced, do they still leave such a large wait list based on the statistics you've read? Also would be interesting to know if R1 waitlists get either accepts/rejects on R2 decision day (hence cleaning the existing waitlist) or do R2 waitlists get appended to an existing long list.

gamesfreak

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13 Mar 2014, 00:10

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MBA2016MBA

But if you are from a competitive industry wouldn't they have already factored the differentiating qualities already (who has worked abroad, started a charity foundation, won an Olympic medal etc?) for interview invites...makes me assume there are specific qualities they look for during the interview (that we are unaware they are looking for...)

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I tend to agree with the first part of your post. I would be inclined to believe that the interview pool is crafted in a manner, that reflects the same percentage breakdown for traditional/non-traditional backgrounds as final admits. So I don't believe coming from a traditional consulting/financial services background means you face more competition for the admit. You should have the same chance of success (50-60%), just that you compete with a larger pool of interviewees.

With regards to the second part - I don't think anyone apart from the adcom team can accurately answer what are the specific qualities they look for. Must be an incredibly difficult job to gauge in 30 minutes, how a particular candidate can be a better class contributor than another person with similar credentials, exposure and mannerisms.

ElGrampo

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13 Mar 2014, 02:17

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ryansemail7

ElGrampo

Quote:

Do you think it's 480/800 accepted right off the bat or 480 accepted after all the waitlists are in? I'd always assumed the acceptance rate meant that maybe ~380-400 were accepted off the bat, and another 80-100 accepted off the waitlist. Otherwise, the acceptance rate math doesn't seem to work.

MBA2016MBA

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Updated on: 20 Mar 2014, 15:17

Originally posted by MBA2016MBA on 13 Mar 2014, 05:32.
Last edited by MBA2016MBA on 20 Mar 2014, 15:17, edited 1 time in total.

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MBA2016MBA

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Updated on: 20 Mar 2014, 15:16

Originally posted by MBA2016MBA on 13 Mar 2014, 05:38.
Last edited by MBA2016MBA on 20 Mar 2014, 15:16, edited 1 time in total.

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ryansemail7

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13 Mar 2014, 08:47

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gamesfreak

I would be interested to know if they actually keep that large a number on R2 waitlist? (I would have thought that such a high number would only be for the R1 waitlist, where the adcom leaves some wiggle-room to read R2 apps before deciding on 'almost-there' candidates)
Considering they have nearly shaped the class once R2 decisions are announced, do they still leave such a large wait list based on the statistics you've read? Also would be interesting to know if R1 waitlists get either accepts/rejects on R2 decision day (hence cleaning the existing waitlist) or do R2 waitlists get appended to an existing long list.

I could be completely wrong about this, but I think the wait list from R1 is cleaned out by now either by adcom or through decisions based on the applicants. Applicants who applied R1 who were wait listed who are trying to go to business school this cycle would probably have to commit at other schools they applied to by March or, probably, many in the group began applying to other schools R2. Also, regardless of the year, these numbers seem to hold. I am sure HBS knows how many people they will allow to go on the wait list and, from there, they probably have a good idea how many of them will actually say yes.

ryansemail7

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13 Mar 2014, 08:51

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MBA2016MBA

As a caveat to this all- curveball questions, I don't think there is a right answer in terms of content, but rather in terms of delivery. Ie do you take a pause for 30 seconds to answer and get flustered. Or can you quickly come up with something in two seconds that is somewhat reasonable.

100% agree. I have read that in many cases the interview is an attempt to see how you act in a destabilizing situation. In a case study class, one's opinion is going to be challenged regularly. They probably are going to want to see how you react.

ID1995

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13 Mar 2014, 11:13

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Any HKS/HBS Joint Degree candidates get some good (or bad) news today?

DefyingGravity

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13 Mar 2014, 12:05

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I agree, we have no idea what they look for.

There's an interview with Dee Leopold where she mentions a few of the reasons why someone who interviewed could get dinged. I've highlighted a few points below:
https://poetsandquants.com/2010/09/04/th ... -director/

- Character Flaws: "The first thing is to screen out, to the extent that we can, hubris and character issues. If you cannot behave yourself for 30 minutes with a member of the admissions board at Harvard and we accept you, it would be like trying to bring a loaded gun on a plane. So to that extent, we’re baggage screeners, without any thought that we are going to catch every character flaw, but we are going to pay attention."

- Disengaged Students: "We’re looking for your ability to fit into this learning model, which is not a classic academic model of you sit still and listen and take notes and write papers and spit back stuff. You come into a 90-person section and you are there to contribute. You are there not to be a bystander but are there and willing to put yourself on the line and take a risk and say that ‘I think that Sally Smith in this case should do this and here’s why.’ And you need to be able to accept pushback, to be interested, alert and engaged. I need to know you want to be there."

- Boastfulness: “They talk about their substantial accomplishments and they think I could believe that at their entry level there is no one else in the organization,” she says. “They do billion-dollar deals and all the grown ups are somewhere else. They don’t realize that the goal of this application is really not to make yourself stand out but simply to tell your story.”

