HBS MBA Admissions Interviews: Preparation

 In this third of three posts I provide advice for HBS MBA Admissions Interviews. 

This third post focuses on preparation. The first post discusses logistics and content. The second post focuses on strategy.

 

At the time of the blog post, 101 of my clients (mostly comprehensive counseling plus those interview only clients I worked with for 5 hours, this does not include an even larger number of  HBS admits that I worked for only 1-4 hours on interview prep) have been admitted to HBS since the entering class of 2008 (I had prior clients admitted between 2001 and 2007 before establishing my own service). My clients' results and testimonials can be found here. In addition to providing comprehensive application consulting on HBS, I regularly help some candidates with HBS interview preparation only. My clients admitted to HBS come from all over the world with high concentrations in India, Japan, Singapore, EU, UK, and US.

 

In this post I apply what was discussed about HBS MBA admissions interviews in the prior two posts rather practically.  The objective of this post is to help you with both self prep and to serve as an overall guide to preparing for an HBS interview.

 

PREPARATION

In my experience, applicants who succeed at HBS MBA interviews go to their interview with a sense of confidence based on having done careful preparation. My clients who have failed the interview stage have often done so because of related reasons: lack of confidence and/or preparation.  Of course, there are times when the post-interview reason for getting dinged is never clear. The reality of having too many well qualified applicants means that many who would certainly make the post-interview cut don't, simply due to lack of available seats. While these issues could be the same for any interview, the reality is that HBS admissions interviews are more intensive than that of most other schools. Failure to take this interview sufficiently seriously is a recipe for disaster.

 

TAKE PREPARATION FOR HBS VERY SERIOUSLY! Any experienced admissions consultant will tell you that the HBS interview is one that really does require preparation even for those who previously aced alumni interviews.  My colleagues and I have often become depressed about cases where we had great applicants who did not take the HBS really seriously.  By the same token, our clients who really prep for this really do have a much higher rate of admission.  I have had clients who might do 5-20 hours of self-preparation for every hour of time spent with a consultant.  One of my clients admitted to HBS did 2 hours of prep with myself and another counselor and an additional 100 hours on his own. He already had been admitted to Kellogg and Booth, but knew HBS would be different.  It is certainly not uncommon for clients to do 40-50 hours of self prep and additional 1-5 or more hours of prep with consultants.  If you think that either your English ability and/or interview skills are somewhat weak, be prepared to do extensive practice both with other people and alone. The self prep component can be particularly effective if you are trying to cover a huge range of questions and also master telling your best stories.   If you have an online HBS interview, whether that practice is by yourself, with friends or family, or with a consultant, become comfortable doing interviews on Zoom.  For more about the technical aspects of online interviews, see here.

 

KNOW YOUR APPLICATION

You need to know your application very completely as you will be asked by the HBS Interviewer about its content.
Review your entire application (not just resume and essays, but everything including the transcript) very carefully and consider what your interviewer might ask you to explain more thoroughly. Remember: Anything is fair game. Assume that the weakest parts of your application will be topics in the interview. Assume the worst-case scenario and be very prepared to address their concerns.  If you have any academic weaknesses (low GPA, a relatively weak TOEFL, insufficient proof of a quantitative background), be ready to address those issues. Be prepared to tell new stories and alternative versions of the stories you told in your essays.  I especially recommend that you consider how every point on your resume might become a potential topic. A point I continually make to own clients who have been invited for the HBS interview is that proper preparation for this interview really requires that you look for all the weak points in your application: Rip yourself apart in order to try and determine what you need to be especially ready to address.  In addition, you should consider having one or more other people who can help you prepare for this and who will review your entire file. If you use any paid services, make sure that the mock interviewer (admissions consultant, admissions counselor, interview coach) will be reading your application first and developing a list of questions based on that review and with an understanding of what HBS asks, otherwise they are not really helping you prepare for an HBS interview. When I do mock interviews for interview-only clients, I always ask to read their applications if they are not doing a blind interview. For schools like HBS and MIT, which are never blind, reading the whole application (especially the essays) is critical for simulating the real thing.

 

 

ACTIVE INTERVIEW PREPARATION

I believe in the value of active interview preparation. That is to say, instead of focusing only what questions you might get asked, focus on what you want to say about yourself. A basic any school approach to this would be to connect key words and stories that you hope to use. Given that you can't know exactly what you will be asked, you can at least have prepared for discussing key things that you want to get across to the interviewer. By being a bit more scripted, you can reduce your visible nervousness and overexcitement and give a more controlled response. The following is an "any school" chart:

 

Active Interview Preparation Chart

Keyword: A selling point or even a weakness	Stories	Questions It Might Answer
Example: Analytical	Development of 6-sigma strategic framework for XXX, inc. Discovery of accounting errors during first year of work. Senior thesis on the S&L Crisis	Name three words that describe you (This would be one) What are your strengths?  Why? (This would be one.) How do you solve complex problems? How could you contribute to your classmates? What skill are you most proud of?

 

(You can cut and paste this into MS Word or Google docs)
In addition to outlining key words and stories as discuss in my general post on interview strategy, you actually more directly connect this to the specific three criteria  that HBS values in order to see how well you are covering each of the criteria in your interview preparation. The chart below will help you map out your own HBS interview strategy.

 

HBS Active Interview Preparation Chart

Keywords: A selling point or even a weakness	Stories	Business-Minded	Leadership-Focused	Growth-Oriented	Questions It Might Answer
Example: Curiosity	Development of 6-sigma strategic framework for XXX, inc.			Curiosity about how to solve for XXX. Studied 6-sigma as a way to do it.	-Tell me about a recent project you worked on -What are you good at?
Cooperative	Overcame team conflict when developing 6-sigma strategic framework for XXX, inc.		-Demonstrates consensus based leadership -Can lead others		-What are good at? -Tell me about a project that you’ve worked recently where you exhibited leadership.-What was like developing a 6-sigma framework for your team?

(You can cut and paste this into Google Docs or Microsoft Word and alter it to include more rows.)

 

To use the above chart: Try to develop 10 or so keywords and stories that relate to HBS's three criteria for admission. Don't forget to include weaknesses when you do so.  Your objective is be ready to tell your best stories as effectively as possible. Use the above chart to help determine which key words and stories will convey the most about you.  Remember that you want to use stories that are different from the ones you used in your essays. You might be asked about something in your application, which you should be prepared to discuss, but also assume you will need to provide new stories as well.

 

 

 

SOME OTHER THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

 

I. The questions you get will be specific to you and can be anticipated to a large extent.
As discussed in my prior posts in this series, the interviewer will come in knowing what they want to ask you.  If you take the interview I described in my first post (or look at full interview reports), it becomes relatively easy to project yourself into the same patterns of questions you find.  Doing so will allow you to practice more efficiently

 

II. Assume there will be at least one question for which you might not be ready for, but don't panic. Take a deep breath. Answer the question and do not become flustered. You need to always have a strategy for handling such questions. The first thing to do is take a second to think about the question. If you really need to, even say something like "Um, that is an interesting question and either just pause for a second to think or if necessary ask a clarifying question.   Next, keep in mind that the purpose of your answer is not to have the correct information but to provide an intelligent response.  Especially at schools like HBS,  where case study in class requires the ability to give an opinion based on little information, your ability to provide an intelligent and confident response is more important than whether your response is perfect, correct, factual, etc.

 

 

III. HBS interviewers ask follow-up questions. They don't do stress interviewing at HBS exactly, but they will question you intensely. They will be taking notes. Anything you say can be subject to inquiry, so speak concisely, answer questions precisely, and try to avoid voluntarily bringing up any topics that you really don't want to talk about. Assume the you will be asking follow-up questions, expect to be able to analyze/explain in a great deal of depth. During your practice sessions, figure out what kind of responses generate what kind of follow-up questions, so you can better anticipate what might come up in the actual interview.

 

IV. Time management is important. Reported interview length for all interviews is 30 minutes. HBS is totally consistent about this.  So part of effective preparation on your part, means really considering time management and not wasting time in the interview by providing answers that are too long. You want to make your answers are sufficiently deep enough but don't take too much time.  You need to brief when just providing fact-based answers and deeper when explaining something or telling a story.

 

V. Have Mock Interviews that reflect both the range of questions and various kinds of interviewers you might encounter.   If I do multiple mock sessions with the same client, I will use different scripts. You must prepare for a range of scenarios regarding the questions you will encounter. At HBS,  your interviewer will be someone you perceive as either friendly or neutral or a mix of the two.   Whether you are being made to feel good about the interview or not by the interviewer,  your  mission is still to convince this interviewer that you are right for their school.  While you may have some idea of the personality of your interviewer before you interview, chances are you will not. It is therefore particularly important to prepare for both friendly and neutral interviewers.

 

Best of luck with your HBS interview! If you want to do interview prep with me, please see here.

HBS MBA Admissions Interviews: Strategy

 This is the second of three posts I provide advice for HBS MBA Admissions Interviews. 

 

This second post focuses on strategy. The first post discusses logistics and content. The third post focuses on preparation.

