Today’s the day that Round 2 applicants at Harvard Business School who haven’t already received an interview invitation will learn their fate. With just minutes to go until the scheduled 12 noon notification, we know anxiety is high!
HBS Managing Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Dee Leopold is on record saying that the timing of an interview invitation—whether as part of last week’s first wave or today’s second wave—is not a reflection of your candidacy. That said, she didn’t address applicant speculation about the significance of interview invite timing head on this year.
Last year, she was a little more direct. Here’s what she shared then:
“How many in each wave? We really don’t know yet and that’s because we’re not actually finished with reading the written applications. So best guess might be 600 in the first wave and 200 in the second. I’ve said this before, but please don’t speculate or develop theories or algorithms about first vs. second. It doesn’t work that way. And it has nothing to do with when you submitted, where you live, or the first letter of your last name.”
And the year before, she shared this:
“I’m aware of all the speculation about how many invitations go out in each wave and if certain geographies or backgrounds are more likely to go out in the first vs. second wave. How we split up these waves varies from year to year and to avoid a lot of algorithms being built out there by those with far more sophisticated quant skills than we possess in Dillon, I’d rather just leave it at ‘many’ and ‘some.’ I can assure you that geography and background have nothing to do with the waves—it’s all about human beings here in Dillon reading a lot of applications thoroughly. We devote a great amount of effort to finding the right balance between minimizing your wait-time and maximizing the care and attention we give to each application. We are not running your applications through any kind of machine—we’re reading them. And reading again.”
One way or another, you should all know with certainty in a matter of minutes whether you’ve made the cut. We’re wishing everyone good luck!
A reminder to all: Hub cities for Round 2 interviews this year are London, Paris, Mumbai, Dubai, Tokyo, Menlo Park and New York City. “Remember, where you choose to interview has no bearing on the evaluation process—all of our interviews are conducted by members of the Admissions Board,” Leopold shared in a recent blog post. She added that even those who interview in a hub city should feel “warmly invited” to take part in Campus Interview Days in Boston.
For those of you who do get a coveted interview invitation today, don’t forget to download the Clear Admit HBS Interview Guide or scroll through past applicants’ accounts in the Interview Archive as you prepare.
