HBS MBA Admissions Interviews: Preparation

 In this third of three posts I provide advice for HBS Admissions Interviews.  This third post focuses on preparation. The first post discusses logistics and content. The second post focuses on strategy. These posts are a January 2025 revision of posts originally written in 2021. In light of overall changes to HBS's admissions criteria (See my 2024 post on that here), I thought it worth updating these posts after I received R1 interview reports for the Class of 2027 (2025 entry).

 

At the time of the blog post (January 2025), 97 of my clients (mostly comprehensive counseling plus those interview only clients I worked with for 5 hours, this does not include an even larger number of  HBS admits that I worked for only 1-4 hours on interview prep) have been admitted to HBS since the entering class of 2008 (I had prior clients admitted between 2001 and 2007 before establishing my own service). My clients' results and testimonials can be found here. In addition to providing comprehensive application consulting on HBS, I regularly help some candidates with HBS interview preparation only. My clients admitted to HBS come from all over the world with high concentrations in India, Japan, Singapore, EU, UK, and US.

 

In this post I apply what was discussed about HBS MBA admissions interviews in the prior two posts rather practically.  The objective of this post is to help you with both self prep and to serve as an overall guide to preparing for an HBS interview.

 

PREPARATION

In my experience, applicants who succeed at HBS MBA interviews go to their interview with a sense of confidence based on having done careful preparation. My clients who have failed the interview stage have often done so because of related reasons: lack of confidence and/or preparation.  Of course, there are times when the post-interview reason for getting dinged is never clear. The reality of having too many well qualified applicants means that many who would certainly make the post-interview cut don't, simply due to lack of available seats. While these issues could be the same for any interview, the reality is that HBS admissions interviews are more intensive than that of most other schools. Failure to take this interview sufficiently seriously is a recipe for disaster.

 

TAKE PREPARATION FOR HBS VERY SERIOUSLY! Any experienced admissions consultant will tell you that the HBS interview is one that really does require preparation even for those who previously aced alumni interviews.  My colleagues and I have often become depressed about cases where we had great applicants who did not take the HBS really seriously.  By the same token, our clients who really prep for this really do have a much higher rate of admission.  I have had clients who might do 5-20 hours of self-preparation for every hour of time spent with a consultant.  One of my clients admitted to HBS did 2 hours of prep with myself and another counselor and an additional 100 hours on his own. He already had been admitted to Kellogg and Booth, but knew HBS would be different.  It is certainly not uncommon for clients to do 40-50 hours of self prep and additional 1-5 or more hours of prep with consultants.  If you think that either your English ability and/or interview skills are somewhat weak, be prepared to do extensive practice both with other people and alone. The self prep component can be particularly effective if you are trying to cover a huge range of questions and also master telling your best stories.   If you have an online HBS interview, whether that practice is by yourself, with friends or family, or with a consultant, become comfortable doing interviews on Zoom.  For more about the technical aspects of online interviews, see here.

 

KNOW YOUR APPLICATION

You need to know your application very completely as you will be asked by the HBS Interviewer about its content.
Review your entire application (not just resume and essays, but everything including the transcript) very carefully and consider what your interviewer might ask you to explain more thoroughly. Remember: Anything is fair game. Assume that the weakest parts of your application will be topics in the interview. Assume the worst-case scenario and be very prepared to address their concerns.  If you have any academic weaknesses (low GPA, a relatively weak TOEFL, insufficient proof of a quantitative background), be ready to address those issues. Be prepared to tell new stories and alternative versions of the stories you told in your essays.  I especially recommend that you consider how every point on your resume might become a potential topic. A point I continually make to own clients who have been invited for the HBS interview is that proper preparation for this interview really requires that you look for all the weak points in your application: Rip yourself apart in order to try and determine what you need to be especially ready to address.  In addition, you should consider having one or more other people who can help you prepare for this and who will review your entire file. If you use any paid services, make sure that the mock interviewer (admissions consultant, admissions counselor, interview coach) will be reading your application first and developing a list of questions based on that review and with an understanding of what HBS asks, otherwise they are not really helping you prepare for an HBS interview. When I do mock interviews for interview-only clients, I always ask to read their applications if they are not doing a blind interview. For schools like HBS and MIT, which are never blind, reading the whole application (especially the essays) is critical for simulating the real thing.

 

 

ACTIVE INTERVIEW PREPARATION

I believe in the value of active interview preparation. That is to say, instead of focusing only what questions you might get asked, focus on what you want to say about yourself. A basic any school approach to this would be to connect key words and stories that you hope to use. Given that you can't know exactly what you will be asked, you can at least have prepared for discussing key things that you want to get across to the interviewer. By being a bit more scripted, you can reduce your visible nervousness and overexcitement and give a more controlled response. The following is an "any school" chart:

 

Active Interview Preparation Chart

Keyword: A selling point or even a weakness	Stories	Questions It Might Answer
Example: Analytical	Development of 6-sigma strategic framework for XXX, inc. Discovery of accounting errors during first year of work. Senior thesis on the S&L Crisis	Name three words that describe you (This would be one) What are your strengths?  Why? (This would be one.) How do you solve complex problems? How could you contribute to your classmates? What skill are you most proud of?

 

(You can cut and paste this into MS Word or Google docs)
In addition to outlining key words and stories as discuss in my general post on interview strategy, you actually more directly connect this to the specific three criteria  that HBS values in order to see how well you are covering each of the criteria in your interview preparation. The chart below will help you map out your own HBS interview strategy.

 

HBS Active Interview Preparation Chart

Keywords: A selling point or even a weakness	Stories	Business-Minded	Leadership-Focused	Growth-Oriented	Questions It Might Answer
Example: Curiosity	Development of 6-sigma strategic framework for XXX, inc.			Curiosity about how to solve for XXX. Studied 6-sigma as a way to do it.	-Tell me about a recent project you worked on -What are you good at?
Cooperative	Overcame team conflict when developing 6-sigma strategic framework for XXX, inc.		-Demonstrates consensus based leadership -Can lead others		-What are good at? -Tell me about a project that you’ve worked recently where you exhibited leadership.-What was like developing a 6-sigma framework for your team?

(You can cut and paste this into Google Docs or Microsoft Word and alter it to include more rows.)

 

To use the above chart: Try to develop 10 or so keywords and stories that relate to HBS's three criteria for admission. Don't forget to include weaknesses when you do so.  Your objective is be ready to tell your best stories as effectively as possible. Use the above chart to help determine which key words and stories will convey the most about you.  Remember that you want to use stories that are different from the ones you used in your essays. You might be asked about something in your application, which you should be prepared to discuss, but also assume you will need to provide new stories as well.

 

 

 

SOME OTHER THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

 

I. The questions you get will be specific to you and can be anticipated to a large extent.
As discussed in my prior posts in this series, the interviewer will come in knowing what they want to ask you.  If you take the interview I described in my first post (or look at full interview reports), it becomes relatively easy to project yourself into the same patterns of questions you find.  Doing so will allow you to practice more efficiently

 

II. Assume there will be at least one question for which you might not be ready for, but don't panic. Take a deep breath. Answer the question and do not become flustered. You need to always have a strategy for handling such questions. The first thing to do is take a second to think about the question. If you really need to, even say something like "Um, that is an interesting question and either just pause for a second to think or if necessary ask a clarifying question.   Next, keep in mind that the purpose of your answer is not to have the correct information but to provide an intelligent response.  Especially at schools like HBS,  where case study in class requires the ability to give an opinion based on little information, your ability to provide an intelligent and confident response is more important than whether your response is perfect, correct, factual, etc.

 

 

III. HBS interviewers ask follow-up questions. They don't do stress interviewing at HBS exactly, but they will question you intensely. They will be taking notes. Anything you say can be subject to inquiry, so speak concisely, answer questions precisely, and try to avoid voluntarily bringing up any topics that you really don't want to talk about. Assume the you will be asking follow-up questions, expect to be able to analyze/explain in a great deal of depth. During your practice sessions, figure out what kind of responses generate what kind of follow-up questions, so you can better anticipate what might come up in the actual interview.

 

IV. Time management is important. Reported interview length for all interviews is 30 minutes. HBS is totally consistent about this.  So part of effective preparation on your part, means really considering time management and not wasting time in the interview by providing answers that are too long. You want to make your answers are sufficiently deep enough but don't take too much time.  You need to brief when just providing fact-based answers and deeper when explaining something or telling a story.

 

V. Have Mock Interviews that reflect both the range of questions and various kinds of interviewers you might encounter.   If I do multiple mock sessions with the same client, I will use different scripts. You must prepare for a range of scenarios regarding the questions you will encounter. At HBS,  your interviewer will be someone you perceive as either friendly or neutral or a mix of the two.   Whether you are being made to feel good about the interview or not by the interviewer,  your  mission is still to convince this interviewer that you are right for their school.  While you may have some idea of the personality of your interviewer before you interview, chances are you will not. It is therefore particularly important to prepare for both friendly and neutral interviewers.