 

At the time of the blog post, 101 of my clients (mostly comprehensive counseling plus those interview only clients I worked with for 5 hours, this does not include an even larger number of  HBS admits that I worked for only 1-4 hours on interview prep) have been admitted to HBS since the entering class of 2008 (I had prior clients admitted between 2001 and 2007 before establishing my own service). My clients' results and testimonials can be found here. In addition to providing comprehensive application consulting on HBS, I regularly help some candidates with HBS interview preparation only. My clients admitted to HBS come from all over the world with high concentrations in India, Japan, Singapore, EU, UK, and US.

 

This blog post is focused on strategy. What I mean strategy is that focuses on understanding the game your are playing and how to play it well. We will begin with the basics and then go into more complex considerations.

 

STRATEGY BASICS

I. MBA Admissions is a zero-sum game. The MBA admissions process is a competition for organizational entrance. Ultimately you are allowed to enter or are rejected. Interviews play a critical role in organizational entrance selection for jobs, internships, and, in the case, of some educational programs, admissions. They are simply one factor in the process. What we know about HBS interviews though is that applicants go into an interview with about a 50% chance of admission, which certainly better than the base  base rate of admission for all applicants. The interview is just one factor and a great interview does not necessarily result in admission. For more about rejection, see here. That said, you want to play this game as effectively as possible, so doing the best you can on the interview is critical because you have great odds of winning this game.

 

II. Interviews as gatekeeping. 

One may make the initial assumption that the role of an admissions interviewer is to be a gatekeeper. And this is certainly true, whether the interviewer is an admissions officer like at HBS, a student (like at Wharton, Booth or Kellogg), or alumni (like at  Columbia Business School, INSEAD, and London Business School). In all cases, the interviewers are trying to determine against set criteria (an evaluation form) whether the applicant fits the program.

 

III. HBS MBA Admissions Board Stated Criteria:

HBS has three stated criteria for who they looking for: Business-Minded, Leadership-Focused, and Growth-Oriented.  I discuss these three criteria here.   I highly recommend reading that analysis if you have not because it will help you understand that you need to demonstrate these criteria during your interview. You demonstrate these criteria not only through what the topic you are discussing but how you say it.

 

ADVANCED STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS

 

I. Can You Cope with the Case Method?

The following is directly influenced by reviewing many client interview reports, learning about HBS in general, and the history of HBS as discussed in The Golden Passport, Duff McDonald's comprehensive and controversial history of HBS.

I think the HBS admissions interview is directly connected to what is certainly at the core of an HBS education, the case method.  According to the The Golden Passport (chapter 6), it was under HBS Dean Wallace Brett Donham (1919-1942) that the case method became the "School's signature pedagogical tool"  and the impact of that is still felt today.  While FIELD was introduced a few years ago, the case method is very much at the core of what HBS does. The case method requires that each student have ability to make meaningful contributions related to the discussion of a particular case. Given that participation is mandatory and a core component of a student's evaluation and that lack of participation can be the basis for failing at HBS, the ability to perform well in class is critical.  The MBA Admissions Board fails if they admit someone who does not have the ability to survive in class.  In 2007 during my first visit at HBS, I had lunch a former client and two of his friends. Later that summer my former client informed me that one of those guys I met had been kicked out of the school due to lack of effective participation. He was not the only one that year.  There are always few who don't make it in every first year class.  Since this amounts to only a small number of people each year, the Admissions Board is doing its job to eliminate the following:

1. People who lack sufficient verbal skills to function at HBS. Beyond people with weak verbal skills,  HBS interviewers need to eliminate those who cannot effectively make quick analytical statements. The applicant maybe a great engineer/finance quant/thinker but if they can't perform well on the spot, they will not fit at HBS.
2. People who lack sufficient knowledge or ability to apply their knowledge to meaningfully contribute in class.
3. People who lack sufficient confidence to communicate in class.

I mention these three lacks because I think these are the criteria albeit stated negatively that are at the heart of what the MBA Admissions Board is assessing during the interview process. Therefore to win at the HBS interview you need to do the following:

1. Demonstrate strong verbal skills: For those whose native language is not English, this is why intensive self-practice is so necessary. But even for native English speakers, I recommend extensive self-prep. That might be 20-100 hours of self-practice going through as many possible topics as possible and most of this should be spoken practice. See the third post for details of that practice. I often find that non-native speakers take interview preparation more seriously than native speakers of English because they  don't really understand how challenging it can be to do in this kind of interview environment. Some people, regardless of English level, need to focus on improving mental and rhetorical flexibility to provide sufficiently effective answers, which is something that interview training can help with.
2. Demonstrate professional expertise: Whatever you have said about your work in your application, you need the ability to discuss in detail.  You need to be able to communicate clearly and succinctly and in as jargon-free a way as possible to highlight your ability to communicate with a non-expert. Ideally you should be able to provide deep insights into your work, your employer(s), and your industry.
3. Demonstrate confidence: Always remember that with MBA interviews in particular, the answers are rarely purely factual but involve telling stories and hence the most important thing is to appear confident regardless of whether you think your answer is good, mediocre, or complete bullshit.  Actually the ability to bullshit through questions one does not completely understand  and/or have a perfect answer to is a core kind of competence. Instead of worrying about the accuracy or quality of the overall answer you might simply focus on delivery.  And even if you think you are saying complete bullshit be confident about it. If you provide a confident and yet not totally accurate answer, you can always clarify it in the post-interview reflection. Remember you are being judged both on your answers and the impression you make, so even if your answer is not great, a strong positive impression can still result in a win.

 

II. Do you have an interesting perspective?

What distinguishes a merely acceptable candidate is that a great one will add a unique perspective.  I see this happen especially with clients who get to HBS you are really imperfect. They might have come from a second or third tier school, have only mediocre grades and/or GMAT or GRE test scores, come from a less famous company, or have a messy professional background, yet they bring something unique. The uniqueness is first realized by admissions in the application and then demonstrated in the interview. I make the operating assumption that everyone who makes it the interview stage is at least potentially unique and interesting.  My job as an interview coach is to make sure they bring that out when they practice.  If you unique expertise or experience make sure you can communicate that during the interview. Hopefully you will be asked about it but if not work it in. If it has already been accounted for in the application, figure out new ways of communicating in the interview. Be passionate about what you care about and make sure that you communicate that to the interviewer.

 

III. Are you mentality prepared?

There really is nothing to fear because HBS Interviewers are predictable and professional. HBS admissions officers stick to their role and don't focus on themselves. They are trained for their role, which is not necessarily what happens at all other schools.  In the case of HBS, an MBA admissions interview is customized for each interviewee by the interviewer after closely reviewing the interviewee’s application (resume, application form, essays, and recommendations). It is a closely timed exchange that lasts for 30 minutes. The questions come fast and the interviewer can ask follow-up questions about the interviewees’ answers intensively. Interviewees typically report that they are either neutral or friendly. HBS interviewers stick to their organizationally defined role and while questions are always personalized for the applicant, the topics and types of questions that are likely to be discussed are predictable, though the range of questions and the intensity of follow-up questions can vary greatly. You are playing a fair game: 

1. You are being judged by someone who comes in assuming your potential for admission. They have no hidden agenda, unlike, for example, a job interviewer who already has selected an internal candidate for the job but most interview outside candidates because of HR policies.
2. You will not be subject  to verbal abuse, hostility, or other negative unprofessional behaviors that occur frequently in job interviews (and less frequently in MBA admissions interviews with alumni). For almost ten years, I have asked my clients about their past job, internship, admissions and other interview experiences and many have had horrible experiences with interviewers who were rude, unprofessional, or otherwise really awful to deal with. Such experiences can leave a person with a negative attitude about interviewers, but you will not encounter this with an HBS interviewer.   (Unfortunately I cannot say the same thing about all B-School alumni interviewers because I sometimes get very negative reports o. But that is what happens when you don't really train interviewers or closely monitor them.)
3. You can anticipate but what you will be asked. While you cannot know the exact terrain that will be covered in your interview (the specific questions), you do know what the overall map (What is likely to be covered).  I have discussed this in detail in the first post.

 

Don't psych yourself out! It is particularly important that you don't worry too much about your perception of the interviewer's attitude as this can be a particularly good way to become nervous.  I have had too many reports of clients doing this with HBS.  Your interviewer maybe less friendly or more friendly, maybe more aggressive or less aggressive, but whatever their attitude focus on your answers.  Feel free to panic and cry after you have exited the interview, but avoid doing so during it. If you give an imperfect answer, move on and don't become fixated.

