Harvard’s MBA Round 1 Interview Invites Have Gone Out

Harvard Business School

Harvard Business School will have some good news and a lot of bad news for round one applicants today (Sept. 30). At noon EST, several thousand candidates will discover if they have been rejected, invited to the next step in the admissions process for an interview, or punted to the next round.

Anxious MBA applicants will disover their fates via an update on the school’s Application Status page. The school typically interviews just under 2,000 candidates a year, or close to 20% of those who apply. If an applicant reaches the interview stage, there’s roughly a 50-50 chance of being admitted.

Last year, Harvard’s MBA program drew 20.9% more applications in 2023-2024 than it did in the previous cycle, up more than 1,700 apps to 9,856 candidates from a historic low of 8,149 (see MBA Class Of 2026: At Harvard, A Massive Rebound In MBA Applications).

HBS INTERVIEWERS CAN ADOPT THE STYLE OF A TED LASSO OR LOGAN ROY?

It has been said that applicants who get an invite for the 30-minute session with HBS admission officials can generally expect a fairly casual conversation. But as one candidate put it: “The same interviewer can shift gears from a Ted Lasso interviewer and go full-on Logan Roy in the next slot (exaggerating a little but you get the point). They are pretty well trained and the interview styles vary a lot depending on the candidate.”

Each round one applicants essentially faces three possibilities today, according to HBS.

“Invite to Interview – this is very good news! If you are in this group, you will receive additional information regarding the process on September 30. On October 1 you will be able to choose the date and time for your interview.

“Further Consideration – this is also good news. We ask a small group of applicants to wait until Round 2, at which point we will review your application again. More information will be shared with you via email if you receive a Further Consideration update.

“Early Release – unfortunately, this means we are not able to move you to the next step in our process. Our hope is that by letting you know this news early, you can move forward with other plans.”

WHAT TO EXPECT IN AN HBS ADMISSIONS INTERVIEW

If you’re invited to interview by HBS, you would probably benefit greatly from transcripts of previous interview sessions from clients of Sandy Kreisberg, founder of HBSGuru.com, who in any given year helps to rehearse and prepare more than 100 invited applicants in mock interviews. In all probability, Kriesberg walks through more interviews with HBS candidates than anyone other than a few people on the HBS admissions team who actually conduct the 30-minute sessions.

His sample size–100+ out of 1,900 interviewed in any given year–gives him a unique look at who makes the cut and who doesn’t. His advice in How Not To BLOW The Harvard Business School Interview is essential watching.