A Candid Look At HBS’ New Admit Changes

PQ: OK, what about “Tell us something you wish you had done better.”

SK: It’s actually 90 percent the same question as “tell us something you have done well,”  with some built in reflection. You can take all the suggestions above and work it into this format. With some therapeutic mumbo-jumbo. To wit, you could write about not learning  from persons X, Y and Z  (your parents, mentors and friends) and why those were key watersheds, or not being honest with yourself in situations 1, 2, 3 with blah, blah takeaways. Not to mention the classic, “I wish I had not let my anger about the sadists who tortured my parents to death interfere so much with my mission of spreading their great human rights initiatives in America. “ That version is actually better than the original.

HBS is not looking for the Dalai Lama, more like “not-so-spaced son of Dalai Lama.”  Of course, you can also say, to go from the sublime to the banal, “I wish I had done a better job with the due diligence of Widget Inc, but the reasons for my weaknesses in those models and meetings are revealing . . . blah, blah, blah.” That answer, as banal-sounding as it is, along with a 3.9 from Princeton, a 720 GMAT, and some solid recs from two non-indicted guys at Goldman or JP Morgan and a final rec from the board member of a charity you founded will get you in to HBS, in most cases. And even if your recommenders have been indicted, hey, innocent until proven guilty plus  1. no one yet has been indicted, and  2. even if your recommender has not only been indicted but convicted and in jail, well, he probably will have more time to write your rec and being in jail won’t take away from what he says about you.

PQ: What do you make of the 24-hour post interview essay, where they ask you to say what you wish you had said.  

SK: Let me be real careful here. It’s apples and oranges. Or more precisely, apples and oranges and then, when you thought you were done, another apple. The actual interview (oranges) is an important way to get a lot of information you cannot get in an application (apples), so I support interviews for sure. Throwing in some stunt essay after the interview will not churn up any new information not already in the application and interview, and it certainly will NOT make applicants feel better about getting in the last word. Dee, baby, I love ya, but that is dreaming.

I’ve done hundreds of mock interviews for HBS applicants. The ones that go well, go well. Those kids are just going to be burdened with yet more homework and anxiety and instead of walking out of the interview and saying, “OK, this is over . . .” there is now one more stupid and made-up essay to write, which probably can only damage you. The vast majority of kids who don’t do well on the interviews, screw up because they got lost, or were digressive, or arrogant or unlikeable (from the adcom’s POV).

Well, I guess they can rush over to Starbucks and write 400 words about “I wish the interviewer had asked me right near the end to explain why I am not usually such a spaz, and won’t be after you admit me.” Which, however heartfelt and convincing and unlikely, will not change their view that you are a spaz.  How come? Because they saw you spaz out with their very own eyes and ears, and you saying “don’t believe it,” won’t change anything.  And, most importantly, for the vast majority of interviewed applicants who have OK but not super-duper interviews, it is just more stressful work that is not going to add any value  or new information or change anything.

The whole exercise strikes me as too clever by half, desperate innovation for innovation’s sake, a logistical nightmare for some jet-lagged kid who also needs to catch another plane home in those 24-hours, an invitation for those who interview on campus NOT TO VISIT CAMPUS and instead stay holed up for 24 hours doing a hateful and made-up essay  (ditto, those who travel to Paris or Mumbai for interviews) and finally, some crazy Christmas gift cum nightmare for consultants.

DON’T MISS: BEHIND HARVARD’S BIG ADMISSION CHANGES or THE GATEKEEPER TO HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL

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