Class of 2015 (including 2+2): here's the application!

Here we go.

We are thinking of the Class of 2015 application process as three stages:

1) Introduce Yourself

This is the written application. These are the components:

• All the demographic data gathering you expect!
• Resume
• Transcripts of academic work
• GMAT/GRE test scores
• 2 essay questions
• 3 recommendations

2) Tell Us More

This is the interview process. Interviews are:

• By invitation only after review of written application
• On our campus or in TBD hub city locations, or in some cases, Skype
• 30 minutes
• Conducted by members of our Admissions Board

3) Have the Last Word

This is new. AFTER the interview, candidates are asked to do a written reflection on the interview experience which will be submitted via the online application system. This is a chance for you to have the "last word," so to speak.

We'll be hosting weekly Q+A webinar sessions beginning on June 1 at 12:00 noon, Boston time. Subsequent webinar sessions will be held through the summer on Thursdays at 1:00pm, Boston time. To sign up, please visit our Events page.

We will hold on-campus admissions information sessions throughout the summer every Monday and Friday at 1:00 pm, Boston time. No advance registration required. For details, please see our Visit HBS page.

Our process is the product of an admissions team that is always in design/development mode. All throughout the year we meet and dream up ways that will make it easier for you to feel "understood" and undertake assessment steps that map to what we do here in the classroom and what you will do in your careers. We're always trying to tweak and improve, and this is what we've come up with for the Class of 2015. Welcome to the starting gate.

Round 3 Notification

Decisions will come at noon (Boston time) on Wednesday, May 17. You'll get an email from MBA Admissions that lets you know your decision is ready. At that point, log in to your application and your decision letter will be there.

Waitlisters can expect to hear an update early next week about how we are going to move forward and when.

We're on schedule to launch the application for the Class of 2015 late next week. I'll do a detailed post here when we do.

Thanks to all of you who've been reading this all season, from all of us in Dillon.

The Real Students of HBS

Laura Merritt is first year student at HBS, and is also a joint degree candidate at Harvard Kennedy School. Laura hails from Dallas, TX and studied policy with a focus on healthcare at the University of Missouri. Following graduation, she worked in the US Department of Health and Human Services in Washington and then went on to her first year at the Kennedy School. For her summer internship, she worked in the White House, Presidential Personnel Office. She is winding down her first year at HBS and this summer, has her first foray into the business world. She will be interning in brand management at PepsiCo's Frito-Lay business unit in Dallas hopefully working with the "Performance with Purpose" initiative.

READING (Laughs) Wow! Mostly a lot of cases and I just finished Wuthering Heights. But, I started it over Thanksgiving.

EATING A lot of sushi from the sushi counter in Spangler. I also make a ton of soup and chili in the fall and live on it through the year! And, not a day goes by without chocolate.

PLANNING Right now, I am figuring out what to wear for the Newport Ball, figuring out my summer more and planning on a big adventure after school with my classmates and my sister....location is still TBD.

DREAMING Of a day when I can wake up without an alarm clock — which hopefully will happen this summer. I am also really excited about next year — it's taking all of my mind space and imagination.

ANYTHING ELSE I just want to share one story. My laptop got stolen in late September and I was hysterical. Besides losing my computer, I lost all my schoolwork and my entire recipe collection. This was at 5pm. At 8am the next day, my section presented me with a brand new MacBook Air and a thumb drive with all of their family recipes. That incident endeared this place and these people to me as my family who are there in good times and in bad.

Round 3 Application Deadline

April 10 is "last call" for applications to the Class of 2014.

12:00 Noon Eastern Time is the official deadline, but the reality is that we'll keep the system open into the evening and we'll be understanding about late recommendations. As always, we begin reading applications the very next day (not before!) and will read your application if at least one recommendation has been received.

We'll be sending out interview invitations in two waves this round, April 17 and 24. Candidates not being invited to interview will be notified of their release on April 24. Interviews will be conducted only here on campus - no hub city interviews - and by Skype, if necessary. Dates will be May 4, 7, 10 and 11. Note: We hope and expect to see applications from college seniors for the 2+2 Program. We know that you are likely to be in exams during our interview dates. We will make accommodations on a case-by-case basis...so don't worry.

As always, I hope this is helpful.

Round 2 Notification

Finally.

Plan is to send emails out at noon on Thursday. Congratulatory calls will follow, but we don't do admissions notification via phone.

A few things:

• HBS doesn't make any financial aid awards at the time of admission. So don't feel slighted that you don't see any $$ mentioned. We have (very) generous financial aid available to our students - both US and international citizens - but it's all need-based. One more thing about financial aid: it's not a "rolling" process - as in, we don't run out of need-based money. Round 3 admits have access to exactly the same resources as Round 1.
• The waitlist. Yes, there will be waitlist invitations going out on Thursday. I know for sure we are going to use the waitlist - probably beginning in early May and trying to wrap it up by early June. My guess is we'll be able to make somewhere between 25 and 50 offers to waitlisters - some from Round 1 and some from Round 2 - in addition to the 50 or so we made earlier this month. At this point, this is a guess - Dana Scalisi will keep waitlisters updated.
• Feedback for denied candidates post-interview. I carve out time to respond to calls from candidates who have been through the interview process. These calls are rarely dramatic - and I am resolved to not be prescriptive about the future. The vast majority are reassurance that it wasn't anything that is or went wrong...but simply the challenge of comprising a class rich in diversity of backgrounds and perspectives. Details about phone hours will be in the decision letter.

As always, I hope this is helpful. To all of you who are waiting, please know that we appreciate your enthusiasm and patience.

