What Does the MBA Oath Accomplish?

Last week a recent Harvard Business School graduate spoke out about the Class of 2009's collective effort to create and endorse a new "MBA Oath" in response to the public beating that the Master of Business Administration degree has taken in the public eye. In an article posted on harvardbusiness.org, Max Anderson explained he and his classmates' reasons for signing the oath.

"The oath began as a voluntary, opt-in grassroots initiative among our classmates to get 100 HBS students to sign by graduation," Anderson wrote. "We based our oath language largely on a draft of an oath completed by Professors Nitin Nohria and Rakesh Khurana in the Harvard Business Review last October, with a few edits of our own. We thought 100, or more than 10% of the class, would have symbolic power. As of June 8, 2009, more than 50% of Harvard's graduating MBA class has signed the oath."

But what exactly is the oath supposed to accomplish? Anderson explains, "We hope the Oath will accomplish three things: a) make a difference in the lives of the students who take the oath, b) challenge other classmates to work with a higher professional standard, whether they sign the oath or not and c) create a public conversation in the press about professionalizing and improving management."

While many people in the press have expressed skepticism that such an oath will in any way impact these graduates' future behavior, Anderson cites some behavioral science research that suggests that such public commitments do in fact impact one's actions. So, even if the oath is somewhat hollow, is it possible that it still might steer some grads towards a more responsible path?

Others have referred to the wave of new ethics courses in business schools in the wake of the Enron and Worldcom scandals of a few years ago, and the impact that these courses have had (or haven't had) so far. However, these courses are still so new that, even if they are effective, it's too soon to see their impact.

The net takeaway is that none of these changes is likely to single-handedly solve any widespread cultural problems among MBAs (if you believe there are any) that could drive them towards reckless or irresponsible behavior. Taken together, though, over time they may start to positively impact MBA grads.

However, as much as we believe in the power of HBS or any other business school to transform someone into stronger business leader, we also believe that how likely someone is to be a responsible manager (and a responsible community member overall) depends more on who they are when they enter business school than on the lessons they learn -- and the oaths they take -- while in school. And that will never change.

Harvard Business School Application Essays and Deadline for 2009-2010

This week Harvard Business School released its application deadlines and admissions essays for the 2008-2009 season. Here they are, taken from Harvard's site. Our comments are in italics:

HBS Application Deadlines
Round 1: October 1, 2009
Round 2: January 19, 2010
Round 3: April 8, 2010

(Harvard's Round 1 deadline is two weeks earlier than it was last year. However, its Round 2 deadline is nearly two weeks later than last year's, and its Round 3 deadline is nearly a month later. The Round 3 move is especially interesting since this past year Stanford GSB's Round 3 deadline was also on April 8. This was almost certainly a move made to match Stanford in trying to grab any last-minute, high-potential applicants.)

HBS Application Essays

• What are your three most substantial accomplishments and why do you view them as such? (600 words)
  
  (This is the same question that HBS has asked for years now, and is a great opportunity for you to spell out three main themes that you want to emphasize in your application. This being HBS, at least one of your examples should highlight leadership, but don't discount stories that also demonstrate other three dimensions that admissions officers look for: teamwork, innovation, and maturity. As we always tell our clients, the "why" is even more important than the "what," so be sure to spell out why these accomplishments are so critical to describing you as an emerging leader. Also, ideally you can draw upon multiple types of experiences -- not only on the job, but also from your community involvement, your hobbies, and even, in some cases, your personal life.)


• What have you learned from a mistake? (400 words)
  
  (This question is also a repeat from last year. The key here is to not only describe what happened and what you learned, but also to show how you put that lesson to work in a later situation. That last point allows you to evolve the essay answer from being purely hypothetical to being an opportunity to discuss another achievement.)


• Please respond to two of the following (400 words each):
  
  
  1. What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience?
  
  
  2. Discuss how you have engaged with a community or organization.
  
  
  3. Tell us about a time when you made a difficult decision.
  
  
  4. Write a cover letter to your application introducing yourself to the Admissions Board.
  
  
  5. What is your career vision and why is this choice meaningful to you?
  
  
  
  (Of the above questions, the "difficult decision" and "cover letter" questions are new since last year. They replace a question that asked, "What area of the world are you most curious about and why?" which only lasted for one year, probably because it didn't help the HBS admissions committee learn much new valuable information about its applicants. For the new questions, we like how the "difficult decision" question gives you an opportunity to really show off their maturity. The "cover letter" question is similar to MIT Sloan's, and provides another good opportunity to sketch out the main themes of your application.)

