HBS REACTIONS PART 2: HOW TO HANDLE THE HBS DEFERRAL?
To act, or not to act? This is the big question.
This past week is one of those weeks on the calendar that tends to stop everyone in their tracks and dominates the headlines. It’s all about the final HBS Round 2 notification deadline. Interview or ding? Rather, interview or ding or deferral? Seeming as that appears to be a popular option too. Let’s make sense of things and offer some advice on how to respond from here.
This is part two of a series of three discussing these three HBS responses: Today, the HBS deferral.
THE HBS DEFERRAL
If you got an HBS deferral, well, I hope you like limbo, because you are now going to be hanging out for 3-4 months while you wait for HBS to finish collecting its application round.
The pragmatist looks at what HBS is doing and thinks, “They must have had a huge Round 2 application haul, they clearly want to see what they have before committing too many spots, while also making sure they don’t punt away some great candidates.”
The cynic looks at what HBS is doing and says, “Boy, they really think they are something, they have no respect for their applicants.”
The strategist looks at this and says, “Okay, how does this fit with what HBS is doing more generally?”
What we suggest you should do is convert the word “limbo” to “ambiguity.” HBS wants to see how you deal with ambiguity! That’s their name of the game. They have added post-interview assignments, they have made the essay open-ended, and now they have used an aggressive deferment strategy. All these things create massive amounts of ambiguity for the HBS applicants and HBS wants to see who handles this well.
So, what can you do in the meantime?
1. Keep calm
HBS is trying to see how well you deal with the HBS deferral. So, the best thing to do is to stay low and stay cool. If HBS deferred you, they clearly like you and are very interested. They either don’t want to overcommit too early on, or they want to see how you handle things. If you freak out, you are toast. If you hang back and play their game confidently, your chances seem pretty good.
2. Call in those favors, so long as the favor is handled correctly
“Should I have so-and-so call and put in a word?”
The answer is almost always:
“Yes… as long as it is done right!”
What does right mean exactly? It means respectfully. Here is a good example:
"Hi there, so-and-so here, CEO extraordinaire. I wanted to give you a call on behalf of John Doe, who is currently deferred. Look, I don't want to presume anything, and I would never in a million years pretend to know who should or should not get into HBS, nor am I trying to influence the way you do your job. This call is for me. I just know that I feel so strongly about John that I'd be kicking myself if I didn't pick up the phone."
This is how you handle the HBS deferral. Proper deference and deep passion. If someone cannot say these types of words and if they don’t feel that strongly about you, then don’t ask them. If it feels as if that person is just doing someone a favor or peddling influence, it will either not work or it will harm your chances (as it offends the person on the other end of the phone).
Only have someone place a call if they are so passionate about you that they will hate themselves for not doing it, and then make sure they call HBS in a really respectful way.
Hopefully the above advice will prove helpful regardless of what camp you find yourself in. Stay tuned for tomorrows advice on the HBS interview.