MBA

If you are a college senior who wants to go to HBS - but not right away - then applying in Round 3 could be a smart choice.

Why?

1. The positive outcome is going to be "deferred admission" - a guaranteed spot in the class of 2014 with the stipulation that you work for two years before matriculation.
2. No target or cap on the number of deferred admit spots we will offer. Last year 43 college seniors were offered deferred admission.
3. No downside: If you aren't admitted, apply again in a couple of years - lots of denied college seniors are successful in the future.
4. The application fee is only $100.
5. GMAT/GRE scores are good for 5 years - why not take the test in college while you are still in test-taking mode?

This is a special message to college students who have been waiting to see the essay questions for the upcoming 2+2 application season. Surprise: They are the same as last year's!! Before we get to being creative and tinkering with them, we decided to have three years of the same questions so we can do a little bit of longitudinal analysis about the responses. Please visit the 2+2 Program website so you can learn more details about the program and the application dates.

As planned, today we are sending out roughly 800 interview invitations to round 2 applicants and some round 1 waitlisters. Invitations will arrive by email from HBS MBA Admissions and will be sent out before 5:00pm EST today. We will make sure every invited candidate is contacted so don't worry about missing our email.

More interview invitations will follow, up to decision notification on April 6. How many? I don't know for sure at this point - perhaps 50 or so. The majority of invitations will indeed be sent today. We continue to review - and re-review - applications and are also making some preliminary round 2 waitlist decisions. Candidates who do not receive interview invitations in round 2 will be considered for spots on the waitlist. I expect there will be approximately 100 round 2 candidates who will be invited to join the waitlist.

In response to many helpful suggestions, we are changing what you see after you have submitted your application. Instead of just the message that the application has been submitted, you will see an additional note indicating that your application is "under review." Hopefully this will give more reassurance that we are indeed moving applications through the process - something we've been doing all along, but the messaging was confusing.

We plan to begin sending out interview invitations on Friday, February 12. The invitation will be an email from HBS MBA Admissions. Our office will be closed on Monday, February 15 for President's Day. On Tuesday, February 16, our online interview scheduler will go live. Detailed instructions will be in the invitation email.

We plan to interview around 800 candidates in Round 2, including some Round 1 candidates on the waitlist who have not yet been interviewed. Most, but not all, of these invitations will go out on February 12 so that all invitees have equal access to locations and dates. As always, we will continue to send some invitations up to and including April 6, the notification date for Round 2.

Please note that interviews are by invitation only. We do not accommodate requests for interviews from candidates who are visiting campus.

This is where we plan to interview in Round 2:

London
Paris
Mumbai
Dubai
Shanghai
Tokyo
Sao Paolo
Palo Alto
San Francisco
NYC
Chicago

Candidates are always able to schedule a campus interview. If you are coming to campus to interview, we have reserved space in our first year classrooms for interviewees to observe a class. We also offer a lunch program with current students.

The majority of interviews will take place during the weeks of March 1 - March 19.

There will also be a small number of interviews conducted by phone, in case you are unable to travel to any of the above locations.

I'll do a separate post next week about when and how we expect to release interview invitations.

Another question, this time about recommendations:

Do I have to wait for my recommenders to finish before I can submit my application?

That's an easy one to answer: no.

We hope that all recommendations will be received by 5:00pm on January 19. Of course, that rarely happens. Our advice: don't wait until you get the notice that your recommendations have all been submitted before you hit the "submit" button for your application. We will start to read your application as long as two of your recommendations have been submitted. "Late" recommendations received within a day or two after the deadline will be added to your file.

We receive many questions about the GMAT, GRE, and TOEFL... the one below is probably the most common.

Can I submit my application without an official GMAT or GRE score? What about the TOEFL?

The key word here is "official" -- you must have either a GMAT or a GRE score in order to submit your application, but your unofficial score (i.e., the score you receive the day you take the test) is perfectly acceptable. Please do have your official scores sent to HBS. We will verify scores of all admitted candidates later in the spring.

TOEFL scores are different. You can't wait until the last minute to take the TOEFL because you won't be getting a score on the test date. If you need to take the TOEFL and haven't yet done so, you will most likely need to wait until Round 3 to submit your application.

Here's another FAQ:

Is there any advantage to being "early" in a given deadline period?

No, not really. We don't begin to read applications until after the application deadline. On the night of January 19, we will begin to print and distribute applications to the Admissions Board. Contrary to lots of speculation, there is absolutely no correlation between when an application is submitted and when, or if, a candidate is invited to interview. Applications are not reviewed in the order in which they are received.

That said, I wouldn't advise waiting until 4:59 pm to upload your application. We anticipate that server traffic will be high and you will be frustrated and anxious with the time it will take to have a successful submission.

Though HBS will be closed on Monday, January 18 in observance of the Martin Luther King holiday, our office will be open from 8:00am to 5:00pm (Eastern time) to answer your questions. All technical questions about the online application should be addressed to ApplyYourself. You can reach ApplyYourself by clicking on the online support button in your application, or by phone at 1-800-526-3313. ApplyYourself's support hours on January 18 are 8:00am to 8:00pm (Eastern time).

As we head toward January 19, I'll try to field some FAQs. None of these are new to us, but we're mindful that applicants are dealing with all this for the first time, so we'll risk being repetitive in an effort to be helpful.

Question: How rigid is the word-limit restriction? What happens if I go over?

This is the language we used last time about this; it's still true, and I can't think of a better way of saying it:

"Your essays do not get cut off if you go over the word limit. That being said, after reading many, many essays, we have a good feel for whether an essay is going over the limit. I think it's fair to say that we expect a candidate to be able to edit effectively, but don't stress over a few extra words.

We're getting a lot of similar questions from recommenders wondering if their remarks are being cut short. They aren't. We have suggested word limits for recommenders that amount to roughly a page of text; we do this to give those not familiar with writing recommendations a sense of an appropriate length of response. If your recommenders have more to say, that's fine. Their file upload doesn't get cut off after a single page or after a certain number of words."

We're turning out the lights tomorrow and heading home for the holidays. For the first time in recent memory, our admissions calendar allowed for a Round One decision notification before the HBS holiday break. We liked it. It made for a rather frantic Thanksgiving, but we're looking forward to not being in Dillon House all by ourselves like characters out of Dickens.

Round Two is also slightly modified this year: The deadline isn't until January 19 and that means we'll be back on the job in plenty of time to answer last minute application questions. In prior years, the deadline was right after the New Year... which probably caused a fair amount of frustration and anxiety when we weren't around to answer phones or email every day.

Here's a preview of what you can expect as we come up to the Round Two January 19 application deadline. We don't start reading applications until after the deadline - so there's no advantage to rushing to hit the "submit" button. That said, server traffic can be heavy on the day of the deadline, so it's smart not to wait until the final few hours. Everything always works out, but there can be some very anxious moments. It's probably a good idea to make sure your recommenders are very mindful of the deadline. Right after January 19, we'll be able to give you a pretty good idea of when interview invitations will be released and when the actual interview period will be.

If you're thinking of visiting HBS, you're welcome to come during the month of January, but the campus is very quiet until the third week. Students are on break...and many are on Immersion Experiences (IXPs) or student-led trips and treks. However, we will have information sessions - and the lines for lunch in Spangler will be considerably shorter! Class visits will resume in February - watch the website for sign-up details.

We hope that the holiday period gives you a chance to be both celebratory and reflective. Here in Dillon we're making our New Year's resolutions. I know one: It's important for us to carve out time to do the exercise of putting ourselves in your shoes. I always think we should be listening more and talking less. This can only lead to improvements in how you experience both the application process and Harvard Business School. Speaking for myself, I will try to be more diligent about timely updates about interview invitations and decision notification. I've been trying not to over-communicate and just repeat things that are on the website - but I resolve to be more sensitive to those high-anxiety periods.

Sending you all good wishes for a safe and happy holiday season and looking forward to 2010!

Decisions are now available online...the email notification is a bit delayed due to ApplyYourself issues. However, you can view your decision by logging in to your application.

Next Tuesday, December 15, is the day we release decisions to all first round applicants. Here's what you can expect:

Some time on Tuesday - most likely close to noon Boston time - you will receive an email from HBS MBA Admissions indicating that your decision is available. When you log into your account, your decision letter will be there.

Important note: No need to wait around by the phone or jump every time it rings - we don't make any phone calls in advance of the online notification. Really. Admits will start to receive congratulatory calls later in the day.

Applicants invited to join the waitlist on December 15 will receive a follow-up email later in the day on Tuesday from Eileen Chang, waitlist manager. The waitlist will be comprised of a mix of candidates who have been interviewed already and those who haven't.

For those candidates who are not admitted: I'm sorry, but we just can't offer personal feedback about your application. Even if we had the staff capacity to do this during the application season, it probably wouldn't be as helpful as you wish. The vast majority of applicants are certainly academically qualified to be here and would bring something interesting to the classroom. The challenge of selection is different from the process of evaluation - in our effort to bring together a diverse and textured class, we make many very tough calls.

We appreciate your patience...not too much longer to wait!

Now that it's December, we're in countdown mode to the December 15 notification date, so here's what's happening:

I think there may be about a dozen more interview invitations going out before the 15th...this is just a matter of reviewing how the class is shaping up at this point and going back and re-reviewing before final decisions are made.

As I've said before, we are building a waitlist of round 1 candidates - both those who have been interviewed and those who haven't. A "waitlist" letter in round 1 is essentially a "further consideration" decision - we will try to resolve many of these cases after we review round 2 applications. Last year we ended up admitting 70 people from the waitlist.

The next update - probably early next week - will be about how decisions are released on December 15.