 

It is great when interviewers can make you feel comfortable, but not all do that.  It is important to understand that some interviewers maintain a neutral or unsupportive stance because they think they are being fair. In HBS interview reports, most of the interviewers are friendly/neutral. Whoever you interview with at HBS should not matter because you should focus on your performance, not the interviewer's reaction.  Since you cannot know what is going on inside an interviewer's head, don't try to think about it.  Especially if the interviewer looks tired or does not provide much facial or body language, there is no value in focusing your attention on them. Focus on what they ask you and your response. This is not a time to worry about making friends. It is not a date, it is an evaluation of your performance, so focus only that.  Some interviewers may think they are being neutral even when an interviewee may feel like the interviewer is actually being unfriendly. For example, I might feel as though someone is being mean or unfriendly regardless of whether the other person is actually intending to be that way. The point is to be effective as you can in the interview without worrying too much about what might be happening inside someone else’s head.  Also be aware of what might trigger you to feel uncomfortable. For example, if I know that unsmiling people make me upset, I can when encountering such a person, take a step back, and think, “Adam, this guy is making me uncomfortable, why?  Oh, he is unsmiling.  He must hate me. No, Adam, you don’t need to make that assumption. That is just your feeling, but unhelpful for what you want to get out of this conversation. Assume he is just the kind of person who does not smile much.” This is easy for me to write, harder to put into actual practice, but worth the effort if you can.

 

Finally, as mentioned before, confidence matters. Some people are just naturally confident or are really good at faking it, others are not.  Some may just have minor problems with sounding confident, others simply become nervous, and others have extreme anxiety which undermines performance.  If you feel that this a problem for you or you have been feedback about this, you need to address this issue.  For those who feel that their confidence issues cannot be overcome by practice, which is what I discuss in the third post, I'd like to tell you about how I worked with a client who suffered from extreme interview anxiety. This is shortened version of  part of my INSEAD Masters thesis, Taking Interviewing Seriously: A Clinical Protocol for MBA Application Interview Coaching.  Feel to ignore what follows, if you don't think it applies to you. Just go right to the third post!  Best of luck with your HBS interview! If you want to do interview prep with me, please see here.

 

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"JOHN"

John, a European male in his late twenties, received an invite from HBS, so he had extensive time to prepare, as he received his invitation on October 7, 2015 and he did not interview until mid-November.  After doing some initial self-prep (something I strongly advocate and provide materials for), John and I had our first practice on October 25.

 

What occurred in that first session was not what I had expected. Instead of becoming more comfortable with his responses through self-practice, he was extremely unprepared and began struggling for answers.  The struggle was reflected in both his speech and facial expressions. He broke down in the first session, which simply involved going over his answers to typical questions in an open style (not a mock interview). It was as if an answer was not perfect, he fell completely apart. While my Interview Experience survey had indicated that John’s behavior was highly dependent upon how the interviewer acted, John had immense anxiety about his performance, which was not what his prior interview experience had indicated, because he had done well on job interviews. I had anticipated that he would need practice but realized something much more serious was going on.

 

The first step when the coaching process breaks down, as it did with John, is for the coach to realize that whatever the expected plan for the session was, a new task needs to become the focus. The coach should move the client into the reflective space in order to deal with issue(s) that will impede further progress. In John’s case, the need was obvious, as his behavior was dangerously off-task. Directly acknowledging the issue was my first step. The next was to make John feel safe. Since asking questions that were freezing him up was not working, I asked him directly what was bothering him. He expressed a sense of being underprepared and that he felt at a loss for answers. His willingness to reflect on the situation was critical for creating a space for us to continue working. During the rest of the session, we discussed what would make him feel prepared. I got the impression that for him being prepared meant being perfect.  John seemed so rigid and wanted to have THE RIGHT ANSWER. Such answers simply don’t exist. There are many possible right answers or at least answers that are right enough. I thought that anytime his answer was not smooth he too often shut down and became flustered. His desire to be right and in control prevented him from just trying to answer a question.

 

Breakdowns continued to occur both during sessions with me and with one of my colleagues who reported on November 7^th that “he seems like a nice guy and his experience is very interesting, but that was literally one of the worst interview sessions I've had in recent memory.” Getting confirmation on a client’s behavior from a colleague helped me have confidence that my concerns were real and that John’s problem was quite serious.

 

I decided to continue using a relaxed approach focused on getting John to give a complete series of answers and restarting at any point where he broke down. Such breakdowns became occasions for helping him construct better answers.  The point to me was to convert his rigidity into flexibility but to do it gradually enough that he would not become discouraged. We had three subsequent sessions. Normally, one of my standard practices for HBS involves being a very neutral interviewer because this seems to be the worst case interviewer experience for those who have HBS interviews. (And from what my client respondents told me, no one likes neutral interviewers, whether for a job interview or an admissions interview.) However I did not do this with John as it would have enhanced his anxiety. John needed reassurance so that he could focus on performing. Instead of a mock session, we briefly discussed how to handle such a neutral interviewer. Prior to attending INSEAD, I might very well have been that neutral interviewer, but doubling down on someone’s anxiety is clearly creating harm. Instead I tried to create a safe space for John to practice a full range of questions in order for him to feel comfortable with his answers. Fortunately he reported that his actual HBS interviewers (there were two of them with one acting primarily as an observer) were friendly, which is the style I used for our mock sessions. He reported that, “I left the interview with a very good feeling. I didn't get stuck on any question and I just went with the flow.” He was admitted to HBS. Rather than working against his rigidity, accepting it and then building from it, as well as creating a place where he would feel safe seem to have been the key factors that enabled effective coaching.

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HBS MBA Admissions Interviews: Logistics and Content

 This is the first of three posts I provide advice for HBS MBA Admissions Interviews. 

 

This post discusses logistics and content.  This post also includes analysis of the Post-Interview Reflection. The second post focuses on strategy. The third post focuses on preparation. These posts  reflect the reports I have received from clients over the past several cycles since those for the Class of 2018 (Fall 2016 entry). It also reflects the changed way I advise and prep clients for HBS.

 

At the time of the blog post, 101 of my clients (mostly comprehensive counseling plus those interview only clients I worked with for 5 hours, this does not include an even larger number of  HBS admits that I worked for only 1-4 hours on interview prep) have been admitted to HBS since the entering class of 2008 (I had prior clients admitted between 2001 and 2007 before establishing my own service). My clients' results and testimonials can be found here. In addition to providing comprehensive application consulting on HBS, I regularly help some candidates with HBS interview preparation only. My clients admitted to HBS come from all over the world with high concentrations in India, Japan, Singapore, EU, UK, and US.

 

This post just describes the HBS interview with some brief analysis. In the second post, I will get really abstract, analytical, psychological, and otherwise deep. In the third post, I will be very practical, which is good since that post is on self-preparation.  If you are familiar with the logistics and contents of HBS interviews, you can skim/ignore this one. It is here mostly for those who need to some grounding in the basics before jumping into my usual guru-level goodness.  Through I think it is a good idea to review my advice on the post-interview reflection at the end of this post even if you are not interested in what follows.

 

LOGISTICS

The interviewers are members of the MBA Admissions Board or contract interviewers who often have other regular roles at HBS (some of have been doing this for well over a decade).  Some have been around forever (or something like that), others arrived more recently, but whatever the case, these people stick to their interview protocols and do a better job than any other school at being fair and giving each person who is interviewed a fair hearing.  The process of training to become an HBS interviewer involves observing interview sessions. That is why applicants will frequently report a second admissions member who was simply observing. For example, one of my clients was observed in 2024 by the new Admissions Director, Rupal Gadhia, when she was undergoing her training.  I think  it is as result of a rigorous approach to training that HBS interviewers are the best MBA admissions interviewers on the planet.

 

Scheduling your interview: HBS oversees interview slots will fill quickly so if you are invited, please select your preferred slot as quickly as possible.You will be invited for an interview and then the scheduling system will open up the next day. Even if it comes at an absolutely horrible time for you, I highly recommend getting access to that schedule and scheduling as soon as possible.  If you prefer to have as much prep time as possible, I suggest you schedule as quickly as you can.  There are three locations for interviews: Campus, hub, and online. Campus and hub interviews are conducted in-person.  For campus and online interviews you will have no idea who will be interviewed by.  For hub interviews, the interviewer may become known prior to your actual interview. In some cases, such as Sarah Lucas going to Dubai, this can often be predicted. The difference between a campus interview and other types of interviews is that campus will involve some additional informational activities for those invited, but this has no barring on the outcome.   If you prefer in-person interviews and have the money and time to travel to the hub or campus, you should do that.  If you prefer, online, do it that way.  For online interviews, see some technical advice here.  There is no inherent advantage in choosing one method of interviewing over the other two.

 

All interviews last 30 minutes and rarely exceed that time.

 

 

 

CONTENT

The HBS interview content is quite distinct from what you would find in a typical MBA interview at schools like Booth, Columbia, INSEAD, Kellogg and Tuck. It is even more different than the behavioral interviews conducted by MIT and Stanford. The HBS difference is that each applicant will be asked questions specific to them. Prior to the Class of 2018 (2016 entry), while HBS interviews were always personalized, the reports I received from clients contained more generic questions. These days the questions each applicant gets is more tailored.

 

While the admissions criteria for HBS were revised for the Class of 2027, there has been no noticeable change to the questions asked in Round One for 2025 entry. Given that being Business-Minded, Leadership-Focused, and Growth-Oriented were always core to what has been asked anyway, this is not a surprise.  That said, it is very much worth keeping those three criteria into consideration when preparing for HBS interviews.

