Anxious about Round 2 Interview Invites

Wharton will release their final interview invitations for Round 2 (and deny without interview decisions) tomorrow, February 15. Harvard, on the other hand, may keep you waiting until their final decisions are released on March 28. Stanford also may keep you waiting a bit longer – they invite up until their Round 2 notification date on April 5. In addition, if you are waitlisted, both Harvard and Stanford may invite you to interview after Round 2 decisions have been released.

So, there are different degrees of “agony” attached to the waiting part of this process. Know that when you receive your interview is not a predictor for whether you will be admitted. If you are invited to interview, take this opportunity and run with it! You have passed a major hurdle, your written application was considered competitive, and you are still very much in the running. This is true if if you are invited on the first day or the last.

I know that many applicants out there can sympathize right now with Designer imperfect, who writes about failing hope, after applying to an extremely competitive group of schools, and not yet receiving any interview invites. The key is “not yet”. There is still time, and it’s best to focus on the schools where you are able to interview – concentrate on what you can control right now.

It’s also important to recognize that if it does not work out this year, it may be for a very good reason. Sometimes a school can recognize that you are not quite ready for business school and it really is in your best interest to wait, rethink your goals and apply again when you are more focused. To this end, I liked a line that Dave for MBA has running on his blog: “An MBA is a tool, not a goal.” It is important to keep in mind that the MBA is one tool (and yes, it can be a very important tool), but it is a means to help you reach your goals, and not the end goal itself. This may help to keep things in perspective and also help you when you are thinking about why you really want an MBA, what is your true goal, and how can the MBA help you?

For those of you who do not end up getting the answer you are looking for from Wharton tomorrow, and like Designer imperfect, are scratching your heads wondering, “what happened?”, feel free to schedule a free consultation with us, to help think through what might have gone wrong this year.

Good luck to all of you who are still waiting!