Those who have barely breathed since hitting the submit button January 10th for Harvard Business School will finally experience some great relief today, in one form or another.

According to Admissions Director Deirdre Leopold‘s  recent post, R2 admit emails and waitlist invitations go out at noon EST. Anyone sitting by the phone take note: HBS doesn’t notify admits through that now somewhat antiquated medium, though they do extend congratulatory calls after the fact.

Leopold also notes that HBS doesn’t make financial aids awards at the time of admission, “So don’t feel slighted that you don’t see any $$ mentioned.” However, there is a significant amount of need-based funding available to both U.S. and international candidates, whether they applied in Round 1 or Round 3.

Perhaps in a move toward further transparency in the admissions process, the director will  personally offer feedback to candidates who were denied admission after reaching the interview stage. Typically it’s not a case of anything being “wrong” she says, “But simply the challenge of comprising a class rich in diversity of backgrounds and perspectives.” Details about phone hours will be in the decision letter, she adds.

While landing on the waitlist may not be the ideal scenario, waitlist invitations will also go out today and Leopold stresses that HBS will likely offer 25-50 spots to waitlisted applicants between May and early June. Offers were already made to about 50 similarly situated individuals earlier this month, which is an excellent sign that it’s not all doom and gloom if that’s where you happen to land.

If you applied to Harvard Business School in Round 2, please leave us a comment below. We’d leave to hear which way the winds have blown in your particular case.

Rahul signed up with Stacy Blackman Consulting for a two-hour feedback session on his unsuccessful application from the prior year. With a 760 GMAT and a near perfect GPA from an Ivy League school, Rahul was surprised that he failed to receive even a single interview invitation from his applications to HBS, Stanford, Columbia, and Chicago. With better-than-average numbers, I had a feeling that Rahul needed to focus on the qualitative factors to make his case for admission.

When I read through Rahul’s application to Stanford it was clear that there was room to improve his essays and his recommendations. Rahul’s career goals were a logical extension of his current job in consulting – he planned to return to the firm and advance to partner, ultimately specializing in the technology side of the firm and focusing on developing that side of the business. However, he never explained WHY technology was a passion for him, or WHY he was so devoted to his firm that he wanted to make his career there. Though in conversation Rahul was passionate about his path, it came across as a default answer in his essay.

“What Matters Most” is a tough essay topic for every candidate. In Rahul’s case he focused on his family and particularly his relationship with his grandparents who had immigrated to the United States from India and embraced a new culture and way of life. Again, Rahul’s admiration for his family and forebears was captivating in speech, but did not translate in writing.

As for Rahul’s recommenders, they praised his work, but did not advance his cause. None of them addressed Rahul’s career goals in any depth, and they did not highlight his exceptional work as compared with his peers. Overall it seemed as if Rahul was a strong contributor to his firm, but he didn’t come across as the next generation of leader and superstar there. When we discussed this issue, Rahul explained he had not shared his career goals or any of his other essay topics with his recommenders. As a result, I guessed his recommenders were not as invested in his success and may have lacked direction in writing the letters.

Rahul was receptive to my feedback and continued to work with us to reapply to HBS and Stanford, while adding Wharton, Michigan and Kellogg as new schools on his list. Rahul devoted himself to essay writing, and the results reflected his infectious enthusiasm for his work and his personal life. He also set up lunch meetings with his recommenders to go over his strategy and plans for re-application. With his recommenders in the loop on his overall goals they supported him with enthusiastic letters, and even helped him take on new projects related to technology at the firm in the year before he went to school.

Rahul was ultimately admitted to Wharton and the Kellogg MMM program.

We have so many client stories and each one is different. Even applicants who appear to have similar bios are unique when we peel back the layers. View more client case studies here.

*Please note that no client details are ever shared in SBC Scoop or otherwise without complete sign off from client.

We featured an older candidate a few weeks ago in the SBC Scoop case study, but some candidates have the opposite issue: they are young applicants with no work experience.

