As a major snow storm closed Harvard Business Schooltoday (Jan. 27), thousands of anxious MBA candidates were awaiting a prized inviteto an admissions interview. Harvard expects to dispatch roughly 600 interviewinvitations to MBA applicants tomorrow and another 200 on Feb. 4th when theremaining round two candidates will be dinged. HBS says that roughly half thecandidates interviewed are admitted.
DeeLeopold, managing director of admissions and financial aid, conceded that as ofyesterday her admissions team still had not finished reading all the round twoapplications received by the school. In a blog post, however, Leopold said she did not believe the stormwould delay the release of the first wave of interview decisions by noon EST onJan. 28. All 2+2 invites, Harvard said would be sent on Feb. 4.
Round twos at Harvard and most of the other elite schoolstend to be the largest single application rounds. Though HBS is among the firstto notify R2 applicants of the next step, one top school after another willsoon be sending invites for interviews or for admission. At StanfordUniversity’s Graduate School of Business, round two interview invites begingoing out in early February and then dribble out through early March. AtNorthwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, round two interviewshad to be scheduled by Jan. 14 for a final decision date of 25. Wharton has around two decision date of March 24.
Harvard’s invites are being sent out according to whenthe admissions staff completed its initial review of an application and not by anyother reason. “I’ve said this before, but please don’t speculate or developtheories or algorithms about first vs. second,” wrote Leopold. “It doesn’t workthat way. And it has nothing to do with when you submitted, where you live, orthe first letter of your last name.”
Eachinvite, aded Leopold, will include detail on dates and scheduling of theinterview done by HBS admission staffers. “The online interview scheduler goeslive the day AFTER interview invitations go out (that gives you time to think aboutdates/times/locations),” she said. The first of eight posted dates foron-campus interviews will be held Feb. 12 and 13. HBS also will do admissioninterviews in New York, Palo Alto, Dubai, London, Mumbai, Paris, Shanghai, andTokyo (full schedule here).
The typical on-campus interview includes a full-day ofactivities: a presentation n the Harvard Innovation Lab, lunch with a facultypanel, a student-led campus tour, a session on career and professionaldevelopment, a coffee chat with current MBA students, and finally a 45-minute“What’s Next” session with Leopold. To attend a class, prospective studentsmust pre-register for a 9:10 or 10:50 visit. HBS also provides one-day guestpasses to Shad Hall, the HBS fitness center. The admissions board interview canobviously get in the way of some of these events because they are being held oncampus at 9:30 am, 10:30 am, 11:30 am, 1:30 pm, 2:30 pm and 3:30 pm. So it’s agreat idea to set aside a couple of days to get all of it in.
IF YOU’REINVITED TO AN HBS INTERVIEW, HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT
Withthose invites just around the corner, Poets&Quants’ again turned toprominent MBA admissions consultant Sandy Kreisberg, for some timely advice and counsel for those luckyenough to interview. Kreisberg did 60 mock interviews with round one HBScandidates so he also has both the background and the experience to know whatto expect, what works and what doesn’t. He also shared with us reports filedback to him from clients who were interviewed during round one.
Sandy, youdid 60 mock interviews for HBS round one this fall, what is new?
Not much in terms of what really counts. The Golden Rulesremain the same. 1. The interview is meant to weed people out, not selectpeople (see story below). 2. The interview is mostly resume based, and focused onyour ability to walk through your resume, introduce yourself, and explainkey transitions, why you went to School X, why you took Job 1, what youlearned there, what your accomplishments were, what you would do differently,why you took Job 2, etc. For each school and job on your resume beprepared to explain what you did, what you learned, what you are proud of,what you would do differently, etc. That is the bulk, and the important bulk ofthe HBS interview. Although sure, there are millions of variants. 3. Smart people, who can in fact speak English, screw upthe HBS interview for two reasons: They talk too much and get lost, andlose track of where they are. Or they try to give exceptional, show-off answersinstead of down-to-earth obvious answers.
Can youprovide some color from applicants who interviewed in Round 1.
Sure, here are some interview report excerpts written byRound One applicants right after they were interviewed.
These are typical and strongly indicate that in terms of HBS interview processand and concerns, nothing much is “new” from what we have been reporting on forthe last several years. To wit, they are looking for your ability to explainthings you should be able to explain. They are not looking to trip you up, or‘pressure test you,’ or
make you cry or laugh. Here’s what my clients told me.