 

A few things to keep in mind:

1. You have to be prepared for answering questions about anything you have done that is accounted for in the application. You can expect a few questions related to your academic and personal background so you have to be prepared to handle a full range of questions but don't be surprised if you only get a few or even no questions in this area.
2. You will need to be able to switch between micro/personal level and big picture questions as this can happen often. If you are a non-native English speaker, chances are even greater that you will be in an interview where the number of questions asked is extremely high (maybe not so much of a deep dive at all) because the admissions interviewer is testing your English ability: In particular, your fluency. They want to make sure you can handle the HBS classroom.  Still, HBS is famous for going in relatively deep with follow-up questions, so you have to be prepared for that as well.
3. You need the ability to both explain and evaluate. By explain, I mean you should be able to provide both  (1) detailed and succinct answers and (2) anecdotal examples (tell stories) to address a great range of questions.  By evaluate, I mean you should be able to interpret and give an opinion when asked for one.
4. Don't be surprised if much of your essay contents are not discussed in the interview but rather only few points might be referred to. After all, they want to learn things about you they can't find in the essay, so don't think it will your script. Your resume is more likely to be worth your intensive review.

 

While I can't provide a real interview report,  I have described  what to expect in an interview. I would also say that the reports I have seen on online are usually too brief and don't generally reflect the actual interview because to do so would be too revealing. It would very risky for an applicant to put up a real report on an HBS interview because the questions are too applicant specific.

 

How it will start:

-The interviewer will briefly explain how the interview is structured.

-The interviewer will likely begin asking you questions either about something in your background or by asking you about your recent work. Examples:

"Tell me about X college experience"

or

"Tell me about how (your current work, current project, Project X mentioned in application) is going.

 

-If the interviewer starts with educational or other personal background questions, they are likely to do for a few minutes before switching to asking about professional experience related questions.  Expect 1-3 personal questions before the switchover to professional questions.

-If the interviewer starts with professional related questions, which are often updates at work, they are likely to focus on professional questions for most of the interview and you can expect only a few personal related questions at the end.

 

The primary focus of HBS interviews is on the applicant's professional experience.   While other subjects are discussed, based on reports I have seen, the vast majority of questions in  all recent interviews was related to professional experience. You still have to prep for the full range of questions, but a great deal of attention should focus on your work experience, your industry, and your company. They want to see your ability to discuss and explain your industry and company beyond your own role. This is an interview that is used to determine your fitness to be an effective participant in the class and hence the focus is content related to how you could contribute your experience in class discussions.

You need to be able to do the following for all of your employers:

1. Explain and evaluate the nature of the business.

2. Explain and evaluate the industry overall and the competition.

3. Explain key concepts related to your industry and role/function.

4. Explain and evaluate your role in each function you held in the company.

 

In other words, you should be able to explain and evaluate the above in a way that would parallel how you might use your knowledge in class at HBS. 

Below is an example set of questions reflecting the above.  We will assume that the applicant has worked at two companies.

"What is the project that you are most recently involved in?" 1-2 followup questions

"Tell me more about your involvement in... another project/organizing recruiting/ supervising a team/ other examples that focus on the applicant's role. 1-2 follow-up questions.

"How did Covid (or some other major event) impact your company and your work personally?"

"What is the best part of your job?" 1-2 followup questions

"What have learned about your company as the result of your time there?" 1-2 followup questions

"Who are your company’s competitors?" 1-3 follow-up questions

"Why did you leave your prior employer to join this company?" 1-2 follow -up questions

"When you are at prior employer, tell me more about your involvement in... another project/organizing recruiting/ supervising a team/ other examples that focus on the applicant's role. 1-2 follow-up questions.

"How would you describe the difference in the work environment between these two companies?" 1-2 follow-up questions

"Can you explain more about X (X is something complex that is at the core the applicant's work)?"  1-5 follow-up questions

 

What else will be asked:

-Your goals are likely to be asked about but don't be surprised if you are not asked about why MBA or why HBS. You might be but there is a good chance, you will not be asked that.  So you have to prep for it.

"Where do you want to work post-MBA?" "Why?"

But be prepared for "Why HBS?" or "Why do you need an MBA" (these are both topics you can always bring up if asked if there is anything you want to discuss, see below)

 

-If no personal questions have been asked, you might get something related to your hobbies, interests, or background:

"Why do enjoy doing X?"

"Tell me about your involvement in X activity/group/organization/sport/team."

"What do you in your free time?"

 

-Typical MBA  interviews questions that are commonly asked but don't be surprised if you get none of these:

"What are you good at?" (What are you strengths?) or "What is one thing you are good at?"

"What aren't you good at?" (What are your weaknesses?) or "What is something you want to get better at doing?"

"What is something surprises people about you?"

 

-At the end of the interview, be prepared to be asked if there is anything else you want to discuss or questions you wish the interviewer had asked you. Have possible topics ready for this. Good topics for this:

1. Something you really wanted to discuss but did not a chance to.
2. Why HBS if this was not asked.
3. Discussion about extracurricular activities that highlight something that shows  leadership potential, teamwork skills, intellectual abilities, readiness for HBS, or something else you think HBS really needs to know about you. For example, gaining a new skill or making a big impact in a volunteer activity.

 

Please keep in mind that my discussion above reflects what MBA applicants get asked but for 2+2 applicants the contents will be different because there will be less focus on work experience. I don't work with many applicants for the 2+2 program so I don't have enough reports to write this myself. For a description of a 2+2 interview, see here.

 

After the interviewer, you will have 24 hours to write a post-interview reflection:

Reflection is an important part of the HBS learning model, so we want to get a
sense here of your real-time thoughts and learnings from the interview
conversation. It is not intended to be another formal essay!

You have 24 hours to complete this reflection. So, please take the time you need
to pause and think, but the actual writing should only take about an hour. There’s
no need to go through multiple drafts or get any outside help - we want the
reflection to be informal, unrehearsed, and in your own words. Please answer the
following prompt by uploading a document below.

Question: What was the highlight of your interview and why did this
resonate with you? Is there anything else you would like to share now that
you’ve had time to reflect on your interview? (Word guidance - 300-450
words)

This is your chance to further emphasize a key aspect of yourself covered in the interview.

To best determine what to write about,  I advise my client that right after their interview they write up a full report on the interview so they know what they discussed and so that we can determine what should go into the post-interview reflection. I suggest you do the same even if it is just for yourself.

The reflection has mandatory and optional parts to it. Anything else is optional.  Focus on the main point of the question (discuss a highlight) and thank the Admissions Board, but everything below is really optional.

Resonating Highlight; Focus on a specific aspect of the interview that you want to further emphasize. This should be something positive as a highlight is positive. Something that resonates is something that you feel a connection to. For example, if you enjoyed discussing a particular project because it highlighted your ability to make an impact, that could be a good topic. A great conversation regarding your industry or a specific issue might also be the basis for this answer.  (MANDATORY)

 

Anything Else:

-Address any concerns you have over what you said or failed to say in the interview. Sometimes you think there is something you could have said better better or did not say and want to address it.  (OPTIONAL)

-Elaborate on issues that you want to highlight that were not sufficiently focused in the interview or application. (OPTIONAL)

-Discuss something you especially want to highlight to the rest of the HBS Admissions Board even though it was discussed in the interview.  Just keep in mind that they are not asking for you to summarize the interview.  (OPTIONAL)

-Provide a brief assessment for how you think the interview went. (OPTIONAL)

 

Thank the Admissions Board and your interviewer in particular. (MANDATORY)

 

WHAT NOT TO DO: Don't write a summary of the entire interview as that is not helpful and not their question.

 

Essay length for this varies, but I would stick their suggested guideline of 300-450 words.

 

Best of luck with your HBS interview! If you want to do interview prep with me, please see here.

 

HBS Class of 2028 MBA Admission Application: Joint Degree Application Essays for HKS & SEAS

 This will be a four part series of blog posts on the essays and rest of the application for admission to the Harvard Business School Class of 2028:

-The first post focuses on overall strategy, the 3 essays and the goals statement.

-The second post focuses on the application form questions. It will focus on helping you brainstorm and develop your content.

-The third post focuses on the reapplication essay.

-This forth post is on the joint degree application essays. This post focuses on the HKS and SEAS Joint Degree programs. 

 

My three-part HBS interview prep series starts here.

 

My comprehensive service clients have been admitted to HBS for the Classes of 2027, 2026, 2025,  2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2011, 2010, and 2009. My clients' results and testimonials can be found here. In addition to providing comprehensive application consulting on HBS, I regularly help additional candidates with HBS interview preparation.  Since I started my own counseling service in 2007 (worked with many admits from 2001-2007 when I worked for a company), I have worked with 100 successful applicants from Canada, Europe, India, the Middle East, Japan, South Korea, other parts of Asia, and the United States on HBS application. I think that this range of experience has helped me understand the many possible ways of making an effective application to HBS. l I can tell you is that HBS takes a truly diverse range of people. Some had high GPAs and a great GMAT or GRE scores, others had GPAs and scores well below the 80% range for HBS, but what they all had in common were strong personal and professional backgrounds that came out in their essays.

