Am I Invited Too?

I have not worked on a b-school application in over a week.  Although I am finished with applications I am a long way from through with the application process.  I now await my fate with three schools: Wharton, Booth, and Stanford (California, you must be dreaming!).  Waiting on these schools is different than waiting on Kellogg because Kellogg allows applicants to initiate their interviews, but this second crop of schools handles this part much differently.  They have a don't call us, we'll call you policy.  So now I get to experience the b-school ritual of stressing over interview invites.  Yay for me! (?)

The Fall 2012 Booth Applicant thread on GMAT Club is abuzz with anticipation.  Upon receipt of the application Booth sent some (apparently not all) applicants a confirmation email acknowledging receipt of their app along with a decision timeline.  According to this email interview invitations will be sent on February 25 and continue through the mid decision date February 15.  I highly doubt that Booth will be sending interview invites for nearly a year so this has led to speculation that invites will either start on January 25 (because it's a Wednesday and all other important dates such as app deadlines and final decision notifications are on a Wednesday) or February 5 (because R1 invites were extended over a 10 day period).  Since February 5 is a Sunday I'm thinking that January 25 is the right date.  If I am correct then we are less than a week away from the epic meltdowns sure to be posted all over GMAT club when folks aren't invited by the end of the first day.

"Well it's 11 a.m. CST on the 25th.  Ten people have already reported being invited to interview.  Surely Booth will send no more invitations between now and February 15.  It's all over for us now.  Just prepare to be dinged."

Thankfully, Wharton's message was much clearer. Interview invitations will start coming out on January 26 and will continue until February 28.  For both Booth and Wharton I will have an inkling of where I stand with them no matter what by February 15 and February 28, as both schools outright reject applicants they do not intend to interview on their respective mid decision dates.  Stanford on the other hand is not so kind.  According to their application confirmation email interview invitations can go out at any time up until a week before the final decision (March 28 for R2).  Even at that point you won't get the official "thank you, but no thank you" until the notification day.  Yep, Stanford lets applicants twist in the wind for 2 months, 2 weeks, and 3 days if they are not being interviewed.

At the moment I'm not dwelling on getting an invite.  While having the Kellogg admit secured definitely gives me a bit less to worry about, that's not the reason for my current state of Zen.  I'm calm because there is nothing for me to be freaked out about right now.  I'm soaking up the calm before the storm.  I'm reveling in the no news territory.  I am not watching other applicants get their invites while my inbox remains conspicuously empty.  Check me out again in February if I haven't received an invitation to see if this steady state remains.  I highly doubt it.

Round 2 feels like the true test of my candidacy.  My Kellogg application already had interviewer comments when the admissions committee cracked it open for the first read.  While I cannot be sure that my interviewer's feedback glowed with praise, I have a feeling it was pretty darn good given my perception of how the interview went.  I won't have that benefit with Wharton, Booth, or Stanford.  With these schools I will see if my essays, recommendations, resume, GMAT (damn sure NOT my GPA), and application can work on their own to compel an admissions committee to want to know more about me.  What if what I'm offering only appeals to Kellogg.  While I would be satisfied with that, I can't say that I would be happy.  So I join the masses en wait.  And if the days pass sans invitation I will wonder if leaving my part-time work experience as a 9 West sales associate in 2004 (I had a shoe habit) off my Stanford application was the right move.  I will fret over the small mistake on my Booth application where I forgot to give the basis for 2 of the awards I earned at work.  But for right now I will enjoy the safety zone and will luxuriate here until I actually have something to worry about.