Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School (HBS) is located in Boston, Massachusetts, just a short trip away from the University’s main campus in Cambridge. The first school in the world to offer the Master’s of Business Administration degree, HBS has a full-time MBA program known for pioneering the case method of business instruction. The case method continues to be one of the hallmarks of the HBS MBA program today, in addition to the school’s highly structured Required Curriculum and emphasis on cultivating young leaders.
FAQ
What is the tuition for Harvard’s MBA program?
The tuition for Harvard’s MBA program is $73,440 per year. The total cost of the Harvard MBA program is $111,542 per year; this includes budgeted living expenses.
How hard is it to get into Harvard’s MBA program?
The acceptance rate for Harvard is 10%. It is important to consider the acceptance rate in the context of the student profile of those who are admitted. For example the median GMAT score is 730.
What is the median GMAT score for admission to Harvard’s MBA program?
The median GMAT score for the incoming class at Harvard is 730. The GMAT middle 80% range is 590 – 790.
Does the Harvard MBA program accept the GRE?
Yes. The Harvard MBA program has accepted the GRE for a few years now.
What are the median GRE scores for admission to Harvard’s MBA program?
The median GRE scores for the incoming class at Harvard are Verbal 163 and Quantitative 164.
What is the minimum number of years of work experience required for admission to Harvard’s MBA program?
Harvard does not state a minimum requirement for years of work experience. However, it is important for candidates to be aware that they are being considered against other candidates with an average of 5 years of experience.
What is the average number of years of work experience for admission to Harvard’s MBA program? (or, What is the average age of a Harvard student?)
The average number of years of work experience among students in Harvard’s MBA program is 5.
What is the average starting salary for graduates of the Harvard MBA program?
The average starting salary for Harvard MBA graduates is $150,000, with a median signing bonus of $30,000.
How long is Harvard’s full-time MBA program?
Harvard offers a traditional 2 year MBA program.
What are the application deadlines for Harvard’s MBA program?
The Round 1 MBA application deadline is September 8, 2021. The Round 2 application deadline is January 4, 2022. Application materials are due by noon EST on the day of the deadline.
What percent of Harvard MBA students are women?
The percentage of the class at Harvard that are women is 46%.
What type of interview does Harvard use for MBA admissions?
Harvard offers interviews by invitation, once the initial application is reviewed. The interviews are application-based, meaning the interviewer will have read your application or reviews of your application.
VIDEOS
Getting to Know 2020 Class Day Student Speaker Claire Wagner
Claire Wagner is graduating with an MD/MBA from HBS and Harvard Medical School. Inspired early by her father to work internationally, Wagner spent the last decade working on access to healthcare services and technologies around the world. After graduation, she will be joining the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute in Cambridge, MA. She is the first Class Day speaker to become a mother while at HBS.
MBA Application Tips: Introduction
Chad Losee, Managing Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid, introduces the Application Tips Video Series and provides an overview of the HBS MBA Application and what we are looking for in applicants.
Admissions
Class Profile
Admission to HBS is highly competitive, as the school typically accepts around 10% of applicants to target a class size of approximately 930 students. While 9,773 MBA hopefuls applied to be a part of the Class of 2023, 1,010 students enrolled this year. Keep in mind, 100 of those new students were deferrals from last year. HBS had given Class of 2022 candidates the option to defer enrollment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The median GMAT score of first-year entrants was 730, and the middle 80% of the scores ranged from 590 to 790. Twenty-nine percent of first-year applicants opted for the GRE instead of the GMAT. The median verbal score landed at 163 and the quantitative GRE score came in at 164.
Engineering was the most popular undergraduate major, as 28% had studied it. Twenty-one percent had a background in business/commerce and another 20% had majored in economics. Fifteen percent pursued math/physical science during their undergraduate years. Thirteen percent of the new class had majored in the social sciences. Of the students who attended undergraduate institutions that graded on a 4.0 scale, the average GPA was 3.69.
The HBS Class of 2023 averaged 5 years of work experience. Prior to attending HBS, 17% worked in consulting, 15% worked in venture capital/private equity, and 12% in financial services. Eleven percent each worked in tech and manufacturing/industrial/energy. Nine percent came from consumer products/retail/E-commerce. Another 7% came from healthcare; 8% had worked in nonprofit/government/education and 5% in military.
Thirty-seven percent of the Class of 2023 claims international citizenship. In addition, women comprise 46% of the first-year class, and 52% identify as members of a U.S. minority group.