 

 

 

HBS offers a number of Joint Degree programs with the MBA, I am only focusing on the two that I am likely to ever advise clients on.  Unlike Harvard Kennedy School, where I have been helping clients gain admission for over two decades (albeit in small numbers), SEAS is a program that I have only helped a client with once and did not work out post-HBS interview. The app was solid. We still start with  HKS.

 

 

HKS MPP or MPA-ID Joint Degree: How do you expect the joint degree experience to benefit you on both a professional and a personal level? (400 words)

My clients admitted to HKS have include both those admitted to the Joint HBS/HKS program, GSB/HKS program,  and Wharton/HKS Dual Degree program. I have also worked with applicants who were applying only to HKS. HKS provides a very different kind of education from an MBA program, more academic and obviously looking at things through the perspective of public policy, international relations, development studies, etc. For the right candidate, it provides a complementary education to what they will encounter in an MBA program.

 

 

The key challenge of writing this essay is to not duplicate what you write in the HBS essays. Use this essay to explain the synergy that will be gained from doing both degrees. The professional part seems obvious enough (What skills will you gain? What network will you gain? How will it help you with your career objectives?) but the personal part sometimes confounds my clients. I tell them to think about it terms of the perspectives they will gain and from the opportunity to be enriched by a much range of ideas but also by the fact that those who do the HKS Joint Degree are their own tribe and establish close relationships in a very different classroom atmosphere than is offered by HBS. I encourage my clients who apply for this degree to talk with alumni and current students from the program in order to gain these kind of personal insights. Dig into the HKS program either the MPP or MPA-ID and explain why you think it benefit you.

 

 

I think it is especially important that you focus on the synergies created by doing both degrees for your future career. One need not have political ambitions to attend HKS, though that is certainly possible, but may have a large number of reasons for why it makes sense. For example if you are planning to work in a highly regulated industry, work directly with government (such as the case of some consulting firms), or are interested in solving complex public/private issues, HKS could offer what you need in addition to the MBA.

 

 

 

It is important that you well align the content of your Joint Degree Essay, HBS essays, and HKS essays for your own sanity but do keep in mind that your admission to these programs is separate and each program has own its admissions. At least for HKS, I don't believe that applying for the Joint Degree has any significant impact on whether one is admitted to HBS, at least I have never seen anything indicating this.  Which is to say that I don't think applying for the Joint Degree improves or decreases ones chance of admission at HBS.  It is an additional one year commitment, so just make sure you are ready to spend three years in school.

 

 

Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) Joint Degree

Essay Question: The MS/MBA program is focused on design, innovation, and entrepreneurship within a technical/engineering context. Describe your past experiences in these areas and your reasons for pursuing a program with this focus.

(Recommended: 500 words)

Keep in mind that your overall personal background should be in the main HBS MBA essays and not here. Make sure you effectively align the MBA essays, the SEAS essay, and the 500 character goals statement so that they support and don't overly duplicate each other, though some overlap (see below) is inevitable. The SEAS essay consists of two parts:

 

PART 1: Discuss past experiences with design innovation, and/or entrepreneurship within a technical engineering content. If you don't have any past professional, academic, or other experience in any of these areas, the program is not for you.  Assume that you should be spending at least half if not more of the essay providing an analysis of those experiences. Your resume and application form should back-up what you write about in the essay. My suggestion would be to highlight 2-4 specific ways your past experience demonstrates your fit for the program.

 

PART 2: Discuss reasons for pursing the program. The reasons would relate directly to your post-MBA objectives, so there should be some inherent overlap between this essay and what you write in the 500 character goals statement (see below regarding that). You should certainly justify why the program is right for you based on what you can read about on the program website.   I would also suggest reading a Q&A with the program's co-chair. When explaining why you want to attend a program, do not just make a series of dumb lists of classes or tell the program about itself, but explains what you want form the program.   You need not mention the names of particular courses as long as it would be clear to your reader that your learning needs align well with curriculum.  If you have a particular interest in a more specialized course or studying with a particular professor, it might be worth mentioning it as long as it is an explanation of why you want to study the subject and not based on circular reasoning;

 

 An example of circular (tautological) reasoning:  "I want to take Integrated Design because I am interested in learning about integrated design."This kind of circular reasoning is so common. Usually, it takes place within a paragraph consisting of many such sentences. They actually convey nothing about the applicant.  They are just abstract needs and will have limited impact on your reader.  The admissions reader wants to learn about you, not about their own program.

 

 

 An example of an explanation for why:  "While I have been exposed to some user design issues,  I presently lack the kind of comprehensive understanding of design issues that are critical to my future goals...."  A complete explanation would include additional details about the kind of issues that the applicant is interested in learning about and/or specific ways the applicant intended to apply what he or she would learn at Harvard to those goals.  By focusing on very specific learning needs and explaining those needs in relationship to one's goals and/or past experience, the admissions reader will be learning about you.

 

 

Just as with HKS, I would not assume any advantage in terms of admissions outcomes by applying for the SEAS Joint Degree.

 

Best of luck with your application to HBS!

HBS Class of 2028 MBA Admission Application: The Reapplication Essay

 This will be a four part series of blog posts on the essays and rest of the application for admission to the Harvard Business School Class of 2028:

-The first post focuses on overall strategy, the 3 essays and the goals statement.

-The second post focuses on the application form questions. It will focus on helping you brainstorm and develop your content.

-This third post focuses on the reapplication essay.

-The forth post is on the joint degree application essays.

 

My three-part HBS interview prep series starts here.

 

My comprehensive service clients have been admitted to HBS for the Classes of  2027, 2026, 2025,  2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2011, 2010, and 2009. My clients' results and testimonials can be found here. In addition to providing comprehensive application consulting on HBS, I regularly help additional candidates with HBS interview preparation.  Since I started my own counseling service in 2007 (worked with many admits from 2001-2007 when I worked for a company), I have worked with 100 successful applicants from Canada, Europe, India, the Middle East, Japan, South Korea, other parts of Asia, and the United States on HBS application. I think that this range of experience has helped me understand the many possible ways of making an effective application to HBS. l I can tell you is that HBS takes a truly diverse range of people. Some had high GPAs and a great GMAT or GRE scores, others had GPAs and scores well below the 80% range for HBS, but what they all had in common were strong personal and professional backgrounds that came out in their essays.

 

 

HBS REAPPLICANTS:

[Required] Please use this space to share with the Admissions Committee how you have reflected and grown since your previous application and discuss any relevant updates to your candidacy (e.g., changes in your professional life, additional coursework, and extracurricular/volunteer engagements). (250 word limit)

 

The reap essay was new to HBS for the Class of 2025 and is a great addition to the HBS MBA application. It makes a lot of sense to decide to what you will cover in this reapplication essay once you have a high degree of clarity about what will be covered in the three main essays and goals statement.

 

 

It is critical that you showcase what has changed since your last application that now makes you a better candidate.  In my experience working with many successful reapplicants to HBS, career growth and greater self-reflection are the two most non-test score based ways for showing improvement. A part of your self-reflection might be significantly altered career goals. I think it is reasonable that they may have altered since your last application, but if the change is extreme, you had better explain why here as the 500-character (approx 100 words) is not the place to explain that change. HBS is not into the "Why HBS Question" in their essays and interviews. For  schools like Columbia and Wharton, I generally recommend making a clear case for why you are better fit or can contribute more now. It is fine to use that same rhetoric in this essay, but less critical than really highlighting what has improved about you as an applicant in terms of professional, academic, and extracurricular/volunteer activities. For more about reapplication, please see the Reapplication section of my Key Posts page.

 

 

An essay of 250 words is long enough to write effectively on 2-4 topics.  My suggestion is that you view this essay as interconnected with the rest of the essay set. In other words, decide what stories or aspects of stories you are highlighting in all your essays and don't repeat the same thing about the same thing.  For example,  it t would be perfectly reasonable to mention the same topic, for example a specific work related accomplishment, where you focus on the leadership aspect in The Leadership Essay and focus on how it enhanced your understanding of  your industry  or highlights your innovative problem solving in the Reap essay.

 

Given that HBS is not focused on the why HBS question, please don't waste word count on HBS in this essay unless it is something really valuable to mention.  Visiting HBS or talking with alumni, for example, would not be worth wasting word count here.  On the hand, if you have something substantive to mention, feel free to mention. HBS is not especially interested  on contribution answers (they rarely if ever ask about how you will contribute at HBS during an interview)  so unless you have a specifically awesome contribution, don't bother with that either.

 

 

I think one of the great ways to use this essay is to cover something or things about you that you are not able to write about in your other HBS essays. For example if you feel like you really want to highlight a specific accomplishment that just does not fit into the other essays as long as you can show how it makes you a better candidate now,  you can write about it here.

 

 

Below is the Reapplicant Page. You will find further advice after that on some of the items mentioned below. 

 

Previous Application

 

Have you previously applied to HBS?

YesNo

How many times have you applied to HBS?

Please indicate the most recent entering year for which you applied:

Previous application program:

MBA2+2

Were you previously interviewed?

YesNo

Were you previously admitted?

YesNo

Were you previously waitlisted?