If you would like more information about applying to HBS, visit the Harvard Business School information page. And for more information on business school application deadlines, and be sure to follow us on Twitter!

HBS to Accept the GRE Starting This Fall

Yesterday Harvard Business School joined Stanford GSB and MIT Sloan when it announced that its general two-year MBA program will starting accepting the GRE from applicants this fall. This move comes after the HBS 2+2 Program announced in March that it would accept both the GRE and the GMAT this year.

In an HBS press release put out this morning, director of admissions Dee Leopold said, "We are pleased to widen our requirements to give all MBA candidates the option of submitting results from either the GRE or GMAT exams. Since many HBS applicants are also considering graduate programs besides the MBA, there is now no need for them to take the GMAT if they have already taken the GRE. We believe that both the GMAT and the GRE meet our expectations of what a standardized test can tell us about a candidate's ability to thrive in our MBA Program."

This is consistent with Harvard Business School's push to find more business leaders outside of the traditional MBA program feeders, such as business-oriented college programs, investment banks, and consulting firms. It also marks another win for ETS in its push to position the GRE as a credible competitor to the GMAT in assessing MBA applicants' abilities. With a handful of top-ten business schools already accepting the GRE, we expect more schools will soon follow suit.

With ETS making steady progress in winning over the top business schools, it's no wonder that the Graduate Management Admission Council has started to make noise about producing a next-generation GMAT exam, due to reach the market by 2013.

Planning Ahead for a 2009-2010 HBS Application

Last Thursday Harvard Business School's Dee Leopold posted a brief update on the HBS blog, providing some news for waitlisted applicants as well as some advice for those who may apply in 2009-2010. While the waitlist update was surely welcomed by 2008-2009 applicants, what she said about next year's Round 1 deadline was perhaps most interesting of all.

Dee wrote:

• Our Round 1 deadline for the next application season will be earlier in October, BEFORE fall class visits are open. We encourage those of you who are thinking of applying in Round 1 to consider a class visit this spring -- class visits are available until May 8. Visiting an HBS class has absolutely no impact on the application process - we just want everyone to know that you are welcome.


• We will be making more offers from the waitlist this year, and we hope to make the majority of these decisions as soon as we can - definitely before the end of May.


• International students will have access to loans without needing a U.S. co-signer. We will release details/terms on specific programs as they are finalized.

Note her first point. If you apply in Round 1 this coming fall, you won't have a chance to sit in on an HBS class before you submit your application. Therefore, even if you're not certain that you'll apply to HBS, if you can get to Boston this spring, it's a good idea to schedule your visit now. Doing so -- and being able to write about it in your HBS admissions essays -- may give you an important leg up vs. other applicants next year.

HBS Round 3 Interview Update

This past Friday Dee Leopold posted an update on the HBS blog about interview invitations for Round Three applicants:

I'll make this short and sweet - today we sent out about 100 interview invitations to Round 3 candidates. There will be some more, but I don't know when, to whom, or exactly how many.

Her comment about there being more invitations coming is consistent with what she has previously posted on the blog. Based on Rounds 1 and 2, we estimate that maybe another 5-15 invitations will come out over the next several weeks.

For more new and analysis of HBS and other top MBA programs, you can follow MBA Game Plan on Twitter.

Harvard and Wharton Admissions News

This week HBS and Wharton provided important updates for applicants on their blogs. For anyone who is currently waiting to hear back from HBS or Wharton, the next couple of weeks figure to be an important time. And, if you're on the waitlist at HBS, you may have some good news coming soon.

On the HBS admissions blog, Dee Leopold provided an update for applicants in all three admissions rounds. She wrote:

Round One Waitlist - We will be extending offers of admission to about 40 round one waitlisters shortly after April 2. We will continue to maintain a waitlist and Eileen Chang will send out an update in early April.

Round Two Notification - April 2 is the notification date. All decisions will be released online - you will receive an email instructing you to check your status. We won't be making any congratulatory phone calls in advance of April 2!

Round Three Interview Invitations - Many, but not all, will go out on April 3.