I know I promised an update about interviews. They are in full swing on campus and elsewhere. We are still sending out interview invitations - maybe 50 or so more may go out before December 15 - plus waitlist invitations to some of those who have not received an interview invitation. In terms of "where" these interviews might be held, we anticipate they would likely take place on campus in Boston during December or via telephone.

We also want to share with you the list we just compiled of the undergraduate schools represented in the last three classes at HBS.

Greetings!

We continue to send out interview invitations to Round 1 applicants. As I said before, I don't know how many are still to go, but it is a significant number. The timing of when you receive an interview invitation is no reflection on the "strength" of your candidacy.

We do not send out interview invitations on Saturday and Sunday!

A note about the waitlist - remember, this year we are making Round 1 decisions before we see Round 2 applications. On December 15, I expect there will be a significant number - maybe 100 or so - of invitations to join the waitlist to candidates who have NOT been interviewed. As we review Round 2 applications, we may be inviting some of these candidates to interview in the Round 2 interview timeline.

I'll do another update next week.

Greetings. We're already deep into round 1 applications. As the leaves begin to turn colors (shameless plug for our spectacular foliage in New England) our board members burrow into their offices or study carrels in the library and we're drinking lots of coffee in Spangler in order to keep us on schedule.

We expect to begin sending out interview invitations on October 16. This year we may not be trying to send as many out on one day as we did last year... maybe more like a not-scientifically-measured stream until December 15. We really (really, really, really) don't know how many will go out on any given day. If you call and ask, we will say exactly that.

Interviews will take place during the month of November in Boston and in other hub cities. Detailed instructions to candidates about how to sign up for interviews will be included in their email invitation from us.

Don't worry about whether our email will get lost and we'll give away your interview spot. We don't do that. We'll find you. We've been doing this for a long time and we haven't lost anyone yet!

I will post updates whenever I think it would be helpful and others in our office will keep you current through Twitter and Facebook.

And I'm hoping that I can devote one post each week to answering your questions.

1. Why do business schools ask so many essay questions?

Good question! And remember, as always, I can only speak for HBS. I haven't seen any studies that correlate essay writing to the ability to effectively lead complex organizations. I think that the emphasis on essays is somewhat of a vestigial remnant of a time when we didn't conduct interviews. All we had to get to know candidates was what they provided in a written application - and we wanted to get to know them well.

They are still a very valuable part of the application, but they are only one component. The fact that we only have four essays - and you have a choice about two of them - is a definite change from the days when there were EIGHT required essays!

2. Why is the career vision question optional? It's required for most schools.

I think it's a great question that may be extremely helpful for you to ask yourself before you embark on an expensive (in many ways) MBA Program. When it comes to being valuable in our selection process, we find that the vast majority of our students may have a general idea of what they might want to do post HBS, but are very open and curious to explore many different career paths. As a School, we make a big investment in encouraging that exploration and helping students through a rigorous self-assessment process. We try to avoid sending a signal in the application process that we think that process should be completed pre-business school. I think that having this time for exploration is a major advantage of a two year MBA program.

1. What happens if I'm over the word count limit in my essays? Does my work get cut off? What about my recommenders?

Your essays do not get cut off if you go over the word limit... that being said, after reading many, many essays, we have a good feel for whether an essay is going over the limit. I think it's fair to say that we expect a candidate to be able to edit effectively - but don't stress over a few extra words.

We're getting a lot of similar questions from recommenders wondering if their remarks are cut short - they aren't. We have suggested word limits for recommenders that amount to roughly a page of text; we do this to give those not familiar with writing recommendations a sense of the response we're looking for. If your recommenders have more to say, that's fine - their file upload doesn't get cut off after a single page or after a certain number of words.

2. Could you please explain the choice to waive or not to waive one's access to the recommendations? Is this of interest to the Admissions Board?

It plays no part in our evaluation of your application - it's something for you and your recommenders to decide.

1. Can I submit my application before my recommenders submit their recommendations, or should I wait for them to finish?

We've answered this question in an earlier blog posting, but it's worth repeating since we still get a lot of questions on this. There's no need to wait - hit the "submit" button when you have completed all of your application components. If any of your recommenders haven't finished, remind them that they also need to submit by 5pm on the deadline day, but don't wait! If they submit right at 5pm, and you wait to get confirmation from them that they're done, you'll end up getting bumped to the next admissions round. Your application and your recommendations are submitted to separate databases and matched later on in the process - the recommendations will "catch up" to your application, even after you submit.

2. I'm a reapplicant. Do you compare my previous application to my current one, or is the process entirely separate?

We reserve the right to review a reapplicant's previous application, but we don't always do so, which is why we generally suggest that reapplicants focus on new information — we really do like to give you a chance to start fresh! That being said, the stage in the process where we would be most likely to pull and review a previous application would be in the interview — so if you are a reapplicant who is interviewed, it's possible that your interviewer will have seen your previous application. Also, it's worth noting that if a reapplicant is invited to interview with us again, we try hard to make sure that s/he has a different interviewer than they did the first time around, so that each side gets a fresh perspective.

1. Are you reading applications now?

No. We don't begin until the night of October 1. That's when we print all applications and begin review. So our process is not "rolling" in a classic sense. That said, I would advise NOT waiting until the final moments before the deadline to submit because the server will probably be backed up and you will be very anxious.

2. When can I visit a class?

The online scheduler for class visits is available now. Class visits begin on Monday, October 19. Whether you have visited a class or not has no bearing on our consideration of your candidacy. However, here's (yet another) plug for our video filmed in the first year classroom.

1. Must applications for the MPP/MBA Program, or other joint degree programs, be submitted separately?

Yes. In order to participate in a Harvard joint program, you must be admitted to each school independently. HBS offers five joint degrees with four Harvard schools.

2. May I scan an unofficial transcript into the application?

Yes. After admission, we require the official transcript to be sent to us.

1. Do you expect applicants who are working in consulting to include actual client names in their resumes and essays?

No - even though applications are confidential and not reviewed outside the Admissions Board, please don't do anything that violates confidentiality policies of your organization. Use general language such as: "For a client in the energy industry, etc. etc. etc."

2. I know that you need GMAT/GRE results in order to submit an application and that AWA/Analytical Writing scores can be added later...but what about the TOEFL or IELTS?

If you are required to take the IBT TOEFL or IELTS, you must have results to report or else we will consider your application incomplete until scores are reported. If you do not submit an IBT TOEFL or IELTS score by the Round One deadline of October 1, your application will not be considered until the next round.

1. Do you accept the GMAT or GRE total score in the application without the AWA or Analytical Writing score?

You must have a GMAT or GRE score in order to submit an application. If you haven't yet received your AWA or Analytical Writing score, that's fine. We will add it to your file when it arrives.

2. Is it OK to write about accomplishments that are not recent?

Every year, many successful candidates write about things that happened quite a while ago. It's probably not a good idea to have everything you write about be from your childhood - we would wonder if you were moving forward or fixed in the past. As always, we encourage you to use your best judgment and remember that this is an application to business school.

1. What should I enter on the application for GPA if my university doesn't use a 4.0 grading system?

Don't enter anything. Don't convert your grades to a 4.0 system. We review all transcripts and are familiar with a wide variety of grading systems.

2. Are essays read in consecutive order?

Not always. Each Board member may have his/her own way of approaching the written application. Speaking for myself, I often skip around with no particular pattern. If I start with an essay that seems to be building on a theme in another essay, I just go back and catch up. Not a problem. I can reassure you that all essays are reviewed!

As the Round One deadline gets closer and closer, I want to be as helpful as possible here. Instead of me posting and answering imaginary questions, how about if you submit yours and I respond to two each day from now until October 1?

Submit your questions via email to admissions+hbs.edu and put "Questions for the director" in the subject line. At this point, I think questions should be about the application and application process vs. Big Picture "Why the case method?" or "How many students pursue careers in healthcare?". I also can't address the "What are my chances?" questions.

In addition to answering questions, I will always provide updates from our office as they become relevant.

Happy to introduce the newest 2+2 admits... here's the profile:

Admissions
Total Applicants	844
Admits	115
% Admitted	14%
Female	39%
International	27%
Countries Represented	17

What the stats don't show is how much fun we had meeting these folks. They all have leadership talent and they bring an infectious level of curiosity, initiative and energy. We are proud to welcome them to the HBS family.

I stand by our general advice on recommendations: the most important thing is to choose people who know you well enough to answer the questions we are asking. Many recommendations are well-written and enthusiastic in their praise but essentially full of adjectives and short on actual examples of how your wonderful qualities play out in real life. What we are hoping for are brief recounts of specific situations and how you performed.

We ask for three — and we are fine with several different combinations. It's fine to have all three recommendations come from your current firm/organization. It's fine to have one from a former employer. It's also fine to have one come from someone who has supervised or observed you in a non-work situation — community service or campus leadership, for example. Note that we are not looking for a peer recommendation — we find it most helpful if there is some developmental distance between you and the recommender. The exception to this might be when you have worked on an entrepreneurial venture or project and the only person able to help us understand your involvement is a partner or colleague.

Please realize that we are considering these recommendations in the context of your entire application — we are not creating a detailed map of the titles and resumes of your recommenders and setting up an elaborate hierarchy.

Please don't ask current HBS students to write to us on your behalf outside of the formal recommendation process. Candidates are not advantaged in the application process by either professional or personal associations with our students.

If you are worried about how we will interpret your choice or recommenders, simply write a (brief) explanation in the "additional information" section of the application.

Especially in these unusual times, please don't jeopardize your employment in order to secure a recommendation from a current employer. While we might wish that all bosses were enthusiastic and encouraging about business school for their emerging leaders, this is not a universal sentiment. Make your best judgment call about whom to ask, make sure they understand what we're asking, explain your choices to us if you think you should... and that's it!