YesNo

 

 

 

With respect to the number of times one has applied, clients and potential clients often ask me about about whether it is possible to get into HBS if you have been rejected multiple times. The answer is yes. I have worked with clients who applied to HBS 2-4 times before and were admitted.  HBS has always taken a very positive approach to reapplicants and will admit those who have been rejected both with and without interview.   Do keep in mind that rejection in a prior year is not necessarily an indicator that one will be rejected in the current year. Improvements in your profile as well as an enhanced application can make a real difference.  Also keep in mind that you can get rejected for issues that don't relate specifically to you. For more about that see here.

 

One of the largest pools of reapplicants are those that previously applied to 2+2.  For such candidates, their situation will have changed so greatly that writing about what has changed is very easy as they now have work experience. It is entirely possible that such candidates profiles, goals, and key stories will have so greatly changed that the reap essay should focus on how the applicant has grown and matured since the 2+2. This is actually a much easier task than highlighting changes for someone who is just reapplying a year after getting rejected because the amount of change from being a college student to even someone with work experience is generally great.

 

 

I have not worked with someone who was previously admitted to HBS and is reapplying. I have experience with that  for other schools. In such situations I have recommended explaining why now rather than previously is the right time to enter the program. The argument involves showing what has changed, just like with any other reeapplicant, except the emphasis is explaining why you are now ready to commit to HBS.

 

 

If you have been rejected from HBS after interviewing there, please consider why.  In some cases, it may not be obvious to you.  If so, there is nothing to necessarily add into the essay about it.  On the other hand if you think you gave weak answers to a particular question, consider how you will mitigate that in what you write in the reap essay or in the other essays. If your English ability or communication in general was an issue, highlight how you have improved in that area. And if you know your interview was bad, please prepare better if you are invited again.  For HBS interview prep, please see here.

 

 

If you were previously waitlisted at HBS, don't assume it will be any easier getting in this time.  Waitlisted applicants could have made it in, but did not.  There is no inherent advantage to having been previously waitlisted at HBS because they look anew at a new application. Assume that there is something(s) you need to improve on and use the reapplicant essay to show improvement.

 

 

Best of luck with your new application to HBS!

HBS Class of 2028 MBA Admission Application: The Application Form

 This will be a four part series of blog posts on the essays and rest of the application for admission to the Harvard Business School Class of 2028:

-The first post focuses on overall strategy, the 3 essays and the goals statement.

-This second post focuses on the application form questions. It will focus on helping you brainstorm and develop your content.

-The third post focuses on the reapplication essay.

-The forth post is on the joint degree application essays.

My three-part HBS interview prep series starts here.

 

My comprehensive service clients have been admitted to HBS for the Classes of  2027, 2026, 2025,  2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2011, 2010, and 2009. My clients' results and testimonials can be found here. In addition to providing comprehensive application consulting on HBS, I regularly help additional candidates with HBS interview preparation.  Since I started my own counseling service in 2007 (worked with many admits from 2001-2007 when I worked for a company), I have worked with 100 successful applicants from Canada, Europe, India, the Middle East, Japan, South Korea, other parts of Asia, and the United States on HBS application. I think that this range of experience has helped me understand the many possible ways of making an effective application to HBS. l I can tell you is that HBS takes a truly diverse range of people. Some had high GPAs and a great GMAT or GRE scores, others had GPAs and scores well below the 80% range for HBS, but what they all had in common were strong personal and professional backgrounds that came out in their essays.

 

THE HBS APPLICATION FORM

 

I don't generally discuss the details of a school's application on this blog, but have done so with HBS for the past several years.   There are a few reasons I do this for HBS:

1. I assume with the HBS application form every subjective content on your part matters.
2. HBS is very specific in what they ask for and this requires applicants to make a number of significant decisions about what to emphasize.
3. I work with a lot of clients who apply to HBS and many who get in, so this is a good app for me to analyze in detail.
4. While not all online apps are the same, once you understand how one works, it makes it easy to do the rest. While GSB has a more exhaustive application form, HBS requires harder choices of what to include.  Practically speaking I would generally recommend doing GSB first before HBS, but content-wise HBS is the harder egg to crack and hence better for me to review comprehensively.

 

We will go page by page. Fortunately it is very easy to cut and past the app form into my blog. However the formatting is a bit of a mess below which happens when one pastes HTML code from one page into another.  I am not enough of a perfectionist to try and fix the HTML so sorry for the ugliness, but if you read my blog because of my lovely design and consistent formatting,  you need to check your eyes.

 

I am only focusing on questions with highly subjective content, since these are the ones clients ask me about.

 

I will not be covering the Goals Statement here since that was covered in the prior post and will not cover reapplication here because that will be covered in the next post.

 

My advice will appear after the relevant app content and be marked "ADVICE."

 

Some general advice when filling out the HBS application:

OVERALL STRATEGY: Keep the HBS admission criteria of being Business-Minded, Leadership-Focused, and Growth-Oriented in mind. I discuss these criteria in the first post.  This does not mean that everything you fill out in the application form directly relates to these criteria, but certain answers certainly will.  Sometimes your answers will simply be fact-based explanations that don't directly relate to these core criteria but will help contextualize your relationship to these criteria.  For example, your family background may directly relate to any of these three criteria very directly, but sometimes will just help the reader better understand your background that have impacted your life-choices, opportunities, and challenges.

ESSAY ALIGNMENT STRATEGY:  Since the HBS essays are very short, you simply cannot explain the full context to almost anything you are writing about. The application form and resume as well as the recommendations can provide that context.  Once your essays are done, you may find that come content can be removed from them because it is covered in the rest of the application.

RESUME VERSUS APPLICATION FORM: My clients frequently have questions about what should be on the resume versus what should be in the application form and whether it is redundant to include things on both.  I will discuss this issue on a case-by-case basis below for some of the most common areas of overlap.  Overlap between the two is inevitable.  The point is to maximize both the application form and resume.

ACCURACY OF INFORMATION:  It is important that the information you provide is accurate. This is especially the case for anything that could be independently verified.

LIMITED LENGTH ANSWERS:  Given limited length, every character or word counts. Use character efficient wording, Arabic numerals, minimize punctuation, don't use quotation marks, never double space, and remove all extraneous words such as "various."

 

PERSONAL

Geographic Background

As we try to get to know you, it is helpful for us to learn about where you grew up – for many people that could mean more than one place! Please share with us where you spent the majority of your life from birth to age 18. If you moved around during this time, feel free to share that as well.

Country

AfghanistanAland IslandsAlbaniaAlgeriaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAshmore and Cartier IslandsAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamas, TheBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBassas Da IndiaBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBoliviaBonaire, Sint Eustatius, and ...Bosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBritish Virgin IslandsBruneiBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandClipperton IslandCocos Islands (Keeling Islands)ColombiaComorosCongo (Brazzaville)Congo (Kinshasa)Cook IslandsCoral Sea IslandsCosta RicaCote D'IvoireCroatiaCubaCuracaoCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEswatiniEthiopiaEuropa IslandFalkland Islands (Islas Malvi...Faroe IslandsFederated States of MicronesiaFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern and Antarctic...GabonGambia, TheGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGlorioso IslandsGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard Island and McDonald Isl...HondurasHong Kong S.A.R.HungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIranIraqIrelandIsraelItalyJamaicaJan MayenJapanJerseyJordanJuan De Nova IslandKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKorea, NorthKorea, SouthKosovoKuwaitKyrgyzstanLaosLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacau S.A.R.Macedonia, Republic of NorthMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMan, Isle ofMarshall IslandsMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMoldovaMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorwayOmanPakistanPalau, the Pacific Islands ofPalestinePanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairn IslandsPolandPortugalQatarReunionRomaniaRussiaRwandaSaint BarthelemySaint HelenaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint MartinSaint Pierre and MiquelonSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint MaartenSlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South S...South SudanSpainSpratly IslandsSri LankaSudanSurinameSvalbardSwedenSwitzerlandSyriaTaiwanTajikistanTanzaniaThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTromelin IslandTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVatican CityVenezuelaVietnamWallis and Futuna IslandsWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabwe

City

State

Select StateAlabamaAlaskaAmerican SamoaAPO/FPO (AA)APO/FPO (AE)APO/FPO (AP)ArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaFederated States of MicronesiaFloridaGeorgiaGuamHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMariana IslandsMarshall IslandsMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPalauPennsylvaniaPuerto RicoRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirgin Islands, U.S.VirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming

Postal Code

Additional Context:

250 Characters

 

ADVICE: While some of this information may have been communicated in your essay, you should feel free to leverage this space to explain circumstances around where lived between 0-18.  If you were raised in multiple countries or locations you can explain that in the Additional Context answer. You should not feel obligated to write anything here if there is nothing worth noting. Some possible topics:

1. Growing up in multiple geographies
2. Growing up as a minority in your community.
3. Growing up in a location where the primary language was not your primary language.
4. Growing up in a location that your family has deep ties to.
5.  The personal significance of where you grew up. The impact of that place(s) on you.
6.  Context related to one or more of your essays.