Meanwhile, over at the Wharton blog, the admissions team posted an update specifically for the school's Round 2 applicants:

All Round 2 applicants who were invited for interviews: you will receive your admissions decision tomorrow. You may check your decision status at that time through your online application. We will also make every effort to contact all new admits via telephone or e-mail.

Return here tomorrow for an announcement that decisions have been released and for more details...

Good luck to everyone!

Note that the Wharton blog post was written yesterday, meaning that by now many of you should have heard from Wharton... Hopefully you got good news!

For more regular updates on Harvard Business School, Wharton, and other top business schools, be sure to follow us on Twitter.

HBS Employment Update

On Friday Dee Leopold posted an update on Harvard Business School students' job prospects for this year. This update is especially interesting for anyone who is preparing to leave a steady job this year to enter a full-time MBA program.

According to Leopold, 77% of the HBS Class of 2009's job seekers (this excludes anyone who will continue academic work or who will return to a previous employer) have found full-time jobs. She writes:

I don't have any more details to offer at this point, but we are proud of both our students and our Career Services team who have helped many of our students discover and pursue their dreams and find new opportunities in the midst of great uncertainty in the market. It is still months from graduation and companies and organizations continue to be a big presence on campus - spring will be lively here at HBS. We will provide updates as the season progresses.

Hopefully for those HBS students -- and for students at all business schools this year -- spring will indeed prove to be a lively recruiting period.

To get a feel for your chances of getting into Harvard Business School, try Veritas Prep's Business School Selector.

Harvard Business School Admissions Interviews

Last week Dee Leopold, Harvard Business School's Director of Admissions, posted a short message on the HBS Director's Blog about the timing for Round 2 admissions interview invites:

On February 9 we will send out invitations to interview. The invitation will come in an email from HBS MBA Admissions and will contain detailed instructions about how to sign up for interviews both on campus and in hub cities. Please be assured that if we see you haven't signed up for an interview by the end of the week, we will contact you by phone...thus there's no reason to be anxious about lost emails, etc.

Shortly afterward, I'll update you here as to how many invitations have been issued and how many we expect will go out between February 10 and the April 2 notification date.

Note the second part of what Dee says. While a majority of interview invites will likely go out on Feb. 9, don't worry if you don't hear anything on that day. The HBS admissions office will be working through thousands of applications, and they may not get to yours for another few weeks or more.

Visit Veritas Prep for more advice on applying to HBS and how to ace your MBA admissions interviews.

HBS Round Two Admissions Update

Dee Leopold posted another update on the Harvard Business School admissions blog last week, this one for Round Two applicants. Consider this a mini FAQ for all of the questions that Round Two applicants will invariably ask 1,000 times over the next couple of weeks.

Most importantly for those who are racing to get the GMAT in before January 6, Leopold explained that reporting an unofficial exam on your application is enough. If GMAC's official score report doesn't get to HBS until after January 6, that's okay. However, if you haven't yet taken the TOEFL, then you're too late. In the case of the TOEFL, you do need to include an official score report with your application.

You DON'T need to wait for all of your recommendations to be sent in before you submit your HBS application, but your recommenders DO need to get their letters in before the Jan. 6 deadline (at 5 PM EST).

Good luck, everyone! For more information on HBS, visit the Veritas Prep Harvard Business School information page.

Update from the HBS Admissions Office

Last week Dee Leopold posted a Round One update on the HBS blog.

Leopold and her team are now in the process of reviewing applicants who have already interviewed for Round One, and they expect to continue doing so up until the school's Jan. 21 notification deadline. They are also putting some applicants onto the Round One waitlist, and Leopold says that she expects to waitlist around 100 Round One applicants.

If you're waitlisted, don't despair -- you may be invited to interview along with Round Two applicants. "Thus, you could say that a Round One waitlist decision is essentially a 'further consideration' message," says Leopold.

Given the anticipated surge in applications this year, especially in Round Two, we expect HBS and other top business schools to make heavy use of waitlists this year. They may like the looks of your candidacy, but if they're not sure just how big the Round Two wave will be, they may decide to wait until February before making a decision on your candidacy.

If you're racing to finish your HBS application before the Jan. 6 Round Two deadline, take a look at our MBA essay editing services, which offer a 72-hour turnaround time. Good luck!

HBS Admissions Podcast

Recently the Harvard Business School admissions office posted a podcast interview with Dee Leopold, Managing Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid.

The interview started off with the question that Leopold hears most often: "What are you looking for in an applicant?" Leopold broke it down into "qualities" and "experiences," and explained that they look for common qualities but diverse experiences in the incoming class.

