Harvard Business School MBA News

Get the latest MBA news from Harvard Business School.

Published: March 2, 2015

Harvard Business School Interview Report: Round 2 / Adcom / On-Campus

The following Harvard Business School interview report was submitted to Clear Admit by a Round 2 applicant who was admitted. Good luck to them! I had my interview with an AdCom committee member and one observer on campus. The interview was 30 minutes long and was a very good conversation rather than an interview in a strict sense. The interview member comes to fetch you and then told me that there are no right answers and its just a conversation to get to know me better. We dove right in and was asked a lot of questions Quick background : Read more

Published: March 1, 2015

Harvard Business School Names New Innovation Lab Director

If Harvard Business School (HBS) is in your cross hairs, and if innovation and entrepreneurial pursuits are what rev you up, you may be interested to learn that Harvard’s innovation lab will soon have a new commander in chief. Jodi Goldstein, a long-time investor and entrepreneur, will become Harvard i-lab’s new Evans Family Foundation Managing Director beginning this June, responsible for leading the university-wide facility that brings students, faculty, alumni and the community together for team-based and other entrepreneurial activities. Goldstein, who replaces outgoing Managing Director Gordon Jones, is no stranger the i-lab, Indeed, she’s been part of its management team since the lab’s 2011 launch, coming up with and implementing much of the top programming and resources it’s been able to offer. Just last year she spearheaded the Launch Lab, a business incubator for Harvard alumni, which is putting Allston, MA—where the i-lab is located—on the map as a solutions-centered hub swirling with interdisciplinary collaboration. Read more

Published: February 10, 2015

Which Business School’s Alumni Network Reigns Supreme?

Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business can claim top honors for the strength of its alumni network, according to a recent Economist ranking, in which current MBA students were asked to rate their school’s network. Nine of the top 10 strongest alumni networks are affiliated with U.S. schools, the Economist notes. “They, after all, have the biggest incentive, being the world leaders at tapping into their alumni networks to secure huge financial gifts. Such schools spend a lot of resources on maintaining relations with ex-students,” read the Economist’s analysis. As for what helped Tuck secure the very top spot, here’s what the Economist hypothesized: “Its fierce collegiate spirit is famous, perhaps fostered by its setting in the small, sleepy town of Hanover, New Hampshire, which means that students have little else to do but bond.” Read more

Published: February 1, 2015

Harvard MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Adcom / Off-campus / Admit

The following Harvard MBA Admissions Interview summary was provided by a former applicant who was admitted to Harvard in Round One. My interview was very standard. It lasted for 30 minutes, I interviewed with two members of the Adcom, who were very nice and tried to make me feel comfortable during the whole process. Read more

Published: January 31, 2015

Harvard Business School Interview Report: Round 1 / Adcom / Off-campus

The following Harvard Business School interview report was submitted to Clear Admit by a Round 1 applicant. Good luck to them! My interview was very standard. It lasted for 30 minutes, I interviewed with two members of the Adcom, who were very nice and tried to make me feel comfortable during the whole process. The questions I was asked were: – Tell me about yourself – You want to work in sector A , why? – You did an internship in sector B, was it related to sector A ? – What was your other internship Read more

Published: January 26, 2015

Harvard Business School to Send Out Round 2 Interview Invitations Beginning Tomorrow

As applicants to Harvard Business School (HBS) are probably well aware, Admissions Director Dee Leopold and her team are scheduled to send out the first of its Round 2 interview invitations tomorrow, Wednesday, January 28th. What about the blizzard that’s blanketing the northeastern portion of the United States, you wonder? As of yesterday, Leopold expected that invites will still go out as planned, at noon Boston time. “If we need to delay, we will let you know via this blog, a general announcement on the admissions website and also with a voicemail recording on our general phone line,” she wrote in a post to her Director’s Blog, but as of this writing, no updates. So, some details about HBS interview invites. They will go out in two waves, one tomorrow, and a second on February 4th. Historically, HBS has sent out the bulk of its invites in the first wave. Leopold offered that her best guess is that roughly 600 applicants will receive invitations tomorrow, with another 200 or so receiving invitations next week. “I've said this before, but please don't speculate or develop theories or algorithms about first vs. second,” she urged. “It doesn't work that way. And it has nothing to do with when you submitted, where you live, or the first letter of your last name.” Read more