 

Best of luck with your HBS interview! If you want to do interview prep with me, please see here.

HBS MBA Admissions Interviews: Strategy

 This is the second of three posts I provide advice for HBS Admissions Interviews.  This second post focuses on strategy. The first post discusses logistics and content. The third post focuses on preparation. These posts are a January 2025 revision of posts originally written in 2021. In light of overall changes to HBS's admissions criteria (See my 2024 post on that here), I thought it worth updating these posts after I received R1 interview reports for the Class of 2027 (2025 entry).

 

At the time of the blog post (January 2025), 97 of my clients (mostly comprehensive counseling plus those interview only clients I worked with for 5 hours, this does not include an even larger number of  HBS admits that I worked for only 1-4 hours on interview prep) have been admitted to HBS since the entering class of 2008 (I had prior clients admitted between 2001 and 2007 before establishing my own service). My clients' results and testimonials can be found here. In addition to providing comprehensive application consulting on HBS, I regularly help some candidates with HBS interview preparation only. My clients admitted to HBS come from all over the world with high concentrations in India, Japan, Singapore, EU, UK, and US.

 

This blog post is focused on strategy. What I mean strategy is that focuses on understanding the game your are playing and how to play it well. We will begin with the basics and then go into more complex considerations.

 

STRATEGY BASICS

I. MBA Admissions is a zero-sum game. The MBA admissions process is a competition for organizational entrance. Ultimately you are allowed to enter or are rejected. Interviews play a critical role in organizational entrance selection for jobs, internships, and, in the case, of some educational programs, admissions. They are simply one factor in the process. What we know about HBS interviews though is that applicants go into an interview with about a 50% chance of admission, which certainly better than the base  base rate of admission for all applicants. The interview is just one factor and a great interview does not necessarily result in admission. For more about rejection, see here. That said, you want to play this game as effectively as possible, so doing the best you can on the interview is critical because you have great odds of winning this game.

 

II. Interviews as gatekeeping. 

One may make the initial assumption that the role of an admissions interviewer is to be a gatekeeper. And this is certainly true, whether the interviewer is an admissions officer like at HBS, a student (like at Wharton, Booth or Kellogg), or alumni (like at  Columbia Business School, INSEAD, and London Business School). In all cases, the interviewers are trying to determine against set criteria (an evaluation form) whether the applicant fits the program.

 

III. HBS MBA Admissions Board Stated Criteria:

HBS has three stated criteria for who they looking for: Business-Minded, Leadership-Focused, and Growth-Oriented.  I discuss these three criteria here.   I highly recommend reading that analysis if you have not because it will help you understand that you need to demonstrate these criteria during your interview. You demonstrate these criteria not only through what the topic you are discussing but how you say it.

 

ADVANCED STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS

 

I. Can You Cope with the Case Method?

The following is directly influenced by reviewing many client interview reports, learning about HBS in general, and the history of HBS as discussed in The Golden Passport, Duff McDonald's comprehensive and controversial history of HBS.

I think the HBS admissions interview is directly connected to what is certainly at the core of an HBS education, the case method.  According to the The Golden Passport (chapter 6), it was under HBS Dean Wallace Brett Donham (1919-1942) that the case method became the "School's signature pedagogical tool"  and the impact of that is still felt today.  While FIELD was introduced a few years ago, the case method is very much at the core of what HBS does. The case method requires that each student have ability to make meaningful contributions related to the discussion of a particular case. Given that participation is mandatory and a core component of a student's evaluation and that lack of participation can be the basis for failing at HBS, the ability to perform well in class is critical.  The MBA Admissions Board fails if they admit someone who does not have the ability to survive in class.  In 2007 during my first visit at HBS, I had lunch a former client and two of his friends. Later that summer my former client informed me that one of those guys I met had been kicked out of the school due to lack of effective participation. He was not the only one that year.  There are always few who don't make it in every first year class.  Since this amounts to only a small number of people each year, the Admissions Board is doing its job to eliminate the following:

1. People who lack sufficient verbal skills to function at HBS. Beyond people with weak verbal skills,  HBS interviewers need to eliminate those who cannot effectively make quick analytical statements. The applicant maybe a great engineer/finance quant/thinker but if they can't perform well on the spot, they will not fit at HBS.
2. People who lack sufficient knowledge or ability to apply their knowledge to meaningfully contribute in class.
3. People who lack sufficient confidence to communicate in class.

I mention these three lacks because I think these are the criteria albeit stated negatively that are at the heart of what the MBA Admissions Board is assessing during the interview process. Therefore to win at the HBS interview you need to do the following:

1. Demonstrate strong verbal skills: For those whose native language is not English, this is why intensive self-practice is so necessary. But even for native English speakers, I recommend extensive self-prep. That might be 20-100 hours of self-practice going through as many possible topics as possible and most of this should be spoken practice. See the third post for details of that practice. I often find that non-native speakers take interview preparation more seriously than native speakers of English because they  don't really understand how challenging it can be to do in this kind of interview environment. Some people, regardless of English level, need to focus on improving mental and rhetorical flexibility to provide sufficiently effective answers, which is something that interview training can help with.
2. Demonstrate professional expertise: Whatever you have said about your work in your application, you need the ability to discuss in detail.  You need to be able to communicate clearly and succinctly and in as jargon-free a way as possible to highlight your ability to communicate with a non-expert. Ideally you should be able to provide deep insights into your work, your employer(s), and your industry.
3. Demonstrate confidence: Always remember that with MBA interviews in particular, the answers are rarely purely factual but involve telling stories and hence the most important thing is to appear confident regardless of whether you think your answer is good, mediocre, or complete bullshit.  Actually the ability to bullshit through questions one does not completely understand  and/or have a perfect answer to is a core kind of competence. Instead of worrying about the accuracy or quality of the overall answer you might simply focus on delivery.  And even if you think you are saying complete bullshit be confident about it. If you provide a confident and yet not totally accurate answer, you can always clarify it in the post-interview reflection. Remember you are being judged both on your answers and the impression you make, so even if your answer is not great, a strong positive impression can still result in a win.

 

II. Do you have an interesting perspective?

What distinguishes a merely acceptable candidate is that a great one will add a unique perspective.  I see this happen especially with clients who get to HBS you are really imperfect. They might have come from a second or third tier school, have only mediocre grades and/or GMAT or GRE test scores, come from a less famous company, or have a messy professional background, yet they bring something unique. The uniqueness is first realized by admissions in the application and then demonstrated in the interview. I make the operating assumption that everyone who makes it the interview stage is at least potentially unique and interesting.  My job as an interview coach is to make sure they bring that out when they practice.  If you unique expertise or experience make sure you can communicate that during the interview. Hopefully you will be asked about it but if not work it in. If it has already been accounted for in the application, figure out new ways of communicating in the interview. Be passionate about what you care about and make sure that you communicate that to the interviewer.

 

III. Are you mentality prepared?

There really is nothing to fear because HBS Interviewers are predictable and professional. HBS admissions officers stick to their role and don't focus on themselves. They are trained for their role, which is not necessarily what happens at all other schools.  In the case of HBS, an MBA admissions interview is customized for each interviewee by the interviewer after closely reviewing the interviewee’s application (resume, application form, essays, and recommendations). It is a closely timed exchange that lasts for 30 minutes. The questions come fast and the interviewer can ask follow-up questions about the interviewees’ answers intensively. Interviewees typically report that they are either neutral or friendly. HBS interviewers stick to their organizationally defined role and while questions are always personalized for the applicant, the topics and types of questions that are likely to be discussed are predictable, though the range of questions and the intensity of follow-up questions can vary greatly. You are playing a fair game: 

1. You are being judged by someone who comes in assuming your potential for admission. They have no hidden agenda, unlike, for example, a job interviewer who already has selected an internal candidate for the job but most interview outside candidates because of HR policies.
2. You will not be subject  to verbal abuse, hostility, or other negative unprofessional behaviors that occur frequently in job interviews (and less frequently in MBA admissions interviews with alumni). For almost ten years, I have asked my clients about their past job, internship, admissions and other interview experiences and many have had horrible experiences with interviewers who were rude, unprofessional, or otherwise really awful to deal with. Such experiences can leave a person with a negative attitude about interviewers, but you will not encounter this with an HBS interviewer.   (Unfortunately I cannot say the same thing about all B-School alumni interviewers because I sometimes get very negative reports o. But that is what happens when you don't really train interviewers or closely monitor them.)
3. You can anticipate but what you will be asked. While you cannot know the exact terrain that will be covered in your interview (the specific questions), you do know what the overall map (What is likely to be covered).  I have discussed this in detail in the first post.

 

Don't psych yourself out! It is particularly important that you don't worry too much about your perception of the interviewer's attitude as this can be a particularly good way to become nervous.  I have had too many reports of clients doing this with HBS.  Your interviewer maybe less friendly or more friendly, maybe more aggressive or less aggressive, but whatever their attitude focus on your answers.  Feel free to panic and cry after you have exited the interview, but avoid doing so during it. If you give an imperfect answer, move on and don't become fixated.

