Harvard (HBS) Calling all applicants - Class of 2016

Congrats! Any chance you could share more of your profile? Work Experience? GPA?

3.8 GPA in Finance
3 years IB exp at top 3 firm
3 years IB exp at top boutique firm
Lots of charitable work and extra curricular activities

Congrats, such an exciting feeling!!! To prep, I'd recommend you review the questions on clear admit and think about how you would answer. Practice your stories, but don't practice so much that you sound scripted. Make sure you can concisely speak about all of your decision making, such as why you choose your undergrad and current career. During the interview, be confident, yet also humble and enthusiastic. Lastly, you'll quite likely get some off the wall crazy questions. Don't let them throw you off.
Let me know if you have any other questions. I am definitely not an expert but am happy to explain more about my experience.

Posted from my mobile device

Hey everyone,

How do you interpret this part of the rejection letter?:

"Kelly Quinn, Assistant Director of MBA Admissions and Program Manager for the 2+2 Program has set aside time to speak to each of you personally if you wish. This is not for the purpose of critiquing your 2+2 application, but rather to indicate our continued interest in each of you. We hope many of you will be students here at some time in the future. We hope all of you will be MBA students somewhere. The world needs your passion and talent and we think the MBA is a degree that will open many important doors.

Should you wish to speak with Kelly, please call her at 617-496-6975 anytime between 9am - 12pm EDT on April 24, or 1 - 4pm EDT on April 29."

What is actually the purpose of the phone call? How should I treat it if I choose to call?

On that note, I also remember reading somewhere that Dee will speak directly with the candidates that were rejected after the interview, but I cannot find the source. Any idea?

Michael

The source of Dee stating she'd speak to you is from one of her older blog posts.

Regarding the first part of your question, I'm not a 2+2 applicant, so I have no real insight. However, it would seem to me that there is no harm in taking the call with Kelly since they are explicitly inviting you to chat. I think it's always helpful to gain as much insight as you possibly can, especially if you are considering applying again in the future.

Sounds like they're saying that you could be a promising candidate for admission a few years down the road, but you didn't quite make the cut as a 2+2 applicant.

I would treat the call as a way for you to find out what you can do to become as competitive as possible 3-5 years from now. Maybe they identified some slight deficiencies in your profile that you could address over the next few years in addition to the basic "do really good at your next job, and have very clear reasons for why MBA/why HBS when you reapply" advice they'll probably also give you.

@DefyingGravity - thanks for the advice! Just picked up the Clear Admit Guide and I've been reading through the Harbus to get a handle on the questions. I hope to meet you in person as a classmate, thanks again.

Thank you everybody who attended the latest webinar jointly organized by GMATClub and Admissionado Consulting for the applicants got dinged this year.

For the members who could not attend this event, we have posted the webinar recording in the main post of this thread.
Check out this link for free ding analysis offer by Admissionado.

FROM HBS Admissions Blog: Moving in the General Direction of Summer

Greetings. We are re-cycling this title from last year’s post around this time. Feels like it’s still appropriate. Tis the season for folks to start thinking about next year, visiting campus, figuring out where we’ll be traveling to do info sessions. Last class visit is on May 9. We don't have any summer classes so there's nothing to see! Information sessions: The schedule changes to Mondays and Fridays at 2:00 pm Boston time beginning May 12. No advance notice required. All of our sessions are conducted by members of the Admissions Board with plenty of time for QA. We do not meet individually with candidates. Please check out our calendarfor dates and locations of the information sessions. Campus tours: Beginning on May 12, we'll host tours at 1:15 pm Boston time on Mondays and Fridays. Again, no advance notice required - report to Dillon House. If you come to campus when a tour is not offered, you can come by Dillon House (we love visitors) and borrow an iPod with a campus tour. You can also download a tour from iTunes. We'll be hosting various types of presentations about HBS this summer, including student panels - watch the websitefor our schedule. We'll be launching the application for the Class of 2017 in mid-June. Here's some advance info: The Round 1 deadline will be mid-September. New: THERE IS NO SUMMER ROUND FOR 2+2 CANDIDATES. 2+2 will follow the same application season calendar as the “regular” MBA Program.