Class of 2015 (including 2+2): here's the application!

Here we go.

We are thinking of the Class of 2015 application process as three stages:

1) Introduce Yourself

This is the written application. These are the components:

• All the demographic data gathering you expect!
• Resume
• Transcripts of academic work
• GMAT/GRE test scores
• 2 essay questions
• 3 recommendations

2) Tell Us More

This is the interview process. Interviews are:

• By invitation only after review of written application
• On our campus or in TBD hub city locations, or in some cases, Skype
• 30 minutes
• Conducted by members of our Admissions Board

3) Have the Last Word

This is new. AFTER the interview, candidates are asked to do a written reflection on the interview experience which will be submitted via the online application system. This is a chance for you to have the "last word," so to speak.

We'll be hosting weekly Q+A webinar sessions beginning on June 1 at 12:00 noon, Boston time. Subsequent webinar sessions will be held through the summer on Thursdays at 1:00pm, Boston time. To sign up, please visit our Events page.

We will hold on-campus admissions information sessions throughout the summer every Monday and Friday at 1:00 pm, Boston time. No advance registration required. For details, please see our Visit HBS page.

Our process is the product of an admissions team that is always in design/development mode. All throughout the year we meet and dream up ways that will make it easier for you to feel "understood" and undertake assessment steps that map to what we do here in the classroom and what you will do in your careers. We're always trying to tweak and improve, and this is what we've come up with for the Class of 2015. Welcome to the starting gate.

Round 3 Notification

Decisions will come at noon (Boston time) on Wednesday, May 17. You'll get an email from MBA Admissions that lets you know your decision is ready. At that point, log in to your application and your decision letter will be there.

Waitlisters can expect to hear an update early next week about how we are going to move forward and when.

We're on schedule to launch the application for the Class of 2015 late next week. I'll do a detailed post here when we do.

Thanks to all of you who've been reading this all season, from all of us in Dillon.

The Real Students of HBS

Laura Merritt is first year student at HBS, and is also a joint degree candidate at Harvard Kennedy School. Laura hails from Dallas, TX and studied policy with a focus on healthcare at the University of Missouri. Following graduation, she worked in the US Department of Health and Human Services in Washington and then went on to her first year at the Kennedy School. For her summer internship, she worked in the White House, Presidential Personnel Office. She is winding down her first year at HBS and this summer, has her first foray into the business world. She will be interning in brand management at PepsiCo's Frito-Lay business unit in Dallas hopefully working with the "Performance with Purpose" initiative.

READING (Laughs) Wow! Mostly a lot of cases and I just finished Wuthering Heights. But, I started it over Thanksgiving.

EATING A lot of sushi from the sushi counter in Spangler. I also make a ton of soup and chili in the fall and live on it through the year! And, not a day goes by without chocolate.

PLANNING Right now, I am figuring out what to wear for the Newport Ball, figuring out my summer more and planning on a big adventure after school with my classmates and my sister....location is still TBD.

DREAMING Of a day when I can wake up without an alarm clock — which hopefully will happen this summer. I am also really excited about next year — it's taking all of my mind space and imagination.

ANYTHING ELSE I just want to share one story. My laptop got stolen in late September and I was hysterical. Besides losing my computer, I lost all my schoolwork and my entire recipe collection. This was at 5pm. At 8am the next day, my section presented me with a brand new MacBook Air and a thumb drive with all of their family recipes. That incident endeared this place and these people to me as my family who are there in good times and in bad.

Round 3 Application Deadline

April 10 is "last call" for applications to the Class of 2014.

12:00 Noon Eastern Time is the official deadline, but the reality is that we'll keep the system open into the evening and we'll be understanding about late recommendations. As always, we begin reading applications the very next day (not before!) and will read your application if at least one recommendation has been received.

We'll be sending out interview invitations in two waves this round, April 17 and 24. Candidates not being invited to interview will be notified of their release on April 24. Interviews will be conducted only here on campus - no hub city interviews - and by Skype, if necessary. Dates will be May 4, 7, 10 and 11. Note: We hope and expect to see applications from college seniors for the 2+2 Program. We know that you are likely to be in exams during our interview dates. We will make accommodations on a case-by-case basis...so don't worry.

As always, I hope this is helpful.

Round 2 Notification

Finally.

Plan is to send emails out at noon on Thursday. Congratulatory calls will follow, but we don't do admissions notification via phone.

A few things:

• HBS doesn't make any financial aid awards at the time of admission. So don't feel slighted that you don't see any $$ mentioned. We have (very) generous financial aid available to our students - both US and international citizens - but it's all need-based. One more thing about financial aid: it's not a "rolling" process - as in, we don't run out of need-based money. Round 3 admits have access to exactly the same resources as Round 1.
• The waitlist. Yes, there will be waitlist invitations going out on Thursday. I know for sure we are going to use the waitlist - probably beginning in early May and trying to wrap it up by early June. My guess is we'll be able to make somewhere between 25 and 50 offers to waitlisters - some from Round 1 and some from Round 2 - in addition to the 50 or so we made earlier this month. At this point, this is a guess - Dana Scalisi will keep waitlisters updated.
• Feedback for denied candidates post-interview. I carve out time to respond to calls from candidates who have been through the interview process. These calls are rarely dramatic - and I am resolved to not be prescriptive about the future. The vast majority are reassurance that it wasn't anything that is or went wrong...but simply the challenge of comprising a class rich in diversity of backgrounds and perspectives. Details about phone hours will be in the decision letter.

As always, I hope this is helpful. To all of you who are waiting, please know that we appreciate your enthusiasm and patience.