For qualities, Leopold highlighted the following:

• Solid values and integrity -- No surprise here. HBS and all other programs won't even consider someone who may seem unethical.


• Ability to thrive in an analytical environment and academic setting -- As described in Your MBA Game Plan, this is one the key dimensions that you must show in your application. We at Veritas Prep refer to this as "Innovation."


• Initiative -- How can you show you how you go above and beyond what's normally expected of you?


• Curiosity -- Another part of what we call "Innovation." Show that you want to learn more about what makes the world tick.


• Maturity -- This is another one of the four important dimensions that we describe in Your MBA Game Plan.


• Perspective -- Do you have self-awareness? How have your experiences shaped your outlook on the world?


• Sense of humor -- Yes, even HBS wants to see applicants who don't take themselves too seriously. We believe this a sense of humor is a clear sign of maturity, humility, and self-confidence.

Note that Leopold didn't mention "leadership." She went on to explain that, "We're looking for leaders who have these qualities (above). We don't think that 'leadership' as a one-size fits all or something that is a list of things on your resume. We think that leadership, and the way you lead, is as exciting a dimension of diversity as any of the other things I mentioned."

There's a lot of great information in the podcast, and this is just a sample. Go here to listen to the entire podcast.

One other note: Leopold mentioned that HBS is visiting a lot of college campuses this year, to open more undergrads' eyes to HBS and the value of an MBA. This is just one more sign of HBS' effort to attract and accept more candidates with very little job experience. Take note of this if you've been out of college for a couple of years and are wondering whether you should apply now or in a couple of years. "We are encouraging people to think about business school earlier in their lives," Leopold said.

While she also went on to say that this is not bad news for more experienced applicants, we believe that HBS' vision of the typical first-year student has permanently changed vs. ten years ago (i.e., it has become younger). If you apply later in your career, expect that HBS will have a lot of questions about why you waited.

Visit Veritas Prep for more information on Harvard Business School and the HBS 2+2 Program.

HBS on International Student Loans

Amid all of the grim news lately regarding the availability of student loans, Dee Leopold posted an update on the HBS admissions blog to let international applicants know that they will still have access to need-based loans without a U.S.-based cosigner.

Writes Leopold:

While at this time we do not have further details about specific loan programs with private lenders, we are able to make this important - and reassuring - statement about continued accessibility.

She went on to say that all students will still be eligible for HBS fellowships, which don't need to be repaid. The average need-based fellowship is about $25,000 per year, making them critical in keeping down HBS students' total costs.

If you're applying to Harvard, visit the Veritas Prep HBS information page for more application advice and resources.

HBS Interviews: Dee Leopold on Round One

The other day Dee Leopold posted a message on the HBS admissions blog regarding the school's upcoming wave of Round One interview invitations. HBS will start contacting applicants to set up interviews on November 12, with many of the interview requests going out the following week.

As HBS and other top schools often do, Leopold reminds applicants that the timing of the interview invite is strictly a function of when the application is reviewed in the process -- it's not a reflection on the strength of one's candidacy. There's also no rhyme or reason in terms of alphabetical order, geography, or the date when the application was received. In other words, don't bother trying to divine your chances based when you receive (or don't receive) an interview invitation!

Leopold finished the post with a plug for the updated entrepreneurship info on the HBS web site. A few times lately we have heard HBS representatives emphasize the program's entrepreneurship-related content... Something to keep in mind if you are an HBS applicant with a sincere interest in this area.

For more advice on applying to HBS, visit our Harvard Business School information page. For more advice on how to nail your HBS interview, take a look at our MBA admissions interview preparation service.

Harvard Business School Celebrates 100 Years

In a proud weekend tinged with a hint of sobriety because of the current economic crisis, Harvard Business School celebrated its centennial this past weekend. What was a yearlong celebration of the school's centennial ended with the three-day HBS Global Business Summit.

The summit was attended by a wide variety of business and government leaders, from Bill Gates to Jeff Immelt to Meg Whitman to India's finance minister. And while schools normally have to campaign to encourage their alumni to attend on-campus events, HBS' centennial boasted a waitlist of over 250 people. By all accounts, it was a terrific celebration of this important institution.

