Harvard Business School

Harvard? Oh yeah, that place...

October 25, 2007

I can't believe it's only been 10 months since the Harvard Business School rejected me. It seems like a lifetime ago. What's interesting is how little I've thought about it since it happened.

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Would I Still Get an MBA if I Were Rich?

March 7, 2007

You've heard that money will make people do strange things. I suppose in some cases money will also keep people from doing strange things. I want to get an MBA from Harvard Business School. But does my motivation have anything to do with my lack of financial success as an entrepreneur? Do I see getting an MBA from HBS as an escape? Would my motivation change in any way if during the next year I pocketed a few million?

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Charting a Path to HBS

February 12, 2007

I have now applied to HBS, been rejected, and plan to reapply in the fall of 2008 for the class that will begin the fall of 2009 and graduate in 2011. That gives me about 20 months in which to prepare. The question is, what can I do during that time that will be of the greatest benefit to my chances for acceptance?

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Why I Want an MBA and Why Harvard

January 31, 2007

Since I let the cat out of the bag that I applied to the Harvard Business School I've been swamped by people telling me that having an MBA is overrated, that HBS is overrated, that other schools are just as good, and that anyone who goes to HBS is an arrogant punk and I don't want to be like them. People have assumed I want an MBA from HBS because I'm egotistical, superficial, and vain. Therefore, in an effort to quell the rising tide of erroneous assumptions I give you my reasons as to why I want an MBA and why I'm only interested in HBS.

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How Not to Get Into Harvard Business School

January 30, 2007

After pondering the possible reasons for my recent rejection from HBS and the much-appreciated feedback of those who took the time to read through my HBS applicaton, I think it's only fitting to summarize what I've learned.

By the way, based on the feedback I've received I have decided to reapply. I'm not sure if I'll do that for the next school year or the one after that, but I'm leaning towards two years. Hopefully soon thereafter I'll be able to write a new post on how to actually get into HBS, but since I'm no expert on that just yet here are my tips on how not to get into the Harvard Business School. Warning - some sarcasm included.

1. Don't let anyone read your application. They'll only tell you to change it which results in more work for you. This was my biggest mistake. I had one person read over my app and give me extensive and good feedback, but one isn't enough. Then there's tip #2.

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Downloadable Copy of My HBS Application

January 19, 2007

Before anything else, if you're tempted to ask "Why do you want an MBA anyway?" or "Why Harvard?" go read the first post on How I Decided to Apply to HBS.

I've decided to post my full HBS application here for download and am soliciting the comment of anyone who is interested in reading it. I would welcome any comments as to why you believe I was rejected, no matter how critical. Trust me, you can't offend me.

My own speculation as to reasons why I wasn't granted an interview are as follows:

1. Too old - I'm currently 31 and would be 32 when I began classes. I've heard from multiple sources that HBS is seeking younger candidates, preferably in their mid-twenties.

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Your application decision is now available online...

January 17, 2007

Dear Mr. Steimle:

The MBA Admissions Board appreciates your interest in our MBA Program and the considerable effort evident in your application. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer you a place in the MBA Class of 2009.

The MBA Admissions Board carefully and thoughtfully assesses each application. Because of the large number of applications we receive, we are unable to admit many candidates who have excellent credentials and who demonstrate strong promise for careers in management.

Thank you for considering our MBA Program, and please accept our best wishes for future success.

Sincerely,

Deirdre C. Leopold
Managing Director, MBA Admissions & Financial Aid

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A few hours and counting...

January 16, 2007

Did you know that I've applied to the MBA program at the Harvard Business School? Of course you didn't. Other than my wife the only people who know are those who know because I let the cat out of the bag accidentally, and that's a small group. My parents don't even know, nor any of my siblings. Well, I applied, and tomorrow is the day when I will find out one of four things:

1. I've been rejected
2. They would like to interview me
3. I've been accepted
4. They haven't decided yet

#3 is highly unlikely, because only in extremely rare cases is someone accepted to HBS without an interview, and I have not had an interview yet. Although they've set the 17th of January this year as the date to inform students of their acceptance/rejectance, it's not an either/or situation. I may get an email telling me that no decision has been made regarding my application, and that they would like to interview me at a future date. They could also tell me that they've been really busy and they can't meet their own deadline for informing everybody. No matter what I'm somewhat nervous at the moment.

Unbeknownst to all of you I've been cataloguing my experience applying to HBS, but I haven't published those posts because I wanted to keep my application a private matter until the last moment. Well, it's the last moment, so I will be publishing them in the next few minutes. If you're interested, you can follow my posts and get a taste of what I've been going through the last few months.

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Still No Interview, and an Email to HBS Admissions

December 30, 2006

Still no invitation to interview at HBS. The HBS website has this to say which is somewhat reassuring, but not as reassuring as an invitation:

Interview invitations are extended on a rolling basis throughout the course of each application round. There is no set date by which invitations will begin to be extended and can continue up until, and including, the notification date for the round.

