Research MBA Programs

nbkaqzl wrote:Hey guys,

I am also an applicant from the US. male.

I am wondering: if someone does not get an interview, would it mean that they are not good enough for the program? or would it mean that they are too good that they don't even need to be interviewed?

In other words, does anyone get admitted without an interview?

My view is that every individual that gets admitted to 2+2 will be interviewed. HBS interviews almost everyone that is admitted through the regular application, and I think they are going to take extra care to ensure that 2+2 students are of an exceptionally high quality and can contribute to the program. This is my opinion, take it for what it's worth.

hey i am a female from India. I would like to know if there are any indians in this group....
I would like to thank scarter for starting this thread....
It has an amazing level of participation..

All the best to everyone!

interesting pool of applicants, best of luck to everyone

scarter wrote:I definitely recommend taking the GMAT again on July 20th. I'm taking mine on the 22nd and have the same score as you.

How'd the GMAT go?

scarter - I got a fairly low GMAT score but didn't even think about taking it after July 1st. Did you ask admissions if they would accept post-July 1st scores, or are did you take it again hoping they would?

bze265 wrote:scarter - I got a fairly low GMAT score but didn't even think about taking it after July 1st. Did you ask admissions if they would accept post-July 1st scores, or are did you take it again hoping they would?

I think he's taking it with the hope that the admissions board will accept it, but he can answer that definitively.

To be clear, anyone else considering this should think carefully about it before doing so. It might be a risk worth taking, but realize that if you try to submit a new GMAT score after the July 1st deadline, you are directly violating a policy of the admissions committee. So just carefully consider the possible implications and risks before choosing such a course of action.

as a side note, have you guys been keeping track of the GMAT scandal over the past couple of weeks?

The news about security issues and people taking others GMAT and charging over $3000 for each exam?

Yea, I thought that was ridiculous, putting your entire career on jeopardy like that.

bze265 wrote:as a side note, have you guys been keeping track of the GMAT scandal over the past couple of weeks?

I am not sure if its the same scandal, but the one I am referring to is about students (knowingly and unknowingly) using a prep service that offered 'live' GMAT questions. apparently 6,000 students used the service, including applicants for the upcoming school year and current students. b-schools are waiting for the list of students to be released by GMAC so they can proceed with disciplinary actions.

i'm a male from the U.S. (i probably have less than a 1% of getting accepted, since white males from the U.S. are not in high demand for the 2+2 program, yet so many of the applicants are in this demographic).

this whole blog is great, by the way.

i don't think it could hurt to try to send in better gmat scores after the deadline, as long as you are not too pushy. you may just want to send them another official report (official reports are often received after the deadline, which is perfectly acceptable to harvard, so an additional official report would probably make it into your file no matter how late it is.)

i didn't get the best gmat scores. i only studied for two days, and took one practice test. i know i'm capable of raising my score 20 or 30 points, but i really don't feel like going through that test again. i regret not studying the math section though.

[b]if you get an invitation to interview, please let us know on this blog as soon as you do! [/b] i'm sure i'm not the only one who is in great anticipation. i wish they gave us a particular date for interview invitations!

i haven't been keeping up with the gmat scandal. i had never heard of that website until it made the news. i feel bad for the people who used the website not knowing that it was illegal.

by the way, i'm a psych major. i hope that counts enough as a "science" or "liberal arts" if that is what hbs is looking for. anyone else in here a psych major?

also, i'm a little worried: i found a couple typos on my application. i don't know how i missed them during proofreading.

any extra info on 2+2 interviews, admissions, etc. would be very helpful!

I think that psychology is a great match from what we've heard from HBS. In fact, since some schools consider it a social science and others a natural science, it's a pretty good mix of what they are looking for in applicants (science kids and liberal arts kids).

I wouldn't go so far to say that being a white male from the U.S. automatically puts you (us) in the toughest category. I definitely agree that more white males have applied to the program than any other demographic, but I still think that U.S. males might not be at any more or less of a disadvantage than international applicants. The international pools are incredibly competitive...

I think that everyone makes a few typos on their applications...just hope you didn't make the classic mistake of explaining why you want to attend Wharton in an HBS essay.

yeah that's true about international applicants. i was thinking about how 1 out of 3 students at hbs are international, but i didn't take into account the huuuge number of international applicants.

the part about psychology was very encouraging. thanks.

i guess at this point we all just have to wait and see what happens.

hahaha i made that kind of mistake once for undergrad applications. (putting the wrong college's name in the essay). needless to say, i was rejected from that college.

mkb wrote:i don't think it could hurt to try to send in better gmat scores after the deadline, as long as you are not too pushy. you may just want to send them another official report (official reports are often received after the deadline, which is perfectly acceptable to harvard, so an additional official report would probably make it into your file no matter how late it is.)

Maybe, maybe not. I counted at least 4 different places in the application where it states that they will absolutely not consider any additional information after your application has been submitted. Additionally, in one other place the application specifically states that once an application is submitted, the GMAT score may not be changed. So if an applicant does submit a new GMAT score, the admissions board might consider it, or they might think "what makes this person think the rules don't apply to them?". All I'm saying is carefully consider both outcomes before submitting a new score; if you think it's worth it or that the admissions board will react in the first way described above, then go for it. But I don't think it's fair to give everyone the impression that it's absolutely an accepted practice to submit a second score.

mkb wrote:i'm a male from the U.S. (i probably have less than a 1% of getting accepted, since white males from the U.S. are not in high demand for the 2+2 program, yet so many of the applicants are in this demographic).

I also am not so sure that white males (we) are at much more of a disadvantage than international applicants. It is possible (only based on admissions trends from other regular MBA application cycles) that there might be a fixed percentage of acceptances reserved for internationals (say maybe 33%) even if the percentage of total international applicants is larger than 33% (which I think it very well could be). I guess the only thing we can count on is that admitted students will have to be well-qualified and probably somewhat unique in some sort of way.

mkb wrote: by the way, i'm a psych major. i hope that counts enough as a "science" or "liberal arts" if that is what hbs is looking for. anyone else in here a psych major?

Oh, and for what it's worth, I think a psychology major perfectly fits the description of HBS's desired applicant for the 2+2 program. So I wouldn't worry about it.

question: I was born and raised in a foreign country. But I applied from a US university. (I have been in the states for a year now, since I transferred). Am I an international applicant?