I've been picking up the general phone line today in order to hear what kinds of questions we are receiving...here's a few:

1. Is there any advantage to submitting my Round 1 application now?
   Not really. We don't begin to read applications until the day after the deadline. However, it's always nerve-wracking for candidates who wait until the absolute last minute and then the server is backed up. ...so somewhere between very early and just-in-time is probably smart.

2. I can't attend an HBS information session. What am I missing?
   Here's what happens at information sessions outside of Boston (please view our Event Calendar for dates and locations):

   An Admissions Board member presents an overview with general information about HBS and some detail about the MBA Program and the admissions process. We have a new video which captures some student perspectives and shows off our campus. We then present a panel of relatively recent alumni from the local area who share their reflections on their experience at HBS. We close with a question-and-answer session.

   And here's an on-campus session (please see our Visit HBS page for more information):

   An Admissions Board member conducts an informal session in an HBS classroom. A typical session will have anywhere from 10 to 30 attendees. There is plenty of time for questions. Although there are no MBA classes in session during the summer, the Spangler Student Center is open for breakfast and lunch. We offer an iPod tour of the campus which is fun and takes about 30 minutes.

   In addition to afternoon sessions, this fall we will be hosting on-campus information sessions on the following evenings:
   September 3, 9, 17 and 23
   These will be similar in format to our on-campus afternoon sessions.

3. When will class visits begin?
   Early October...although the exact date hasn't been set yet. In September we will post the date and there will be a link to an on-line scheduler. Lunches with students and campus tours will get underway then, too.

The class profile is now posted on our website. Please note that this is PRELIMINARY as of today, July 1. Any changes will be reflected in the FINAL profile, which we will post when classes begin in September.

Apologies for being such an infrequent blogger or "updater" or whatever I am trying to do here. I offer only three excuses. The first is that most of our efforts these days have been directed towards nailing down the entering class and figuring out who's coming, who's not, etc. I really do hope to be able to post a profile in the next couple of weeks. The second is that we're already in "outreach" mode for the Class of 2012. I was in Shanghai in mid-June hosting a reception for prospective candidates and connecting with the new admits who will be joining us this September. The third is that last week we welcomed the first cohort of 2+2 admits to their summer program on campus and I wanted to spend every possible moment getting to know them individually and watching them interact in the HBS classroom sessions. Enough excuses.

When are we going to launch the application for the Class of 2012? Answer: July 10. The actual application will go live on that day but the essay questions are posted on our website already.

Look for another message soon about our outreach calendar, telling you what you can expect at an HBS event and what to do if you are unable to attend one.

Here we go... the essay questions and application calendar for next year's season are up on the website.

Please note that the Round One application deadline is October 1 — a bit earlier than last year — and notification is in mid-December. We've also pushed the Round Two application deadline back to January 19 while keeping the notification date in early April. Both of these moves are attempts to shorten the wait time for candidates... we really do understand how hard it is to wait.

More about outreach events and summer activities on campus later.

Beginning with the Class of 2012, HBS will accept only the Internet Based Test (IBT) version of the TOEFL or the IELTS as tests of English as a foreign language. The TOEFL or IELTS is required of applicants who did not use English as the language of instruction in their undergraduate education. In our discussion-based, case method classroom, we have found that speaking ability (along with strong listening, reading and writing skills) is critical to success. Therefore, we need to see speaking scores in order to evaluate applicants appropriately; both the IELTS and the TOEFL IBT have speaking components. The IBT version of the TOEFL is available in all testing centers.

Beginning with the class of 2012, HBS will accept both GMAT and GRE results. We think that both tests will provide adequate metrics of what a standardized test can tell us about a candidate. It will take a while for us to do a complete update of every reference to these tests on our website — in the meantime, please accept this as official notification of this change.

Apologies for the long time between updates, but the past couple months are the time of year where we are spending all our time speaking with admits, reviewing and discussing round 3 candidates and the waitlisters, and talking (a lot) about next year's application and our outreach travel plans. Here's what you can expect in the next few weeks:

• Today, Wednesday, May 13 - round 3 notification. Mostly likely around noon. Decisions may include a few offers to join the waitlist.
• May 13-20 - some admits from the waitlist, some releases from the waitlist, and some invitations to remain on the waitlist for another month or so.
• Week of May 18 - essay questions and application deadline dates for the Class of 2012 application will be posted on the MBA website and also here on the "notes from the Director" page. Also, some information about what goes on at HBS when the students are gone in the summer (i.e., the campus information session schedule).
• Mid June - tentative travel schedule for MBA Information Sessions.
• Early August - a profile of the Class of 2011.

I'm sure there will be other updates, but these are the ones I am thinking of right now.

Applications for the 2+2 Program are due on July 1, 2009 and invitations to interview will be sent around July 15. Updates will be posted both here and on the website.

Harvard University today announced a new loan program for international students. Here's a link to the press release.

Harvard University Secures New Source of Funding for International Graduate and Professional Students

...in no particular order:

• Our Round 1 deadline for the next application season will be earlier in October, BEFORE fall class visits are open. We encourage those of you who are thinking of applying in Round 1 to consider a class visit this spring - class visits are available until May 8. Visiting an HBS class has absolutely no impact on the application process - we just want everyone to know that you are welcome.
• We will be making more offers from the waitlist this year, and we hope to make the majority of these decisions as soon as we can - definitely before the end of May.
• International students will have access to loans without needing a U.S. co-signer. We will release details/terms on specific programs as they are finalized.

I'll make this short and sweet - today we sent out about 100 interview invitations to Round 3 candidates. There will be some more, but I don't know when, to whom, or exactly how many.

This is the time of year when we have all three rounds in play, so here is some news for everyone:

Round One Waitlist - We will be extending offers of admission to about 40 round one waitlisters shortly after April 2. We will continue to maintain a waitlist and Eileen Chang will send out an update in early April.

Round Two Notification - April 2 is the notification date. All decisions will be released online - you will receive an email instructing you to check your status. We won't be making any congratulatory phone calls in advance of April 2!

Round Three Interview Invitations - Many, but not all, will go out on April 3.

Big day here at Dillon House. Lots of speculation about what the final number of applications will be to the Class of 2011. Some of what I say here will be repetitive, but the questions keep coming:

• After you hit the "submit" button, your application status will not change. You will never see "under review" or anything like that.
• You must have a GMAT score to report - your unofficial score is fine - before you can submit the application.
• Since it's the final round, we'll continue to accept recommendations online until Monday, March 16.
• Written applications must be submitted online today, March 11. We'll keep the system open beyond 5pm to accommodate the heavy activity in the system that always occurs right around our deadline. If you find that you're having trouble submitting, keep trying!

As soon as we wrap up Round 3 tomorrow, we'll be getting out some information here about the application for the Class of 2012!!

The March 11 deadline is coming up soon and we've been getting inquiries from candidates trying hard to get applications ready for submission in this final round. In trying to balance fairness with flexibility, here's where we come out:

• No extensions on the GMAT - you need to be able to submit your score in order to submit the application. We don't need to receive the official score report by March 11. If you re-take the GMAT after the March 11 deadline, we cannot consider the new score.
• Written applications - must be submitted online by March 11 - maybe not 5pm Boston time on the dot, but certainly on that date.
• Recommendations - a little more flexibility here. We'll accept online recommendations through Monday, March 16.

I know I've said this before, but here I go again: we understand and appreciate the uncertainty in the world right now. We are trying to be responsive while making sure we have time to carefully consider all applications and get decisions out on time.

You don't need me to tell you that these are unusual times. As you are thinking about your future, it may be interesting to hear news about how our Class of 2009 is faring in the job search process.

We've heard from 88% of the Class of 2009 - there are always students in the class who are going on to other degrees, returning to sponsoring companies, etc. As of today, 77% of those seeking employment have received offers. I don't have any more details to offer at this point, but we are proud of both our students and our Career Services team who have helped many of our students discover and pursue their dreams and find new opportunities in the midst of great uncertainty in the market. It is still months from graduation and companies and organizations continue to be a big presence on campus - spring will be lively here at HBS. We will provide updates as the season progresses.

Here's a question I've been asked a few (hundred) times in the past few days:

Why doesn't HBS send out denials at the same time we issue interview invitations?

We don't send out final decisions until the notification date because we need to see the results of the interview process before we extend offers to join the waitlist. After we've finished interviewing, we want to make sure we are still considering enough candidates from certain profiles - which include nationality, gender, industry background, leadership styles...and other dimensions - to compose the overall portfolio of next year's class. This is why it is important for us to keep EVERY round 2 applicant under consideration until notification day. I know this process isn't perfect, but I am absolutely certain that it's thoughtful and thorough.

Today we are sending emails to about 750 applicants inviting them to interview. Detailed information will be included in the email. I think there will be between 50 and 100 additional invitations sent between now and April 2. These will be sent out as files are reviewed - not on a designated day or days.

As I've said before, I know that the business school application experience is anxiety-producing. We are trying hard to minimize anxiety and stress while preserving a time-intensive selection process in which the applications you invested so much in are carefully reviewed by multiple members of the Admissions Board.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Greetings...

Here's the plan:

On February 9 we will send out invitations to interview. The invitation will come in an email from HBS MBA Admissions and will contain detailed instuctions about how to sign up for interviews both on campus and in hub cities. Please be assured that if we see you haven't signed up for an intervew by the end of the week, we will contact you by phone...thus there's no reason to be anxious about lost emails, etc.

Shortly afterward, I'll update you here as to how many invitations have been issued and how many we expect will go out between February 10 and the April 2 notification date.

If you're looking for a nice distraction from waiting for business school decisions, CNBC is re-airing "The Money Chase" on Sunday, January 18th at 9:00pm EST. "The Money Chase" is a documentary about HBS which provides a good way to learn more about current students and also hear some reflections from alumni.