- Lack of Diversity: "A superb, off-the-charts person in an interview may not get admitted because at the end of the day the interview isn’t meant to be the lightening round where how you perform in 30 minutes determines your fate. It’s not, you’re in or you’re out. You might say this person is a star in the interview but we have a lot of people with similar backgrounds who did well and we just can’t take them all. So the shaping of the class can become more of a driving factor than the evaluation." Note: this does not mean diversity based on simply ethnicity, gender, or current field. Dee specifically notes this.

hbsfitness45

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13 Mar 2014, 15:03

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@gamesfreak - do you happen to know how many applicants were admitted last year during Round 3?

gamesfreak

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13 Mar 2014, 22:38

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hbsfitness45

@gamesfreak - do you happen to know how many applicants were admitted last year during Round 3?

I believe the number of admits is about a 100. You should read Dee's recent blog entry regarding R3 myths if you are planning to apply. Best of luck - keep the faith

gamesfreak

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13 Mar 2014, 22:44

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ryansemail7

gamesfreak

Did some more digging on Sandy's blog, and it turns out they don't actually wipe the R1 waitlist clean. HBS does admit and release some candidates in the run-up to R2 decision day - but based on previous years data maintain a 170-180 person waitlist (including R1 and R2) till after R2 admits make their final decisions (May).

hbsfitness45

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14 Mar 2014, 09:41

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@gamesfreak - thanks! I had checked it out, and it is promising. My plan is to definitely apply and roll the dice. We shall see how things shake out. Good luck to you, 2 more weeks and you'll be dancing.

ganteymula

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16 Mar 2014, 11:24

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wonder if "further consideration" candidates who made it to Round 2 are evaluated any differently than other regular Round 2 candidates.... thoughts?

ID1995

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16 Mar 2014, 13:17

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ganteymula

wonder if "further consideration" candidates who made it to Round 2 are evaluated any differently than other regular Round 2 candidates.... thoughts?

There probably is no uniform answer to that question (given that the reasons people were FC'd will vary).

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The only information we have re. FC candidates is from (1) Dee's blog post in the fall, where she said that interviewed FCs would have the same 50-60% odds of admission, and (2) from a year or two ago, when 48 FC'd candidates were invited for interview and 24 got in (again, per Dee's blog).

In other words, I think we're more or less in the same boat.

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17 Mar 2014, 13:14

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So, as we wait out the last 10 days until Round 2 decision are released, I have a question for those of you who interviewed in Rd. 2...

Let's say that 50% of those who interviewed in Round 2 will be offer a spot in the class. I know the past percentages have been around 55%, but my guess is that the number of applications HBS received this year increased at least 5-8% due to the shorter application (one essay). Thus, perhaps HBS interviewed 5-8% more candidates while keeping the class size flat.

Much like others on this board, I had the pleasure of meeting many other eloquent, humble applicants on the day of my interview. My guess is that there were 60-70 of us interviewing on campus that day (as an aside, 6-7 of them had undergrad degrees from Duke...and only two knew each other). Beyond just a couple of people who gave off an abrasive air, all were genuine and interesting. I have no idea how HBS is able to divide the group in half each year unless prior experience has told the admissions committee that, every year without fail, the interview process will make this job easier.

There are a lot of theories out there about how many "seats" are available in the class (and thus each cohort) for each "type" of applicant ("US born male, non-minority, bulge bracket bank" - insert any "traditional" career track profile). I'm not sure how much I believe that this quota system exists or, at the very least, that it is very rigid. Upon being offered an interview, each candidate can be assured that HBS believes he or she could be a good fit for one of these slots or seats.

Ultimately, the interview has to be a successful tool for accomplishing the difficult task of thinning the herd. With that said, does anyone on here feel that their interview went really poorly? I mean start to finish, C+ poor; not, "I walked out feeling pretty confident and then began to pick apart my answers and progressively feel worse about my responses."

For some reason, its hard for me to believe that even 20% of interviewers have the type of poor interview performance that allows the admissions committee to outright push them into the NO pile. I don't envy the task of HBS, that's for sure.

WillcGMAT

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17 Mar 2014, 14:12

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Agreed with ecoates: I would be very interested to hear if there are actually candidates who feel as though they "blew" their interview. What confuses me is that resources online make it seem as if the interview is mostly a check the box - you do not need to "wow" the interviewer, just not blow it. If that is the case, there must be some candidates who do, in fact, have a pretty bad 30 minutes. Perhaps part of the disconnect comes from a self-selection bias in that the people who talk about their interview openly are likely the ones who felt they did better...

ElGrampo

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17 Mar 2014, 14:32

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I wouldn't say I blew my interview - I can't think of anything I said, content-wise, that would really screw me over - but I also don't feel like I came out of the interview confident. Basically, I went in super-nervous, and I left super-nervous. And my biggest concern is that my nervousness translated into a "stiff" articulation of what I was trying to say, and that's what screwed me over.

In other words, I left the interview with a vague, rough feeling of total dread, but I couldn't really tell you a good reason for feeling that way. The whole thing was a blur.