Harvard Business School MBA Recommendation Questions
The Harvard Business School MBA Class of 2029 application is now live, which means that the HBS MBA recommendation questions are available to recommenders. HBS requires two recommendations and suggests (but does not require) that one be from a direct supervisor. The other should be from someone who can speak about your professional performance, leadership skills, and potential.
2026-2027 Harvard Business School (HBS) Recommendation Questions:
Recommender Information
Do you know this applicant from a previous employer?
Are you a graduate of the Harvard Business School MBA program?
If yes, year of graduation:
Relationship Context
Relationship Type (drop-down menu):
- Current employer
- Previous employer
- University/Academic
- Extracurricular/Community
- Other
Relationship Context (drop-down menu):
- Direct Supervisor
- Other Supervisor
- Advisor
- Colleague/Peer
- Direct Report
- Indirect Report
- Other
Number of applicants you are recommending to the HBS MBA Program this year:
Please provide a brief description of your interaction with the applicant and, if applicable, their role in your organization (300 characters):
Candidate Evaluation
HBS asks recommenders to rate the applicant’s attributes using the following scale: No Basis for Judgment, Potential Area of Concern, Developing, Strong, and Distinctive. To assess the candidate’s strengths and areas of development, HBS divides attributes across several categories:
Business-Minded:
- Analytical thinking
- Professional maturity
- Quantitative skills
- Verbal communication
- Written communication
Leadership-Focused:
- Awareness of and respect for others
- Emotional intelligence
- Integrity
- Interpersonal skills with colleagues and subordinates
- Interpersonal skills with superiors
- Listening skills
- Teamwork: engagement and collaboration
- Teamwork: leadership and development of others
Growth-Oriented:
- Creative problem solving
- Curiosity
- Initiative
- Openness to others’ perspectives
- Receptiveness to feedback and willingness to change
- Self-awareness
Please comment on the ratings you have assigned, elaborating on relative strengths and opportunities for further development. (Required, 150 words).
Open Response Questions
Please respond to the questions below in a single document.
- Please provide specific examples of how the applicant’s performance, potential, background, or personal qualities compare to those of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles. (Recommended: 300 words)
- Please describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Detail the circumstances and the applicant’s response. (Recommended: 250 words)
- (Optional) Is there anything else we should know? Please be concise.
Based on your professional experience, how would you rate this applicant compared to their peers?
- Below Average
- Average
- Excellent (top 10%)
- Outstanding (top 5%)
- The best I have encountered in my career
Note that the certification and submission section asks, Have you utilized AI in completing this recommendation?
MBA Applywire
Education/Testing
- T20 US University, 3.73 GPA, Economics - Graduated 2022
- Won some research/academic awards in undergrad - not sure if that matters
- GRE 332: 167Q/165V
Background & Experience
- 26M, based in South America, work across two roles in a family business
- Role 1: Small division within the family business making a leather goods (private label for a small client base). I led the entire public launch of our own brand, from the ground up, including hiring the full team and building out retail placement. Now have 3 of our own retail locations plus placement in larger third-party retailers, roughly $1.5M in sales over the last two years
- Role 2: Regional sales leadership for a distribution business, leading two teams (40+ people total). Led a strategy pivot that roughly quadrupled our regional sales target over three years to 250K$
ECs
- Regional chair of global professional organization
Pivot to Energy Strategy Consulting and potential achievable universities. GMAT Focus: 665. India-based Chemical Engineering gold medalist (rank#1) with 5+ years in India at renowned US-based EPC major, delivering process engineering on two flagship LNG EPC projects, earning 6+ internal recognitions and 2 merit based promotions. Took on a parallel 6-month international leadership role coordinating a USAID-funded social impact project in Zambia, managing a 16-person local team. Extracurricular national-level footballer, leadership of two Toastmasters clubs (one to President's Distinguished status), and an accredited Mental Health First Aider certification. Post MBA transition into Energy Strategy Consulting to build commercial and strategic capability before returning to scale a GCC-based family business, which currently supporting for past 9 months, into an energy transition solutions provider. Thank you!
Chemical Engineering Bachelors and Masters (3.44 and 3.88 respectively)
Currently mentoring entry level engineers as well.
Worried about transition from a more engineering field to consulting and how the masters impacts admission odds
Background:
24F, Indian
GPA - 7.5 from a Tier 1 Indian college
Participated in CBSE Swimming nationals, and won medals in relay
Took part in badminton clusters
Was part of the prefectorial body in which we welcomed delegates from all around the world
Took part in a NASA program wherein we visited the Johnson Space Centre in Houston
College:
Not good GPA but can defend it
Part of college badminton team and won many laureates
Got bronze in an inter-collegiate tournament as the women’s badminton team captain. And created history as this wasn’t achieved before by any woman’s badminton team
Was the sportswoman of the year for my college
Was part of the incubation center management team of the college. Was part of the strategic relations team (where we almost got Steve Wozniak to deliver a speech) and was the event management team lead
Work Experience:
3yrs Software eng/ quant experience in a top investment bank (front office and back office Eng roles)
Got a promotion
Lead a 2months intern project
What are my chances for the above colleges for a MBA and can I expect any scholarship?
Should I retake the test? Planning to apply in R1
Two-time founder (marketing agency during undergrad, then a fintech post-graduation), ex-Kearney consulting, currently on the founding team of a boutique financial consulting firm. Based in Pakistan, 29. Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree. Undergrad from LUMS (top business school in Pakistan) with a 2.91 GPA, which I know is my main weakness.
Targeting HBS, Stanford, and MIT Sloan for R1. I'm aware these are reaches given my GPA. GRE is in progress, currently retaking to push into the 315 to 320 range with a strong quant score to offset the academic profile.
Post-MBA goal is to scale into senior operating or founder roles in fintech and financial services, building on my consulting and startup background.
MBA LiveWire
June 8 applied
June 26 interview invite
July 2 interview
July 8 acceptance via email about portal update
Applied 6/4
Interview Invite 6/24
Interview 6/30
Accepted 7/8
Don't give up!
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