 

 

 

FAMILY

 

Additional Family Context

Are you a first-generation college student? (If none of your parents/guardians/responsible adults graduated from a four-year college or university with a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent, please select yes.)

YesNo

Please use this section to share any additional information about your family background. (Optional)

250 characters remaining

 

ADVICE:  This is space for discussing issues in your family background that HBS should know about if they impacted your life. For example, if you come from a family with very limited economic resources it would be something that could be discussed here.  If you are first generation college student, you can use the additional info to discuss that if you like.  Possible topics:

1. Major positive or negative impacts of your family on you.
2.  Economic considerations that impacted your family life.
3. The ethnic, religious, or other identity of your family and its impact on you.
4. The culture or values of your family and its impact on you.
5.  Context related to one or more of your essays.

 

 

 

RESUME

Please provide a current resume or CV. Ideally, this would be about 1-2 pages in length and include dates and locations of your employment.

Work Experience. We often get questions about the amount of work experience we look for in our review process. As the case method relies on exchanging perspectives, the Admissions Board recommends that applicants have at least two years of full-time work experience (prior to enrolling). If you are currently an undergraduate student, you may be eligible for the 2+2 Deferred Admission Program.

How many months of post-college full-time work experience will you have upon enrolling in August 2025?

 

 

ADVICE: The resume has always been an important part of any MBA application.  You can find a resume template I have linked to on my blog here.  That resume template can also simply serve as a checklist for what to include.   I think it best to think of a resume as a record of accomplishment. If you have sufficient accomplishments, 2 pages is possible. However, please keep in mind that almost all other MBA programs want one page. Also, while HBS will take a 2 page resume, HBS also loves brevity, so only use more than a page if it is really justified.  Excess detail that creates lack of clarity and focus to what you want to present yourself is one major danger with any resume and more likely to occur with 2 pages.  Older applicants with a number of different roles/employers and those with extensive accomplishments that simply cannot be effectively accounted for are the most likely to need 2 pages.

 

Some applicants try to a use an MBA student's recruitment resume format as the basis for their own resume, but I don't consider this a good idea as such resumes serve a very different purpose.  An MBA resume should really designed to focus on you overall, that is your academic, professional, and personal accomplishments and key facts. A recruiting resume is meant for a different kind of audience, recruiters, and typically focuses on a much more narrow range of information.

 

When I first start working comprehensively with any client, whether they are applying to HBS or not, I always start with the resume for a couple of reasons:

1.  It is a great way for any applicant to summarize the most important information about themselves and their accomplishments. It sometimes helps applicants actually remind themselves of what they have done.

2.  For me, it is a way I learn about a client so that I can better understand their background. Without it, I cannot even begin to really advise on what should be in essays.

One key thing to remember about what you include on your resume:  Anything that is there, just like any component of the application, may become the basis for a HBS interview question. Therefore if you don't want to talk about it and don't need to write about it, leave it off the resume.

 

I included the "Work Experience" statement here to just remind readers that it is fine to have less than 2 years of experience when you apply to HBS, but you must have 2 years of experience prior to entering HBS in August.

 

GAPS IN EMPLOYMENT

Do you have any gaps in your employment history?

YesNo

Please explain:

1000 characters remaining

 

ADVICE:  Many applicants have gaps in employment. For some recent advice from the Harvard Business Review, see this short article on explaining gaps.  While HBS does not define what a gap is, some other schools specify 3 months or more. In general, I think that 3 months is a good standard for what would be considered a gap.

 

The most important thing to do with a gap is explain it. Childcare, a family emergency,  a major health issue, job loss, long vacations, becoming a trailing partner due to your significant other gaining employment or entering into graduate school in a new location, etc. are all valid gaps.

 

What would be an invalid gap:  "I quit my job to party for a while and live off my savings.  While many have benefitted from prolonged periods of hedonism, don't write about that here.  Travel is totally valid just explain what you got out of it.

 

 

A clear just the facts explanation is best. This is not essay, it is an explanation.

 

 

 

 

Employment

"We're eager to learn more about your work experience – beyond what’s on your resume! While your resume provides a great overview, we look to this section of the application for context and thoughtful reflection on all that you’ve achieved in a professional setting. We know a few of the questions on this page may seem duplicative to what’s on your resume, and we encourage you to use the short answers here to give us insight into your experience that we wouldn’t get anywhere else. Feel free to let your personality show through as you answer these questions!

You have space to report up to three employers. Generally, we ask that you list an employer once, even if you’ve had different roles with that employer (for example, if you've been promoted). However, you are welcome to list the same employer twice if you feel the nature of your work changed substantially across roles (for example, moving to a different division or business unit). It’s up to you.

Here are some other tips to keep in mind:

• Put your current or most recent employer first. If you have multiple current employers, list your primary role first.
• Please report your annual salary and bonus in U.S. dollars. Use any currency conversion scale you like. When reporting your salary and/or bonus, please don’t include any additional compensation, like housing or relocation allowances, cost of living adjustments, tax exemptions, combat or hazardous duty pay, stock or equity options, etc. Note that salary is not a critical evaluation metric. We sometimes look at this information as one of many factors we consider to better understand role and progression, but always within country, regional, industry, and company context."

 

ADVICE: To some extent this information will overlap with the resume. This is nothing to worry about. That said the challenge question ("Most Significant Challenge" 250 characters) in particular is very possibly something you would not be covering in your resume.  Regarding the accomplishments, they ask for multiple ones, so it is best to provide two or three.

 

Note the point about U.S. dollars.  One reason I always tell my clients to put all amounts in their applications in USD when applying to a US school is because it makes it easy for your reader to understand.  HBS adcom, like any admissions office, does not want to spend time trying to figure out the amount of something.

 

ADVICE on Employer form below: You can only list three employers, so if you have more than choose wisely.  One justification for using a two page resume would be to fully elaborate on positions you can't account for here.  However only do that if you feel you simply can't account for everything important.   I am showing the full form here but only commenting on its subjective elements.

Employer 1 (current or most recent employer)

Search by employer name:

 

My employer is not listed

Details

Division / Unit / Office / Group

Industry (full list here)

ConsultingConsumer Products / Retail / E-CommerceFinancial ServicesHealth Care / BiotechManufacturing / Industrial / EnergyMedia / Entertainment / TravelMilitaryNon-Profit / Government / EducationServicesTechnologyVenture Capital / Private Equity

Annual Revenue

0Less than 1 million1-29 million30-99 million100-499 million500-999 million1-2.5 billion2.5-5 billion5-10 billionMore than 10 billion

Number of Employees

Sole ProprietorFewer than 1010-4950-99100-499500-9991000-19992000-49995000-999910000-1999920000 or more

Website

Phone Number

Your Workplace Location:

Country

AfghanistanAland IslandsAlbaniaAlgeriaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAshmore and Cartier IslandsAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamas, TheBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBassas Da IndiaBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBoliviaBonaire, Sint Eustatius, and ...Bosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBritish Virgin IslandsBruneiBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandClipperton IslandCocos Islands (Keeling Islands)ColombiaComorosCongo (Brazzaville)Congo (Kinshasa)Cook IslandsCoral Sea IslandsCosta RicaCote D'IvoireCroatiaCubaCuracaoCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEswatiniEthiopiaEuropa IslandFalkland Islands (Islas Malvi...Faroe IslandsFederated States of MicronesiaFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern and Antarctic...GabonGambia, TheGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGlorioso IslandsGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard Island and McDonald Isl...HondurasHong Kong S.A.R.HungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIranIraqIrelandIsraelItalyJamaicaJan MayenJapanJerseyJordanJuan De Nova IslandKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKorea, NorthKorea, SouthKosovoKuwaitKyrgyzstanLaosLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacau S.A.R.Macedonia, Republic of NorthMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMan, Isle ofMarshall IslandsMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMoldovaMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorwayOmanPakistanPalau, the Pacific Islands ofPalestinePanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairn IslandsPolandPortugalQatarReunionRomaniaRussiaRwandaSaint BarthelemySaint HelenaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint MartinSaint Pierre and MiquelonSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint MaartenSlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South S...South SudanSpainSpratly IslandsSri LankaSudanSurinameSvalbardSwedenSwitzerlandSyriaTaiwanTajikistanTanzaniaThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTromelin IslandTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVatican CityVenezuelaVietnamWallis and Futuna IslandsWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabwe

City

State

Select StateAlabamaAlaskaAmerican SamoaAPO/FPO (AA)APO/FPO (AE)APO/FPO (AP)ArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaFederated States of MicronesiaFloridaGeorgiaGuamHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMariana IslandsMarshall IslandsMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPalauPennsylvaniaPuerto RicoRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirgin Islands, U.S.VirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming

Postal Code

Status

Current employer?