Published: January 19, 2015

Harvard MBA Admissions Interview Report: Round 1 / Adcom / On-campus / Admit

The following Harvard MBA Admissions Interview summary was provided by a former applicant who was admitted to Harvard in Round One. I applied in round 1 and interviewed in November. I happy to report I was accepted in December! The interview process at HBS is extremely well organized. There are activities all day with various candidates interviewing at different times. I made my trip two days and would recommend others do the same. I had not formally toured the campus before being invited to interview, so I did a two day visit to get a better feeling for the school. I signed up for all of the activities on the first day and had my interview the second day in the morning. This provided me with many potential anecdotes that were fresh in my mind about the program that could be discussed in the interview. Read more

Published: December 28, 2014

Harvard MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Adcom / On Campus / Admit

The following Harvard MBA Admissions Interview summary was provided by a recent applicant who was recently admitted to Harvard. I enjoyed being on campus and personally meeting HBS students. I was fortunate to attend a class and man was I excited! The interview itself wasn't the typical rapid fire experience I read about in MBA blogosphere, but it was a no-joke ordeal. Particularly, I didn't get much affirmation from the two interviewers I had. They do a pretty good job at maintaining a blank face throughout the interview. Read more

Published: December 23, 2014

Harvard Business School Names 16 New Entrepreneurs-in-Residence

MBA students at Harvard Business School (HBS) now have access to a whole new pool of entrepreneurial talent through the school’s Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EiR) program, the school announced earlier this month. HBS has named 16 entrepreneurs to take part in the program for 2014-15, 14 of whom are HBS graduates. Sponsored by the school's Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, the Entrepreneurs-in-Residence program is now in its ninth year. Participating entrepreneurs come to campus to advise MBA students who are interested in starting their own companies. They also work with HBS faculty on research and course development. Read more

Published: December 11, 2014

Harvard MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / AdCom / On Campus

The following Harvard MBA Admissions Interview summary was provided by a recent applicant: My interview was very pleasant. It was quite rapid, though, and the 30 minutes were over before I knew it. As others have stated, there was one main interviewer asking the questions and another who was taking notes. I purposefully engaged them both when answering, rather than ignoring the notetaker. The interview was very congenial, with a lot of non-verbal feedback (smiles and laughter) throughout. The questions I was asked are below: Read more

Published: December 2, 2014

Harvard Business School Study Attributes Leadership Gender Gap to Corporate Structures

A recent study by two professors from Harvard Business School (HBS) and a third from Hunter College examined the career ambitions of 25,000 HBS alumni to help understand the gender gap that exists in senior management positions. They found that despite similar ambitions upon joining the workforce, male respondents were much more likely than their female counterpoints to feel like their goals were met. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the survey’s results showed that this disparity had more to do with corporate structures than with women “opting out” to have families. The study, “Rethink What You ‘Know’ About High-Achieving Women,” was conducted by HBS Professor Robin J. Ely, Pamela Stone of Hunter College and HBS Gender Initiative Assistant Director Colleen C. Ammerman and published this month in Harvard Business Review. Instead of finding that women’s careers were sidetracked because they chose to prioritize family over work, the researchers discovered that the women who left their jobs after having children did so because “they find themselves in unfulfilling roles with dim prospects for advancement” or facing other career limitations. “It simply isn’t true that a large proportion of Harvard alumnae have ‘opted out’ to care for children,” they continued. Read more

Published: November 30, 2014

Harvard MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / AdCom / Off Campus

The following Harvard MBA Admissions Interview summary was provided by a recent applicant: 30-minute interview with two women, one interviewer (who had read my application) and one observer (who had just seen my resume). They were both very friendly and it felt more like a conversation than an interview. 1. Tell me about yourself. 2. Tell me about a leadership experience. 3. How did you find [previous job]? 4. Why did you choose to go to [current country of residence] and [current job]? 5. How did you make the Read more