 

It is great when interviewers can make you feel comfortable, but not all do that.  It is important to understand that some interviewers maintain a neutral or unsupportive stance because they think they are being fair. In HBS interview reports, most of the interviewers are friendly/neutral. Whoever you interview with at HBS should not matter because you should focus on your performance, not the interviewer's reaction.   Since you cannot know what is going on inside an interviewer's head, don't try to think about it.  Especially if the interviewer looks tired or does not provide much facial or body language, there is no value in focusing your attention on them. Focus on what they ask you and your response. This is not a time to worry about making friends. It is not a date, it is an evaluation of your performance, so focus only that.  Some interviewers may think they are being neutral even when an interviewee may feel like the interviewer is actually being unfriendly. For example, I might feel as though someone is being mean or unfriendly regardless of whether the other person is actually intending to be that way. The point is to be effective as you can in the interview without worrying too much about what might be happening inside someone else’s head.  Also be aware of what might trigger you to feel uncomfortable. For example, if I know that unsmiling people make me upset, I can when encountering such a person, take a step back, and think, “Adam, this guy is making me uncomfortable, why?  Oh, he is unsmiling.  He must hate me. No, Adam, you don’t need to make that assumption. That is just your feeling, but unhelpful for what you want to get out of this conversation. Assume he is just the kind of person who does not smile much.” This is easy for me to write, harder to put into actual practice, but worth the effort if you can.

 

Finally, as mentioned before, confidence matters. Some people are just naturally confident or are really good at faking it, others are not.  Some may just have minor problems with sounding confident, others simply become nervous, and others have extreme anxiety which undermines performance.  If you feel that this a problem for you or you have been feedback about this, you need to address this issue.  For those who feel that their confidence issues cannot be overcome by practice, which is what I discuss in the third post, I'd like to tell you about how I worked with a client who suffered from extreme interview anxiety. This is shortened version of  part of my INSEAD Masters thesis, Taking Interviewing Seriously: A Clinical Protocol for MBA Application Interview Coaching.  Feel to ignore what follows, if you don't think it applies to you. Just go right to the third post!  Best of luck with your HBS interview! If you want to do interview prep with me, please see here.

 

------------------------

 

"JOHN"

John, a European male in his late twenties, received an invite from HBS, so he had extensive time to prepare, as he received his invitation on October 7, 2015 and he did not interview until mid-November.  After doing some initial self-prep (something I strongly advocate and provide materials for), John and I had our first practice on October 25.

 

What occurred in that first session was not what I had expected. Instead of becoming more comfortable with his responses through self-practice, he was extremely unprepared and began struggling for answers.  The struggle was reflected in both his speech and facial expressions. He broke down in the first session, which simply involved going over his answers to typical questions in an open style (not a mock interview). It was as if an answer was not perfect, he fell completely apart. While my Interview Experience survey had indicated that John’s behavior was highly dependent upon how the interviewer acted, John had immense anxiety about his performance, which was not what his prior interview experience had indicated, because he had done well on job interviews. I had anticipated that he would need practice but realized something much more serious was going on.

 

The first step when the coaching process breaks down, as it did with John, is for the coach to realize that whatever the expected plan for the session was, a new task needs to become the focus. The coach should move the client into the reflective space in order to deal with issue(s) that will impede further progress. In John’s case, the need was obvious, as his behavior was dangerously off-task. Directly acknowledging the issue was my first step. The next was to make John feel safe. Since asking questions that were freezing him up was not working, I asked him directly what was bothering him. He expressed a sense of being underprepared and that he felt at a loss for answers. His willingness to reflect on the situation was critical for creating a space for us to continue working. During the rest of the session, we discussed what would make him feel prepared. I got the impression that for him being prepared meant being perfect.  John seemed so rigid and wanted to have THE RIGHT ANSWER. Such answers simply don’t exist. There are many possible right answers or at least answers that are right enough. I thought that anytime his answer was not smooth he too often shut down and became flustered. His desire to be right and in control prevented him from just trying to answer a question.

 

Breakdowns continued to occur both during sessions with me and with one of my colleagues who reported on November 7^th that “he seems like a nice guy and his experience is very interesting, but that was literally one of the worst interview sessions I've had in recent memory.” Getting confirmation on a client’s behavior from a colleague helped me have confidence that my concerns were real and that John’s problem was quite serious.

 

I decided to continue using a relaxed approach focused on getting John to give a complete series of answers and restarting at any point where he broke down. Such breakdowns became occasions for helping him construct better answers.  The point to me was to convert his rigidity into flexibility but to do it gradually enough that he would not become discouraged. We had three subsequent sessions. Normally, one of my standard practices for HBS involves being a very neutral interviewer because this seems to be the worst case interviewer experience for those who have HBS interviews. (And from what my client respondents told me, no one likes neutral interviewers, whether for a job interview or an admissions interview.) However I did not do this with John as it would have enhanced his anxiety. John needed reassurance so that he could focus on performing. Instead of a mock session, we briefly discussed how to handle such a neutral interviewer. Prior to attending INSEAD, I might very well have been that neutral interviewer, but doubling down on someone’s anxiety is clearly creating harm. Instead I tried to create a safe space for John to practice a full range of questions in order for him to feel comfortable with his answers. Fortunately he reported that his actual HBS interviewers (there were two of them with one acting primarily as an observer) were friendly, which is the style I used for our mock sessions. He reported that, “I left the interview with a very good feeling. I didn't get stuck on any question and I just went with the flow.” He was admitted to HBS. Rather than working against his rigidity, accepting it and then building from it, as well as creating a place where he would feel safe seem to have been the key factors that enabled effective coaching.

HBS MBA Admissions Interviews: Logistics and Content

 This is the first of three posts I provide advice for HBS Admissions Interviews. It is a January 2025 revision of a post originally written in 2021. These posts are a January 2025 revision of posts originally written in 2021. In light of overall changes to HBS's admissions criteria (See my 2024 post on that here), I thought it worth updating these posts after I received R1 interview reports for the Class of 2027 (2025 entry).

This post discusses logistics and content.  This post also includes analysis of the Post-Interview Reflection. The second post focuses on strategy. The third post focuses on preparation. These posts post have been completely revised from my prior posts and reflect the reports I have received from clients over the past several cycles since those for the Class of 2018 (Fall 2016 entry). It also reflects the changed way I advise and prep clients for HBS.

 

At the time of the blog post (January 2025), 97 of my clients (mostly comprehensive counseling plus those interview only clients I worked with for 5 hours, this does not include an even larger number of  HBS admits that I worked for only 1-4 hours on interview prep) have been admitted to HBS since the entering class of 2008 (I had prior clients admitted between 2001 and 2007 before establishing my own service). My clients' results and testimonials can be found here. In addition to providing comprehensive application consulting on HBS, I regularly help some candidates with HBS interview preparation only. My clients admitted to HBS come from all over the world with high concentrations in India, Japan, Singapore, EU, UK, and US.

 

This post just describes the HBS interview with some brief analysis. In the second post, I will get really abstract, analytical, psychological, and otherwise deep. In the third post, I will be very practical, which is good since that post is on self-preparation.  If you are familiar with the logistics and contents of HBS interviews, you can skim/ignore this one. It is here mostly for those who need to some grounding in the basics before jumping into my usual guru-level goodness.  Through I think it is a good idea to  review my advice on the post-interview reflection at the end of this post even if you are not interested in what follows.

 

LOGISTICS

The interviewers are members of the MBA Admissions Board.  Some have been around forever (or something like that), others arrived yesterday but whatever the case, these people stick to their interview protocols and do a better job than any other school at being fair and giving each person who is interviewed a fair hearing.  The process of training to become an HBS interviewer involves observing interview sessions. That is why applicants will frequently report a second admissions member who was simply observing. For example, one of my clients was observed last year by the new Admissions Director, Rupal Gadhia, when she was undergoing her training.  I think  it is as result of a rigorous approach to training that HBS interviewers are the best MBA admissions interviewers on the planet.

 

Scheduling your interview: HBS oversees interview slots will fill quickly so if you are invited, please select your preferred slot as quickly as possible.You will be invited for an interview and then the scheduling system will open up the next day. Even if it comes at an absolutely horrible time for you, I highly recommend getting access to that schedule and scheduling as soon as possible.  If you prefer to have as much prep time as possible, I suggest you schedule as quickly as you can.  There are three locations for interviews: Campus, hub, and online. Campus and hub interviews are conducted in-person.  For campus and online interviews you will have no idea who will be interviewed by.  For hub interviews, the interviewer may become known prior to your actual interview. In some cases, such as Sarah going to Dubai, this can often be predicted. The difference between a campus interview and other types of interviews is that campus will involve some additional informational activities for those invited, but this has no barring on the outcome.   If you prefer in-person interviews and have the money and time to travel to the hub or campus, you should do that.  If you prefer, online, do it that way.  For online interviews, see some technical advice here.