REPORT 1
“Just had my HBS interview in CITY with Adcom Lady 1asking questions and Adcom Lady 2 (observing). Lady 1 had read my wholeapplication but Lady 2 only my resume. The interview was very conversationaland relaxed; we also seemed to cover a lot of different questions – either Iwas concisee in my answers or I just talked too quickly, probably both.Hopefully it went well but difficult to tell. Thanks very much for your help –a lot of the questions asked were covered in our mock interview.”
REPORT 2
“I think it went well; was very conversational. Hadcommon ground with both the interviewer and observer which made for some smalltalk throughout the interview. Two female interviewers on campus. Observeractually asked probably 3 or 4 questions which I wasn’t expecting. Alsosurprised there were probably 15 or so other people interviewing at the sametime. Small talk (I was nervous but got completely passed it after the firstquestion.
Did you go to class?
Have you been here before?
Did you get to do the activities?
Where do you want to start today?”
REPORT 3
“Thank you for the mock interview. They touched on mostof the questions that we talked about. The interviewer was Adcom Lady 1. Therewas no observer. She was nice. Right after the interview, I thought it was ONFIRE. I was articulate, energetic, and super confident. Then I started to thinkback and felt stupid at some points. [Ed note: this dude got in.]
[Here are some questions]; Tellme why and how you got into your university
1st internship: What is the takeaway?
2nd internship: What is the takeaway?
1st internship: What is the negative feedback, constructive criticism?
You said you wanted to do public policy in the future. Why not a joint degree?
What is the thing that you hope is true and not true at HBS?”
REPORT 4
“Iinterviewed yesterday with Adcom Person 1 (interviewer) and Adcom Person 2(observer). Overall I think it went well. It was very focused on my experiencesthat I’ve had in the past few years. They were both friendly and the tone wasconversational. They asked me the following questions: Whathas made me successful at consulting firm
Asked several specific questions about some of my cases (probably spent ~7-10minutes on this)
Asked about a time a client was pushing back or being passive aggressive
How my skills from one case have transferred to another case
What I liked to do for fun
If there was anything else I wanted to talk about”
REPORT 5
Theinterview went pretty well. The questions were all pretty straightforward, manyfrom the lists you provided, while many were tailored to my resume. No realsurprises, nothing from out in left field.
My interview was on campus at HBS. [Women 1 and 2] interviewed me. Woman 2 wasthe observer. Woman 1 asked me the following questions: Whendid you arrive in Boston, and what have you been doing since arriving?
Did you go to a class? What did you think of it?
Woman 2, the observer, has seen your resume but not your full application. Canyou introduce yourself to her, with the objective of explaining why you haveended up where you are?
What do you want to do after graduate school?
You wrote in your essay about [x experience] [lots of follow up questions]
What is a sector are you currently looking into, and what makes it interestingfrom an investment perspective?
What was your favorite deal at the investment bank you worked at? [follow upquestions]
What’s a company you admire and why? [follow up questions]
Sandy,that’s going to be really helpful to a lot of candidates. I think thosequestions also very predictable and in a way reassuring. But is it really fairto say the interview is meant to weed out people?
I talk tolots of people who have been interviewed and then get official feedback fromHBS, which is something they offer in various formats for applicants who havebeen dinged after interview (but not to applicants who have not beeninterviewed). By far, the biggest reason given for the ding is aninterview screw up. Here is a typical example, “Dee said that I shouldtry to “interview in more real-time, not try and come across too polished orcanned…. Here’s a quote she read me from my interview report, ‘seemedlike he was worried about getting all of his points across in 30 minutes’”. So what isthe take away from that?
The biggestmistake people make in preparing for the HBS interview is worrying about trickquestions. In fact, the Poets&Quants’ story The Most Unpredictable Questions HBS Asks is somethingof a disservice because those “oddball” questions get people preparingclever answers and searching for more oddball questions.
Hey, Ilove that story and those questions are real. So which oddball questions areyou talking about?
Hereare some of them: Whatare the two best pieces of advice you have been given, and why? Whatdo you want to be remembered as? Whatis your definition of a leader? How do you fit that definition? Howdo you make big decisions? Howwould your parents describe you when you were twelve? Whatis one thing I’d never have guessed about you, even after reading yourapplication? Whatis the one thing you would like me to remember about you? Andnow, John, by reprinting them we have put the elephant in the room and peoplereading this will do just that. Think about oddball questions and cleveranswers. That was cruel fun, but my advice to applicants facinginterviews is NOT to do that.
Those are great questions and great conversations starters at aparty. So anyway what should people do?