Published: November 17, 2014

Harvard MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / AdCom / On Campus

A recent applicant shared their Harvard MBA admissions interview questions with us: The interview started with some break-the-ice conversation, and she asked for my impressions about a new part of the campus tour. She mentioned that her colleague in the room had only seen my resume but nothing else and asked me to introduce myself. We then progressed through a series of questions: Why [Ivy League undergraduate institution] for undergrad? Why did I pick my major? What was it like getting interviewed for [your first employer]? Give me an overview of the hiring process. I saw a few lower grades on Read more

Published: November 12, 2014

Harvard MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / AdCom / On Campus

A recent applicant shared her Harvard MBA admissions interview questions with us: I interviewed with an associate director of admissions, plus an observer from the admissions team. The interview had a friendlier tone/vibe than i expected and conversational, BUT still no real indication of how you are doing/did -Where do you want to start? (they let me pick what I wanted to talk about) -Ok you joined as the X# employee, what has changed since then? -How was this role different from your first two? -Why didn’t you like your previous industry? –Long conversation about my industry. Lots of questions Read more

Published: November 11, 2014

HBS MBA Admissions Interview Report: Round 1 / Adcom / On Campus

Here is a recent HBS MBA admissions interview report: It was truly an enjoyable experience. From the time you check in until you leave, they work hard to help you relax and be comfortable. As far as the interview goes, they brought the group of us with interviews in our time slot up to a lounge area surrounded by small conference rooms. One-by-one, adcom members came out and called people into their room. In the room, my interviewer and observer introduced themselves. The interviewer explained that she is very familiar with my application and would be asking the questions. The observer would be quiet and taking notes. Then the interview started... Read more

Published: November 11, 2014

Demystifying the Mysterious World of Business School Rankings

It’s not every day that MBA rankings end up trending on Facebook, and yet yesterday that’s exactly what happened. When Bloomberg BusinessWeek released its biennial ranking of full-time MBA programs, the results shocked many and created quite a buzz. According to Bloomberg BW’s most recent calculations, Duke’s Fuqua School of Business has stolen the number one spot, knocking Harvard Business School out of the top five for the first time in history. Just how did Bloomberg BW decide which programs rose to the top and which fell from grace? As it turns out, the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University just a few weeks ago released an infographic that provides a clear and concise overview showcasing the rankings methodologies employed by five major publications: Bloomberg BW, along with U.S. News & World Report, the Financial Times, the Economist and Forbes. Read more

Published: November 10, 2014

Duke’s Fuqua School of Business Tops Latest Bloomberg BusinessWeek Ranking

Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business shot to the top of Bloomberg Businessweek’s biennial ranking of full-time MBA programs, released today, up from No. 6 two years ago. In the process, the North Carolina school unseated the reigning University of Chicago Booth School of Business and pushed Harvard Business School (HBS) out of the top five for the first time in the history of the rankings. The formula Bloomberg BW employs to arrive at its rankings is as follows: 45 percent of the score is based on how recruiters rate MBA hires from the school, another 45 percent is determined by how graduating MBAs judge their program and the remaining 10 percent is based on faculty productivity, as measured by a tally of research published in leading journals. Read more

Published: November 9, 2014

Harvard MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1/ AdCom

-How did you choose (your investment bank)?– How did you find (your private equity firm)?– Did you find (your area of interest) or did it find you?– What is your most proud accomplishment at (your private equity firm)?– What has made you successful at what you do?– You seem to have a good amount of experience in negotiations, what component of negotiating is art and Read more

Published: October 30, 2014

Stanford Graduate School of Business Calls It Quits for MBA Admission Blog

Don’t look for future posts on the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) MBA Admissions Blog. In a final entry earlier this week, the school announced that it was saying goodbye to its blog. All prior blog content will remain accessible through mid-December, after which prospective applicants will need to keep up with news and developments regarding Stanford MBA admissions via other means. “Our blog has begun to resemble a Tesla at a gas station,” wrote admissions staffer Victoria Hendel De La O as part of a final post on October 29th. She attributed the decline of the blog to the school’s increasing reliance on other forms of social media to communicate updates. Indeed, posts to the Stanford MBA Admissions blog have grown increasingly infrequent over the past year – with the last post going up back in June. Read more