But it was not all caviar and bubbly. On his Financial Times blog, Stefan Stern recounted how the crowd could not avoid discussing the current financial turmoil. HBS Dean Jay Light opened the proceedings with a serious address, pinning the blame for the current turmoil squarely on the same leaders that HBS produces. While the focus of the event was squarely on HBS and not on the markets, current events were very much on the top of everyone's mind.

It will be up to HBS and other top business schools to dig deeply and decide how they will evolve their philosophy for training business leaders in the future.

Harvard Business School Students' Work Experience

Last week HBS posted the college graduation years of its incoming Class of 2010 on its blog. As expected, more than half graduated in 2004 or 2005 (i.e., they have between three and four years of work experience), and about three quarters graduated between 2003 and 2005 (three to five years of work experience):

Source: The Director's Blog at HBS.edu

There's nothing too eye-opening here, but it's good to see the data broken out so explicitly. One reason is that so many applicants only see the mean number of years of work experience for a school's incoming class, and wrongly assume that if they aren't right at that number, then their chances of success are very low. It's good to see that, while their numbers are clearly lower, there are significant numbers of older and younger HBS students.

We expect to see the number of years of work experience for admitted HBS students to continue to decrease slightly over time, given the school's push to attract younger applicants (especially through its HBS 2+2 Program). Although, it will be interesting to see if the economic slowdown affects number in the coming year: Will it cause the average age of applicants to drop even further as they accelerate their plans to go to business school, or could it actually end up attracting more older applicants who are out of career options? Only time will tell.

Harvard Business School Application Now Available

Last month Harvard Business School released its essays for the 2008-2009 application season. This past Thursday, the HBS released its full application for the coming year.

As Dee Leopold mentioned on the HBS blog, there is no advantage to applying before the Round One deadline. According to Leopold:

"Please keep in mind that... we only begin to review applications after the October 15 Round One deadline. The Admissions Board has no knowledge of whether you submitted your application today or in October. To put it another way, we consider applications in three distinct decision rounds; within rounds, it is not a 'rolling' admissions process."

In other words, don't needlessly scramble to get your application in early. By all means, resist the urge to prcrastinate and submit your application right at 5:00 PM on October 15, but there's no reason to submit your application before it's anything less than 100% perfect.

For more information about applying to HBS, visit our Harvard Business School information page.

HBS Releases Application Essays & Deadlines for Class of 2011

If anything marks the official beginning of the 2008-2009 application season, this is it: Harvard Business School just released its deadlines and application essays for the Class of 2011.

For those of you who are planning ahead, the application deadlines are mostly the same as last year, except for the Round 1 deadline, which is almost two weeks later than last year's. The deadlines are as follows:

• Round 1: Oct. 15, 2008
• Round 2: Jan. 6, 2009
• Round 3: Mar. 11, 2009

Remember that you want to aim for Round 1 or Round 2. Applying after Round 2 means competing for very few open seats, so you want to do everything you can to apply no later than Jan. 6, 2009. Since the Round 1 deadline is just five months away, it's not too early to start preparing! That especially goes for the GMAT. Study until it hurts, take a GMAT prep course if you want some extra help, and then nail the GMAT and get it off of your plate. The last thing you want to do is have to cram for the GMAT while you're also trying to perfect your essays and chase after the people writing your letters of recommendation!

Looking at the HBS application essays, there are now just four required this year, compared to five last year. Two are required, and two can be chosen from a list of four questions.

Required Essays

1. What are your three most substantial accomplishments and why do you view them as such? (600-word limit)
2. What have you learned from a mistake? (400-word limit)

Optional Essays (choose two)

1. What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience? (400-word limit)
2. Discuss how you have engaged with a community or organization. (400-word limit)
3. What area of the world are you most curious about and why? (400-word limit)
4. What is your career vision and why is this choice meaningful to you? (400-word limit)

Of the optional essays, many applicants will assume #1 is only meant as a "Let me explain why my undergrad GPA is low"-type essay, but also consider using this as a chance to discuss a time when you pushed yourself out of your intellectual comfort zone. Looking at #4, the "why is this choice meaningful to you" part is what is most interesting. HBS isn't looking for you to just rattle off your five-step plan for world domination. Explore why you want to do it, and why you're passionate about it. This kind of introspection is key to setting yourself apart in HBS admissions officers' eyes.

If you would like more information about applying to HBS, visit our Harvard Business School profile page. And for more information on business school application deadlines, visit our MBA admissions deadlines page.