Harvard Business School (HBS) continues to be one of the few schools, if not the only one, with just admissions two rounds (September and January). HBS uses an April deadline exclusively for HBS 2+2, its deferred enrollment program.
The HBS admissions office announced several updates for the 2024-2025 admissions cycle. New criteria for admission were laid out and three shorter essays introduced in place of the program’s long-standing single essay prompt. Although the essays have been shortened, applicants must still understand the importance of self-reflection before picking up the proverbial pen. We have all had experiences in our lives that have shaped who we are personally and professionally. It is critical to spend time focusing on your motivations and identifying your strengths and weaknesses to uncover your authentic story so you can present it effectively to the admissions committee.
HBS is looking for some specific information from its candidates, and the program’s decision to request that information through three brief essays might make the task of writing these essays seem easier at first. However, it is often more challenging to provide a story’s context and convey the details of the impact you have made with fewer words. It is essential to recognize that the essays are part of a holistic process, and the story you want to tell is found in the various parts of your application, not just in your essays. Make sure that you are clear on what you want to convey to the admissions committee across the totality of your application. Each essay asks you to identify one or more experiences that have been formative in some way. Beyond selecting a specific life event or events (personal or professional) to discuss in each essay, you must convey the outcome or the impact of the experience(s). Don’t use the same experience from one essay to the next. Consider each essay a novel opportunity for HBS to learn something new about you.
Before jumping into your essays, remind yourself that Harvard’s mission is to educate leaders who make a difference in the world. Also, review the Who Are We Looking For? section of HBS’s website, which identifies the three characteristics that are common among its students: Business-Minded, Leadership-Focused, and Growth-Oriented. Further, HBS provides context for the meaning of Business-Minded, Leadership-Focused, and Growth-Oriented and is specific about how it will identify each of these characteristics throughout your application.
Ready to get to work on your HBS application? Read on.
HBS application essay tips
Business-Minded Essay:
Please reflect on how your experiences have influenced your career choices and aspirations and the impact you will have on the businesses, organizations, and communities you plan to serve. (up to 300 words)
This question asks you to consider past experiences, drawn from any aspect of your life, that have shaped you in some way. How have they influenced your career aspirations and the choices you have made throughout your career so far? While you’ll reference the short- and long-term goals you outlined in the Post-MBA Goals section of the HBS application, you’re not expected to provide the same level of detail here. Rather, describe how these experiences have shaped your professional journey and continue to inspire your plans for your career.
The second part of the prompt requires you to be forward-looking and consider the broader impact you’ll have as you continue your professional journey. Whether with businesses, organizations, or communities, you will contribute to their success in some way. What difference will you make with these entities as you navigate the path to achieving your career goals? Discussing your impact across all three arenas is unnecessary. Instead, focus on an authentic example based on your particular engagement and the specifics of how you will make a difference.
Leadership-Focused Essay:
What experiences have shaped who you are, how you invest in others, and what kind of leader you want to become? (up to 250 words)
With this question, the HBS admissions committee wants you to identify pivotal experiences that have influenced your development into the person you are. Remember to use a different experience than you did in the first essay. Whether that’s a personal challenge that had a profound impact on your values or an event that changed your perspective, this essay requires you to dig deep and reflect on the effect the experience had on your perception of leadership and your outlook on navigating your environment. Beyond explaining why or how the experience shaped you, the admissions committee wants to know what you have done with your learning. What specific actions have you taken to support others in their journey that showcase what you learned? This can range from supporting a coworker during a challenging period to working with a volunteer group helping homeless youth learn life skills. Beyond investing in others, what leadership traits do you recognize and aspire to develop? Why is it important that you achieve this development?
Growth-Oriented Essay:
Curiosity can be seen in many ways. Please share an example of how you have demonstrated curiosity and how that has influenced your growth. (up to 250 words)
To begin this essay, reflect on times when you were curious about something and were motivated to continue learning because you were driven to grow. What was it that fed your curiosity? How did that strong desire to learn manifest itself? The experience you describe of being curious will demonstrate what you did to continue the learning process. What activities did you engage in, and how did they contribute to your ongoing development? Were there specific people that you interacted with, and if so, what did you learn from them? Next comes, as you might have guessed, the impact. Based on the curiosity that drove you to continue learning, describe how you grew. What part of the experience contributed to your growth? How did your perspective change, or what skills did you develop through the process?
HBS application deadlines
| Round | Application Deadline | Decisions Released |
| 1 | September 4, 2024 | December 10, 2024 |
| 2 | January 6, 2025 | March 26, 2025 |
Applications must be submitted online by 12 noon Boston time.
***Disclaimer: Information is subject to change. Please check with HBS directly to verify the essay questions, instructions, and deadlines.***
HBS class profile
Here’s a look at HBS’s Class of 2025 (data taken from the HBS website):
Number of applications: 8,14
Enrolled: 938
Countries represented
- United States: 61%
- Asia: 15%
- Europe: 10%
- Mexico, Central and South America: 5%
- Canada: 3%
- Middle East: 3%
- Africa: 2%
- Oceania: 1%
Women: 45%
International: 39%
U.S. Race/Ethnicity (Federal guidelines reporting)
- White: 50%
- Asian American: 22%
- Hispanic or Latino: 11%
- Black or African American: 10%
- Multi-race: 6%
- Did not report: 1%
- American Indian or Alaskan Native: 0
- Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: 0
Average GPA: 3.73
Average years of work experience: 4.9
Median GMAT: 740
GMAT range: 500-790
Median GMAT Verbal: 42
GMAT Verbal range: 25-51
Median GMAT Quantitative: 49
GMAT Quantitative range: 31-51
Percentage of class that submitted GMAT scores: 69%
Median GRE Verbal: 163
GRE Verbal range: 150-170
Median GRE Quantitative: 163
GRE Quantitative range: 145-170
Percentage of class that submitted GRE scores: 39%
Undergraduate majors
- Engineering: 25%
- Business/Commerce: 22%
- Economics: 21%
- Math/Physical sciences: 17%
- Social Sciences: 12%
- Arts/Humanities: 4%
Pre-MBA Industry
- Consulting: 17%
- Venture Capital, Private Equity: 17%
- Technology: 13%
- Consumer Products, Retail, E-Commerce: 10%
- Financial Services: 10%
- Manufacturing, Industrial, Energy: 9%
- Health Care, Biotech: 7%
- Military: 6%
- Nonprofit, Government, Education: 6%
- Media, Entertainment, Travel: 3%
- Services: 2%
As the former executive director of admissions at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School and assistant dean of admissions at Georgetown’s McDonough School and the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz School, Kelly Wilson has 23 years’ experience overseeing admissions committees and has reviewed more than 38,000 applications for the MBA and master’s programs in management of information systems, computational finance, business analytics, and product management. Want Kelly to help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!
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