Application Procedures
Applicants can apply to HBS during one of two admissions rounds; these deadlines are typically in early September and early January. In addition to filling out an online application regarding their biographical information and career history, applicants must submit an essay, a résumé, two letters of recommendation, and transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate academic institutions attended. The school also requires applicants to submit GMAT or GRE scores and a TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE score if needed, as well as a $250 application fee and a signed acceptance of the school’s admissions policies. Harvard’s MBA Admissions Board conducts interviews on an invitation-only basis, and interviews are required for admission to the program. HBS also requires a post-interview reflection exercise.
Application Checklist
- Data Forms
- Acceptance of HBS Admissions Policies
- GMAT/GRE and TOEFL/IELTS/ PTE Score(s)
- Résumé
- Application Fee
- Recommendation Letters
- Academic transcripts
- Essay
Essay Topic Analysis
HBS Essay & Analysis
The following essay topic analysis examines Harvard Business School’s (HBS) MBA admissions essays for the 2021-2022 admissions season. You can also review essay topic analyses for all other leading MBA programs as well as general Essay Tips to further aid you in developing your admissions essays. 2021-2022 Harvard Business School Essay Topic Analysis HBS Essay 1 As we […]
Recommendation Questions
Harvard Business School MBA Recommendation Questions
The Harvard Business School 2021-2022 application is now live, which means that the HBS MBA recommendation questions are available to recommenders. Below you will find more details on elements of the application that are typically only available to recommenders after you’ve submitted their name and contact information. 2021-2022 Harvard Business School (HBS) Recommendation Questions: Recommender Information […]
Interview Reports
HBS Interview Questions & Report: Round 2 / AdCom / Virtual
The interview was for a prompt 30 minutes. – Interviewer asked me about supply chain disruptions due to COVID. How has the economy changed your work life and that of your company?(answered him in 2 ways : 1) how demand was in flux due to people losing jobs and having no income to spend on […]
HBS Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Adcom / Zoom
Overall interviewer was very friendly. She was very familiar with my application materials and asked very specific deep-dive questions on my previous experiences. Questions: What is something that you’re working on? What are you good at? Can you give me an example of how you utilized your strength at work? Why MBA and why now? […]
HBS MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Adcom / Zoom
Interview went very smoothly, the interviewer set a welcoming and warm atmosphere which made me feel much more comfortable. I also loved that almost all questions were straightforward about specific things from my application, so I basically knew how to answer them. Questions/talking points -Specific thing about my essay, family background and how it relates […]
HBS Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Adcom / Zoom
The interview was very conversional. We broke the ice talking about what I like to do in my home country and started a rapid fire round of questions. Overall, my interviewer tried to make me comfortable but there was little eye contact. 1/ What do you enjoy doing? 2/ What is the current trend in […]
HBS Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Adcom / Zoom
My interview was surprisingly much more conversational than I had expected. The 30 minutes completely flew by! Questions below: 1. What was it like going from [small town in Midwestern state] to [large, Californian state school] for college? 2. What surprised you the most about your college experience? 3. Favorite class in college? 4. Talked […]
HBS Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Adcom + Observer / Zoom
The interviewer was very friendly and started off the interview by giving an overview of what to expect in the next 30 minutes. She informed me that she had reviewed my application in detail, and there would likely not be any time for questions at the end. The atmosphere was very relaxed and was more […]
HBS Interview Questions & Report: Round 2 / Adcom / Off-Campus
I initially scheduled a Skype interview, but finally decided to fly to Dubai for an in-person interview, which is better for me as I was not sure about how convincing I seem on a webcam. I arrived 20 minutes prior the interview as requested and the lady called me 1 min before the interview time, […]
Harvard Business School Interview Questions & Report: Round 2 / Adcom / Skype
I interviewed for HBS with two adcom members on Skype. I had one interviewer and one observer. Overall, the interviewer created a very comfortable environment and would nod at my answers encouraging me to tell more. My questions were very tailored to my work experience, asking me about specific assignments at each of my jobs […]
Harvard Business School Interview Questions & Report: Round 2 / Adcom / On-Campus
I flew in 2 days before my interview so I could spend the day before on campus attending all activities. I’ve never been to Boston or Cambridge and wanted to have time to get a good grasp of what HBS was like, but also what the city I was going to live in for 2 […]
Harvard Business School Interview Questions & Report: Round 2 / Adcom / On-Campus
Interview was pretty much as expected based on other interview reports. 30 minutes exactly with one interviewer who asked all the questions and one observer who rarely spoke. They knew my application and resume very well and started off the bat with a question about a job I had in college. We covered all 3 […]
Harvard Q&As
Admissions Director Q&A: Chad Losee of Harvard Business School
Are you applying to Harvard Business School (HBS) this year? Then you won’t want to miss this latest installment of our Admissions Director Q&A series as we welcome Chad Losee, the Managing Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at HBS. His team is responsible for recruiting, evaluating, and yielding a class of about 930 […]
Admissions Director Q&A: Chad Losee of Harvard Business School
When it comes to community, Harvard Business School’s Chad Losee, current Managing Director of MBA Admissions and HBS MBA ’13, can attest: Business school classmates transcend campus relations and become lifelong friends. As we all continue to adapt during the COVID-19 pandemic, Losee cites the support of his HBS sectionmates in these trying times—and he […]
Admissions Director Q&A: Chad Losee of Harvard Business School
Before you submit your Harvard Business School application, you’ll want to read our Admissions Director Q&A with Chad Losee, the Managing Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid. He walks us through the life of admissions, new and exciting developments at Harvard, the interview process and more. Losee applied to business schools in the Fall […]
Harvard Business School LiveWire and DecisionWire
Academics
Faculty
A total of 244 full-time faculty members at Harvard Business School work across the school’s 10 academic units. These scholars and practitioners teach courses and staff the school’s ten global research centers and 21 initiatives, which cover topics from business history to U.S. competitiveness.