Published: October 13, 2014

Harvard Business School to Release Remaining Round 1 Interview Invites Tomorrow

For all those anxious Harvard Business School (HBS) Round 1 applicants still waiting to learn their fate, tomorrow will be a telling day, according to Managing Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid Deirdre Leopold. About 150 additional interview invitations will go out tomorrow, October 15th, adding to the roughly 800 invitations extended last week, Leopold shared in a recent post to her Director's Blog. Another group will also learn tomorrow that HBS wants to “further consider” their applications as part of Round 2. “We anticipate that there will be ~200 applicants in this group,” Leopold wrote, adding that the email communicating this decision will also provide information regarding a timetable and communication plan for this group. Read more

Published: October 6, 2014

Harvard Business School Professor Launches U.S. Cluster Mapping Tool

Renowned Harvard Business School (HBS) Professor Michael Porter has launched a new tool that provides data on the presence of “clusters” – regional groupings of related industries – and regional economies throughout the United States. By providing a view of economic development through the lens of clusters rather than specific types of companies, industries or sectors, the new U.S. Cluster Mapping tool can help identify important links and potential synergies between technology, skills and information. Porter launched the new tool, based on his path-breaking research, as part of a two-day conference called Mapping the Midwest’s Future, held late last month at the University of Minnesota. The conference drew business leaders, policymakers, economic development officials and academics from multiple Midwest states and Canadian provinces. Read more

Published: October 5, 2014

New Loan Program Launches for International MBA Students at U.S. Schools

A new pilot loan program will provide expanded options for international MBA students at a number of top programs in the United States, according to a recent report in Poestandquants. The program, offered by Prodigy Finance, will extend to international students and U.S. residents with non-permanent status who are studying at 16 top schools, including Harvard Business School, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and MIT Sloan School of Management. Especially in recent years, banks have been reluctant to lend to students who are studying internationally. Prodigy Finance seeks to fill this need using a “community finance” model. Basically, alumni from participating schools fund loans for current students, banking on the value of a degree from their alma mater and the likelihood that future alums will repay. Interest rates on the loans vary between 6 and 12 percent, depending on the school, the individual borrower’s profile and current rates. Read more

Published: September 24, 2014

Reaching Out to Host LGBT MBA Conference Next Week in San Francisco

Nonprofit organization Reaching Out will host a conference for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) business school students and prospective applicants next week in San Francisco. The Reaching Out LGBT MBA Conference expects to draw more than 1,400 students, business leaders and recruiters for three days of events, including a full afternoon of programming for prospective LGBT MBA applicants. This year’s conference will take place from October 2nd through 4th. Now in its 16th year, the Reaching Out MBA Conference was established to provides future lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender leaders from around the world the opportunity to network, learn and improve their skills and advance in the business world. From its beginnings in 1999 as a student-run conference organized by students at Harvard Business School and Yale School of Management, Reaching Out has grown into a year-round operating organization “dedicated to educating, inspiring and connecting business students to impact change in the classroom and workplace.” Read more

Published: September 14, 2014

Interview Updates from Harvard Business School Admissions Director

As anyone applying to Harvard Business School (HBS) knows only too well, Round 1 applications were due last Tuesday. As the HBS Admissions Committee has settled into reading applicants’ files, an antsy set of applicants has settled into wait. HBS Dean of Admissions Dee Leopold devoted a post on her Admissions Director blog on Friday to letting the expectant candidates know how the next stage of the process will unfold. Leopold’s team will send out invitations to candidates advancing to the interview stage in two batches next month, one on October 8th and a Read more

Published: September 8, 2014

MBA@UNC Infographic Demonstrates ROI of MBA

MBA@UNC, the online MBA program at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, has created an in-depth infographic to help demonstrate the return on investment (ROI) of the MBA degree generally – as well as some specific benefits offered by online programs. The infographic notes that 96 percent of MBA graduates rate the value of their degree as outstanding, excellent or good and would recommend a graduate management education to others, citing data from the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Three out of four of those surveyed by GMAC said they could not have obtained their current job without their degree. Read more