 

All interviews last 30 minutes and rarely exceed that time.

 

 

 

CONTENT

The HBS interview content is quite distinct from what you would find in a typical MBA interview at schools like Booth, Columbia, INSEAD, Kellogg and Tuck. It is even more different than the behavioral interviews conducted by MIT and Stanford. The HBS difference is that each applicant will be asked questions specific to them. Prior to the Class of 2018 (2016 entry), while HBS interviews were always personalized, the reports I received from clients contained more generic questions. These days the questions each applicant gets is more tailored.

 

While the admissions criteria for HBS were revised for the Class of 2027, there has been no noticeable change to the questions asked in Round One for 2025 entry. Given that being Business-Minded, Leadership-Focused, and Growth-Oriented were always core to what has been asked anyway, this is not a surprise.  That said, it is very much worth keeping those three criteria into consideration when preparing for HBS interviews.

 

A few things to keep in mind:

1. You have to be prepared for answering questions about anything you have done that is accounted for in the application. You can expect a few questions related to your academic and personal background so you have to be prepared to handle a full range of questions but don't be surprised if you only get a few or even no questions in this area.
2. You will need to be able to switch between micro/personal level and big picture questions as this can happen often. If you are a non-native English speaker, chances are even greater that you will be in an interview where the number of questions asked is extremely high (maybe not so much of a deep dive at all) because the admissions interviewer is testing your English ability: In particular, your fluency. They want to make sure you can handle the HBS classroom.  Still, HBS is famous for going in relatively deep with follow-up questions, so you have to be prepared for that as well.
3. You need the ability to both explain and evaluate. By explain, I mean you should be able to provide both  (1) detailed and succinct answers and (2) anecdotal examples (tell stories) to address a great range of questions.  By evaluate, I mean you should be able to interpret and give an opinion when asked for one.
4. Don't be surprised if much of your essay contents are not discussed in the interview but rather only few points might be referred to. After all, they want to learn things about you they can't find in the essay, so don't think it will your script. Your resume is more likely to be worth your intensive review.

 

While I can't provide a real interview report,  I have described  what to expect in an interview. I would also say that the reports I have seen on online are usually too brief and don't generally reflect the actual interview because to do so would be too revealing. It would very risky for an applicant to put up a real report on an HBS interview because the questions are too applicant specific.

 

How it will start:

-The interviewer will briefly explain how the interview is structured.

-The interviewer will likely begin asking you questions either about something in your background or by asking you about your recent work. Examples:

"Tell me about X college experience"

or

"Tell me about how (your current work, current project, Project X mentioned in application) is going.

 

-If the interviewer starts with educational or other personal background questions, they are likely to do for a few minutes before switching to asking about professional experience related questions.  Expect 1-3 personal questions before the switchover to professional questions.

-If the interviewer starts with professional related questions, which are often updates at work, they are likely to focus on professional questions for most of the interview and you can expect only a few personal related questions at the end.

 

The primary focus of HBS interviews is on the applicant's professional experience.   While other subjects are discussed, based on reports I have seen, the vast majority of questions in  all recent interviews was related to professional experience. You still have to prep for the full range of questions, but a great deal of attention should focus on your work experience, your industry, and your company. They want to see your ability to discuss and explain your industry and company beyond your own role. This is an interview that is used to determine your fitness to be an effective participant in the class and hence the focus is content related to how you could contribute your experience in class discussions.

You need to be able to do the following for all of your employers:

1. Explain and evaluate the nature of the business.

2. Explain and evaluate the industry overall and the competition.

3. Explain key concepts related to your industry and role/function.

4. Explain and evaluate your role in each function you held in the company.

 

In other words, you should be able to explain and evaluate the above in a way that would parallel how you might use your knowledge in class at HBS. 

Below is an example set of questions reflecting the above.  We will assume that the applicant has worked at two companies.

"What is the project that you are most recently involved in?" 1-2 followup questions

"Tell me more about your involvement in... another project/organizing recruiting/ supervising a team/ other examples that focus on the applicant's role. 1-2 follow-up questions.

"How did Covid (or some other major  event) impact your company and your work personally?"

"What is the best part of your job?" 1-2 followup questions

"What have learned about your company as the result of your time there?" 1-2 followup questions

"Who are your company’s competitors?" 1-3 follow-up questions

"Why did you leave your prior employer to join this company?" 1-2 follow -up questions

"When you are at prior employer, tell me more about your involvement in... another project/organizing recruiting/ supervising a team/ other examples that focus on the applicant's role. 1-2 follow-up questions.

"How would you describe the difference in the work environment between these two companies?" 1-2 follow-up questions

"Can you explain more about X (X is something complex that is at the core the applicant's work)?"  1-5 follow-up questions

 

What else will be asked:

-Your goals are likely to be asked about but don't be surprised if you are not asked about why MBA or why HBS. You might be but there is a good chance, you will not be asked that.  So you have to prep for it.

"Where do you want to work post-MBA?" "Why?"

But be prepared for "Why HBS?" or "Why do you need an MBA" (these are both topics you can always bring up if asked if there is anything you want to discuss, see below)

 

-If no personal questions have been asked, you might get something related to your hobbies, interests, or background:

"Why do enjoy doing X?"

"Tell me about your involvement in X activity/group/organization/sport/team."

"What do you in your free time?"

 

-Typical MBA  interviews questions that are commonly asked but don't be surprised if you get none of these:

"What are you good at?" (What are you strengths?) or "What is one thing you are good at?"

"What aren't you good at?" (What are your weaknesses?) or "What is something you want to get better at doing?"

"What is something surprises people about you?"

 

-At the end of the interview, be prepared to be asked if there is anything else you want to discuss or questions you wish the interviewer had asked you. Have possible topics ready for this. Good topics for this:

1. Something you really wanted to discuss but did not a chance to.
2. Why HBS if this was not asked.
3. Discussion about extracurricular activities that highlight something that shows  leadership potential, teamwork skills, intellectual abilities, readiness for HBS, or something else you think HBS really needs to know about you. For example, gaining a new skill or making a big impact in a volunteer activity.

 

Please keep in mind that my discussion above reflects what MBA applicants get asked but for 2+2 applicants the contents will be different because there will be less focus on work experience. I don't work with many applicants for the 2+2 program so I don't have enough reports to write this myself. For a description of a 2+2 interview, see here.

 

After the interviewer, you will have 24 hours to write a post-interview reflection:

Reflection is an important part of the HBS learning model, so we want to get a
sense here of your real-time thoughts and learnings from the interview
conversation. It is not intended to be another formal essay!

You have 24 hours to complete this reflection. So, please take the time you need
to pause and think, but the actual writing should only take about an hour. There’s
no need to go through multiple drafts or get any outside help - we want the
reflection to be informal, unrehearsed, and in your own words. Please answer the
following prompt by uploading a document below.

Question: What was the highlight of your interview and why did this
resonate with you? Is there anything else you would like to share now that
you’ve had time to reflect on your interview? (Word guidance - 300-450
words)

This is your chance to further emphasize a key aspect of yourself covered in the interview.

To best determine what to write about,  I advise my client that right after their interview they write up a full report on the interview so they know what they discussed and so that we can determine what should go into the post-interview reflection. I suggest you do the same even if it is just for yourself.

The reflection has mandatory and optional parts to it. Anything else is optional.  Focus on the main point of the question (discuss a highlight) and thank the Admissions Board, but everything below is really optional.

Resonating Highlight; Focus on a specific aspect of the interview that you want to further emphasize. This should be something positive as a highlight is positive. Something that resonates is something that you feel a connection to. For example, if you enjoyed discussing a particular project because it highlighted your ability to make an impact, that could be a good topic. A great conversation regarding your industry or a specific issue might also be the basis for this answer.  (MANDATORY)

 

Anything Else:

-Address any concerns you have over what you said or failed to say in the interview. Sometimes you think there is something you could have said better better or did not say and want to address it.  (OPTIONAL)

-Elaborate on issues that you want to highlight that were not sufficiently focused in the interview or application. (OPTIONAL)

-Discuss something you especially want to highlight to the rest of the HBS Admissions Board even though it was discussed in the interview.  Just keep in mind that they are not asking for you to summarize the interview.  (OPTIONAL)

-Provide a brief assessment for how you think the interview went. (OPTIONAL)

 

Thank the Admissions Board and your interviewer in particular. (MANDATORY)

 

WHAT NOT TO DO: Don't  write a summary of the entire interview as that is not helpful and not their question.

 

Essay length for this varies, but I would stick their suggested guideline of 300-450 words.

 

Best of luck with your HBS interview! If you want to do interview prep with me, please see here.

 

How much do I really need to know about an MBA program to prepare a strong application for it? It varies!