Sarah was a senior at Cornell with an impressive double major in Economics and Sociology. Even with her heavy academic course load she managed to achieve a 3.8 GPA. She had taken both the GRE (560 verbal and 760 Quant) and the GMAT (710). Overall her academic credentials were solid for a top program and she was targeting HBS, Stanford, Wharton and Dartmouth Tuck.

When we first spoke, Sarah was aware that HBS and Stanford both accepted candidates straight from college and were receptive to applicants like her. She was less sure about Wharton and Tuck, and we discussed the pros and cons of applying to an MBA program with no work experience. In truth, even programs that actively recruit college seniors are looking for the same qualities in these seniors as an applicant with five years of work experience: leadership, teamwork and management potential. It’s harder to communicate those personal attributes without the benefit of working for a business, but strong leadership experiences in college can help.

In Sarah’s case we had plenty of material to work with. Sarah was a natural leader, and had quickly risen to a leadership position in her business fraternity, and was currently serving as the President/Chairperson. In addition, Sarah was an avid volunteer and had led several events on campus to raise money for the local Boys and Girls Club. During her summer vacations she had explored internships at two investment banks in NYC, and was interested in pursuing a career in finance. She wanted to go straight into an MBA program to minimize interruptions in her career and was extremely focused on achieving her goals. Sarah had attended the Tuck Bridge Program her junior year of college and loved the experience – she was excited about the school and pursuing her interest in management education in depth.

When we designed Sarah’s application strategy we focused on her clear career goals, her personal commitment to helping those less fortunate, and her leadership experiences. By highlighting her specific leadership style in the essays about her business fraternity we were able to show that she was mature, capable and ready for a graduate level program. Sarah’s leadership qualities came through loud and clear, despite no full time work experience.

Sarah was admitted to Tuck and HBS.

We have so many client stories and each one is different. Even applicants who appear to have similar bios are unique when we peel back the layers. View more client case studies here.
*Please note that no client details are ever shared in SBC Scoop or otherwise without complete sign off from client.

To read more SBC Case Studies, click HERE.

Ahmed was the son of a self-made billionaire who owned a real estate empire in the Middle East. When Ahmed started thinking about business school he decided to work with Stacy Blackman Consulting because he saw his experience within the family business, largely working directly for family members, as his largest challenge in the application process.

In reality having work experience and goals that center around a family business can be a huge asset to an MBA application. After all, family business applicants are guaranteed to have a job after graduation, which minimizes any placement stress for the career services office! On a serious note, having a leadership role in your family business can be just as impressive as working for a stranger if you position your experience and recommenders correctly.

Ahmed had strong numbers with a 3.6 GPA from Cornell and a 720 GMAT that was balanced between quant and verbal. He had demonstrated leadership in college, specifically as the President of the International Student Program Board, with a mission to develop international cultural experiences for Cornell students. Ahmed had immediately returned to his family business upon graduation, and he had never worked for any other organization professionally.

We addressed his recommenders immediately upon starting our work together. Ahmed worked closely with his father, the CEO, yet we advised that an immediate family member would look biased if he wrote the recommendation.

Ahmed’s career path within his father’s real estate empire was impressive by any measure, and I was immediately excited to help craft his story when he recounted his work history. Ahmed started as part of the strategic acquisitions team and learned how to structure deals and operate within a challenging political environment to achieve the company’s business goals in commercial real estate. Ahmed had a vision for expanding the company into temporary housing and hotels to serve a growing expatriate worker population, and pitched the board an idea to develop their first apartment building. When his pitch was approved Ahmed moved from an analyst role to supervising construction, sales and operations of the apartment property. His building was an immediate success, after Ahmed’s team signed corporate relocation deals at a higher profit than the region’s average. Ahmed now wanted to return to school for his MBA with a long term goal to run the residential division of the family business and drive rapid growth. Ultimately Ahmed was positioned to take over the entire business from his father.

