Many of you submitted to Harvard Business School for Round 2, and that means you’re likely already starting to feel a little nervous about what’s coming tomorrow.
(In case you haven’t heard: Harvard will be releasing Round 2 interview invitations on Wednesday, February 3. )
Thankfully, the way the Round 2 sequencing works, with many other schools having a process that’s similar or even somewhat accelerated compared to Harvard’s, it’s likely that you have gotten a first interview already. (Or, in some cases, maybe you’ve even already gotten a Round 2 acceptance!!! We’re hearing news of some of those come in and they’re very exciting!!!)
It’s probable that the Big Day you’ll be having awaiting the news from Harvard won’t be the first such “big day” of all.
Yes, it’s likely going to feel like the BIGGEST day, because, you know, Harvard.
But hopefully you’ve already landed at least one “We want to meet you!” next-step invite from another school in the past month.
If not, then this post from Round 1 is very important to read – as it warns you about how much of a blow it might be to not earn an invite from HBS on Wednesday.
This whole process is a rollercoaster, and the toll it can take on your emotions and nerves is extreme, regardless of which schools you’re trying for or what sequence you’re subject to.
Harvard is always hard to break into, but that reality is often not fully appreciated until you get to the actual Judgment Day of when those interview invites will come.
And JUDGMENT it undoubtedly will feel like! No matter how much we can try to communicate that a school is not rejecting YOU, and despite how the schools try to say that they are constructing a class and building out a diverse cohort of collected traits and experiences, it’s near-impossible not to take it personally if you are turned away by any school. Even Harvard, even when you know how hard it is to get in.
So. Today’s post is another attempt to help you remember that really, it’s not personal – even though you poured your heart out into that essay, and it feels like they totally are rejecting you the person who wrote it, but it’s not about you not being good enough. Something like 85% of candidates trying for Harvard are technically qualified to make it in. This year, the class size is larger, so that does mean a decent chunk more applicants will get to the next stage of the process — but even so, it’s just a tough situation, since the vast majority of applicants don’t get that opportunity. And it’s near-impossible for that not to feel like a blow.
Here’s a time conversion so you can plan.
- Wednesday, February 3rd at noon Eastern time: Round 2 interviews and “release” news to come(go here to convert to your local time ):
- Boston (U.S.A. – Massachusetts) Boston (USA – Massachusetts) Wednesday, February 3rd at 11:55 am EDT UTC-4 hours
- San Francisco (USA – California) Wednesday, February 3rd at 8:55 am PDT UTC-8 hours
- Delhi (India – Delhi) Wednesday, February 3rd at 10:25 pm IST UTC+5:30 hours
- Paris (France – Île-de-France) Wednesday, February 3rd at 5:55 pm CEST UTC+1 hours
- Moscow (Russia – Moscow) Wednesday, February 3rd at 7:55 pm MSK UTC+3 hours
- Buenos Aires (Argentina) Wednesday, February 3rd at 1:55 pm ART UTC-3 hours
- UTC (GMT) Wednesday, February 3rd at 16:55
You should get notification via email — and check your spam folder. The email should arrive by 12:05pm or so Eastern time, just after noon in Boston — barring a cruel internet outage or some other poorly timed delay in delivery. You can also log on to your Harvard application and frantically click the “refresh” to see if status changes.
Again, we’re often the Doom-And-Gloom Snark right around this time, because even though we work with INCREDIBLE clients, the fact of the matter is that this process is like trying out for the Olympics or something. It’s just a very big feat to pull off. Someone can breeze straight into a school like Booth or Columbia or Duke but get a flat-out “no” from HBS, so we try to introduce that possibility instead of inducing irresponsible hopefulness. (Note: If we do think you have a shot at Harvard tomorrow, then we would’ve been clear on our assessment of that when we looked at your essay or app! This post is not trying to negate that if we were able to give you such opinion on a one-to-one basis during your app development cycle.)
Harvard does sometimes pull out surprises and so we’re certainly not condemning everyone to a “no” from HBS tomorrow! We of course DO hope you get one of the interview slots!! If that happens, we hope you’ll circle back and share the news! You can post progress in My SnarkCenter (both good news and not-good news welcome).
It’s a nerve-wracking process for sure, but at least Harvard communicates clearly about what to expect and when.
We’re wishing everyone out there good luck in the hopes that an invite comes in for you!!!
More Harvard info is on our HBS Essay Questions page which has lots of links to other posts on Harvard interviews and interview prep.
Tell us what you think.