 My clients frequently ask me how much time they have to invest in learning about the MBA programs they will be applying to. That is, how many live or online information sessions, how many alumni and/or current students do they need to contact, and how much do they need to master the school's curriculum and other offerings to write their applications? Now that Covid is over, some also ask if they should go visit the school.

 

Keep in mind that I am not discussing school selection here. This post assumes you know why you want to go to a school, not whether you do or not. This issue you confront is one of time management with respect to demonstrating your knowledge and engagement with the school in the application.

 

My simple answer is that at the application stage it varies greatly. Some schools require an immense amount of work to just learn about them while others only require a moderate amount and some require very little. Some schools have essays that require knowing a lot about the school, others don't. Some have app forms that really require one to either show lack of engagement or show you went in deep. For some schools visiting can be very helpful, for others it is not critical.

 

 

Here is a summary of what I discuss in great detail below:

Schools that require minimal  knowledge and engagement to submit a strong application: HBS MBA, Yale SOM

Schools that require a moderate level of school knowledge and engagement to submit a strong application: INSEAD, ISB, MIT Sloan,

Schools that require high knowledge and at least moderate engagement to submit a strong application: Booth, HBS Joint Degree, HEC, Kellogg, Michigan Ross, NYU Stern,  Stanford GSB, Tuck, UC Berkeley Haas, Wharton

Schools were high knowledge and engagement is recommended to submit a strong application: Columbia Business School, Duke Fuqua,  IESE London Business School, Stanford MSx, UCLA Anderson, Wharton Lauder

 

 

Of course, at the interview stage, an applicant should have effective answers to such common questions as Why this school?  How will you contribute to this school's community? Have you talked with any alumni or current students?  But the interview stage is the interview stage and the application stage is the application stage and one can usually make up for lack of knowledge or engagement between these two stages.

AT THE INTERVIEW STAGE (AFTER YOU SUBMITTED YOUR APPLICATION)  FOR ANY SCHOOL, I CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING GOOD GENERAL ADVICE:

-I highly recommend engagement with at least one alumni or current student (absolute minimum and not sufficient for some schools discussed below) from any program that you will applying to and attending at least one online info session.

-You should know what courses and other activities you want to participate in. For schools where you had essays that answered such questions, this is easier to prep for. If schools that don't require such detailed and well structured analysis at the application stage, you need to do your research at the interview stage.

This will help when answering common interview questions: How did you learn about the program? Did you talk with alumni or current students? How will you contribute to the school's community? Why do you want to attend this program?

 

 

NOW BACK TO THE APPLICATION STAGE:

While I am great believer in becoming an informed applicant, I am also highly pragmatic. I never try to make my clients waste their time on something unnecessary when they have so much to do.  So it very helpful to know where one must best allocate their time and when.

 

 

This rest of this post consists of two parts. The first is on the criteria for assessing the level of school knowledge and engagement required and the second is a categorized discussion of specific schools.

 

PART ONE: Criteria for Assessing the Level of School Knowledge and of Engagement Required at the Time of Application:

-Essays

-Application Form

-Importance and Timing of School Visits

 

1. Essays: At the heart of any answer to this question is knowing to what extent you need to know about the school to make effective essays.

A high level of knowledge is required if the school has essays that require the applicant to provide a detailed explanation on how the MBA program will help them achieve their goals and/or how they will contribute  to the school while attending the program.

A moderate level of knowledge is required if the essays refer to the school's values, but don't ask you discuss the content of the program in any detail and/or has essays that don't necessarily mention the school, but offer the opportunity to mention it if you so desire.

A minimal level of knowledge is required if the essays don't require talking about the school: The school's essay(s) prompt(s) mention nothing about why this school or how you will contribute to it. In some cases, the essays are very short and have prompts that would seem to exclude discussing the school.

 

2. Application Form: Without consideration for what you know, schools have variable levels of interest in understanding your extent of engagement with them at the time of making an application.

A high level of engagement  is required if the school has application form questions that specifically ask if you had contact with admissions staff, alumni, or current students and want names and possibly additional information about your level of engagement.

A moderate level of engagement  is required if the school asks if you attended an information session in the form of a yes/no question on the application form.

A minimal level of  engagement is required if the school asks nothing in the application form about engagement with the school.

 

3. Importance and Timing of School Visits:

As you will see, this is a real mixed bag of exceptions and complications.

No school expects you to visit. This is especially true since Covid.  While a small number of schools granted clear advantage to visiting in the past in terms of a guaranteed  interview on-campus, now such schools have remote interview options.

Still visiting is useful to a variable degree depending on the school. Lets consider a few factors:

 

Your Proximity to the School:

-If you live close to a school you want to attend, you should visit. Hence anyone living in London who is applying to Cambridge, LBS, and Oxford and can't bother visiting looks rather lazy. Or if you are living in NYC and intend to apply to CBS, NYU, Wharton and Yale, you should certainly visit.  Exceptions to this statement:  Real lack of time based on work or personal issues, limited financial resources, and/or physical disability.

 

-If you don't live close to the school but can take the time and have the money to visit, you should to the extent that it can be helpful for school selection, writing your essays,  for interview preparation, or giving you the opportunity connect deeply with admissions and current students.

 

-For schools in more remote locations (Cornell Johnson and Dartmouth Tuck are the most notable in this respect. I have visited both and it is inconvenient to do so.), visiting is especially helpful because it will give you a great opportunity to engage with admissions and current students and just visiting is proof of your real interest in the program. I have found it especially helpful for candidates with less than stellar overall profiles (test score or GPA issues for example) to go visit in order to make a strong personal impression on admissions.

 

Acceptance Rates:

With the notable exceptions of CBS, LBS and Wharton, I think a general rule of thumb is that the lower a school's acceptance rate, the less important it is to visit and the higher the acceptance rate, the more important it is to visit. In this sense, I think HBS and Stanford GSB are the least important schools to visit because visiting has zero impact on the outcome.  One needs to learn about GSB to write Essay B, but that does not require a visit. Everybody loves Stanford, so telling them that means nothing.

 

On the other CBS and Wharton need to feel your love. Wharton's HBS and Stanford inferiority complex and CBS's HSW complex must be assuaged. Visiting is surely one very good way to do that.

 

Moreover, CBS and LBS have application forms like no other schools with respect to reporting on your level of engagement with adcom, alumni and current students.  So visiting is a great way to show super high level engagement. Just keep track of the students you talked with!

 

For schools with acceptance rates of 20% or more (meaning most US schools and all European programs), visiting is a way to signal that you have a real strong interest in the program and are likely to attend.  Especially for applicants with problematic test scores and/or grades, a visit can be impactful if you can get one-on-one time with admissions.

 

Timing of Visit:

 

-Visit the school when it is in session. Visiting when the students are on holiday and all you can do is talk with admissions is better than nothing, but it is not very effective because you will have not visited a class or engaged with current students. If you have serious one-on-one time with an actual admissions officer that makes visiting at any time significant, but keep in mind that not all schools will make that possible.

 

-For schools with an invitation-only interview policy, visiting prior to submitting your application is ideal. However R1 deadline timing may make that impossible. In such circumstances if you do choose to visit prior to interviewing indicate in your application that you will be visiting if you are comfortable stating that and make sure to connect with adcom when you visit.

 

-Visiting when you interview. If possible make sure you can do a substantive visit to the school prior to the timing of your interview so that you can use what you learned during the visit in your interview.

• Warning: It is not always an advantage to interview on-campus. For instance at HBS, if you are coming from specific regions that has the same adcom member almost every round visiting your regional hub, it is advantageous to interview at the hub because you can predict the interviewer's likely line of questioning, but if you interview on-campus, you will not know who the interviewer is until you actually interview.  Another example, especially if you are a non-native English speaker and have a choice between a local alumni you might prefer that to interviewing on-campus with a 2nd year student.

 

 

PART TWO:   CATEGORIZED ANALYSIS OF SPECIFIC SCHOOLS

ALWAYS KNOW YOU CAN GO BEYOND THE MINIMUM. BUT IF YOU ARE FACED WITH TIME ALLOCATION CRUNCH, BE AWARE OF WHICH SCHOOLS REQUIRE MORE OF YOUR TIME!

 

Schools that require minimal knowledge and engagement to submit a strong application are characterized by the following:

-Essays that don't require talking about the school: The essays prompts mention nothing about Why this school or how you will contribute to it. In some cases, the essays are very short and have prompts that would seem to exclude discussing the school.

-You should know what the school is looking for in terms of applicant criteria, but you don't need to have an extensive understanding of course offerings or other aspects of the program and mentioning alumni or current students is rather useless unless they play a key role in your story and are not mere name dropping.

-No place in the application form for mentioning detailed prior contact with admissions,  alumni or current students. The school may ask if you attended an information but does not want a list of alumni or current students you had contact with.

-Visiting prior to the application deadline is not likely to matter as the app is not even accounting for it.