While Ahmed’s work history was impressive, he needed the confirmation of unbiased outside observers to give his work experience credibility. We had to delve into Ahmed’s work history within the firm to generate a list of possible recommenders who were not family members. After two brainstorming sessions we finalized the following list:

The firm’s head counsel – he was not part of the family, but did report into Ahmed’s father
An independent business consultant who had worked with Ahmed on several acquisitions – he was not a direct report of Ahmed’s father, but did have a vested interest in working with the company again
The banker who worked with Ahmed’s company to finance big deals – again, not directly related to the company but invested in its success

We determined that these three professionals were the most unbiased of the possibilities, and had the added benefit of being unrelated to Ahmed. In the end he used the consultant and banker as references for Wharton, Chicago and Kellogg, and used all three recommendations for Harvard. For Stanford he asked the banker, consultant and a classmate who had worked with Ahmed as part of the International Student Program Board for a peer recommendation.

In addition to formulating a strong recommender strategy for Ahmed, we showcased his strong results for the business by quantifying the revenue his new division generated for the business. Luckily his numbers were impressive and the combination of strong leadership skills, business acumen, and independent recommendations earned Ahmed an admit to Harvard.

To read more SBC Case Studies, click HERE.

I recently had a conversation with someone who said, “I was the same age as all the other applicants and I had a very typical pre-MBA job that was no different from anyone else’s.  I did not have a prayer of making myself stand out from the crowd.”

If you feel this way, I beg you to give yourself  some credit!  Do you really think that your entire identity and all you have to offer boils down to being 25 years old and working as a strategy consultant?  Your age and job do not define who you are, which is why I encourage applicants to stay away from essays that only focus on “what”.  Watch my video to see what I mean, and take those essays to a whole new level!

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Transcript for this video:

Today’s tip is “Who, not What”.  In a nutshell, I encourage you to use your MBA essays to talk about who you are and why you have done things, as opposed to simply what you have done.  Remember that everything you discuss in your applications reveals not only what you have done and accomplished, but also highlights your values and your character.

Consider the first HBS question this year, which is “Tell us about three of your accomplishments.”  Although this question appears to ask very simply about what you have done, there is more to it.  Notice that they do not ask for your greatest accomplishments, they just ask for accomplishments, and the interesting thing about this question is that what you choose really highlights what you value.

A few years ago I had a client who was quite accomplished.  He had excelled in the military and then in his career.  He had many impressive and interesting stories to tell.  Ultimately, he wanted to bring more personality and humanity to his essays, and so for one of his HBS accomplishments, he wrote about the friends he had made throughout his life.  This was something that he was truly proud of, he considered it to be a great accomplishment, and it really helped to tell the admissions committee a lot about the type of person that he is.

Remember that an admissions committee can gain a lot of basic information about you through your resume, transcripts and other data that they collect.  Use your essays as a vehicle to tell them more about who you are as opposed to what you have done.

Sometimes an accomplishment that does not seem terribly grand is the right choice because of the circumstances behind it, or because of what it can say about you.  Of course a very impressive accomplishment might be perfectly appropriate as well – I just want to encourage you to broaden the set of what you consider for a topic, and talk about who you are and why you have done things, as opposed to just what you have done.

The quote for today is, “Every human being is intended to have a character of his own; to be what no others are, and to do what no other can do.”
William Henry Channing

Interested in watching more? Click HERE to access the Stacy Blackman Youtube Channel.

The essay questions and deadlines for Harvard Business School’s class of 2014 are now posted online on the HBS admissions website along with the questions for recommenders.

Set your strategy before you approach any set of MBA essays. This year Harvard has given applicants four required questions, requiring you to address specific aspects of your candidacy. A thorough self assessment of your strengths and weaknesses will be an asset as you approach this essay set. If you are working with a consultant, it’s a great idea to brainstorm about the best stories you have to demonstrate your key leadership, management, academic and personal qualities and that also fit the required essay prompts.

The limited word count for Harvard Business School essays forces applicants to be focused and concise. When you answer a question, think about a discrete example that can be efficiently described, leaving you room to discuss lessons learned.