Dee

Next Wednesday, January 21, is the day we release decisions to all first round applicants. Here's what you can expect:

Some time on Wednesday - most likely before noon - you will receive an email from HBS MBA Admissions indicating that your decision is available. You then log in to your account and there it is.

We don't make phone calls in advance of this. Really. None. Admits will start to receive congratulatory calls later in the day, but notification is always online. So if you're waiting to hear from Harvard, no need to jump when the phone rings or worry when it doesn't.

Applicants invited to join the waitlist on January 21 will receive a follow-up email later in the day on Wednesday from Eileen Chang, waitlist manager. The waitlist will be comprised of a mix of candidates who have been interviewed already and those who haven't.

For those candidates who are not admitted, we are unable to offer personal feedback about your application. Even if we had the staff capacity to do this during the application season, it probably wouldn't be as helpful as you wish. The vast majority of applicants are certainly academically qualified to be here and would bring something interesting to the classroom. The challenge of selection is different from the process of evaluation - in our effort to bring together a diverse and textured class, we make many very tough calls.

I know how difficult it is to wait... but it's not too much longer.

Dee

I'm happy to announce that the essay questions for this year's 2+2 applicants are up on the website.

This year we will be accepting results from both the GMAT and GRE for 2+2 applicants. More detailed information about this will be on the website soon.

If you're a current college underclassman, please explore the 2+2 Program and consider whether it may be a good idea for you. All of us who read applications and interviewed candidates last summer believe that this was an eye-opening experience for us - the energy and talent had us all truly impressed. Last year's admits will be gathering here on campus in late June . . . we'll be doing some interviews and podcasts that I think you'll find interesting.

Back to the Round 2 applications . . . .

Dee

Today is the application deadline for Round Two. It will hardly be a news flash to tell you that it's probably the busiest day of the year in Dillon House.

There may be heavy server traffic - especially late in the afternoon - so please don't panic if it takes a while to submit your application. Be patient...or, better yet, be early! The deadline is at 5pm, but I predict that we will not have a strict cut-off - we will do everything reasonably possible to make sure your application is considered in Round Two.

We'll all be answering the phones - and I know it's reassuring to hear a human voice - but please realize that we have no way of checking on the details of your individual application. And remember, your online status WILL NOT CHANGE to "under review" or "received" after you hit the submit button.

And, most important, congratulations to all of you who completed the application. We hope that the process of self-reflection has been valuable...and memorable.

As promised, here are some answers to questions that we've been hearing over the past few days.

Shouldn't my status change to "under review" or something similar when I submit my application?
No...it will remain as "submitted" until notification day, April 2.

What if I am taking the GMAT in the next few days? Will you get my scores in time?
You need to report a GMAT score when you submit the application. You don't need to worry about whether the official report from GMAC will reach us by January 6.

What if I am taking the TOEFL in the next few days?
Too late. You need to have taken the TOEFL and have an official score to report before you can submit the application. Once again, here's who is required to take the TOEFL: Candidates whose undergraduate university instruction was NOT in English.

Do I need to wait until my recommendations have been sent before I submit my application?
No. The requirement for submitting is that you input the names/information about your recommenders. Recommendations can be submitted any time up until the January 6 deadline at 5pm EST. There is no need to wait until then to submit the application.

Hope this is helpful...as we continue to field questions, we'll update this page accordingly.

Greetings from snowy Boston...

Just a few things before the office officially closes for the holiday break from December 24 through January 4.

This week - and up until the notification day on January 21 - we are reviewing candidates post-interview and also building the Round One waitlist. I expect that around 100 Round One candidates not yet invited to interview will be asked to join the waitlist on notification day. As we get a closer look at Round Two candidates, we will be inviting some of the waitlisters to interview in the Round Two cycle. Thus, you could say that a Round One waitlist decision is essentially a "further consideration" message. Everyone asked to join the waitlist will receive detailed information about the process and will have a contact person in Dillon House. We have every intention of admitting some candidates from the waitlist.

For those of you working on Round Two applications, expect a message here early next week.

Wishing you all happy, safe and peaceful holidays.

Today we sent out about 750 invitations to interview. I think we will ultimately send around 850 by the notification date, January 21.

I can't predict when this additional 100 invitations will go out nor to whom. It is possible that candidates invited in the next few weeks will not have extensive options to interview in hub cities; we will make every effort to work with them to schedule an interview which is convenient.

The Admissions Board continues to review written applications and discuss cases until the January notification date.

I also anticipate that around 100 Round One candidates who have not been interviewed will be invited to accept a place on the wait list in January. As their cases are further considered, they may be invited to interview.

We are trying to be as transparent as possible about this anxiety-producing process. I hope I am clear in my continued message that this is a "selection" process designed to bring a talented and diverse mix of students into the classroom. There are no hard and fast rules and there are many more qualified candidates than we have capacity to admit.

It's a really nice day here and I wanted to share something. I was just walking across campus and a first year student waved me over and said: "just got out of class where the case was about leadership at GE and Jack Welch was in the skydeck. Definitely an HBS moment."

There's been great uncertainty out there about international student loans so we are extremely pleased to be able to make this announcement:

International students at HBS will continue to have access to need-based loans without needing to find a US co-signer.

While at this time we do not have further details about specific loan programs with private lenders, we are able to make this important - and reassuring - statement about continued accessibility.

All students - both international and US citizens - will continue to be eligible for Harvard Business School fellowships - the money you don't pay back. This year HBS will award $22 million in need-based fellowships; the average MBA fellowship is $25k per year.

I'm sure you've noticed by now that I use this platform almost exclusively to talk about admissions issues. Every so often I will direct you to new programs and activities here at HBS but I also assume that you are already fully comfortable with exploring hbs.edu and, hopefully, harvard.edu to learn about the "other side of the river." Just want you to know that you can expect to hear about the wonderful world of HBS Admissions here and hope you're getting answers to questions about the MBA Program and life on campus elsewhere.

I often hear questions come in on the phone and I'm always listening for those that seem to be accompanied by confusion or anxiety. Here's one:

"What if my recommender can't meet the application deadline? Will my application be held over into the next decision round?"

Here's what we do:

If an application has two submitted recommendations, we send it out for review by the Admissions Board in the round in which the application arrived. If the third recommendation comes in, we make every attempt to add it to the file. Since the file can be in any number of places and we can't stop the reading flow, we can't promise that the recommendation will be added before review is complete.

Applications with only one submitted recommendation are held up for the next round.

We'll post this again closer to the Round 2 deadline.

Here are some quick but not very eloquent notes to Round One applicants:

Now that the round one application deadline has passed, we anticipate your questions about interview invitations. Our plan is to begin inviting candidates to interview on November 12. All the interview invitations will not be extended in a single day. A significant majority of invitations will be issued by the week of November 17. In past years, invitations have been extended up to and including the date of notification; we expect this practice to continue.

The timing of the interview decision is determined by when a particular application is reviewed in our process; there is no relationship between timing and "strength" of application. Interview invitations are not released in alphabetical order, by geographic location, or according to the date it was received. Interview invitations are sent via email and contain complete instructions for logistics. Please remember - we are unable to consider any additional materials received after the application deadline.

Just trying to get the facts out there... in the meantime, hope you all are exploring our website. Check out the section on entrepreneurship - lots of new material there for you.

Here's a breakdown of when the Class of 2010 graduated from college/university by class year. Remember, all directly admitted college seniors have the option to postpone matriculation in order to gain work experience.

Given the current climate of uncertainty in the financial services community, we are getting some new questions:

Q: Is HBS going to increase the size of next year's entering class in response to a potential increase in number of applications?
A: No. The Class of 2011 will be roughly 900.

Q: If there is an increase in the number of applicants from financial services, will the number of admits from this group be greater than in prior years?
A: Not necessarily. Our goal is to compose a class which represents many different kinds of diversity, of which professional experience is only one element. We don't have fixed industry or geographical targets so the year-to-year class profile may change.

Q: Are candidates who are not currently employed at a disadvantage?
A: No. We realize that these are unusual times and that many strong contributors may find themselves in this situation.

Q: Can I apply in Round One (October 15 deadline) and submit my GMAT score later?
A: No. It is impossible to submit the application without an actual GMAT score.

Q: Do I have a better chance of being admitted if I submit my application in Round One?
A: Not if you are compromising the quality of your application in order to rush to meet the October 15 deadline. It takes a significant amount of time to complete the written application, not to mention allowing your recommenders enough time to be thoughtful and thorough in their assessment.

As usual, I hope this is helpful.

Greetings from Dillon House — or, more accurately, The Road. This is a travel month for us and we have met many of you at presentations. Your enthusiasm about Harvard is much appreciated and it's important for us to hear what's on your minds. We'll try to capture the most frequently asked questions and post responses here. For example, a while ago I wrote a blog entry on Recommendations — it may be helpful to review it and I'll be repeating it here at a later date.

Judging from the volume of phone calls and email we are getting, many prospective applicants are eager to visit campus before the October 15 Round One deadline. This is great and we hope that our online scheduler gives candidates flexibility in planning a class visit. We begin to send visitors to class during the week of October 6 — thus we anticipate that we will not be able to honor all requests to see a class before the round 1 deadline. Although we think it's wonderful to be able to see the case method in action, please be reassured that if this isn't possible, you are in no way disadvantaged in the application process. The Admissions Board does not keep track of who has or has not seen a class.

There are other ways to get to know us. Starting on October 6, we will offer information sessions, campus tours, and lunch with student hosts most days. Unlike class visits, these do not need to be scheduled in advance — just come to Dillon House and we will direct you. For a complete list of prospective student offerings, check out our campus activities calendar.

This is a reminder that it is not possible to schedule individual meetings with members of the Admissions Board. Instead, we invite you to come to one of our daily information sessions which are conducted by members of the board. Each session leaves time for questions.