Curriculum
One of the hallmarks of HBS’s MBA program is its extensive use of the case method, in which class discussions revolve around assigned readings based on real-world business problems. Professors also use computer simulations, problem sets, and group assignments to help convey course material.
HBS divides its first-year class into 10 sections of roughly 90 students apiece, with each section constructed to mirror the class’s diversity; the students in each section take all of their first-year classes together. To allow students to collaborate with classmates from outside their section, every incoming student is also assigned to a learning team of six to seven people from different sections. Throughout the first year, these learning teams meet regularly to prepare for in-class case discussions and collaborate on graded projects.
Harvard’s MBA curriculum takes place across four semesters of 15 to 18 weeks each, referred to as Fall and Winter Terms. All students spend the first two semesters of the MBA program taking 11 courses, known as the Required Curriculum or “RC” for short. Following a three-day orientation period, Fall Term of RC classes begins in early September, featuring five semester-long courses that focus on issues businesses face internally. Fall Term ends in mid-December. Spring Term, which lasts from the end of January through late May, is comprised of five semester-long courses that examine how an organization interacts with external groups in a variety of social and economic contexts. Since 2011, an additional part of the RC has been a yearlong course called Field Immersion Experiences for Leadership Development (FIELD). FIELD is made up of three modules on leadership development and globalization.
In the second year, known as the Elective Curriculum (EC), students may take up to five full-term courses per semester; in the 2020-2021 academic year, EC students could choose from over 120 full-time electives across 10 subject areas in addition to over 25 field learning opportunities. Unlike most MBA programs, HBS does not offer any formal majors or concentrations, instead allowing students to shape their second-year curriculum however they see fit. Though HBS students may not study abroad, EC students can cross-register for up to two courses at Harvard University graduate schools or at several other institutions in the Boston area. In addition, HBS’s required Immersion Experience Program allows students to gain global exposure through short-term experiential learning opportunities in countries such as China, Peru and South Africa.
Other MBA Degree Options
In addition to its 22-month full-time MBA program, HBS offers a joint JD/MBA program with Harvard Law School, an MD/MBA and an MS/MBA Biotechnology: Life Sciences with program with Harvard Medical School, a DMD/MBA with Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and a MBA/MS with the Harvard School of Engineering & Applied Sciences. HBS also offers an MBA/Master of Public Policy and an MBA/Master of Public Administration in International Development in conjunction with the Harvard Kennedy School.
College students hoping to attend HBS in the near future can apply during their senior year via the 2+2 Program. Students accepted through 2+2 are granted advanced admission to the full-time MBA program upon completing two years of professional work experience in an HBS-approved position.