Schools that fit into this category

 

HBS MBA: Even in many interviews, HBS adcom interviewers don't ask Why HBS?  Most successful applications to HBS that I see whether from my own clients or from interview-only clients usually discuss HBS minimally if at all. HBS app form does not ask if you attended an information session.  HBS has made it clear for years that they want to learn about applicants, not HBS, in the essays. HBS KNOWS YOU WANT TO ATTEND HBS, SO THEY DON'T ASK WHY.  That is what means to be HBS. BOTTOM LINE: DON'T WASTE TIME ON NETWORKING FOR THIS SCHOOL, UNDERSTAND ITS CRITERIA FOR ADMISSION (see my blog post on HBS for an extensive discussion of that)  AND WHY YOU FIT, AND SPEND AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE ON WRITING A GREAT ESSAY ABOUT YOU.  UPPERCASE SCREAMING EMPHASIZED. :) If you are applying for a joint degree, you will need to know more the program to write the joint degree essay and that it is why it categorized differently from the MBA program.

 

Yale SOM:  America's two most elite East Coast schools share a lack of focus on discussion of the school in the application form.  Given the 150 word Career Interests statement (Briefly describe your career interests and how you arrived at them. What have you already done to pursue these interests? What do you need to do going forward?), the last part of the question about what you need going forward should surely refer at least briefly to Yale, but clearly there is no place here for much beyond a sentence on why Yale. It is also possible that you could discuss Yale briefly in the main essay, but certainly not required and in many/most cases it would be unlikely to fit in a way that will not look forced and cliche.  If you are a reapplicant, the 200 reap essay is not at all focused on why Yale (Since your last application, please discuss any significant updates to your candidacy, including changes in your personal or professional life, additional coursework, or extracurricular/volunteer activities.), so unless your update involves doing something Yale specific, it is not likely that this essay will discuss Yale.  The main essay really does not focus on why MBA or Why Yale, so not really a place to mention that there.  App form does not include any questions on attendance at info sessions.

Having recently visited Yale for a second time this year, I have to say that I can easily see what has climbed in the ranks. With an amazing unique integrated first-year curriculum, total flexibility in the second year, a super building (we will not discuss their old one) and an amazing network, Yale is, in my mind, the only school that might eventually require rebranding the M7, the M8.

 

 

 

Schools that require a moderate level of school knowledge and engagement to submit a strong application are characterized by the following:

-Essays that refer to the school's values, but don't ask you discuss the content of the program in any detail.

 

-Essays that don't necessarily mention the school, but offer the opportunity to mention it if you so desire.

 

-No place in the application form for mentioning detailed prior contact with admissions,  alumni or current students. The school may ask if you attended an information but does not ask for a list of alumni or current students you had contact with.

 

Common Schools that fit into this category:

 

INSEAD: Arguably INSEAD could fit into the first category but given an open-ended optional essay that can be used for something positive, like how you will contribute to the school, how you learned about the program, or why you fit at INSEAD (especially important for those who lack international experience),  I place it in this category.  The app form does not ask for any information on your contact with INSEAD alumni, current students, or the admissions office. That said, I highly encourage my clients to interact with INSEAD admissions, alumni and current students so they know they will fit. Here in Japan, the INSEAD Alumni Association Japan, of which I am a Board Member (Executive Masters alumnus), has bimonthly drink get togethers that are open to applicants.  I can't think of an easier way to meet alumni then over drinks. INSEAD also does excellent applicant outreach to help potential applicants assess their fit for the school, but this will not have a bearing on the outcome. Keep in mind that the actual admissions committee for INSEAD consists of a changing committee of faculty and alumni who are not public about their role.

 

ISB: Only the supposed Optional Essay (not really optional in my opinion) requires knowing anything about ISB: Given your previous experience and future aspirations, how do you plan to use the PGP at ISB to fulfil your professional goals? Note: It is not necessary for you to write this essay. Please use this space only if there is something really significant that you would like us to know. This "optional essay" requires having a basic understanding of the program and relating it to goals. That kind of information is easily obtained from the website and an information session.  With respect to the main essays, you don't need to know about ISB.  In fact Essay 1 (Provide an honest portrayal of yourself, emphasizing your strengths and weaknesses. Highlight the key elements that have shaped your personal journey. Give relevant illustrations as needed. ) and Essay 2 (Contemplate two distinct situations—one where you experienced success and another where you faced failure. Delve into the personal and interpersonal lessons you learned from these instances.) are on topics that really don't require knowing about ISB. No app form questions on contact with ISB alumni, current students, or admissions.  

 

 

MIT:  The Cover Letter requires that you know why you fit at MIT, not why MIT fits you. Hence you need to understand MIT at the level of its values. Since they don't ask about goals or why MIT in this 300 word essay, you really don't need to know about the school in detail.  The 1 minute video is on introducing yourself to your classmates and does not require knowing about the program. As as long as you are familiar with the term "Sloanies" you should be good to go.  The application asks Y/N if you attended an info session, so attend one!

 

 

 

Schools that require high knowledge and at least moderate engagement to submit a strong application are characterized by the following:

 

-Essays that require you know about the program. Wharton's two required essays both are examples of two common question types that require knowing a lot about the school:

Essay 1: How do you plan to use the Wharton MBA program to help you achieve your future professional goals? You might consider your past experience, short and long-term goals, and resources available at Wharton. (500 words)

Essay 2: Essay 2: Taking into consideration your background – personal, professional, and/or academic – how do you plan to make specific, meaningful contributions to the Wharton community? (400 words)

You can't answer either of these questions without knowing quite a lot about the school.  Wharton is pretty extreme since they ask both types of questions. It was as though they had a complex about being loved or something.

 

Limited or no place in the application form for mentioning detailed prior contact with admissions, alumni or current students. The school may ask if you attended an information but  usually does not ask for a list of alumni or current students you had contact with. If they do ask for that and I have placed it in this category is is because you only really need to talk with one student or alumnus (just UCB here).

 

Schools that fit into this category:

Booth: Essay 1 requires knowing a lot about this school. Given that Booth has only one required course (LEAD) and 5 subject area requirements and is thus the most flexible program around, providing a plan on how you will focus your two years of study is a good idea.  While not required it is also possible to refer to contributions in Essay 2, especially to non-professional clubs and activities at Booth. App form asks  Yes/No about attending information event and a drop box about your source of primary info about Booth. So attend an info session for sure!

 

 

 

HBS Joint Degree: Unlike the MBA program where no information about HBS is required, anyone doing a joint degree certainly needs to understand more about both degree programs in order to write an effective joint degree essay:

Joint program applicants for the Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Kennedy School must provide an additional essay: How do you expect the joint degree experience to benefit you on both a professional and a personal level? (400 words) OR Essay Question: The MS/MBA program is focused on design, innovation, and entrepreneurship within a technical/engineering context. Describe your past experiences in these areas and your reasons for pursuing a program with this focus. (Recommended: 500 words)

HINT: If you are confused about whether to apply for a joint degree or not and have limited time, don't and just apply for the HBS You MBA program.

 

 

HEC:   You certainly need to know about HEC to do Essay 1: Why are you applying to the HEC MBA Program now? What is the professional objective that will guide your career choice after your MBA, and how will the HEC MBA contribute to the achievement of this objective? App form asks you where you first heard about HEC (if alum, asks for name) but does not ask for details of info sessions or overall contact with HEC students/alumni.

 

Kellogg: In prior years they would have fit into the previous category but they now have a contribution question so they fit into this category. See my essay analysis for that. If you are a reapplicant, you may also be able to mention Kellogg related content and engagement there as well. Still Kellogg asks no app form questions about contact with the school.  You may also encounter a video essay that requires explaining why Kellogg but as this is a 1 minute video, the amount you can say will be limited.  The real prep on why Kellogg itself is certainly required for the interview.

 

Michigan Ross: Based on essay content, you really don't need to know anything about Ross, but I am placing Ross in the category because of the following app form question (bottom of page 3): Contact with Ross School of Business: Have you attended any Ross events (online or in person) or been in contact with a member of the Ross community in the past year? If so, please list event and location, and/or contact name and association with Ross. Please also share any referrals to the Ross program made by staff or alumni. Ross gives an effectively unlimited length text box for this.  DO NOT WRITE AN ESSAY!!  Just give them the facts of your engagement with members of the Ross community in the form of a list.  While there is nothing that requires one to have extensive contact with Ross community, significant engagement (talk with adcom, at least a couple of students and/or alumni) would be a safe minimum to convey that you are not just applying to this school as a safety choice. The Ross 150 word essay on goals (What is your short-term career goal and why is this the right goal for you?) certainly does not require discussing Ross and at most one could possibly include a sentence on that, though it is hardly necessary.

 

NYU Stern: This school barely fits this category and almost belongs in the prior one. While the Stern app has a bunch of checkbox questions on how you learned about the program, these amount to marketing questions and don't ask for any specific details of who you engaged with. The reason I put it here is that you need to know a bit about Stern to answer the following essay:

Change: Dare It. Dream It. Drive It. In today’s global business environment, the only constant is change. Using NYU Stern’s brand call to action, we want to know how you view change. Change: _____ it. Fill in the blank with a word of your choice. Why does this word resonate with you? How will you embrace your own personal tagline while at Stern? Examples:

• Change: Dare it.
• Change: Dream it.
• Change: Drive it.
• Change: Empower it.
• Change: Manifest it.
• Change: [Any word of your choice] it.