The only interviews we conduct are done at the invitation of the Admissions Board as all Round One applications are read and reviewed. We anticipate that Round One interview invitations will begin to be extended in mid-November and the majority of interviews will be conducted in December. We will update this information periodically.

If you're thinking about applying to Harvard Business School this year, you may be wondering — and worrying — about whether you "should" be making a pilgrimage to campus this summer.

Well, we're always up for company and we think we're a nice place to spend a sunny afternoon. Our campus is stunning — that's the only way to describe it and I'm not trying to boast. When your only exposure to schools is via websites, they can seem more physically similar than they really are. Most people are surprised at how extensive our campus is — more like a residential college than they expected. More buildings. More little nooks and crannies for students to gather. More green space. More bunnies and squirrels. And then there's Harvard Square right across the bridge and Boston — the best city in the US — only a short subway ride away. Outdoor cafes and concerts, great shopping, a vast variety of restaurants... lots to do — and a great summer getaway.

What we don't have in the summer is the heart of who we are and what we do: students and faculty in classrooms. You can walk around the campus on an iPod tour and attend an information session with members of the admissions board, but it will be pretty quiet. If you stay for lunch, you will probably not have to stand in line for sushi.

We always encourage candidates to explore our distinctive learning model — the case method — and experience the energy in our classroom. Class visits begin in October and can be arranged through the Admissions Office website. Current students are available to lunch with prospective applicants and they give tours in the afternoon. Information sessions led by board members are held throughout the year. If a real-time visit isn't practical, I strongly urge you to watch the video, Inside the Case Method. I think it offers a great peek inside a real case method discussion and lets you hear how our faculty thinks about this very special kind of teaching and learning.

Whether you visit or not will have absolutely no impact on how your application is considered. Applying to business school(s) is expensive enough — the application fees, GMAT fee, cost to travel to an interview, etc. We have no desire to add to the expense. If you do visit, we ask for your name only to track trends over time and make sure we are adequately staffed to entertain our guests.

So, consider yourself invited , but know that this is a cordial welcome, not a summons to a command performance!

Well, so much for frequent blogging during the "down season". When I wrote that, I obviously forgot that this was going to be a new kind of summer: it's the season of the 2+2 Program!

We've been reading applications and spending a lot of time thinking and discussing both individual files and building a summer program for this group for next year. The applications are simply great - everything we hoped for and plenty of them.

This is probably an opportune time to address another frequently asked question: "Is Harvard Business School looking for a younger class?"

Here's how the incoming class looks: we have 912 people expected to matriculate in September. 371 of these are what we call "within three years of college graduation" which means that they have graduated in 2008, 2007, 2006 and 2005. We keep track this way, not by age. About a dozen are coming right from undergraduate school - and another dozen were admitted directly from college but elected to delay matriculation in order to get some - or additional - full-time work experience. Many of the directly admitted college seniors have worked full-time already - all have had significant roles on campus or entrepreneurial experience. All directly admitted seniors are welcome to postpone their date of matriculation.

Back to the class profile and the original question. Do the numbers and I think you'll find that 541 members of the class of 2010 have been out of college for more than 3 years. That's more than the total enrollment in many business schools.

Are these numbers "quotas" or "targets"? No. We'll still do our evaluation and selection the old-fashioned way: one folder at a time. Lots of attention to the written application and mandatory interviews by invitation only. We ask the same questions about every candidate we consider: Is this person a leader? Does he/she give evidence of ability to engage enthusiastically in serious intellectual and analytical work? Will this person invest as much in the educational experience of others as in his/her own?

So the answer would be that we think you can come to Harvard Business School and thrive earlier in your career than you might have heard via the grapevine. That doesn't mean that those with more experience should be discouraged: apply when it's optimal for you. When you can look at the questions we pose and feel eager to respond, that's a good indication of readiness.

Back to the 2+2 files... enjoy summer and watch our website for our information session dates and locations. As always, I hope this is helpful.

The Application for Class of 2011 goes live today...

That's really all I need to say but here's a quick note:

Please keep in mind that while it's wonderful to finally hit that "submit" button, we only begin to review applications after the October 15 Round One deadline. The Admissions Board has no knowledge of whether you submitted your application today or in October. To put it another way, we consider applications in three distinct decision rounds; within rounds, it is not a "rolling" admissions process.

Hands down, this is the most commonly asked question during our outreach presentations both at home and on the road... so I'd like to tackle it here to reach the broadest possible audience.

Something will be lost without the visuals - in person, I do a combination of a wince and a sympathetic shrug because the answer is: "gee, I don't know - but I understand how anxious this issue makes you and I will try to help". Let me back into the question and tell you how we review the recommendations. All written applications are read by the Admissions Board. All the materials you submit are compiled into folders and circulated to Board members for their comments. Your three recommendations, of course, are included.

The first thing I do when I read a recommendation is to ascertain how the recommender knows the candidate. Have they worked closely? When? In what context? Then I move to the actual responses to the questions we pose. Has the recommender taken the time and care to answer the actual questions? The Board puts a great deal of thought into these questions and we value a direct response. This is different from asking for a standard format "letter of reference" which, in most cases, would be 100% praise.

We don't expect the ratings grid to be all at the extreme positive end of the scale. It's hard to imagine the value of a Harvard education for someone who is "perfect". We prefer our candidates to be "normal" with opportunities for growth and development.

We are very pleased with the wording of the question: "what constructive feedback have you given the applicant?" We are finding this yields responses that are more productive than language around "weaknesses" or "areas for improvement" which can be manipulated to look like strengths, i.e. "Sally simply doesn't know how to stop working at 100%". Actually, that would be a real weakness, but you can imagine that it is meant to have a positive spin.

When it comes to "who should I select as my recommender?", there is no right answer or prescription. Candidates simply must use common sense and trust that we on the Admissions Board are reasonable and understanding. There are many successful candidates who are unable to provide recommenders from current supervisors. Also there are many candidates who are new to companies or roles and the current supervisor would not be able to be very helpful. We get it. Make your best judgment call and stop worrying. If we are struggling with understanding why a strong candidate made a curious choice of recommenders, we'll ask you - either we'll pick up the phone or we'll ask you during the interview. It is also not uncommon for us to pick up the phone and call a recommender for clarification. A simple test might be that if a recommender doesn't know you well enough to answer the questions we pose, he/she is not a good choice.

College seniors: don't be hesitant to ask for recommendations from college professors with whom you have worked closely. We do not expect you to have the same relationships in the professional world as those who are applying from the work force.

Now that I've tried to reassure you that choosing recommenders shouldn't be stressful, here are a couple of categories that I'd have to call "not a good idea". I have rarely seen a helpful recommendation from a fifth grade piano teacher. Likewise, family members simply cannot be viewed as objective enough for this task. We are very eager to see candidates from family businesses, but you should find recommenders who can substantiate your role and contributions who are not your relatives. This year we will be, for the first time, openly discouraging of informal input from current HBS students which are submitted outside of the three required recommendations. Of course we value their opinions and are deeply appreciative of their efforts to find wonderful new admits to the MBA Program. However, it is not comfortable to send any signal that those who are not fortunate enough to count HBS students as friends or former colleagues are in any way disadvantaged in the admissions process.

As usual, I hope this level of candor is helpful.

Well, I suppose this is the official launch of the Class of 2011 application season! The new essay questions are now posted along with the application calendar. Our application will be available online in mid-June.

Watch the website for news of our outreach events. I'll be in NYC on May 27 and more events will be added as they are scheduled. Expect most of these to be in August and September. College visits will be in late September, October and November.

You are welcome to visit campus this summer. Members of the Admissions Board will be hosting information sessions. Class visits will resume in early October. I encourage you all to view the video, Inside the Case Method on the website. I think it gives a very clear picture of what happens in the MBA classroom and offers both student and faculty perspectives.

I hope to be a more active blogger now that the Class of 2010 is set. I am going to be re-writing the FAQ section of our website and will surely find some that I'd like to add more context and color to via the blog. Wishing you a wonderful summer...

I know, I know... we haven't even wrapped up the Class of 2010. There's still the Round 3 notification on May 14 and we have a wait list to manage. On that subject, the response deadline for Round 2 admits is May 8; this is a critical date since we then have a better idea of where we stand in wrapping up the class entering in September. Please don't take this too literally — we won't have perfect clarity on May 9 — but I want to share with you how the timeline works.

So, about the Class of 2011. We hope to have our new essay questions posted by mid-May and we'll certainly alert you through the blog about the actual date. We are also planning on doing an outreach event in NYC in May to start the season. Again, stay tuned for actual date and venue.

For those of you hoping to visit HBS classes — our last day of class visits this year is May 9. We will hold information sessions throughout the summer but class visits in the Fall of 2008 don't begin until early October. Detailed information about visiting campus is available on our website.

Here's some more advice. As you explore websites, chatrooms, books and information sessions held by MBA consulting services, be mindful of claims of "inside information" from former members of admissions boards. I've been on the HBS Board for a (very!) long time and I can't begin to tell you how much has changed . Applicants are certainly smart to explore the admissions processes at different schools but, speaking for HBS, be careful about very specific advice that may not reflect current practices. This includes application advice from our own loyal and well-meaning alumni/ae!

To all of our Round 3 applicants, we know it seems like quite a while since you hit the "submit" button.

We plan to send out most of the Round 3 interview invitations during business hours today, April 9. There may be a few additional invitations going out until the May 14 notification date - not sure of the exact number, but probably around a dozen. Some Round 3 candidates who are not invited to interview now may be offered a place on the wait list on notification day, May 14.

As always, we hope this is helpful.

Apologies for not being a more active blogger. This is our biggest application round and everyone in Dillon is overwhelmed with the challenge of reading, interviewing, and getting decisions all set to go.

Here's what will happen on Wednesday (notification day). We will release decisions some time during business hours. I hope it will be in the morning (EST) but we need to make sure all the operational pieces are set. Applicants will receive an email directing them to their ApplyYourself account.

