How to get into Harvard Business School - YouTube

Many MBA applicants ask us -

‘How hard is it to get into Harvard Business School?’

'What are my chances of getting into Harvard?'

‘What does Harvard look for?’

When there are tons of excellent bschools in the world, why do so many applicants single

out Harvard Business School?

The simple answer is – because it is Harvard!

Harvard does not depend on MBA rankings for credibility.

In fact, it’s the other way around.

Any business school ranking that doesn’t feature Harvard among the top, loses its credibility.

Among the most popular stories on our website is about an MBA Crystal Ball consultant who

got into Harvard Business School and rejected it.

If you’re curious to know why, we’ll share a link in the description below.

However, his story does not get into the nuances of what it takes to get into Harvard Business

School.

That’s what we’ll focus on in this video.

So watch till the end.

Before moving on to the how-to part, let’s tackle some of the pre-application questions.

How hard is it to get into Harvard Business School?

The short answer is – very hard.

Here’s why.

Though technically Harvard University wasn’t the first to set up a business school (that

distinction goes to Wharton), its century-long existence gave it a huge first mover advantage.

Over the years, as a large number of universities followed suit, Harvard ensured that it stayed

in the driver’s seat when it came to innovation and setting the bar for management education.

With an endowment that’s among the biggest in the education sector, it can tap into resources

that few other universities can.

The HBS brand is super-strong not just in the education space, but also in the industry–

in almost all fields of specialization.

That pretty much covers the entire spectrum of post MBA opportunities.

This means that the alumni network (one of the key takeaways of an MBA) is entrenched

in the higher echelons of power in all business fields (and non-business streams like politics

as well).

All this attracts the best and the brightest MBA applicants from across the world hoping

to bag a seat at their dream school.

So, yes, it’s pretty hard to get into Harvard Business School.

Which is probably why a lot of applicants want to know the answer to the next question.

What are my chances of getting into Harvard Business School?

Unlike the earlier question, this one can actually be answered with statistics published

by Harvard.

The selectivity rate for the Harvard MBA is 11%.

The statistics may vary from year to year, but if you look at the trend, it has become

tougher to get into HBS over the years.

That should give you a general idea about your chances of getting into Harvard Business

School.

But as with all statistics, be aware of what these numbers don’t tell you.

If you blindly assume that your chances of getting into HBS are 11%, that would be incorrect.

There are many other factors at play that are not captured by these statistics.

The big one being the self-filtering that happens in the applicant pool even before

the application is submitted.

As a hypothetical example, there may be 1000 aspirants out there who want to get into Harvard.

But only 100 may actually apply.

The remaining 900 may have reasons not to jump on to the bandwagon.

Some may believe that their application fee would be better spent on other programs where

the chances of getting accepted are better than Harvard.

Others may believe they can wait for a year or two to strengthen their profile.

Out of the 100 that apply, 11 will get an offer.

It’s a simplistic example to prove a point.

Despite the selectivity numbers, your chances of entering Harvard are not 11%.

They may be better, or worse – depending on your overall profile and more importantly

– your potential as perceived by the Harvard MBA Admissions team.

Alright, with the basic queries addressed,

we’re ready to move on to the main one.

How to get into the Harvard Business School If you are applying this year, some of these

suggestions (like being able to influence the undergrad GPA or industry & role) won’t

be relevant.

Pick what you think is useful and create your own Harvard application strategy.

1.

Understand what makes Harvard what it is This is an important step to understand ‘fit’

with HBS.

While you may not find a specific ‘Why Harvard’ essay, Harvard Admission Officers will sniff

out pseudo-fans who have nothing more to justify the choice apart from Harvard being a top

name.

With some of the other business schools, if your other profile parameters are favourable,

you just might get away by minor tweaks on your MBA application essays.

Don’t even think about that strategy with Harvard, even if you are hard-pressed for

time.

Spend time trying to get a handle on the ‘average Harvard student’ statistics.

Even better if you can search for students from your country who have attended Harvard.

(Tip: LinkedIn is a good source) If you aren’t coming close to them, there

may be a message for you – to re-focus your energies on other bschools and not be devastated

when you hear back from the Harvard admissions team.

Try to visualise yourself as a Harvard student and what you’d be expected to go through

in those 2 gruelling years.

For instance, consider the primary weapon in their academic arsenal – the Case Study.

Read more about how Harvard Business School uses the case study method.

Also, be aware of the grading practices at HBS.

