by Kelly Wilson
Harvard Business School MBA Essay Tips and Deadlines [2025-2026], Class Profile
Harvard Business School (HBS) continues to be one of the few schools, if not the only one, with just two admissions 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 2025-2026 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 so you can uncover your authentic story and present it effectively to the adcom.
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 had 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 adcom 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 elaborates on 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 in 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 choices have influenced your career path and aspirations. (300 words)
This question requires you to explore your motivation for the professional steps you have taken and the direction you want to take in your career. Any aspect of your life might have influenced decisions that you’ve made, so don’t limit yourself to one specific area. Consider both personal and professional experiences that have shaped your beliefs and attitudes. How have they defined your world view and self-perception? What insight can you derive from your experiences, and how have they influenced your professional journey and your plans for your future career?
Leadership-Focused Essay: What experiences have shaped how you invest in others and how you lead? (250 words)
With this question, the HBS adcom wants you to identify pivotal experiences that have influenced your relationship with others and the positive impact you have had on them. Remember to discuss a different experience in this essay than you did in your first essay. Whether you share 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. The adcom wants to know what you have done with your learning. What specific actions have you taken to support others in their journey that reveal what you learned? This example will showcase the impact you will have within the HBS community.
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
| Application Deadline | Decisions Released | |
| Round 1 | September 3, 2025 | December 10, 2025 |
| Round 2 | January 5, 2026 | March 25, 2026 |
Source: HBS website
***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 2026 (data taken from the HBS website):
Number of applications: 9,856
Enrolled: 930
Women: 45%
International: 35%
Primary Citizenship
- United States: 65%
- Asia: 13%
- Europe: 8%
- Mexico, Central & South America: 5%
- Canada: 3%
- Middle East: 3%
- Africa: 2%
- Oceania: <1%
U.S. Race/Ethnicity (Federal guidelines reporting)
- White: 49%
- Asian American: 25%
- Hispanic or Latino: 10%
- Black or African American: 8%
- Multi-race: 4%
- Did not report: 3%
Average GPA: 3.69
Average years of work experience: 5
Median GMAT score: 740
GMAT score range: 540-790
Middle 80% GMAT score range: 700-770
Median Verbal GMAT score: 42
Verbal GMAT score range: 27-51
Middle 80% Verbal GMAT score range: 38-47
Median Quantitative GMAT score: 49
Quantitative GMAT score range: 35-51
Middle 80% Quantitative GMAT score range: 45-50
Median Verbal GRE score: 163
Verbal GRE score range: 145-170
Middle 80% Verbal GRE score range: 157-168
Median Quantitative GRE score: 163
Quantitative GRE score range: 146-170
Middle 80% Quantitative GRE score range: 157-169
Undergraduate majors
- Business/Commerce: 24%
- Engineering: 22%
- Economics: 19%
- Math/Physical Sciences: 18%
- Social Sciences: 12%
- Arts/Humanities: 5%
Pre-MBA Industry
- Consulting: 18%
- Venture Capital/Private Equity: 16%
- Technology: 12%
- Financial Services: 10%
- Consumer Products/Retail/E-Commerce: 9%
- Manufacturing/Industrial/Energy: 9%
- Health Care/Biotech: 8%
- Nonprofit/Government/Education: 6%
- Military: 5%
- Media/Entertainment/Travel: 4%
- 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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