We don't make phone calls prior to this release of decisions so there's no need to wait by the phone. Admissions Board members will make congratulatory calls (and emails if phone is impossible) following the online notification. Admitted candidates will have immediate access to the Prematriculation Website which will have detailed information about Admitted Students' Weekend, financial aid, housing, etc.

Hope this is helpful.

And we do know how hard it is to wait!

Should I apply in Round 3?

This is the most frequently asked question these days.Of course we're not able to give a prescriptive response but let me try to be helpful.

There are always spaces available for Round 3 applicants. There are clearly not as many as in the early rounds but every year we see some great candidates and we make sure that we can make offers.

International candidates may apply but should be especially mindful of the visa application process. If admitted, international candidates should plan on accepting our offer very quickly in order to ensure that the visa process can get underway.

Round 3 applicants should not plan on the availability of on-campus housing, either the apartments or the dormitories. While there may be space available, Round 3 notification is later than the housing lottery.

As is the case for all candidates,Round 3 applicants must be able to include their GMAT and, if applicable, TOEFL scores in order to submit a completed application.

Financial aid is available to all admitted candidates regardless of timing of admission. The very last candidate to be admitted has access to the same amount of funding as the very first admit.

We are about 4 weeks from Round Two notification date on March 26. Members of the Admissions Board are getting ready to travel to Europe, Asia, and the West Coast to conduct interviews.

While interview invitations will continue to be issued up until notification date, it is fair to say that the vast majority have been sent. I hope that this measure of transparency is helpful.

Some Round Two applicants — both those who have been interviewed and those who haven't — will be invited to join the wait list on March 26.

Round One applicants on the wait list will continue to receive periodic updates from the Admissions Office.

Round 2 Interviews:

Round 1 decisions have been released, and though it's hard to believe, it's almost time for us to begin interviewing for Round 2. We expect to send out our first interview invitations on Friday, January 25th. While we will continue to invite applicants to interview until the Round 2 deadline, the majority of invitations will be out by mid-February.

Note: Just for the record we did indeed send more than one interview invitation out on Round 1 notification date, January 16!

Our first day of interviews is Tuesday, February 5, and we expect the bulk of our interviews will be completed by mid-March.

In Round 2, members of the MBA Admissions Board will be visiting Los Angeles, Seattle, Dallas, Chicago, and the Bay Area (both San Francisco and Palo Alto) to conduct interviews. Internationally, we will be visiting London, Paris, Tokyo, Seoul, mainland China (either Beijing or Shanghai), and Hong Kong. It may be helpful to take a moment to think about where you might like to interview should you be invited! Phone and alumni interviews are also available to applicants living abroad in areas that we don't have the opportunity to visit.

I know that there are multiple audiences out there: Round One candidates waiting for decisions, Round Two candidates waiting to hear about interview invitations and The Rest of the World who is curious about HBS admissions! We'll try to keep up .. .

Message to All Round One Candidates:

How do we notify candidates of admissions decisions? Everybody will find out in the same way at the same time — on line on January 16. We try to do this around noon . . . but we're sure it will be some time during business hours.

Phone calls? No one will be notified via a phone call from the Admissions Office — either before or on January 16. That's a promise. If anyone gets a call like this, I'd like to hear about it!!

Admitted candidates will begin to receive congratulatory phone calls from several HBS sources beginning in the afternoon or evening of January 16.

We are unable to provide individual feedback for candidates who are denied admission. There are basically two reasons for this — one is that we don't have the staff resources to devote to this and the second is that we're not sure that this would really be helpful to a candidate. The majority of applicants to HBS are certainly "qualified" — but the nature of a selection process is to assess a candidate relative to the rest of the pool on a variety of dimensions. Trying to capture this in a conversation about an individual application can be misleading. We do consider ourselves to be a "re-applicant friendly" process — all applications in a given season are read without regard to the disposition of a case in prior years.

So, what are we doing now?

Reading and discussing all the interview reports and trying to make final decisions.

We are just about finished with sending out Round One interview invitations. There may be a handful still to come — up until the last minute we are sorting and sifting and looking again and again.

A group of candidates — maybe fifty or so — will be invited to join the wait list without yet having been interviewed. They may or may not be invited to interview, depending on how things develop in Rounds Two and Three. We'll do a separate blog on wait list mechanics later.

The MBA Admissions Office will be closed from Friday, December 21 at 5 pm until Wednesday, January 2 at 9 am.

You may be anxious about your recommenders having questions — we'll have auto reply messages on both voice and email directing them to ApplyYourself if they have questions. You and your recommenders can email AY tech support directly through the "Tech Support" button at the top of every page once logged into an application or recommendation. ApplyYourself will be staffed throughout the holiday period with the exception of December 25 and January 1.

We thank all Round One applicants for their patience and understanding as we move toward the January 16 notification — we pledge to you our careful consideration of the applications you have worked so hard to submit. To everyone working hard on applications for Round Two, we are glad you have chosen to apply to Harvard Business School.

Peace on Earth.

Greetings from Dillon House.

Just checking in to let you know that we are continuing to review Round One applications. As we have said, we will send out interview invitations until January 16. Candidates will be invited without regard to when hub interviews are scheduled; if an invitee has difficulty finding a convenient location we will work out logistics with that individual. If we extend an invitation and do not receive a response from you within a few days, we will contact you by phone.

I know it's getting closer to the notification deadline so I need to remind you that we simply cannot accept any additional materials or updates — other than new contact information. This includes supplemental letters of recommendation.

For those of you thinking of visiting HBS in December, we'll be holding information sessions Monday through Friday at 3:00 pm from December 11 - 20. Final exams begin in early December so the Class Visit Program, Student Lunch Program and Campus Tours will end on December 7th and resume again on January 22.

Looking ahead to Round Two, here's a reminder to candidates required to take the TOEFL or IELTS — you should plan to take it in December so that scores are available by the January 3 application deadline.

It looks as if we are roughly halfway through the invitation process. We will continue to issue invitations up to and including the notification date, which is January 16, 2008.

Why do the interview invitations slow down from this point on?

In the beginning of each round, all of our resources are deployed to reading applications. Once we begin the actual interviewing (interviews began on November 5) we cannot read at the same pace — hence the slowing down of the invitation rate.

To be clear, there is no order or pattern to which applications are read first.

We hope that bulletins like this are helpful and we sincerely appreciate your patience in this process.

Here are few questions that you have asked:

1. Can my interview invitation be lost in the mail?

Of course we can't absolutely guarantee that you'll receive our email. If we don't hear from you after a few days we will call the contact phone number you provided in your application. We won't cancel your invitation if you don't get our email!

2. If I've had an interview, when do I learn of my admission decision?

Nearly all decisions are released on the notification date. In some cases, your interview may take place very close to the notification date, and in those situations, there may be a short delay in getting your decision. If you are in doubt about your decision date ask your interviewer.

3. What happens if I go over the word limits?

We're not counting words but after lots of experience reading applications, we have a good feel for whether an essay is going over the limit. I think it's fair to say that we expect a candidate to be able to edit effectively.

4. Is every application given a thorough reading, regardless of GMAT, grades, undergrad. school, etc?

This one's easy: yes.

5. Can I submit a GMAT score of "000" if I haven't taken the test yet?

No... our system only accepts entries within the GMAT scoring range. You must have GMAT results in order to submit.

As promised, here's the latest news about our invitation-to-interview process — today we sent out our first batch of invitations. There is not a regular schedule for sending these out — several days may go by before we send another group. It's also worth repeating that there is no plan or pattern to the sequence of invitations. We continue to review applications and send out invitations in random order.

We will let you know when we are roughly at the halfway mark of the invitation process.

We do appreciate your patience and remind you that we have no further information to offer about the timeline or individual cases.

In the last entry, I listed the cities we plan to visit for Round 1 interviews. Here are a couple of changes:

• In India we are going to Bangalore and Mumbai.
• In the US, we will not be going to Dallas or Austin, just Houston.

More about the interview process:

We anticipate conducting about 850 interviews in Round 1; we have the flexibility to increase that number based on our assessment of written applications. Historically, between 50-60% of interviewees have been admitted. In addition, there will be some offers to accept a place on the wait list. Most, but not all, of the wait list offers will go to candidates who have already been interviewed.

And, in the miscellaneous category:

Please continue to raise questions and issues you'd like me to address via this blog but I need to remind you that I can't respond to individuals. Even if I had the bandwidth, the functionality doesn't allow it. Questions of a general nature can always be posed via our Ask Questions page. Next week I'll put together about five questions and offer some responses.

Before I dive into the tactical issues here, let me re-cap how the interview fits into our overall selection process. Every candidate who is ultimately offered admission to HBS is required to have an interview — the vast majority of these will be conducted by members of the Admissions Board in person. We conduct interviews on campus and will also be traveling to London, Paris, Mumbai, Delhi, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston and possibly Austin and Seattle this year in Round One. In addition to our Admissions Board, a small group of alumni conduct admissions interviews in key cities to expand our reach. In situations where a face-to-face interview is impossible to schedule, the Admissions Board conducts phone interviews.

We will be interviewing from November 5 up until notification day, January 16 (and beyond if we need to).

I think we will begin sending interview invitations during the week of October 22. These are sent via email and contain complete directions and information about the process. In order to minimize inconvenience and cost and maximize choice of location, interviewees will be using an online self-scheduler.

There is absolutely no discernible pattern to how/when interview invitations are issued. I promise you that it has nothing to do with citizenship, residence, employment, first letter of your last name or anything else. It is a result of where your application folder happens to land at any particular moment. There is also no special time of day at which invitations go out but most will be during Boston's business hours.

