Whew! What should I say about the HBS interview? Have you ever gone into a situation terrified that you would screw up only to come through in the end hitting a home run and having no problems? Well, that didn’t happen for me today…I bombed that joint and I think I lost my chance to be accepted.
Things started off badly as soon as I got out of my car in DC. I was wearing my black suit and was looking pretty pimptacular, if I do say so myself. I tried to put my suit jacket on while holding my portfolio, but I ended up losing my grip and dropped it on the ground. Worst of all, the right sleeve fell into a puddle. At that point, I had a brainstorm and, as soon as I got into the building for the interview, I hit the bathroom, grabbed some paper towels and cleaned all of the dirt off of the sleeve. It looked like I had gotten it all cleaned off while the sleeve was wet, so I just went along my merry way. 10 minutes later, the interviewer came out and, when I extended my hand to shake hers, I saw that there was lint from the paper towels all up and down my sleeve and there was a spot right by my wrist that looked sort of gray. When I saw that, a feeling of dread came over me and all I could think was “this could be a bad sign”.
The interview started off fine, but, after a couple of minutes, this daggone cold that i've been fighting for the past week or so started acting up and I spent the next 40 minutes coughing, sniffling, wiping my nose, and dealing with my on-and-off voice. It started off slowly, but it eventually picked up to the point where I was either coughing or sniffling every 30 seconds. I was so embarrassed that it started affecting my responses to the questions. Everything that I had hammered into my head in preparation for the interview started coming out sounding differently than what I wanted to say. I swear that I was off balance the whole time and I kept apologizing for how distracting I was being. My interviewer was totally cool and tried to put me at ease by saying that she’d interviewed hundreds of sick applicants before, but, by then, I’d already put so much pressure on myself that I’d already defeated myself.
In terms of answering the questions, I think I did alright, but I don’t think I was overly impressing. I think I especially fumbled with the last question when she asked me if there was anything I wanted to discuss that she hadn’t mentioned. I should have thought to come up with something totally unique, but all of the cold symptoms had me flustered and I just mentioned my desire to do community service and help people in the future, which was the topic of my optional application essay. Basically, I used an opportunity to show her something new about myself to repeat something that she’d already known from reading my application….D’OH!!!
Given the caliber of the people that I’m competing with, I’ve already determined that it is likely I’ll be getting a ding from HBS. It’s all good though. I think it’s an accomplishment to have even gotten an interview, so that’s at least a moral victory. I swear this whole process has been one of the most exhausting things I’ve ever dealt with before. The one good thing about the interview is that I now have a funny story to tell all of the other B-school people I encounter in the future...
I know I'm late on giving you guys the run-down about the HBS Prospective Student Day, but I was away on vacation for the past week. Anyways, here's the summary of what i saw:
To put it simply, HBS did it up really big for all of us. I wasn't a big fan of the 7:00am start time for the event, but, given all that they crammed into that day, I now see that the early start was necessary. The tone was set early, when over 25 current students got up at the crack of dawn to be there to welcome us to their school and try to convince us that it was the place for us. From the first presentation, the folks there hammered it into our heads that they were a place that built leaders and the the people you'd be in class with would help add to the knowledge that would help you reach your goals.
They gave us a chance to sit in on a real class so we'd see what to expect if we matriculate and I never thought that a Marketing class could be so exciting. I'd seen the case method in grad school at UVA, but it was a totally different experience to see it at the school that originated it. They also assigned us a case of our own to discuss in a mock class and it was cool to see how excited the other prospectives got about the topic.
I think the best part for me was the Student Panel that I attended toward the end of the day. Each of the students gave great reasons as to why they chose HBS and provided insight into the experience. But, one of the 2nd years (a Dominican young lady) really made a huge impression on me when she told a story about how she had to choose between a fullride at Wharton or $120K+ in loans to go to HBS. She brought the issue up to her mother (who was totally debt averse and didn't even speak English) and was fully expecting her to say that Wharton was the move to make. Instead, he mother simply said "But it's Harvard"...and the rest is history. That story helped me see how much that school really means to the students there. I had to duck out on the closing reception early to catch a flight, but the people there had made their impresssion on me by then.
Honestly, going into the day, I had heard that the people at HBS were cutthroat and stuck on themselves, so I honestly didn't want to like it, but I couldn't help leaving there being amped up about the chance of being a student there. Now, i can't help but be all kinds of stressed about my HBS interview this coming Thursday. I don't know where I'll ultimately end up going to pursue my MBA, but one thing I do know is Harvard has a good thing going up there and anyone who gets in is in a enviable position.
CAN I GET A HELLZ YEAH!!!
I just got in from the airport and checked my email. Duke's Fuqua School of Business had sent me a message letting me know that they accepted me and want me at their school next year :-) Dang, this has been a long process, but it's good to know that at least one school has accepted me going into Christmas. I had a great time down in Durham for their Ford Weekend and I know that I'd have a fun two years if I end up matriculting there in the Fall. I'm so excited that I'm almost forgetting that I'm exhausted after my 8 hour flight from the UK.
Now I'm only waiting on 5 more decisions and then I have to choose a place. I'll keep you guys posted though.
What's up, y'all. It's been a while since i've had time to write anything substantial, so I thought I might as well do it now. I've got several things to update you on, so let's get to it.
First, my long overdue assessment of the Fuqua Ford Workshop. All I can say about that weekend is...."WOW!" The Fuqua admissions staff did it up really big for us and I am very happy to have been a part of it. I knew that Fuqua had a strong community before going down there, but the folks down there have major love for each other and the school itself. Plus, that weekend was the 20th anniversary of their Black and Latino student organization, so a lot of the alums came back on campus for it. Given the rigorous nature of the program at Fuqua, I fully expected the students to be too busy to talk much about their experiences, but I was happy to see that the opposite happened. Every student that I spoke with went out fo their way to tell me about their experiences and give me advice to help me with my admissions interview. Also, the other prospectives there were a great group of folks that I could really see myself bonding with if we all end up at Fuqua. Overall, the Ford Workshop was fantastic and I'd like to send a shout out to the Admissions staff, my mentor Gustavo, the Fuqua students and alums, and everyone else I met there.
Second, as of 1:00pm yesterday afternoon, I am officially finished with my B-school application process. I turned in my Consortium application on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week and had to write my school-specific essays for Darden and Tuck to be completely finished. I knocked out Darden on Friday and mailed it off and then did the same for Tuck yesterday. It feels good to have those out of my hands so I can concentrate on getting back to life before I started my applications. It's all a waiting game for me now. I'll get my first decision on Dec 11 from Duke and it would be a blessing to go into Christmas knowing that I'll be in school somewhere next Fall. Keep your fingers crossed for me ;-)