Monthly Archives: January 2014

HBS Round 2: Preparing for Your Interview

By Kyle Watkins (last updated: July 6, 2014)

On January 29, HBS sent out interview invitations to many of its Class of 2016 applicants (including round two applicants and round one candidates whose application was “deferred” to round two). Around 20% of all round two applicants received an interview invitation on January 29, and a second round of invites will go out to candidates on February 5, according to the HBS admissions blog. Interviewed candidates will then stand a 60% chance of being admitted to the #1 MBA program in the World (according to the latest Financial Times MBA rankings).

We’d like to wish the best of luck to everyone, and for the happy few who have received the coveted email from Dillon House, it is time to prepare for the last step of your application. While we have been writing about the HBS interview process for a while on this blog, we thought it would be helpful to bring all of our resources together in one place:
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Harvard Tops FT’s 2014 Global MBA Ranking

By Kyle Watkins (last updated: January 29, 2014)

The Financial Times just released its latest MBA ranking. Harvard Business School (#1) and The Stanford Graduate School of Business (#2) kept their respective spots from last year, while Wharton lost its 3rd position to London Business School, one of the leading European MBA programs along with Insead (#5), IESE (#7), and IMD (#12). Interestingly, the Yale School of Management gained 4 spots this year, reaching the FT’s top ten for the first time in seven years.

3 years after graduation, Stanford’s alumni earn the most, with an average salary of $185,000 (+100% vs. the pre-MBA salary), while HBS graduates come in second with $178,000 (+113%). In Europe, LBS graduates lead the pack, with an average compensation of $157,000 per year (+107%).
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The Round 3 MBA Application

By Kyle Watkins (last updated: October 14, 2019)

I was admitted to Harvard Business School as a round 3 candidate, and although it made things quite difficult, I’m glad I didn’t postpone my application another year (I was already in my thirties when I applied to Harvard).

Like Harvard, most leading MBA programs in the U.S. still maintain a third admission round (R3) and frequently reiterate that they keep a few spots for truly outstanding applicants. While odds of admissions may be lower in R3, a decent 5% to 10% of any incoming class at Harvard Business School is assumed to originate from the third round. Round 3 should therefore be considered a suitable option for very strong candidates (with a good GPA and 700+ GMAT).

How to increase your chances of success in Round 3?

We recently held conversations with successful round 3 applicants from the HBS class of 2013. Based on their feedback and my own experience, we have compiled a list of 5 things you should know in order to maximize your odds of success as a round 3 applicant.
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