Harvard Business School

CLASS SIZE: 930

Women: 45%

MEDIAN GMAT: 740

MEAN GPA: 3.69

Livewire Decisionwire Interview Reports Essay Topic Analysis MBA Admissions Deadlines View Full Profile

MBA Applywire

December 20, 2024 5:17pm ET

Applying: Columbia, Duke / Fuqua, Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, Northwestern / Kellogg, Stanford GSB, U. Chicago Booth, UPenn / Wharton

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Healthcare

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting Companies: Bain , BCG

GRE: 332

GPA: 3.5

Years of Work Experience: 3

Location: Florida

Post MBA Location: Consulting

Notes:

25F, lgbtq, 3 years as a registered nurse. also have started working for an early stage VC in the past several months.

December 19, 2024 4:44pm ET

Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Stanford GSB

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Insurance

Post-MBA Target Industry: Entrepreneurship

GRE: 318

GPA: 3.59

Years of Work Experience: 3.5

Location: Georgia

Post MBA Location: Southeast

Notes:

Looking to launch a tech startup post MBA, without any background in tech. Come from a quant heavy background and undergraduate coursework. I regularly attended admissions events, in person and online at my schools. I hope that focusing energy on my few top schools and spending a lot of time on essays will help me overcome the less than average test score (164 quant 154 verbal) and GPA.

Serial entrepreneur with a history of profitable small businesses. Was promoted twice in 3.5 years. Involved in many extracurricular activities in and outside of work. My background is very centered around financial services/insurance, is this a red flag for a pivot to Tech Entrepreneurship?

Transferred between two state schools in the southeast. School I graduated from is a top 25 undergrad business program. Obtained a few professionals designations post grad.

December 18, 2024 11:38am ET

Applying: Michigan / Ross, UNC Kenan-Flagler, Vanderbilt / Owen

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Held various positions in Finance and Accounting in a healthcare institution

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Other Companies: BCG , Deloitte , Other

GPA: 3.0

Years of Work Experience: 11

Location: International

Notes:

I am passionate about healthcare enhancing patient quality care. So exploring in that field is what I would love. Got a 72k scholarship from Vandy and named Forte Fellow. UNC 50k. I'm having a hard time deciding though my heart is leaning towards Owen

December 18, 2024 10:23am ET

Applying: Arizona State / W.P. Carey, Indiana / Kelley, Ohio State / Fisher

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Facility management

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting

GRE: 309

GPA: 2.8

Years of Work Experience: 3

Notes:

Graduate GPA -3.869

December 18, 2024 2:57am ET

Applying: IESE, INSEAD, MIT Sloan, U. Chicago Booth

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Engineering

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology, Undecided Companies: Amazon

GMAT: 690

GPA: 3.26

Years of Work Experience: 4

Location: Chile

View or Submit Entries

MBA LiveWire

December 21, 2024 8:37am ET

Accepted to Duke / Fuqua

Round: Round 1

Received via phone on December 11, 2024

GMAT: 675

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Consulting

December 21, 2024 2:38am ET

Waitlisted at Duke / Fuqua

Round: Round 1

Received via phone on December 10, 2024

GPA: 3.27

GMAT: 760

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Finance

Application Location: CA

December 20, 2024 11:16pm ET

Accepted to Babson / Olin

Round: Round 1

Received via email on December 17, 2024

GPA: 3.9

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Consulting

Application Location: South Asia

December 20, 2024 7:50pm ET

Accepted to Columbia

Round: Round 1

Received via portal on December 10, 2024

GMAT: 750

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Application Location: India

Note:

$100k scholarship

December 20, 2024 3:21pm ET

Accepted to Yale SOM

Round: Round 1

Received via email December 20, 2024

GPA: 4.0

GMAT: 750

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Note:

100% scholarship

View or Submit Entries

Live
Wire