They should havecomfortable answers to basic questions like those mentioned in the reportsabove. Those are not sexyquestions but they come up with great frequency and they often come up early,when the interviewer is still judging you. The oddball questions often come upin the second half of the 30-minute interivew and by that time, in theinterviewer’s mind, you are either OK or not. Although you can certainly shootyourself in the foot in the last 15 minutes, you cannot save yourself.
Are there any new questions, new oddballs, based on yourexperience?
In light of what Ijust said, why would you want to know that?
Because those more frequently asked questions are rather boring.Besides, I am a sadist and our readers want to know.
How about these: What would you say to[President Obama, Hillary Clinton, President of your university or company] ifyou had 10 minutes? Recommend a book toVladimir Putin, and why? What is your favoriteiPhone application? What is the worstthing that has ever happened to you in public? What will you regretnot doing at HBS? Introduce yourself toGod.
As a lapsed Catholic, that last one could get me in trouble.Anyway, if you made it to this stage, it’sa big deal. The interview is the only thing separating you from a seat in theclass, right?
Yes, but it’s likebeing born. It’s a special passage where awful things can happen. Tremendousdamage can occur in a very short period of time. You should worry about it, andyou should prepare for it.
Sandy, what’s the most common misperception about theseinterviews?
Some think this islike an audition for a symphony orchestra where the conductor is choosing oneviolinist out of ten and you have to be .001 better than nine other people.It’s not that. It’s more like an audition for a marching band. You just have tobe able to bang a drum in terms of talent and not appear to be arrogant,inward, unsure of yourself, confused or most importantly, someone they do notwant in the band.
At Harvard, that meansif they interview ten people, they will reject one with marginal English rightout of the box. If you can’t speak English, you’re done. You won’t be able tosurvive. Then, of the remaining nine English speakers, one to two people mighthave a meltdown of some kind. They have a bad hair day or a bad tongue day. Sothe way that smart people blow the Harvard interview is to have a bad halfhour.
How else can a person blow an HBS interview?
Well, on occasion, DeeLeopold will give feedback to applicants who are rejected and her most commonexplanation for a ding is something along the lines of “you sounded scripted .. .you sounded like you were attempting to get all your points across ratherthan just answering the question in front of you.” She might be sayingthe same thing I said about going down topics A, B, C and D instead of justcleanly answering the simple question being posed.
There is also a relatively new part to the interview process whichactually began two years ago. It’s the so-called reflection essay in 400 words orless which applicants need to write and submit within 24 hours of theinterview. What has that been like?
It’s like a pain butit does not mean much. It’s like doing all the prep and anxiety for acolonoscopy, and then having the colonoscopy, and then having the doctor tellyou at the end, “OK, the colonoscopy is over, but instead of being relieved,and returning to your normal bowel habits, we’d like you to drink this pitcherof beer and not pee for 24 hours– yes, that is right, there is one more annoyancehere before we are rid of you.”
And Dee Leopold isselling this annoyance as allowing the applicant to “have the last word.” Igiggle. Also, I think they misjudged greatly the logistics of that 24-hourrule. A lot of applicants, especially outside the U.S., squeeze in the HBSinterview by taking a day or two off from work and travelling to campus for it.So instead of hurrying back to work, they now have to find time to do thatessay. Really annoying and silly, quite frankly.
Well, that’s what they will be required to do when they are in thereal work world. You use the Wifi in the airport or you hop on a plane and getstuff done. In any case, how important do you think this essay will ultimatelybe in the decision to admit or deny?
They have already downgradedthis exercise on Dee’s Director’s Blog last year as not really being an essaybut more of an email. They don’t want it overwrought. They want it to beinformal. Great, so now spend hours doing that. The prompt is sort of, “Isthere anything else you’d like to say to help us get to know you?”
I have read many, manyof those reflection essays, and I can barely think of one instance where itchanged an outcome. If you messed up the interview, saying that in the essayand adding that it won’t happen again will not help. It’s dead men writingemails. If you have five reasons why you want to be an investment banker andyou only mentioned two in the interview, well, listing the other three in thereflective email won’t help, either. As with so much about this process, theadded air time can probably hurt you more than help you. Some reflective essaysconfirm interview takeaways, for example, ‘This kid is controlled, calculatedand unpleasant.” That is actually a meme for dinging kids from Bain. Well, thebad Bain. I got lots of hommies there, too, but it applies to other kids aswell.
Most people justsay something like, “Thanks, it was great talking to you about 1, 2 and3, which are important to me, I also do A and B which did not come up, but arealso important to me, and I am still really gung-ho about coming to HBS.”