I will let you know via this blog when we begin and periodically throughout the round. There will not be a point before the notification date at which we announce we're finished because we won't be: to repeat, there will always be a number of interview invitations issued up to and including January 16.

I hope that this gesture toward transparency is helpful. Believe me, we all understand the anxiety of a selection process but the waiting is just something to endure. Please understand that we cannot be checking on individual cases and that if you call, Sally will say the same thing that I've written here.

Well, I promised a blog entry today but I don't have much to say. Thank goodness we don't have any news of mechanical failures, power outages or anything else. The deadline came and went without any problems and, as I write this, printers are drowning out all conversation in Dillon House today. They will keep running until everyone becomes a bright pink folder and is sent out to the Admissions Board for review.

I will give you a rough outline of how the invite-to-interview process will work sometime next week.

Today is the Round One Deadline Day so here are two last-minute pieces of information:

• You don't need to wait for your recommenders before you submit your application. Hit the "submit" button when you have completed all of your components. If any of your recommenders haven't finished, remind them that they also need to submit by 5pm, but don't wait! If they submit right at 5pm, and you wait to get confirmation from them that they're done, you'll end up in Round 2. The recommendations will "catch up" to your application, even after you submit.
• The acknowledgment you receive online when you submit the application is all you need to feel confident that we have received your application. While it may be tempting to pick up the phone and ask a human being to check, we simply cannot do this.

Tomorrow I'll describe what "the day after" is like in our office!

I'm writing this from London and this is my last stop on this week's outreach trip to Amsterdam, Madrid, Paris and London. Meanwhile, my colleagues are in Asia and various parts of the United States and gearing up for two separate trips back to Europe next week. For those of you unable to attend an HBS presentation, here's what happens.

In the US, we do a case about 4 fictional, prospective HBS applicants named Alex, Carol, Elmas and Raphael that we've talked about here before. This is really going well and audiences are reporting that it's a very interesting and entertaining way to learn about the case method and the HBS admissions process.

We haven't used the case internationally — we were not sure the issues in the case were ones most important to our international applicants. Now that this pilot has worked so well, I think you can count on an international version next year.

When we're in other countries, we do a powerpoint presentation called "Think About It" which gives some standard information about HBS and then focuses on what we believe are our differentiators from other MBA Programs.

Embedded in the presentation is the video about the case method. Even when audience members have already seen it online, it's been fun to show it in a group setting — it elicits though-provoking questions and comments about the case method and the faculty.

The heart of our roadshow presentations are panels of local alumni. They share a little bit of their background and then we quickly open up for questions and answers from the audience. I field the questions about the admissions process and the alums talk about their student experience, the career search and life as a Harvard MBA.

At the end of the evening, we can usually address the concerns of individuals although there's never as much time to do this as we'd like. One very important note is that we do not keep track of individuals whom we meet — our outreach is in no way a "pre-interview" process. We do truly appreciate and understand both the anxieties of wanting to make sure you understand our process and the Big Picture questions you have about whether an MBA makes sense for you. We'll continue to try to find vehicles to be as connected and helpful to you as we can.

A while ago I promised a few short blog entries addressing tactical issues in the weeks leading up to our Round One deadline on October 2.

Well, instead here's a VERY LONG entry -- just trying to be helpful and this one takes some detail to explain. Sorry for the length -- I promise the next one will be shorter!

We've been getting many questions recently regarding transcripts. These questions generally fall into two categories: understanding official transcript requirements, and how to upload scanned transcripts.

Official Transcripts

Don't worry about official transcripts at all yet. In fact, you never need to send us official transcripts, and if you send them to us now, we guarantee that we won't keep them. We only need official transcripts after you are admitted, and only directly from your school (never from you). After admission, we will give you a form to submit to your school and the school will send us the documentation we need. For evaluation, we trust that the electronic transcripts you submit through the application are accurate, though we will verify them if you are admitted to the program.

Uploading Scanned Transcripts

We're hearing from folks that scanned transcripts are often ending up larger than the maximum file size that the application can accept. The most reliable and fail-safe way to get around this is to fill out and upload the Self-Reported Transcript Form instead. It may take a bit more time than scanning, but if you can't get a scanned file that's small enough, then you'll have to fill out the form anyway to submit your application.

If your scanned transcript is too large, there are a few things that could be adding unnecessary electronic "baggage" to your file. Scanning at too high of a resolution (dpi, or dots per inch) than is necessary for legibility is the most frequent culprit. Try scanning at the lowest dpi that your scanner allows (usually 72 dpi) at 100%. Then view your file, making sure that you're viewing it at 100% as well, to see if you can read it. It doesn't need to be crystal clear, just legible. If you can't read it, try the next setting up until you have an image that can be read.

The next potentially troublesome step is getting the file into a file type that the application accepts. Moving the image from program to program can often add unwanted data, so the sooner you can get your transcript into a file type that the application accepts, the better. The only image file that the application system allows is .pdf. If possible, capture the image as a .pdf file directly from your scanner in the first place, or have your scanner software convert the captured image to .pdf. If your scanner won't create .pdf files for you, then you'll need to embed the image file in a document file (the detailed instructions for this are in the application in the Self-Reported Transcript section) and upload that, but the file size will often increase quite a bit when you do this, so you may not be able to upload the file.

If you've scanned at the lowest resolution that is legible, and you've saved the file as efficiently as possible (straight to .pdf from the scanner, or following the embedding instructions in the application) and your file is still too large to upload, you'll need to fill out the Self-Reported Transcript Form to submit your transcript to us.

I hope you have all seen the article in today's Wall Street Journal announcing the HBS 2+2 Program. We hope you will explore the special website.

One thing the WSJ article doesn't make crystal clear is that this is NOT a program limited to Harvard College undergrads. We'll be out there encouraging applications from a large group of schools, primarily those who are not seen as "feeders" to HBS. We see this as a NEW message to a NEW audience with a NEW timeline.

Another important point to call out is that is NOT a program designed for liberal arts majors exclusively. We will be out visiting lots of engineering and science schools and are eager to speak with college students who see themselves as "young Thomas Edisons" — they love to tinker and build things and should explore the business/science synergy.

More on this later . . . .

I'd like to introduce Pam Ralston, our Assistant Director of Admissions and operations guru. Pam takes on the challenge of how to get your applications submitted smoothly online and then move them through our evaluation process. Here's her response to two frequently asked questions:

"Do my recommenders have to adhere to the word limit?"

We ask you to provide three recommendations as part of our application process. Over time, we've read a lot of recommendations written on behalf of candidates. We've found that the best recommendations — in other words, the ones that have the most impact on us — tend to be succinct and specific. Because of this experience, we've shortened our recommendation form this year to three questions from five, and we've suggested a word limit (approximately 250 words) for each of these questions.

"Will your technology automatically cut off my recommender's response once he or she reaches the word limit?"

No. And we certainly understand if your recommender needs to go slightly beyond the suggested limit to make his or her case for your application. But, we strongly encourage you and your recommender to use good judgment — the word limits are there, after all, for a reason — to keep their comments as straightforward and concise as possible. We're confident that our suggested word limits will allow your recommenders to present you in the best light possible.

A big apology from me for saying that the Round One deadline is October 3 in my previous posting regarding the TOEFL (it has been corrected now in that posting).

Let me say it loud and clear: the Round One deadline is Tuesday, October 2, at 5 pm EST.

Dee

Hello from Boston.

Between now and the Round One deadline on October 2, I'd like to get as many short and sweet entries out as possible to try to be helpful with all the tactical concerns you have as you prepare your applications. So, don't expect any "deep thoughts" for a while...

Quick note to those of you who need to take the TOEFL. We are hearing from ETS that it takes 15 business days to have the online TOEFL scored. This needs to be factored into your application planning.

If you are required to take the TOEFL your application will not be reviewed by the Admissions Board until a score is submitted. So, even if you think you are meeting the Round One deadline, without a TOEFL score by the application deadline, you will be "incomplete" and will not be considered until after the score arrives. This means that if your score arrives after October 2, you will be in Round Two, not in Round One.

Just for review — who is required to take the TOEFL? Candidates who have not received a degree from a university where English is the language of instruction.

If your undergraduate university degree is not in English but your graduate degree is in English, you are strongly encouraged to submit a TOEFL score.

Greetings from San Francisco! This week I am hosting our outreach events both here and in Silicon Valley. Our San Francisco session was a big one — we divided the group in two and Hilary Somorjai, an HBS alum and member of the Admissions Board, and I each did a session. We taught — and I use that term loosely — the Roadshow Case. The discussion was lively. During the session, someone pointed out something about one of the protagonists that I hadn't noticed — and completely changed how I think about things. Something similar happened in NYC. This will inform how I do the case the next time and is a perfect illustration of how the case method is organic vs. static.

I like to use this blog to answer questions that aren't on the website. Please know that I can't respond to your questions individually but will try to address as many as I can in this format.

"Is there an advantage to applying early in a given decision round?"

Only from the standpoint of peace of mind knowing that you're not getting crunched with heavy server traffic in the hours before an application deadline. We wait until the deadline has passed to print applications and there's no way the Admissions Board knows whether you were the first or the last person to apply in that round.

More next week from Boston — we'll be welcoming the class of 2009 on September 4!

Dee

We're back from NYC and still talking about our roadshow that features the case method. Our hope was to give the audience a sense of what the case method feels like beyond just hearing us talk about it. Alison McCarty, Eileen Chang and I each did a session and here's our major learning: it's a lot easier to give a PowerPoint presentation! We have renewed admiration and respect for the HBS faculty who do this every day with consummate skill and grace. We found it lots of fun and look forward to improving our delivery over time. It's hard to fathom that the faculty can do this AND actually remember each student's contribution — we didn't even try to remember names!