FROM HBS Admissions Blog: Round 3 Interviews and Beyond

Here's the plan: On Thursday, April 17, hopefully at 12:00 noon Boston time, we will send out both interview invitations and release notifications. Thus, all Round 3 candidates will be hearing something from us on Thursday. Interviewees will receive detailed instructions via email. Interviews will be conducted here on campus on April 28 and May 2. Skype interviews will be available for international candidates and college students with academic conflicts. Round 3 decisions (to all interviewed candidates) will go out on May 14. Noon. You know the drill. The application for the Class of 2017 will go live in mid-June. We'll post the essay and recommender questions before that - most likely in early June. Onward. Hope this is helpful.

FROM HBS Admissions Blog: Moving in the General Direction of Summer

Greetings. We are re-cycling this title from last year’s post around this time. Feels like it’s still appropriate. Tis the season for folks to start thinking about next year, visiting campus, figuring out where we’ll be traveling to do info sessions. Last class visit is on May 9. We don't have any summer classes so there's nothing to see! Information sessions: The schedule changes to Mondays and Fridays at 2:00 pm Boston time beginning May 12. No advance notice required. All of our sessions are conducted by members of the Admissions Board with plenty of time for QA. We do not meet individually with candidates. Please check out our calendarfor dates and locations of the information sessions. Campus tours: Beginning on May 12, we'll host tours at 1:15 pm Boston time on Mondays and Fridays. Again, no advance notice required - report to Dillon House. If you come to campus when a tour is not offered, you can come by Dillon House (we love visitors) and borrow an iPod with a campus tour. You can also download a tour from iTunes. We'll be hosting various types of presentations about HBS this summer, including student panels - watch the websitefor our schedule. We'll be launching the application for the Class of 2017 in mid-June. Here's some advance info: The Round 1 deadline will be mid-September. New: THERE IS NO SUMMER ROUND FOR 2+2 CANDIDATES. 2+2 will follow the same application season calendar as the “regular” MBA Program.

The forum is so quiet! Counting down until Wednesday...

FROM HBS Admissions Blog: Round 3 Notification Details

Round 3 Notification Details Here’s the way things will happen on Wednesday for Round 3 candidates. Decisions become available at 12:00noon Boston time (ET). An email will be sent directing you to your application account. The email may take a few minutes to get to you, so you might want to go directly to the Applicant Status page on your accountany time after noon. Decisions will either be: • “Sorry, we don’t have a spot for you” and the letter you receive will give you dates/times for touchpoint calls. • Waitlist - yes, there will definitely be a few of these. We hope these will be resolved speedily and we definitely will be making offers to some in this group. More details about waitlist management will be in the letter you receive. • Admit - yay! Letters will include lots of details on what-to-do-next and how to get to the Prematriculation site. Here in Dillon we’ll be on duty and planning a big drum roll at noon on Wednesday!

One more day... does anyone have ANY idea how many applicants will be accepted on Wednesday????

Good luck today Round 3ers!

In for round 3! What a relief!
Reading these forums has been a lifesaver throughout this process without any friends in the same boat.

Hope others received good news today as well.

FROM HBS Admissions Blog: Getting started: The Class of 2017

I’m quite surprised (ok, make that “happy” and “impressed”) at the number of inquiries we’re getting from those of you who would like to get started on the application for the class entering in August, 2015. So, with Round 3 Class of 2016 notification yesterday’s news, here we go. This is what the (optional) “essay” question will be: You're applying to Harvard Business School. We can see your resume, academic transcripts, extracurricular activities, awards, post-MBA career intentions, test scores, and what your recommenders have to say about you. What else would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy?” Use your judgment as to how much to tell us. We don't have a right answer or correct length in mind. We review all the elements of your written application to decide who moves forward to the interview stage. Why are we repeating this question when we usually dream up something new? In fact, I went on record last year as saying that we’d ALWAYS be changing the essay question. I was wrong. We liked it. When we look at the responses of admitted candidates, there was a wider-than-usual range of how folks approached it. Some are completely about professional lives, others barely mention work experience. Some are very brief, others are not. And, sorry to repeat myself, but getting into HBS isn’t an essay-writing contest. If we were to publish 50 “essays that worked” and another 50 that “didn’t work”, I would challenge anyone to make a perfect distinction. It’s just one element of the application. Now, on to recommender questions: • How do the candidate's performance, potential, background, or personal qualities compare to those of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? Please provide specific examples. (300 words) • Please describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant's response. (250 words) The application itself will go “live” in mid-June. I’ll post here when we’ve got a definite date. And please watch our website for both our in-person information sessions around the world and our informational webinars. And finally, something you may want to know: Round One application deadline will be September 9, 2014. Interviews, by invitation only, will be conducted from mid-October through end of November. Notification will be on or around December 10. Onward!