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.