Yes, and they stay upfor 24 hours composing that little ditty. My guess is, not one of these“reflections” is going to make a difference, and they will barely be read. Itdoes answer a common question, however, should you send a post-interviewthank-you note? Well, the answer to that was always no, but now it is easier.You can turn some part of this reflection into a nominal thank-you note.
And what does a bad half hour look like?
The most common waythat smart people blow a Harvard interview is to get lost. Talking too much.Digressing. Getting lost in the weeds. That is the most common mistake. Itoutweighs every other mistake. You’re asked a simple question like, ‘Why didyou go to Cornell for your undergraduate degree?’ And you begin with a historyof Cornell and tell the admissions person all about your family. You’re eightminutes into it and you haven’t yet answered the question. It is one of thosemoments where you hear yourself speaking and you cannot believe you are sayingthis. You just generally come off as inarticulate and struggling.
In terms ofintellectual preparation, you just have to make sure you don’t get lost. Gothrough your resume and for every job and transition in your life be preparedto crisply explain why you did it, and your stories and explain why you did it,what it was like, what you learned, and how you would do it differently. Beable to talk about every job in 40 seconds. Don’t feel the need for completeness.If they are interested, they will ask a follow-up question.
So Harvard and other schools are looking for succinct and clearanswers, not meandering detours for answers. Makes sense to me.
The answers need to bespecific, crisp, and articulate. They want to see you draw a straight line fromone end of the canvas to another. The way you mess up a question is to draw ansquiggly line across the canvas. You need pop-up answers. Why I took this job?What my best accomplishment on this job was? What the culture of the firm wasand why I took my next job and how I would improve the job looking backwards.The correct answer to the Cornell question is, ‘I lived in New York and wantedto get away from home yet not leave the East Coast. I was interested in liberalarts and not certain at the time what my major goals were. My high schoolguidance counselor and friends who went there suggested I look at Cornell. Onmy campus visit, I was excited by the enthusiasm of the students, and Iimmediately felt that it was a place where I could feel at home. Lookingthrough the course catalog, I got really excited.’
The quickest way toget rejected is to answer with a ‘duh’ because you’re surprised at how simplethe question is. A lot of people are thrown by this question. Kids who went toHarvard College are asked why they chose Harvard and often have to watchthemselves from saying, ‘duh!’
There’s got to be more to it than that. I imagine that Harvard andother schools are looking for certain answers.
Aside from getting lost,the second way smart people flunk an interview is by being a super jerk. Superjerks come in all types: there is the Bain/McKinsey super jerk, the GoldmanSachs super jerk, and the Teach for America and World Bank super jerk, and mostrecently, the Google super jerk. Almost any Bain Capital or TPG guy dinged byHBS has flunked the interview on the jerk meter.
About 20% or moreof Harvard admissions committee members dislike investment bankersand private equity people. They are just looking for you to say something thatis not politically correct. If you tell Harvard you are interested inopportunistic investments in distressed debts because you can make a killing,or even any nice version of that, you have just committed suicide. Instead,they want to hear you say you are interested in investing in companies that canreally make a difference. ‘My greatest transaction was in supporting an orphandrug company that created a drug to help people with a rare type of diabetes.’Or that you found a creative way to help finance a social enterprise in ruralIndia to provide clean drinking water to people.’
It’s hard to believe they’ll fall for that, but I get the doublebottom line emphasis, given all the accusations about greed. How should anapplicant dress for the interview?
There are two mistakesyou can make here. One of them is making a statement with what you wear. If youare a banker, don’t show up looking like Leonardo DiCaprio in Wolf of WallStreet. You shouldn’t be on campus wearing a white collar on a blue shirt or apair of gold cufflinks. Definitely no suspenders. The shoes should notscream ‘these are $1,000 shoes!’ The other mistake is more rare. Some techiesoften show up from work wearing chinos. You don’t need to wear a suit; you canwear a blazer, but dress in a way that shows you are taking this eventseriously. For women, you should be a cross between Hilary Clinton and SherylSandberg. Don’t make a statement in terms of accessories. Go light on thebling.
Are there different rules for an interview at Stanford where it’sgenerally more laidback?
You may be able towear jeans to a Stanford interview if it’s pre-arranged in the back and forthwith the alum who will interview you. Because alumni generally do theinterviews, they sometimes set it up at Starbucks on a Saturday. You cansay, ‘Is this Saturday dress or business casual?’ If the guy is nice,he’ll say, ‘Well, I’ll be wearing jeans.’
