Tag Archives : Admissions Interviews

Today we introduce a new series on the Veritas Prep Blog: Admissions 101. From time to time we’ll dig into various basis strategies for getting into the world’s top graduate schools, blowing up some dangerous myths along the way.

Today’s piece was inspired by the wave of HBS 2+2 Program interview invitations that were sent out yesterday. (Congrats to all of our clients who were invited! There are only about 200 of you!) Soon after learning he had been invited, one of our clients said, “I’m halfway through the door. As long as I don’t screw up the interview, I should be in.”

The admissions interview is one of the most important parts of the business school application process, because it’s the only time that the admissions office get a chance to meet the real, live you. Business schools rarely employ the “stress interview” technique, trying to make you squirm and seeing how you perform under pressure. The process is stressful enough, and they’re more interested in getting answers to their questions and getting to know the real you, than in seeing how well you can stand up to stress.

By the time you get to the interview in the MBA admissions process, you’re probably already miles ahead of where you were just a month or two earlier, when you first started preparing your business school applications. Still, while you’ve perhaps become an expert on yourself, your interview skills may be a little rusty (or, maybe you never fully developed them in the first place).

Last week the Wall Street Journal’s Diana Middleton wrote a great piece about things to think about while juggling a full-time job and the MBA application process. (Hopefully, in this economy, you still have a job to juggle along with your applications!) In “Getting Back to School,” she covers six important things applicants should do.

Yesterday the Wharton admissions committee posted an update on its blog for everyone who just applied in Wharton’s third admissions round. Since they understand that waiting on one’s application status can put an applicant on pins and needles, Wharton’s admissions officers are deliberately over-communicating about what Round 3 applicants can expect in the coming weeks.

First, know that if your status currently reads “Received” or “Complete for Round Three,” then you are in good shape. “Received” just means that the office needs to match up your hard copy submissions with your electronic files, and within a week or so you should see your status change. “Therefore,” says the admissions committee, “please allow the Operations Team until Thursday, March 12 before inquiring about the completeness of your application.”

Yesterday the Wharton admissions office posted an update on its blog to let applicants know that the school will release all Round 2 interview invitations by tomorrow (Feb. 19).

Last week the Harvard Business School’s Dee Leopold posted a short message on the HBS admissions blog about the timing for Round Two admissions interview invitations:

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 instructions 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 interview by the end of the week, we will contact you by phone…thus there’s no reason to be anxious about lost emails, etc.