HBS Round 2 Update

Another surprise this morning when I checked my email. I received the Round 2 update from HBS that they mass mailed to a bunch of people. Basically confirms that all application materials have been received and application review has begun and that interview invites will be sent out starting mid-Feb up to and including decision date, March 31. Seems like not everyone on the BW forums has received the mail, which may mean that they are reviewing apps in batches. This is probably not good news, because I'm now expecting any potential invite to come earlier in the process than later - and i'm going to start stressing out if I don't see one sometime in Feb :-)

I think I have a pretty decent application, and obviously have no way of knowing if I am going to be competitive. I had another friend look over my essays a few weeks ago (bad move ?) and he commented that I probably ended the application on a negative note - i talked about a failure and what I learned in the final essay. I'm bothered by it now and hope that the leadership emphasis I had in the rest of the application can carry it through to the interview stage. I was going to avoid talking about failures etc but this was an event that I value very much - I hope I was able to convey that. My scores and experience are par for the course, and I am satisfied with my other essays. The one other spot of bother is that I didn't go to a top college in India for my undergrad so that may be a minus for pedigree-obsessed HBS.

I'm not sure if I like these update emails or not ! Just as I think I should forget about the app and concentrate on other things, I get reminded that somebody is actually reading all the stuff I wrote and I get drawn back to post-mortems and what-could-i-have-done-different's. On the other hand, it can also be frustrating not to hear of any progress, like with Tuck, where all I can do is wait for Mar 29. Either way, it doesn't stop me from checking my email every hour :-)