However, the essay is only 350 words, so you just have room here to discuss a few things about Stern.  Not much room in the application for name dropping, so save that for an interview. Stern wants to learn about you as a person based on the other main essay (6 things)  and the EQ endorsements but clearly they are not asking for something highly detailed regarding the school here.

 

Stanford GSB: The MBA program has no application questions regarding interaction  with admissions, students, or alumni, but if you are applying to MSx, see the next section.  Essay B (Why Stanford? Describe your aspirations and how your Stanford GSB experience will help you realize them. If you are applying to both the MBA and MSx programs, use Essay B to address your interest in both programs.) certainly requires that know why you want to attend GSB and this involves research and deep thinking about how the program will help you achieve..  I don't view name dropping of alumni or current students as very helpful here because the school really wants to learn about how you want to use them. Feel free to visit Stanford, but if you think this will impact the outcome you are delusional.  Don't waste your word count on the trivial or obvious but use it to showcase how you would specifically utilize Stanford.

 

Tuck:  I had anticipated placing Tuck in the next category because I do think engagement with at least a couple of alumni or current students (and if viable a school visit) is important, the application form itself does not require you to indicate all your points of contact with Tuck. Hence as long the two (out of three required)  300 word essays (Why are you pursuing an MBA and why now? How will the distinct Tuck MBA contribute to achieving your career goals and aspirations? AND  Tell us who you are. How have your values and experiences shaped your identity and character? How will your background contribute to the diverse Tuck culture and community?) highlight your big Tuck knowledge, you should be fine.  I do recommend name dropping of an alumnus or current student or two in one or both of these essays.  I think the school is best categorized here, but maybe this is my most controversial categorization.

 

UC Berkeley Haas:

While Essay #2 How will an MBA help you achieve your short-term and long-term career goals? (300 words maximum) certainly requires some knowledge of why Haas is right for (only an idiot would provide a generic why MBA answer to this question), it is not a very long question so there is limited space for this. What makes  me want to place this one in this category is the application form question:

HOW YOU HEARD ABOUT US

Have you recently had significant interaction with a current student or alum?

Yes

No

If applicable, please indicate with whom you have spoken.

The reason I have included Haas here and not in the next category is because they are not asking for multiple students or alumni and otherwise not asking for the kind of extensive details schools in the next section require.

 

 

Wharton: As discussed above the regular Wharton MBA essays require extensive knowledge of the school. It  fits into this category  and not the next one because the application form does not require any information about attending info sessions, alumni, or student contact. That said, I  recommend a lot of contact with Wharton students and alumni though it is not actually necessary if an applicant takes the time to dig deep into Wharton's online content. See the next section for Wharton Lauder.

 

 

Schools were high knowledge engagement is recommended to submit a strong application have one major thing in common: A specific place in the application for mentioning contact with admissions, alumni or current students that asks for details.  In the case of Columbia Business School, Duke,  IESE,  London Business School, and UCLA Anderson this can be found in the application form.  In the case of Stanford MSx and Wharton Lauder, the reason they fit here is because of the level of interaction you should have with admissions prior to applying.

 

Columbia Business School: While Columbia's 250 word Essay 3 (We believe Columbia Business School is a special place. CBS proudly fosters a collaborative learning environment through curricular experiences like our clusters and learning teams, an extremely active co-curricular and student life environment, and career mentorship opportunities like our Executives-in-Residence program. Why do you feel Columbia Business School is a good fit for you academically, culturally, and professionally? Please be specific) does not require extensive engagement to write effectively, the app form does. Welcome to one of the most detailed app forms with respect to your level of engagement with adcom, alumni, and current students.

 

Columbia Business School Contact

Have you ever spoken with a Columbia Business School Program Representative or attended an admissions-sponsored event?

YesNo

Please specify admissions staff or alumni with whom you have spoken or what event you have attended.

Do you know any current students at Columbia Business School?

YesNo

Please name these individuals:

 

NOTE:  The boxes for detailed info appear only if you check YES. 

 

The great thing about this app form content is that frees one up from needing to mention alumni or current students in Essay 3 because there is a specific place in the application to provide such details.  You should certainly contact a student (or more than one) via the Hermes Society. In addition, I would recommend reaching out to alumni as well as current students who are officers in the clubs you are interested in. I would consider listing at least two and ideally 4 or more current students and alumni in the app form.

 

 

Duke Fuqua:  You want to show your deep interest in Duke, a school that is typically treated by clients as a safety or backup.

Essay 2- Fuqua prides itself on cultivating a culture of engagement. Our students enjoy a wide range of student-led organizations that provide opportunities for leadership development and personal fulfillment, as well as an outlet for contributing to society. Our student-led government, clubs, centers, and events are an integral part of the student culture and to the development of leaders. Based on your understanding of the Fuqua culture, what are 3 ways you expect to contribute at Fuqua? (500 words maximum).- certainly requires that you know about the program. You should feel free to name drop the at least couple of alumni or current students you engaged with. If you have visited certainly work that into this essay.

The App form asks for your specified engagement with Duke and highly recommend you have it.

---THIS IS LONG------

How did you first hear about The Fuqua School of Business? Specify in the text boxes provided as needed. (Use the 'Ctrl' key, or 'Cmd' key for Mac users, to select multiple.)

 

Admit.me AccessAlumnus/alumna (specify)ColleagueCollege FairCurrent College's Career Services TeamCurrent Student (specify)Employer/HR/Company ReferralFacebookFamily Member/FriendForte FoundationFuqua Faculty Member (specify)Fuqua Information SessionFuqua WebsiteFuqua’s New Ideas CompetitionInstagramInternet SearchLinkedInManagement Leadership for TomorrowMBA FairMBA ForumMilitary MBAMulti-School Information SessionNational Name ExchangeNon-Fuqua FacultyOff-campus Fuqua Information SessionOnline AdvertisementOther (specify)Other Duke ProgramOther Website (specify)Poets & QuantsPosse FoundationPrint AdvertisementRankingsReaching Out MBARedditService to School (S2S)TikTokTwitterUndergraduate Academic/Career AdvisorVirtual Information Session

---

What sources of information encouraged you to apply to The Fuqua School of Business? Specify in the text boxes provided as needed. (Use the 'Ctrl' key, or 'Cmd' key for Mac users, to select multiple.)

 

Admissions Officer (specify)Admit.me AccessAlumnus/alumna (specify)Availability of Merit AidCampus Visit/Open HouseCASE Initiative on Impact Investing (CASE i3)Center for Energy Development and the Global Environment (EDGE)Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE)Class ProfileCoffee ChatColleagueCollege FairConcentrationsCurrent Student (specify)CurriculumDuke Innovation & EntrepreneurshipEmployer/HR/Company ReferralFamily Member/FriendFinancial Aid/Loan OptionsFuqua Faculty Member (specify)Fuqua Information SessionFuqua's Career Services TeamFuqua’s New Ideas CompetitionGlobal Learning OpportunitiesHealth Sector ManagementIntegration of Technology in CoursesInternational Applicant SymposiumLocation/Geographic Setting of CampusManagement Leadership for TomorrowMilitary MBANational Name ExchangeNon-Fuqua FacultyOff-campus Fuqua Information SessionOther (specify)Other Website (specify)Previous ApplicantPride WeekendProgram FormatQuality of FacultyRankingsReputation of SchoolResources for Significant Others/ChildrenSchool Culture/CommunityService to School (S2S)Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator at Duke (SEAD)Strength in a Particular Functional AreaStrength of Alumni NetworkStrength of Elective OfferingsThe Fuqua/Coach K Center on Leadership and Ethics (COLE)TikTokTotal Cost (tuition and fees)Undergraduate Academic/Career AdvisorVeterans SymposiumWomen's Leadership WeekendWorkshop for Minority Applicants

---------------------------------------------------

If you really want to be a part of Team Fuqua you had better show them big love.

 

 

IESE: IESE's app form certainly asks in detail about your engagement with the school and its community:

----THIS IS LONG------

a. Please indicate the source(s) of your first interest in IESE's MBA Program, and briefly elaborate on individual's name, title of publication, location, date, etc.