How does an applicant prep for one of these interviews?
You should know whatthe standard questions are. About 90% of the questions are, ‘Take me throughevery line of your resume.’ They say, ‘Why did you go there?’ They are obsessedwith transitions. ‘What did you accomplish? How did you accomplish it? Howwould you do it differently?’
You also should be preparedto discuss how the economic downturn has affected you and your industry.
And then, there arefrequent flyer questions like, ‘What did you think of the application? Have youattended an HBS class?’ That is an important question. Your answer should betruthful. If you haven’t, you should say so but add that you have seen a videoof a class on the Harvard website. And then you should be able to do a song anddance on what you thought of a class. The big mistake is to say, ‘I went to UVA(University of Virginia) and I’ve had case study classes so it’s not going tobe a problem for me.’ Harvard is looking for case method virgins. They want younot to have been to the big city. They want you to say, ‘Golly, holy smokes,the class was a mind blow. I was really impressed with the energy and with howthe case study helped students bring to bear their different experiences andbackgrounds in the class discussion.’ The wise guy UVA answer by inferencesays, ‘I have done this before and it won’t be a problem for me and I can givea better answer than the guy next to me when the time comes.’ That answerbecomes the first drop of poison in the cup. If you keep answering that way,you are toast.
Another mistake peoplemake is they think they have to deliver their whole package. They already haveyour package. Some people come out and say, ‘We never talked about my plans forhealth care reform.’ They don’t care. A large part of a Harvard interview, like40%, can be your college experiences and internships and some jive about clubsyou will join at HBS.
What’s your best advice on the famous closing question of manyinterviews, “Do you have any questions for me?”
Basically, theinterview is over, your grade has already been faxed in. They are just tryingto get you out the door. But you can screw this up at the last minute. You canpick an argument. You can say, ‘Do you really think you can teach financethrough the case method?’ That is an awful question to ask because you arecalling their baby ugly. They believe you can learn anything through the casemethod. So you don’t want to get into a debate over it. A better answer is reallight. If you’re from another part of the country, you might say, ‘I’ve neverexperienced a New England winter. Have you got any tips?’ One of the bestquestions would be, ‘How hard would it be for me to organize a forum around oneof my passionate interests?’ They’d love that one. If the chemistry was rightbetween you and the interviewer, you might even ask if they could recommend anIndian restaurant in Harvard Square.
What are the basic differences between interviews at Harvard vs.Stanford, or Wharton?
Alumni do up to 90% ofthe interviews at Stanford and it’s well known that the interview is more of amarketing device to get alumni involved. You have to do something reallydramatic to commit suicide in a Stanford interview. Basically, it does notcount. The Wharton interview is now this group grope and it is easier to comeoff the rails, especially if the chemistry in your group is a bit toxic. Butmost people are hip to that. My guess is, the jerks come out in the wash at HBSand Wharton, so the process works in each case, although I prefer HBS becauseit is less likely to result in a false negative.
Sandy, what’s the best kind of interviewer an applicant can have?
If you can help it,you’ll always be better off with an interviewer with a lot of experiencebecause they are less likely to make oddball judgments. You want a normativeinterviewer, someone who knows the standards and who has been through it amillion times. Alumni often have a chip on their shoulders. They may haveissues with the school that can get projected in the interview. They may wantto use you to deliver a message to the school, or they could have a prejudiceagainst people who are in Teach For America or other non-profits. That happensa lot. And some alumni interviews can go on for more than an hour.
My guess is, not manyalums who are working 24 hours a day at their start-up or doing big dealsvolunteer for doing interviews, so you often get the less traditional, lessgung-ho, more social science types, who over invest in the process. Remember,at Stanford the interview basically does not count. So while the interview ismuch more unpredictable, well, thank God it almost never moves the needle.
You’re obviously doing a good number of mock interviews right now.What most bothers you about the whole process?
What upsets me ispeople who are good people but who have a bad hair day. The call I fear is fromthe person crying on Amtrak. They had their interview at HBS. They are on theirway home on the train to New York, and they call in tears because they thinkthey have blown their interview. If you think you’ve blown your interview atHarvard, you probably have blown it. Those are real sad calls, especially ifyou like the person, and they rehearse how they lost a step, then another andthen tripped. If you could have prevented the first lost step, they would be inat Harvard. That happens, man, trust me. That happens. Years of work and hoursof preparation and poof, it’s gone, because they could not explain why theywent to Cornell for college in 30 concise seconds. | 
