Gaining Entry In Harvard, The Round, The Age And Major Matters

Like in most prestigious international business schools, success in gaining entry at Harvard Business School has a bearing on the round in which the candidate files the application along with other factors including age and major.

Wayne Atwell, a second-year MBA student at New York University’s Stern School of Business analyzed data from GMAT Club forums, to come to the conclusion that those applying in later rounds stand little chance of getting selected.

“The round you apply in does have an impact on your chance of being accepted at HBS. Applying in a later round significantly reduces your chance of admission. The data for round 3 is not statistically significant due to the low sample size, but I wouldn’t risk applying in round 3 unless you have a godly application,” Atwell says.

For maximising changes of getting admission, he prescribes putting in the application in round 1 itself. Additional work experience increases the odds slightly, roughly .5% per year.

About the 2+2 program that allows undergraduates to apply to HBS and then go out to get two years of work experience before coming back for the MBA program, he said the analysis could not clearly identify candidates who applied through this program.

“The round you apply in does have an impact on your chance of being accepted at HBS. Applying in a later round significantly reduces your chance of admission. The data for round 3 is not statistically significant due to the low sample size, but I wouldn’t risk applying in round 3 unless you have a godly application,” Atwell says.

“However, I can tell you that of the 59 people in my sample who are 24 years old or younger, none were admitted. So although it is possible to get in if you are younger, it certainly is more challenging,” he says.

Then, there are some factors that may be out of control of the applicants in the short term, but could be planned for. Indians applying from their own country have lower chance of securing entry, only 1.5% are accepted. Applicants who majored in finance also have a significantly lower chance of being admitted, only 2%.

However, prospects are brighter for those who have worked in venture capital or the military, at 16% and 17% respectively.

Atwell also tried to see if he could predict acceptance rate accurately for people who were already selected for an interview. He found the only factors that had any predictive power were round, age and major.

“The average acceptance rate is 49%, with older candidates doing a little better with about a 7% higher acceptance rate for someone a year older than average. Round 2 applicants had a 37% acceptance rate, while round one had a 57% chance. And finally, applicants who majored in finance had a 16% chance of admittance.

“In the end, it is very difficult to predict admissions for candidates once they have been invited to interview, which suggests that at Harvard the interview actually matters,” he says.

(Analysis Graph Courtesy : MBADataGuru)