Harvard Business School (HBS) will release decisions to its first round applicants next Wednesday, January 21st. HBS Admissions Director Dee Leopold devoted a post on her blog yesterday to letting anxious applicants know what to expect that day.
“Some time on Wednesday – most likely before noon – you will receive an email from HBS MBA Admissions indicating that your decision is available. You then log in to your account and there it is,” she wrote.
No phone calls will precede the online notification, she continued. “Really. None,” she emphasized. Applicants who have been admitted can expect to receive calls of congratulations later in the day, but initial notification will always be provided online. “So if you’re waiting to hear from Harvard, no need to jump when the phone rings or worry when it doesn’t,” Leopold wrote.
Applicants who are instead invited to join the waitlist will receive a follow-up email later the same day from Eileen Chang, who manages the waitlist. The waitlist will include both candidates who have interviewed already and some who have not.
For those candidates who receive the dreaded application denial, HBS is unable to provide personal feedback, Leopold explained. “Even if we had the staff capacity to do this during the application season, it probably wouldn’t be as helpful as you wish,” she said. That’s because the vast majority of applicants HBS receives are certainly academically qualified and would bring something interesting to the classroom, she continued. “In our effort to bring together a diverse and textured class, we make many very tough calls,” she wrote.
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