How NOT To Blow Your HBS Interview

What’s your best advice on the famous closing question of many interviews, “Do you have any questions for me?”

Basically, the interview is over, your grade has already been faxed in. They are just trying to get you out the door. But you can screw this up at the last minute. You can pick an argument. You can say, ‘Do you really think you can teach finance through the case method?’ That is an awful question to ask because you are calling their baby ugly. They believe you can learn anything through the case method. So you don’t want to get into a debate over it. A better answer is real light. If you’re from another part of the country, you might say, ‘I’ve never experienced a New England winter. Have you got any tips?’ One of the best questions would be, ‘How hard would it be for me to organize a forum around one of my passionate interests?’ They’d love that one. If the chemistry was right between you and the interviewer, you might even ask if they could recommend an Indian restaurant in Harvard Square.

What are the basic differences between interviews at Harvard vs. Stanford, or Wharton?

Alumni do up to 90% of the interviews at Stanford and it’s well known that the interview is more of a marketing device to get alumni involved. You have to do something really dramatic to commit suicide in a Stanford interview. Basically, it does not count. The Wharton interview is now this group grope and it is easier to come off the rails, especially if the chemistry in your group is a bit toxic. But most people are hip to that. My guess is, the jerks come out in the wash at HBS and Wharton, so the process works in each case, although I prefer HBS because it is less likely to result in a false negative.

Sandy, what’s the best kind of interviewer an applicant can have?

If you can help it, you’ll always be better off with an interviewer with a lot of experience because they are less likely to make oddball judgments. You want a normative interviewer, someone who knows the standards and who has been through it a million times. Alumni often have a chip on their shoulders. They may have issues with the school that can get projected in the interview. They may want to use you to deliver a message to the school, or they could have a prejudice against people who are in Teach For America or other non-profits. That happens a lot.  And some alumni interviews can go on for more than an hour.

My guess is, not many alums who are working 24 hours a day at their start-up or doing big deals volunteer for doing interviews, so you often get the less traditional, less gung-ho, more social science types, who over invest in the process. Remember, at Stanford the interview basically does not count. So while the interview is much more unpredictable, well, thank God it almost never moves the needle.

You’re obviously doing a good number of mock interviews right now. What most bothers you about the whole process?

What upsets me is people who are good people but who have a bad hair day. The call I fear is from the person crying on Amtrak. They had their interview at HBS. They are on their way home on the train to New York, and they call in tears because they think they have blown their interview. If you think you’ve blown your interview at Harvard, you probably have blown it. Those are real sad calls, especially if you like the person, and they rehearse how they lost a step, then another and then tripped. If you could have prevented the first lost step, they would be in at Harvard. That happens, man, trust me. That happens. Years of work and hours of preparation and poof, it’s gone, because they could not explain why they went to Cornell for college in 30 concise seconds.

For more admissions advice from Sandy Kreisberg, also see “ The World, According to Sandy.”

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