Label

 

 IESE Alumni recommendation

 

NameLabel

 

 

ProgramLabel

 

AMPCAIRODDEDPMEEMBAGEMBAGPMDIFDPINCOMBAPADEPDDPDGPhDPMD

 

YearLabel

 

19601961196219631964196519661967196819691970197119721973197419751976197719781979198019811982198319841985198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024202520262027202820292030

 

Label

 

 Current IESE Student recommendation

 

NameLabel

 

 

ProgramLabel

 

AMPCAIRODDEDPMEEMBAGEMBAGPMDIFDPINCOMBAPADEPDDPDGPhDPMD

 

YearLabel

 

19601961196219631964196519661967196819691970197119721973197419751976197719781979198019811982198319841985198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024202520262027202820292030

 

Label

 

 IESE Professor recommendation

 

Name 1:Label

 

 

Name 2:Label

 

 

Label

 

 Personal or Professional recommendation

 

Name 1:Label

 

 

Name 2:Label

 

 

Label

 

 MBA Event (Please refer to part b․)

 

Label

 

 Internet

 

Label

 

 Press

 

Label

 

 Other

 

Label

 

 MBA Fair

 

 

b. IESE Business School Event

Have you attended an IESE Business School Event?Label

 

No

Yes, check which event(s) below:

 

IESE Business School Event

Label

 

 Alumni event

 

Label

 

 Information Session/Case Study Presentation

 

Label

 

 Open Day

 

Label

 

 Interview Day

 

Label

 

 Online MBA event

 

Label

 

 Campus visit

 

 

c. Have you visited the IESE Barcelona Campus?

Label

 

Yes

No

 

Specify date:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Given that level of detail and based on my own conversations with IESE admissions, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND extensive engagement with admissions, current students, and alumni. If visiting is viable and this is a high priority school for you, consider doing so.

The essay is short but does require you to know about the program: Career Goals Essay: What are your short-term and mid-term post-MBA goals? How will the IESE MBA program help you achieve them? (word limit 300 max).

 

 

London Business School:  While CBS and IESE might seem to ask a lot of questions about engagement, LBS is really in its own category for this. This is because of its MANY app form questions:

App form questions:

-How did you first hear about London Business School? (Max 200 characters)

-How did you hear about this programme? (Max 100 characters)

-Have you attended an event on or off campus, or online where you met with representatives from the school? If yes, please tell us when, where and who you met. If you know any London Business School Alumni or Students, please give their names, graduating class and tell us how you know them. (300 words max)

-We encourage applicants to take into consideration the impact of study on family and friends. Who have you discussed your plans with and what was the response? (300 words max)

No other school is asking for this level of detail.  That is why I highly encourage any client who wants to attend LBS to engage in extensive networking with current students and alumni, to visit if it not an undue burden and the timing is right, and to attend information sessions.  A critical key to getting admitted to this school is showing you want to attend and have taken a lot of time to learn about the program. Try to talk to at least two alumni and two current students but the more, the better.

 

You must show deep engagement through the above in addition to what you write in the essays below:

Question 1 (500 words): What are your post-MBA goals and how will your prior experience and the London Business School programme contribute towards these?

This essay requires knowing about LBS at the same level as schools in the previous category like Wharton or Booth. Keep in mind that since you have to alumni and current name drop heavily in the application questions above, you don't need to do that in this essay.

Question 2 (500 words): (This question is optional) Is there any other information you believe the Admissions Committee should know about you and your application to London Business School?

In theory this essay need not be written but I always advise clients to write it, unlike most of the US schools that want positive essay content, but just the discussion of problems, LBS is giving you the opportunity to tell them more.  Given their extensive essay-like content in the application form, including a question on academic performance, you should use this essay to give them additional reasons to admit you.  Most of my  LBS admits use this either for a contribution essay like Wharton Essay 2 above or to highlight one or more major accomplishments that they could not communicate in the application form in any detail but want to highlight. Of course, discussion of any problems can always be mentioned here and it is fine to use the 500 words for multiple and distinct purposes.

 

Also note that the alumni interviewer at LBS will have full access to your application, so it is important they see a high level of engagement in the application.

 

There is not any significant difference between applying to LBS in R1 versus R2, so if you are finding you don't have enough time to do a high level of engagement with students and alumni in R1, it is better to apply in R2.

 

UCLA Anderson: SURPRISE! I bet you were not expecting this one. I will make the case for why I think it fits here.

UCLA does not call their goals and why UCLA essay an essay.  They have another essay that they call an essay- UCLA Anderson seeks to develop transformative leaders who think fearlessly, drive change, and share success. We believe the ability to persevere is an essential component of effective leadership.  Please share an example from your personal or professional life where you demonstrated perseverance to accomplish a significant goal or milestone. (250 words maximum)- that does not require knowing about UCLA, but this non-essay sure does. 1600 characters in total is around 350-400 words.  Given that they want 1000 of these characters on why UCLA, you had better know about that program in detail.

Describe your short-term and long-term post-MBA career goals

600 characters remaining

How can UCLA Anderson help you achieve your career and/or personal goals?

1000 characters remaining

 

But what makes me say this is a high engagement school is the application form:

Sources of Information

Please indicate your primary sources of information about our program (use commas to separate answers):

Website(s)

Social Media / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Blogs / Podcasts, etc.

Staff / Faculty Members

Students / Alumni

Other Sources

 

Given that most of my clients treat UCLA as a safety back-up place as many applicants not addicted to living in LA do, the inclination will be to put minimal time into this school, but I actually think the opposite is warranted. Make UCLA feel that it a school you really want to attend even if you don't.

 

Stanford MSx:For MSx I do highly recommend engagement with an admissions officer as they will provide relatively personalized interaction unlike the MBA program. In this sense, the MSx requires a high level of engagement with admissions. MSx works with applicants to really determine whether they fit the program prior to application, which is very common for such mid-career MBA programs. You should make extensive efforts to engage directly with MSx admissions.

The MSx program does have a very specific app form question:

Events and Activities

This question is for planning purposes only. Your response will not be considered in the review process.

Please select the MSx Admissions Office events or activities that you have attended or participated in.

Class visit

Online information session

In-person information session - on campus

In-person information session - off campus

Coffee chat with an admission officer

Coffee chat with a student/alum

Specialty panel (financial aid, student life, career services, entrepreneurship)

Application workshop webinar

Inside the admission committee webinar

They don't ask for details and say this information will not be considered in the application process, which I am sure is true and yet personal engagement with admissions here can have a positive impact because you will be engaging with the people who make the admissions decisions.

Essay B (Why Stanford? Describe your aspirations and how your Stanford GSB experience will help you realize them. If you are applying to both the MBA and MSx programs, use Essay B to address your interest in both programs.) certainly requires that know why you want to attend the MSx and this involves research and deep thinking about how the program will help you achieve.  I don't view name dropping of alumni or current students as very helpful here because the school really wants to learn about how you want to use them. Feel free to visit Stanford, but if you think this will impact the outcome you are delusional.  Don't waste your word count on the trivial or obvious but use it to showcase how you would specifically utilize Stanford.

MSx also has  specific additional 500 character (about 100-120 words) essay: Because the Stanford MSx program is for mid-career managers, it is valuable to have clear career goals in mind when you begin. Beyond a sentence or two, tell us about any specific career goals you have for the next few years, and how you believe the Stanford MSx Program, combined with your experience, education or background, will help you achieve them? If you choose to explain this in your essay or other portions of the application, you can reference that here (no need to repeat), but be as specific as you can. 

This gives a bit of additional space to expand on what you have written in Essay B and is a good place to highlight more about why MSx is right for you.

 

Wharton Lauder, the MBA/MA (International Studies-Lauder) is a program for those with strong international focus to their future goals.

Beyond making sure you meet the foreign language requirements and take any necessary tests for that, deep engagement with admissions staff is critical. Ask any current student or alumnus from Wharton Lauder and they will tell you to talk to Marcy (taken from https://lauder.wharton.upenn.edu/admission-team/):

"Marcy Bevan

Director, Admissions & Alumni Relations

For more than 30 years, Marcy has been overseeing admissions, alumni relations, and the coordination of special events for the Lauder Institute. Born and raised in the Philadelphia suburbs, Marcy earned her B.A. in English from Mills College and her Ed.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Email: bevanm@wharton.upenn.edu "

 

The first thing I tell my clients who apply to Lauder is talk to Marcy. She is the soul of the program, highly supportive of applicants and the single best person for helping a potential Lauder applicant figure out whether they apply.  Additionally one should talk with at least few Wharton Lauder alumni and/or current students.

The Lauder essay- Discuss why you are applying to the Lauder Institute, detailing specific reasons, experiences, and background for choosing your Program of Concentration, as well as your interest in further study in that Program. Applicants to Programs of Concentration involving language study (Africa-French; East and Southeast Asia; Europe; Latin America; South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa) should also discuss what they hope to gain from advanced language and cultural education, as well as describe how they have learned the language they will study (e.g. undergraduate courses, undergraduate major, etc.). Finally, please describe how you see yourself benefiting from, and contributing to, the Lauder community.  (800 words) - absolutely requires you know a lot about Lauder, how you would use it, and why it is right for you.

I think Lauder is an amazing program for the right candidate and given the close knit Lauder community, it offers a level of community beyond what one would get from the Wharton MBA. Just make the effort to find out whether you are right for it.

 

 --------------------------------------------

This took a long time to put together. Hope you find it useful.