Required Courses at HBS
Term I
- Finance I
- Financial Reporting and Control
- Leadership and Organizational Behavior • Marketing
- Technology and Operations Management • FIELD Foundations
- FIELD 2
Term II
- Business, Government, and the International Economy Strategy
- The Entrepreneurial Manager
- Finance II
- Leadership and Corporate Accountability
- FIELD 3
Degree Offerings at HBS
Full-time MBA Program
Joint Degree Programs
MBA/MPP, MBA/MPP-ID, JD/MBA, MD/MBA, DMD/MBA, MBA/MS
http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academic-experience/joint-degree-programs/Pages/default.aspx
Doctoral Programs
Doctorate of Business Administration: Accounting & Management, Management, Marketing, Strategy, Technology and Operations Management
Ph.D.: Business Administration, Business Economics, Health Policy (Management), Organizational Behavior
http://www.hbs.edu/doctoral/
Campus Life
Clubs, Conferences & Competitions
HBS students are provided with many opportunities for extracurricular involvement. Full-time MBA students can choose from more than 95 student-run clubs, which cover a variety of industry, regional, social, and sports interests. For example, the Outdoors Club organizes outdoor treks during the winter and spring breaks, in addition to skiing, hiking and rafting trips throughout New England. Meanwhile, members of the TechMedia Club host industry speaker series, an annual alumni panel and dinner, and visits to leading high tech and media companies. The Student Association, of which all HBS students are members, represents the school’s student body as a whole.
HBS’s clubs organize a number of conferences on campus annually. These span industry-related events, such as the Healthcare Club’s annual Healthcare Conference, as well as affinity-related events including the Women’s Student Association’s annual Dynamic Women in Business Conference. Students can also participate in a variety of business competitions. One of the most popular is the New Venture Competition, in which teams of students pitch business ideas to a panel of judges and compete for over $300,000 in prizes.
Campus Space
The HBS campus is located in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, just across the river from Harvard University’s main campus in Cambridge. HBS’s campus encompasses 34 buildings in total, with the majority of classes held in Aldrich Hall and Hawes Hall. In December 2013 the school unveiled Tata Hall, a new Executive Education building located on the Northwest corner of the campus. This seven-story glass and brick building includes residential space, classrooms, and common areas for Executive Education participants. Meanwhile, the Spangler Center is the hub of student social activity, featuring 29 project rooms, a 350-seat auditorium, and the school’s main dining facilities. Two-thirds of HBS students live on campus, with over one-third choosing to live in the school’s five residence halls, and there is a large selection of other housing options available through Harvard University Housing and private listings.
MBA Careers
Career Services
The MBA Career & Professional Development program provides HBS students with a range of services to help them clarify and achieve their career goals.
The school’s dedicated on-campus interview period for first-year students takes place for four days in late January. In advance of the first-year recruitment period, HBS holds Industry Weeks, a series of presentations and panels that help students learn more about different job sectors. First-year students can also join Career Teams, in which they are guided through the job search process by a trained second-year leader. In addition, the school has over 60 trained career coaches on staff to offer students individual advice throughout their entire time at HBS. MBA Career & Professional Development also helps recruiting companies develop a presence on campus through events such as Company Information Days.
Career Statistics
Within three months of graduating, 83% of the HBS Class of 2020 had accepted full-time job offers. The median base salary of all graduates was $150,000, with a median signing bonus of $30,000. Thirty-two percent of students graduated into financial services functions and 26% into consulting. The next most popular functions among graduates were general management and marketing at 14% and 13%, respectively. Meanwhile, 7% of the most recent class went into strategic planning and 5% into business development, while the remaining 4% selected other functions.
In terms of industry, the most common choice for 2020 graduates was financial services at 34% and consulting came in second at 24%. Nineteen percent of the Class of 2020 entered the technology industry, and 7% went into healthcare. Graduates also took jobs in consumer products, non-profit/government, retail, and entertainment/media, albeit in fewer numbers.
As is often the case at business schools, HBS placed a large number of graduates, 41%, in the region where it is located: the Northeastern U.S. A quarter of the Class of 2020 headed to the Western U.S., while 8% moved to the Midwest and 6% to the Southwest. The Southern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the country, meanwhile, drew 3% each. Fifteen percent of the class took jobs outside of the United States, with the most popular areas being Asia and Europe.
Financing
The tuition for students entering in 2021 is $73,440. HBS estimates, though, that with additional expenses such as course materials, student fees and cost of living, single students will pay approximately $111,542 for the year. The school offers need-based fellowships to help students fund their education. To be considered for these awards, students must fill out the FAFSA and a financial aid application that is made available on the HBS Intranet after admission to the program. HBS students can also finance their studies through a variety of loan options, such as federal programs for U.S. citizens and private loans for domestic and international students. The Harvard University Employees Credit Union allows international students at HBS to take out loans without a U.S. co-signer.
Program Tuition (per year)
- Tuition $73,440
- Program Support Fee (books, etc.) $2,550
- Room & Utilities (9 months, single) $14,340
- Board, Personal, Other (9 months, single) $15,930
- University Student Health Fee $1,242
- Student Health Insurance Plan $4,040
- Total $111,542
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