Harvard Business School is interested in knowing how you work as a person, how you think, and what kind of leader you are. Community involvement and a broad international perspective are certainly valued, as you can see by the topics. Most importantly, specific and concise examples are the best way to demonstrate who you are. Without specifics, a claim to be a leader is empty.

1. Tell us about three of your accomplishments. (600 words)

This HBS classic remains largely unchanged from prior years. This is your opportunity to highlight your most impressive accomplishments, especially those that are very unique to your experience. When you think about topics for this question make sure you are pulling from all aspects of your life, not just work. If you have an impressive accomplishment in a volunteer or extracurricular activity, this is the ideal place to showcase both the accomplishment and your commitment to the activity.

While an incredibly impressive accomplishment may seem important to this question, it’s actually better to show the moments where you grew, changed or realized something crucial about yourself. If you were an Olympic gold medalist yet this objectively impressive accomplishment wasn’t meaningful in your life, it has far less impact in an MBA application. Even a seemingly humble accomplishment can be illuminated with your own reflection.

That being said, this is also an opportunity to “brag” about your own key achievements. Make sure you provide detailed information about your own individual contribution to the achievement to highlight your ability to lead and achieve through your direct efforts.

2. Tell us three setbacks you have faced. (600 words)

In past years HBS has required an essay about a mistake. While this essay is similar because it requires you to reflect upon your ability to learn from difficult circumstances, it also a mirror reflection of the “three accomplishments” essay.

As you think about the triumphs in your life in essay 1, essay 2 leads you to consider the difficulties. Setbacks can be either a result of your own actions or of circumstantial, however the most important aspect of a setback is how you were able to move past and overcome the situation. Leadership can be effectively formed through difficulty (often referred to as “crucibles”) and HBS is interested in your own personal reaction to setbacks. Are you someone who can effectively navigate disappointment? How do you react when challenged? Are you able to learn from experience?

Use most of the allotted space to describe your reaction to the setback rather than the background story. As you recount your setbacks it will be crucial to demonstrate what you have learned. Think about why you selected each experience and what change and growth resulted from the situation. This essay is your opportunity to demonstrate your maturity, flexibility and leadership qualities.

3. Why do you want an MBA? (400 words)

In past years Harvard has asked about your career vision. This new essay prompt allows much more latitude in your response, yet should be focused entirely on the overall “why MBA” question.

For all applicants career goals are a crucial reason to pursue a professional degree like an MBA, and it will be important to communicate what you hope to accomplish with the degree. While this question is not focused on your career vision, it may be a useful exercise to imagine the future career of your dreams. What will you need to do to achieve this goal? What will an MBA from Harvard add to your life to bring you closer to your dream career? Thinking about the deeper motivations for your career like helping others, being part of a transformation in your country or industry, or serving as a role model for underrepresented types of leaders can help you crystallize what you truly want and how an MBA fits.

Also consider exploring personal motivations for your MBA. Focusing only on professional advancement may not describe the full range of motivations for an MBA. For many applicants there are additional reasons to pursue an MBA that can range from networking opportunities to cross functional inspiration. It is certainly likely that you hope to learn from your classmates and professors, and that you plan to take advantage of clubs and extracurricular opportunities.

4. Answer a question you wish we’d asked. (400 words)

Entirely open ended questions can be a gift to an applicant, or can derail an otherwise strategic application.

While this question may look similar to the “optional essay” asked by many other business schools, do not be tempted to use this space to explain a low GPA or GMAT score. If you must discuss a significant weakness in this application there is a brief space in the online application for that information. This essay is your opportunity to leave a positive impression with the admissions committee and you should take full advantage of the 400 words available.

Before you select a topic for this question refer to your application strategy and list of strengths and weaknesses. Have you covered your key professional experiences? What have you demonstrated about leadership? If you have not addressed important extracurricular or volunteer activities or a story from your background that illuminates your interest in HBS and potential contribution to the class, this is the ideal space to provide that information.

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