The following Harvard Business School interview report was submitted to Clear Admit by a Round 1 applicant.
I spent weeks preparing for my Harvard Business School interview, but at the end of the day, they’re not lying–you really can’t prepare for it. I mean this in the most complimentary way possible, because I think they do a great job identifying those who have developed a wealth of knowledge on the job and would be a solid contributor to the classroom and community there (rather than an interview prep contest!). Regardless, an overview of my day:
HBS sets up a waiting room with refreshments for the interviewees to meet one another. I hung out here for a while between my class visit and interview. When I was finally pulled in to interview, we started right away. I am specializing in a particular industry on my job (I am a consultant), and so a good portion (maybe a third) of the questions were related to that industry, recent news and broader questions. So, anything that you’ve done at work or has been in the WSJ recently is fair game. Beyond that, questions included:
1. Career goal?
2. Ideal summer internship?
3. Why are you good at your job? Why aren’t you?
4. Discuss your choices… why major in X, why work at Y, etc.
5. Describe your learning style?
6. What do you look for in a classmate?
7. How did you like your class visit?
8. Describe the student interaction in class to me
9. Tell me something surprising about yourself?
She knew my application left and right. No questions on fit or why HBS. No time for questions after. The entire meeting went by very quickly (one of my fellow interviewees said he felt like he “blacked out” during the interview) and was over before I knew it. I didn’t feel great after the interview, and couldn’t get a read on my adcom (totally stone-faced), while other interviewees seemed to feel much better. I ultimately wasn’t admitted but really appreciate the thorough interview process that HBS has (I think it pays dividends in the quality of the student body).
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