The case that we used was written to present four very different prospective applicants to HBS and spark a discussion of how each might approach the decision to apply to business school. I am getting to feel very well-acquainted with Alex-Carol-Elmas and Rafael (the protagonists in the case) — audience members have pointed out nuances and aspects of their background and perspectives that I didn't notice.

We'll be doing this in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle, etc . . . hope you will be able to be there! For more information on our upcoming events click here.

Greetings from NYC...

We are overwhelmed with the response to our three outreach events in NYC — all three are now closed because we have reached the seating capacity of the venues.

I am so sorry that many of you will be disappointed by being unable to attend. We're considering adding another NYC event but we wouldn't be able to schedule it until October at the earliest. So, in the meantime, I suggest that you watch the video on our website that highlights the case method. This shows real footage of an HBS case method discussion and takes you behind the scenes as well. Of course you are always welcome to come to visit campus — and, yes, I do recognize the Catch-22 of not being able to visit classes before the Round 1 deadline in early October. We need to give the first year students time to settle into the classroom routine before we send visitors to classes.

More to come from NYC...

Dee

Mid-summer greetings to all. I'm writing this from the road — we're actually on our first swing of fall presentations. The blog seems to be generating a fair number of questions — both tactical and more Big Picture — so I thought it might be helpful to simply select a question or two and provide a response each time I write.

In my last entry, I spoke about leadership styles as an element of diversity in the classroom and beyond. This provoked an interesting question from a reader:

"What happens to silent leaders? How many people get to talk in an 80 minute class?"

You heard me salute the "quiet" leader — the counterpart to the Teddy Roosevelt "I'm going over the hill and everybody had better be behind me" model. I see "quiet" as being in a very healthy point on the continuum, but "silent" is too far in the other direction. There's no room in a case method classroom for a bystander — someone who is there to "take vs. give." Given that the HBS classroom is meant to be a dress rehearsal for Real Life, I'm also having trouble conjuring up an effective "silent" leader. I think it's fine — and this does explode some stereotypes about who should and should not come to HBS — to be "shy" in the sense that you are never going to be the loudest voice in the room or the person who feels most comfortable being out there front and center. But in order to succeed at HBS you need to be brave enough to put yourself out there in a discussion. Believe me, it's no one's "comfort zone" but it's an incredible opportunity to practice what you'll need to do as a leader in your career: listen to others, develop a point of view and then articulate it.

There's a huge variation in how many students get to talk from class to class. Sometimes you're giving a comprehensive "opening" or "closing" of a case and sometimes you're making quick, short comments in response to a classmate's point.

"How can I tell you about all my extracurricular activities if there's only space for three?"

Use this space for the three that you consider most significant. Note: there's nothing magic about the number three. . . . we need to make an arbitrary decision about the online application set-up. Some successful candidates will have one. If there are others that you want to mention, use the "additional information" section or include it in your resume.

More next week.

Dee

Last week we kicked off our Class of 2010 travel season with something new for us: an evening information session in Washington DC with three panelists: Toby Stock, Dean of Admissions at Harvard Law School, Alexandra Martinez, Director of Admissions at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and me. Usually we either do stand-alone HBS events or participate with other business schools on panels at various events. The catalyst for the all-Harvard session was the announcement of two new joint programs, the MBA/MPP and the MBA/MPA-ID.

We wanted to see if we could all get the acronyms right (after saying them over and over again!) and also to explain the different elements of the programs, including shared curriculum, timing, funding and summer internships. We had a full house of about 150 and the question-and-answer session was still going strong after an hour and a half. In addition to the new programs between HBS and KSG, we also talked about the existing programs, the JD/MBA and the JD/MPP.

You can find details about all the joint programs we offer —including the MD/MBA —on our website. We're experiencing an increase of interest in joint programs in general —both from prospective candidates and also among the leaders of the different Harvard graduate schools. Why? In a global economy, the opportunities for synergy across traditional boundaries are growing. Leaders of tomorrow will need to be "multi-lingual" —they will need to speak both the traditional language of business but also add the context of the public and not-for-profit sectors. Many aspiring entrepreneurs are attracted to being able to speak from deep knowledge of the law and how it impacts operating and strategic decisions. As the challenges of healthcare and issues of public health increase, the need for physician/leaders is expected to grow.

What I noted about our Washington panel was that each Harvard school articulated the same critical quality in a successful candidate: leadership. Sometimes it feels like MBA programs have appropriated leadership as "ours" and it was a good jolt for me to realize that this just isn't the case. Both Toby and Alexandra were compelling in how leadership is essential for success in their programs too. This gave me the opportunity to refine or play with the word "leadership" a bit further.

Any of you who have heard me speak know that I worry that "leadership" can be misunderstood. Sometimes the very word conjures up a powerful figure who charges over the hill yelling "follow me!!" - someone both larger-than-life and louder-than-life! This panel gave me another opportunity to talk about leadership styles being another measure of diversity in the HBS classroom.

We are serious about finding out how individuals lead and what happens when leaders listen to each other. Imagine a case with a protagonist grappling with a challenging management team or board of directors. What if he finds him/herself suddenly in the top position at a firm with a culture that rewards a leadership approach very different from his/her natural style? We want to bring together entrepreneurial leaders, those that gravitate to positional authority in complex organizations, thought leaders and hands-on leaders who thrive with small teams. Some of the most dramatic moments in a case discussion come when a student proposes a course of action that he/she finds eminently logical and obvious —and someone else in the room finds it completely wild —even preposterous! This kind of diversity of perspectives is what makes a case method discussion so exciting and unpredictable.

Before I close, let me try to answer a couple of the questions that have been submitted. I need to remind everyone that "here are my stats, what are my chances?" type of questions are not what I have in mind! That's not the way we look at applications and I could surely do more harm than good were I to try to reduce our process to "stats". I hope you all understand that this is not a way of saying that everyone should apply to HBS —a strong academic record really matters as does a track record of leadership. I just can't speculate on how a person's stats translate into a complete application.

Here are two questions I've received recently through the Talk2Dee function:

"What are the most important criteria in assessing international applications?"

We're looking for the same qualities in both international and domestic candidates. We think we have a good grasp of international educational systems and the opportunity sets for university graduates across a spectrum of countries. We understand the different nuances in both the concept of "leadership" and the role that extra-curricular activities play in university and community life. We don't know everything (!!) so it's up to you to present clear and complete responses to our application questions.

"What is the difference between applying in round one and round two?"

Not much. We'll make roughly the same number of admissions offers in each round. While we have a smaller number of applications in round one, I will generalize and say that they historically tend to be a very organized and eager group who want to know where they stand as soon as possible. Round two offers the opportunity to polish the application again over the winter holiday break. Sometimes candidates will wait until round two in order to report on a recent promotion —that's understandable. Our advice is to submit your application when you have had a chance to devote serious and sustained effort to making it the best case for admission.

That's all for now. Maybe next time I'll talk about the case method video that's up on the website...
anyone have any questions or comments about it?

Dee

I'm writing this on graduation day for the Class of 2007. As you might imagine, this is a very big day here on campus—legions of staff involved in organizing the ceremonies, lunch under tents, kids, parents, grandparents. The weather is absolutely perfect—a welcome contrast to last year. Graduates of all the Harvard schools march into Harvard Yard in the morning for the traditional ceremony and speech—Bill Gates is this year's speaker—and then go to ceremonies at their individual schools where diplomas are actually awarded.

Dean Light spoke at the afternoon ceremony here—my favorite part is when he asks the graduates to turn around and acknowledge all the people in the crowd who have provided love and support along the way.

So, as the campus quiets down after today, we officially move into summer mode. We don't have to dress up to come to work. The lines at the Spangler food court are dramatically shorter. Boston is a "school" city and so even the traffic is noticeably lighter and our commutes are much easier. Everyone I meet in my Real Life always asks, "so, things must be slowing down now, right? End of the season. What do you do now, anyway?" I've been in the HBS Admissions office for a long time and I think this concept of an "off season" really was the case in years past, but certainly not circa 2007.

I like to make the analogy of getting ready for a long sea voyage. The voyage is, of course, the application season. When we're out at sea, we are focused on staying afloat, keeping the ship on course, etc. etc. Now is the time that we re-design the boat, select the crew, and make sure the vessel is seaworthy. Note: I have never actually been on a sea voyage, but I am very quick to make analogies. I like this one.

On tomorrow's calendar I see seven meetings—a few with alumni, one interview with a potential new Board member, a good-bye to a first year student off to Singapore for the summer and another round of looking at the design work for next year's print publications. Later this week we are off to the annual GMAC (Graduate Management Admissions Council) conference in Philadelphia—a great time for us to connect with our peers and learn about what's going on in the world of business school admissions.

I'm sure you know that another word for "graduation" is "commencement" and that's what this feels like in MBA Admissions. Today marks the official beginning of the 2007—08 application season. I'll be writing here in the weeks to come about what that entails, sharing our travel plans—both where we're going and what we'll be saying. I'll be commenting on our application questions and tell you how we come up with them.

But before we move on to the next season, I'll give you a brief recap of where we stand with getting the Class of 2009 lined up for Aldrich Hall in September. I think we are just about wrapped up. We ended up making about 25 offers to candidates on the waitlist. Some of these offers were made just before Round 2 decisions went out at the end of March and some just before Round 3 decisions went out in May. Over the past couple of weeks we've been able to extend a handful of additional offers. We really don't like to keep people in limbo past June so I think we'll be sitting tight from here on, with only a very small group of waitlisted candidates who have agreed to stay on hold until the end of July.

I'd like this blog to be a way for me to learn about what's on your mind— while I can't answer every question submitted, I'd like to try tackling a few every week. Just click on the Talk2Dee link, submit your questions and comments and I'll select a few to respond to each week. I promise to take on the tough ones, not ones that you can easily find answers to on our website. Let's see how it goes . . .

More from me in a week or so . . . Dee