Congratulations! You have been invited to interview with HBS. Now what? 

STEP TWO

COMMIT to doing THREE MOCK INTERVIEWS with Vince

• Most of my successful clients practice HBS interviews with me for at least 3 hours (three fifty-minute sessions)

• Others meet me five or even ten times 

• As a professional actor (improv and Shakespeare), I believe that interviewing is physical

  • Just like sports, you improve with practice 

• Over a series of sessions, I hope to provide an authentic experience that emphasizes realistic follow-up questions in high-stakes, two-way conversation

STEP FOUR

SCHEDULE OUR FIRST SESSION to OCCUR AT LEAST 10 DAYS BEFORE YOUR HBS INTERVIEW

• One mock interview training session lasts 60 minutes

  • I ask customized questions for the first 30 minutes

    • Why 30 minutes?

      • Because that is how long your real HBS interview will last

• We spend the last 30 minutes reviewing your answers

• I can help you brainstorm more effective ways to answer the questions I asked

• We can also discuss other ways that HBS Admissions Board members might ask you to discuss the same information (different questions that solicit the same core contents that I wanted you to discuss during our 30-minute mock interview)

• If time permits, we can discuss other types of questions that might be of concern to you

• Finally, please follow my cancellation policy

  • If necessary, requests to reschedule appointments should be made at least 24 hours in advance of the originally scheduled appointment 

    • Rescheduling requests made less than 24 hours prior to an appointment will be granted at Vince’s discretion

STEP SIX

PRACTICE BEFORE and AFTER EACH SESSION

• Interviewing is a learned skill

• You will improve with practice

• Please practice at least three hours before and after each of our mock interview sessions

• I encourage you to use my "mirror method" to practice interviews at home

• You might also want to watch these sample HBS interview videos

How to prepare?

• Please review HBS's Interview FAQ  ▸  http://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/interviews/Pages/default.aspx

• I encourage you to analyze your application from an outside perspective

• What will HBS Admissions Board interviewers feel are your weak points?

TESTIMONIALS

HBS MBA Class of 2023

I found Vince on YouTube just a few weeks before MBA interviews and immediately contacted him about getting help with preparation. His response time was swift, and we met just a couple of days later. 

I was applying to multiple schools, so he started by giving me a detailed overview of the types of and differences between those schools' interviews, which helped me plan. Later, during our mock interviews, his specific and honest feedback was invaluable. 

His personalized advice about making my responses very concise but still compelling allowed me to improve quickly, and he shared great ideas about how to best respond to open-ended questions. 

I am glad I had the opportunity to work with Vince since I am sure it enabled me to perform well (and much better than I would have without his help) during my actual MBA interviews. 

HBS MBA Class of 2023

I worked with Vince to prepare for my HBS interview, and there is no doubt in my mind that Vince's help substantially increased my odds of being admitted. He provided me with concrete advice, ranging from tips to improve my body language to fine-tuning the delivery of my "story." 

Having now had the benefit of going through the actual interview process, I can confidently say that Vince prepared me for over 80% of the questions asked of me on the day. 

I cannot recommend him more highly.

HBS MBA Class of 2012

Preparing admissions essays for MBA programs can be a lonely process, involving much introspection and contemplation. Throughout this process, Vince was an invaluable partner to me, providing objective and professional advice that was critical to my success; ultimately, I gained admissions to 5 top programs in the US, including HBS, Wharton and Northwestern’s JD-MBA program.

Initially, I was somewhat skeptical of receiving advice from essay counselors. I had been educated in the US through college and had confidence that I could pull it off all by myself. Yet, once I started working with Vince, my initial doubt quickly dissipated, as I realized the importance of having a good listener and thinker give objective feedback and advice. I could not have integrated my myriad of ideas into coherent essay portfolios without Vince’s support.

I was also impressed by Vince’s professionalism. He gave tremendous personal attention (almost to a fault!) and usually worked outside of designated time slots; I believe this separates him from other commercially-minded essay counselors.

Having advised many successful, top-notch Japanese clients in the past, Vince has an excellent understanding of the MBA application process and a keen insight into what admissions officers from top programs look for in candidates. Such intelligence could be hard to gather in Japan, where only several hundred people apply to MBA programs each year.

Last but not least, Vince possesses a dry sense of humor that made every one of my twice-a-week face-to-face sessions enjoyable.

HBS MBA Class of 2012

In short, Vince Ricci:

• knows what admission committees think and feel: he said, "Essay is an art as well as a science."

• leverages technologies as a Stanford alum: non-Tokyo based applicants can work with him without stress.

• is a nice guy: he has a broad network which helps applicants learn about target schools.

Overall, by working with Vince, I experienced great results, good ideas for essays and strategies for interview, and a lot of networking opportunities.

HBS MBA Class of 2009

The two greatest aspects of Vince and his counseling are his capabilities to push the client to his/her best potential and his abilities to listen and cheer for the best results.

My first confident essay draft was so easily referred to by Vince as “a mess”. This pure shock hit me hard to realize that he was not there to help and support me no matter what, but was there for me to convince him (later myself and the admissions) that I could make it into business schools. The difficulty of business school preparation is fundamentally changing the mindset to think deep in who you are and what makes you valuable to an admit, and Vince was capable to push me each time I tried to slack off the process. Not to mention that without him convincing me, I would have not applied to Harvard Business School/third round, where I am now today.

Also, business school prep move forward by multiple waves. I could not always execute what I had promised Vince the week before whether it was due to work, or emotional fluctuations. Within each one hour counseling session, I sometimes spent the time just talking with Vince about what was going on in my life in general. This helped me through the tough times and kept me from completely falling apart. Vince is truly a great listener and the best cheerleader I had during my prep period.

Vinceをカウンセラーとして起用して良かった点 は、私の魅力を最大限に引き出してくれた事と、私の話をいつも聞いてくれ、励ましてくれた点です。彼の 所に最初に持っていったエッセイは自信作であった割には「it’s a mess」とコメントされ、沈没でした。駄作であったとしても、よいものに直してくれるであろうと気楽に構えていたのですが、ビジネススクール合格はそん なに簡単ではありません。まずは、Vinceを乗り越えなければ合格にたどり着かないのだなと、その時強く思いました。ビジネススクール受験の辛さは今ま でのマインドセットを変え、自分の経験と将来像を深く考え、いかにビジネススクールに進学する事が自分にとって重要なのかを合理的に追求していく事です が、ちょっと手を抜くたびにVinceが後ろから押してくれていました。HBSへ3rdでも出したほうがよいと、彼にしつこく説得してくれなければ私は今 日HBSで勉強をする事ができなかったでしょう。

ビジネススクール受験はよく言わる通りに、マラソンであり、幾度も山や谷を経験しま す。Vinceに約束したことさえも実施できない週が続く事もめずらし くありません。そんな時に彼はセッションの時間の中で、私の悩みを辛抱強く聞き、励まし、エッセイカウンセラー以上のアドバイスを下さいました。この時間 がなければ機能低下はもちろんの事、受験もあきらめていたかもしれません。Vinceは人の話を聞いてくれますし、一緒になって受験をがんばってくれま す。