It’s a bell-curve rating where you’ll be pitched against your peers.

Class participation could influence half those grades.

So if you are an introvert, depending on how you can adapt to the environment, either you’ll

come out majorly transformed or completely crushed.

After you’ve done the data collation, research and visualisation, ask yourself –

“Is it a pretty picture or scary?”

Step 2.

Ensure you have stellar academic statistics The world believes Harvard is a machine that

churns out business leaders who are also highly technical.

While HBS probably enjoys hearing that, the truth is an MBA degree cannot do what an undergrad

or bachelors degree can i.e. improve the technical skills of its students.

So, Harvard relies on a filter system that squeezes out the best technical brains in

the applicant pool and trains them on business.

If you notice, a large number of Harvard students have a technical or engineering undergrad

background.

From an Indian angle this means, many have an engineering degree (and being an IIT graduate

doesn’t hurt).

And then adding some icing on the cake – think about all the leadership positions you held

on campus.

And then put a cherry on top of it – like a high GPA or gold medal.

Don’t be fooled by stories of low GMAT scorers getting into Harvard.

That generally does not happen with applicants from highly represented countries like India

and China.

Harvard’s median GMAT score is 730.

The range of GMAT scores is 580 – 790.

With its huge batch size, HBS relies on Indians, Chinese and other high scoring demographic

pools, with high scores to offset their decision of taking in low scorers.

Step 3.

Get into the right industry and role before applying

Being a branding success story, HBS knows the value of how brands work.

One in four students at Harvard has been a consultant at a top management consulting

firm such as McKinsey, Bain, BCG.

What if it’s too late for that?

What if you are not in the consulting industry?

Well, you still have those 3 seats (out of 4) to compete for.

But the primary rationale doesn’t change.

Take any other field and find out the market leaders who are known for their stringent

employee selection process.

Google in technology, Goldman Sachs in investment banking, Carlyle in private equity are some

good examples.

In certain industries, the milestones are pretty fixed.

For example, if you join a consulting firm as an analyst immediately after your engineering

degree (lucky you!), you’d be expected to move out for an MBA after a few years.

For other industries where this is not the norm, show your role progression and increasing

quantum and complexity of the responsibilities you’ve handled.

Show the admissions officer at Harvard that this is not your first trial by fire.

Step 4.

Present yourself as a Leader Remember the earlier point about HBS not being

able to churn out technical wizkids, seems like there’s not much that they can do about

creating leaders magically in 2 years either.

But the impression that Harvard graduates are highly-skilled leaders still sounds good.

So, they extend the filtering to include those who are already leaders.

If that’s so, why would someone who is technically savvy and also a born leader, try so hard

to get into Harvard?

Because the doors that can open for them after graduation can be bigger, grander and more

lucrative.

Who wouldn’t want that?

Show them that you not only have the achievements of a leader but you can communicate as a leader

too.

Use your essays and interview to do this.

Step 5.

Apply in your mid-twenties From the previous point on leaders having

a better shot at Harvard, it may seem as if the folks with all those achievements might

be close to retirement.

But from the statistics on the Harvard MBA admissions page, seems like that’s not true.

HBS students are actually younger than the students at the other Top 10 MBA programs.

The sweet-spot for applying is when you have around 3 years of experience after graduating.

The more experience you have, the lesser your chances of getting in.

There may be exceptions to the rule, like MBA applicants from the army / military or

you have a strong masters or doctoral degree that skewed your experience-to-age ratio.

If you are thinking, “All this is fine, but it can’t be a universal formula to get

into Harvard” then you are absolutely right.

These tips are purely based on the typical profiles that you see at Harvard.

If you do a comprehensive analysis of Indian / Chinese / African / American students who’ve

attended Harvard Business School, you’ll find many who don’t have a top degree from

an ivy league university or IIT or any well-known college across the world, who aren’t from

consulting and who don’t have a high GMAT score.

Try to analyse what it was about those profiles that may have got them a seat at HBS.

After all has been said and done, keep in mind that Harvard is not the only good business

school out there for you.

In fact, when it comes to ‘value’ there are many other bschools that are much better than

Harvard.

In a few years, you may realise you were chasing it only because of the brand.

MBA graduates of other programs are equally capable of changing the business world too.

If you need a little help with your Harvard MBA application or for any other elite MBA

program, drop us an email.

For all we know, your mentor might be the top consultant from MBA Crystal Ball who rejected

Harvard.

Good luck to you!