…should you be panicking yet if you haven’t been invited to interview???
Well, if you LIKE panicking — if it’s something you ENJOY — then go to town!
But we advise against it!
There really isn’t any reason for panicking just yet.
Yes a lot of schools are issuing interview invites, and yes if you’re spending time on the MBA applicant forums, it may seem like every other person has gotten invited except for you. But that’s just not the case.
The Round 2 cycle has barely begun! There are lots more chances for interviews coming from lots more schools.
Generally speaking, we consider the HBS Interview Invite Day to be the true kickoff of interview season.
And, even after that day comes and goes, it’s still not really time to be panicking if you haven’t gotten interviewed yet.
This process is a rollercoaster of emotions and can be truly taxing on the nerves. It’s really common for people, right after their apps are in, to suddenly plummet and assume that everything they wrote in their essays is crap and that they don’t have a chance at all and they blew it completely. An insane amount of second-guessing can occur in the second or third week of January.
We’re convinced that the MBA applicant forums can do more harm than good at certain times of your own personal admissions cycle. At some stages, especially the beginning phase when you know next to nothing about the process of applying, those forums are a godsend and you learn so much about what’s needed and the policies at the schools and figure out what GMAT score to aim for etc.
It can also be a helpful reality check, since it lets you compare your profile and stats against what others of (seemingly) similar profiles present, and their outcomes. (We say ‘seemingly’ because it never is about solely the core stats; there can be a not-helpful fixation on those stats on those sites, and it’s ALWAYS about the execution. Please don’t forget that salient fact!! The profile ABSOLUTELY matters, but weakness in core stats can be overcome with the right presentation.)
Since you’re here reading this blahg, then we assume you’re well aware of these realities, and the apps you submitted in Round 2 were executed well. Given that as the baseline assumption, then with the question “Is it time to start panicking?” the answer is a resounding “No!”
You have plenty of time for panicking later, BSer.
For now, if you had put together a multifaceted strategy in Round 2 and you know you had sound messaging in those essays, then as hard as it is to take this advice, we encourage you to find a way to distract yourself for another few weeks without obsessing, and let the process play out.
If things aren’t moving for you yet, then you may be surprised when suddenly they start moving significantly!!
Here’s to hoping that soon you are inundated with interview invites and you find yourself scrambling to keep up.
Till then… Go back to your Wordle and TikToks. You can worry about this later.
Tell us what you think.