The timing of your interview does not imply anything about the status of your application nor does it impact your candidacy. Invitations to interview may be extended up until the notification date and are a positive indicator no matter when you receive them.

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Waiting for the Interview Call...

December 5, 2006

C'mon...c'mon...I've been waiting forever! According to a current HBS student who talked to someone on the admissions board they weren't planning on getting started with any interviews until mid-November. But that was almost three weeks ago! And as much as I had previously decided that I would not get anxious or agonize over waiting to hear anything I find myself inexorably pulled into thoughts of figuring out how many days they can realistically schedule interviews for, how many students probably applied, what percentage will be interviewed at all, the wrench in the whole works which is the statement from HBS that some applicants might be informed on January 17th not that they were accepted or rejected but that they will have an interview at a later date, and what this all means as far as my potential acceptance. Of course, what this all means is a mystery to me. I have no clue and can do nothing but stew.

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Clayton Christensen and The Diner's Dilemma

October 21, 2006

Clayton Christensen is a professor at HBS and the author of The Innovator's Solution and The Innovator's Solution. He is also, in no small way, partially responsible for me wanting to attend HBS. And, he happened to be sitting at a neighboring table tonight when my wife and I went out to eat.

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My Conversation With an HBS Student

October 17, 2006

Today I had a phone call with a student at HBS, Ryan Buell. My web design firm built, hosts, and maintains the website for the Cyberposium at Harvard Business School, and this year Ryan has been our main contact. I told him of my application to HBS and he generously offered to talk with me on the phone and answer any questions I might have. This post contains a portion of what I learned, presented in a question and answer format.

Disclaimer: I did not prepare questions beforehand, nor did I record the conversation, so what follows is not verbatim and in some cases what I remember Ryan saying may be, in fact, distorted by what I thought I heard him say, or what I thought he meant when he said something. If anything appears incorrect to others who are familiar with HBS blame me and my memory, not Ryan.

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Preparing for the Interview

October 11, 2006

I'm getting ready for the interview that I suspect will come sometime during the next 2-3 months. The content I bought at HowToGetIntoHBS.com includes a list of "40 questions asked by the admissions board in actual HBS interviews" that I'm going through. Whether or not these will be the actual questions asked this year, who knows, I don't, but they seem to serve as a good starting point.

Most of the questions appear to be professional in nature, such as "What is a typical day like at your job?" or "What would be your ideal job?" but some are academically related, such as "Why an MBA?" and such. Maybe I'll answer a few of them here. I'm going to keep the answers brief and to the point though. I suppose the interviewer might ask for more detail if he wants to know it.

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The Application is Finished

October 9, 2006

Well, the appliction is finished. It was whisked off to its electronic resting place courtesy of the folks at AY to await the review of the Admissions Board or some such organization of professional perusers of HBS applications.

And what, if any, are my feelings upon the resolution of such a feat as this? First, that even if not accepted I feel such a relief at having finished the appliction that it is something of a reward in and of itself. Second, I would like to know the statistics regarding how many people begin the application process only to never finish.

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I'm Taking the GMAT in 12 Hours

September 22, 2006

It's 9 p.m., Friday night. In 12 hours I will be starting the GMAT. The studying is over, and now all I have to do is get to sleep, wake up, and get to the testing facility. I've taken the GMAT before, and I've taken some practice tests so I know more or less what to expect. What I don't know, of course, is what I'm going to get on it. I'm fairly confident I'll get over a 600, somewhat confident I'll get at least a 650, but I'm hoping I can get close to or break 700.

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Local Information Sessions

September 14, 2006

My wife and I attended an information session last night for HBS. They send out people to tour around holding these two-hour sessions about the application process and such. Ours was hosted by Pamela Ralston, who is on the admissions committee, along with an HBS alum and another girl whose job description I didn't catch.

If you have a chance to attend one of these I would highly recommend it. There were a few tidbits of information relevant to the application process that are going to help me out.

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Taking the Practice GMAT

September 5, 2006

On Saturday I took a practice GMAT exam and got a 610. Thank goodness for practice. Considering that I felt like I bombed the test I guess a 610 isn't that bad. I took the GMAT about six years ago for my first graduate degree and got a 640 with no studying whatsoever, but that was six years closer to all those basic math and grammar classes that I haven't thought about since.

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Beginnings - How I Decided to Apply to HBS

September 2, 2006

By the time anyone reads this post it will be at least four months old. That is because I will not be posting anything about my intentions to get into the Harvard Business School until I know whether I have been accepted or not. Why? Because I'm a business owner, and I'm concerned about the effect it could have upon my employees and client base if people knew. I believe it could cause a certain amount of uncertainty around the office because I am currently quite involved in the day to day, although I have a plan of how to phase myself out if I get accepted that I will talk about in a later post.

And I've made the mistake of informing the business community about my personal plans for one activity or another before which turned out to not happen, but I'm still running into people who ask me "Now you're not with MWI any more, right?" And so all of this will remain undisclosed to friends, family, employees, and others until such time as I find out what is going to happen.

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