YesNo

Start Date

JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember1970197119721973197419751976197719781979198019811982198319841985198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024

End Date

JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember19701971197219731974197519761977197819791980198119821983198419851986198719881989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025

Current or Most Recent Role

Title

Function

Accounting/ControlBusiness DevelopmentConsultingCorporate DevelopmentCreative Design / Visual DesignData Analytics / Business IntelligenceEngineering: Mechanical / CivilEngineering: OtherEngineering: Software / Full-StackEntrepreneurship: FounderEntrepreneurship: Multi-Function RoleEnvironment / Health / SafetyFinance: Investment AdvisingFinance: Investment ManagementFinance: Investor RelationsFinance: LendingFinance: Mergers / AcquisitionsFinance: ResearchFinance: Sales / TradingFinance: Treasury / AnalysisFinance: Underwriting / AdvisingFinance: Wealth ManagementFundraising / Organizational DevelopmentGeneral ManagementHuman Resources / Human CapitalLegal ServicesLogisticsMarketing: AdvertisingMarketing: Brand ManagementMarketing: CommunicationsMarketing: Digital / Social MediaMarketing: GeneralMarketing: ResearchMarketing: SalesMedical Services ProviderMilitary: EnlistedMilitary: Non-Commissioned OfficerMilitary: OfficerOperations / ManufacturingProduct DevelopmentProduct ManagementProject ManagementPublic RelationsPurchasingReal EstateResearch and DevelopmentStrategic PlanningTeachingOther

Type

Full TimePart TimeInternshipExternship/SecondmentOther

Annualized Salary

Annual Bonus

First or Initial Role (Repeat your current/most recent role if you've only had one.)

Title

Function

Accounting/ControlBusiness DevelopmentConsultingCorporate DevelopmentCreative Design / Visual DesignData Analytics / Business IntelligenceEngineering: Mechanical / CivilEngineering: OtherEngineering: Software / Full-StackEntrepreneurship: FounderEntrepreneurship: Multi-Function RoleEnvironment / Health / SafetyFinance: Investment AdvisingFinance: Investment ManagementFinance: Investor RelationsFinance: LendingFinance: Mergers / AcquisitionsFinance: ResearchFinance: Sales / TradingFinance: Treasury / AnalysisFinance: Underwriting / AdvisingFinance: Wealth ManagementFundraising / Organizational DevelopmentGeneral ManagementHuman Resources / Human CapitalLegal ServicesLogisticsMarketing: AdvertisingMarketing: Brand ManagementMarketing: CommunicationsMarketing: Digital / Social MediaMarketing: GeneralMarketing: ResearchMarketing: SalesMedical Services ProviderMilitary: EnlistedMilitary: Non-Commissioned OfficerMilitary: OfficerOperations / ManufacturingProduct DevelopmentProduct ManagementProject ManagementPublic RelationsPurchasingReal EstateResearch and DevelopmentStrategic PlanningTeachingOther

Type

Full TimePart TimeInternshipExternship/SecondmentOther

Annualized Salary

Annual Bonus

Short Answers

Are you a founder or co-founder of this organization?

YesNo

Does your family own or operate this organization?

YesNo

 

 

EMPLOYER DESCRIPTION 

250 characters remaining

ADVICE:  Provide a clear description of the company. Fine to focus on the specific part of the employer you worked for.  This is especially a good idea if you were employed by a large organization.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PLEASE briefly explain your role within your organization without using jargon or technical terms.

250 characters remaining

ADVICE:  As the instructions indicate keep this description of  your role simple to understand. Overlap with the resume is very possible here and no problem.  This answer does not require being clever but being clear and direct.

 

 

 

 

REASON FOR LEAVING

250 characters remaining

ADVICE: The reason for leaving is often best stated as the justification for the next position you took, but in some cases, it will be necessary to mention things like the company firing you or going out of business.  If the issue involved in you leaving is negative, just address it directly and if necessary elaborate on it in the Supplemental Information section or Gap section.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

250 characters remaining

ADVICE: Clearly it is impossible to highlight these accomplishmentS in detail. Since they are asking for multiple, it is a good idea to provide two here as they are asking for multiple. This will overlap with the resume in almost all cases and might overlap with the essays as well.   Keep in mind that whatever  you mention here, you are likely highlighting a potential interview question topic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MOST SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGE

250 characters remaining

ADVICE: This is a unique question and one that does require being clever. If you have multiple Employers, your answers to this question should highlight different challenges you encountered.

Challenges are just hard things you encountered.  Hopefully you will be highlighting your ability to manage/overcome/mitigate the challenge encountered.  HBS is not asking for a failure here, they are asking for something really hard that you had to deal with. Good answers will highlight a key selling point about you. In general, I suggest trying to avoid overlap with the essays in terms of what mini-challenge you focus on though it could certainly relate to a story discussed in your essays.

 

 

 

 

Education

ADVICE: ACADEMIC TRANSCRIPTS

First, keep in mind that admissions officers read transcripts and are trained to know what they are reading. They don't just look at GPA  (If your school calculates it).  If there is something really bad on your transcript (a fail, a withdrawal, etc) or odd, you really do want to explain it in the 500 character (not word) Additional Section. If is just a C and you have no specific excuse, don't bother trying to explain it.  If your academic performance varied greatly from year to year (or semester to semester), was there a reason for it?  Is it one that you want to provide? For example, if you were taking a major leadership position in a student organization, running a start-up, working a lot to pay for school,  doing major research, experienced a major illness or misfortune,  or playing a varsity sport, you do have a topic worth discussing. Finally, If your transcript,  GMAT/GRE, or resume don't indicate that you have solid quantitative skills, you should explain why you do if you can. The proper place to provide that explanation is in the additional section.

 

 

 

 

Academic Disciplinary Action
Have you ever been the subject of disciplinary action at an academic institution (including, but not limited to, violations of academic integrity)? YesNo
Please explain: 600 characters remaining

 

ADVICE: While most applicants will not have to deal with this rather unpleasant topic, if you have to do so because the disciplinary action is (1) can found through a Google search and/or (2) indicated in your university transcript, then approach it with directness and honesty.  Document the situation and outcome. Provide any links or other evidence as required.   Filling this out will not doom your application, but failing to do so if this issue is easily discovered, will do so. Treat this with utmost seriousness.

 

I have worked with just a couple of clients in the past who had to answer this question.  Based on their admissions results, I think being honest and direct about something that had to be discussed did not hurt them. They way they handled it was to explain what happened, explain any mitigating circumstances, explain their positive response to what occurred, provide referrals to authority who could verify their actions and/or include links to publicly available online information about the situation. The pathway to successfully handling such a situation is to be honest and direct.

 

However, be absolutely certain you are doing this because you have to. When not to complete this: I would not advise providing this information if it is non-discoverable.  In other words, if you were subject to disciplinary action during junior high or high school or university  and no one could know that, I would not report it.  If there is nothing in university transcripts and nothing discoverable online,  you are essentially providing information that  cannot be verified, which is not helpful to you.   Additionally, if you were subject to disciplinary action during university and it is not on your transcript and is not public, it is actually ambiguous as to whether it even fits here because there is nothing official that can be easily confirmed.

 

Activities

List up to three activities in order of importance to you (i.e., list the most important first). Please tell us about the things you do or have done while not at work or in class – there are no "wrong answers" here. Include activities such as community service, engagement with campus organizations, family obligations, or religious activities. We use this section mostly to get a sense of how you spend time outside of the classroom and workplace. If there are additional activities you wish to tell us about, please include them on your resume/CV.

Order of Importance
Activity
Your Role
Country	AfghanistanAland IslandsAlbaniaAlgeriaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAshmore and Cartier IslandsAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamas, TheBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBassas Da IndiaBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBoliviaBonaire, Sint Eustatius, and ...Bosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBritish Virgin IslandsBruneiBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandClipperton IslandCocos Islands (Keeling Islands)ColombiaComorosCongo (Brazzaville)Congo (Kinshasa)Cook IslandsCoral Sea IslandsCosta RicaCote D'IvoireCroatiaCubaCuracaoCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEswatiniEthiopiaEuropa IslandFalkland Islands (Islas Malvi...Faroe IslandsFederated States of MicronesiaFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern and Antarctic...GabonGambia, TheGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGlorioso IslandsGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard Island and McDonald Isl...HondurasHong Kong S.A.R.HungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIranIraqIrelandIsraelItalyJamaicaJan MayenJapanJerseyJordanJuan De Nova IslandKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKorea, NorthKorea, SouthKosovoKuwaitKyrgyzstanLaosLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacau S.A.R.Macedonia, Republic of NorthMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMan, Isle ofMarshall IslandsMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMoldovaMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorwayOmanPakistanPalau, the Pacific Islands ofPalestinePanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairn IslandsPolandPortugalQatarReunionRomaniaRussiaRwandaSaint BarthelemySaint HelenaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint MartinSaint Pierre and MiquelonSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint MaartenSlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South S...South SudanSpainSpratly IslandsSri LankaSudanSurinameSvalbardSwedenSwitzerlandSyriaTaiwanTajikistanTanzaniaThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTromelin IslandTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVatican CityVenezuelaVietnamWallis and Futuna IslandsWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabwe
City
State	Select StateAlabamaAlaskaAmerican SamoaAPO/FPO (AA)APO/FPO (AE)APO/FPO (AP)ArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaFederated States of MicronesiaFloridaGeorgiaGuamHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMariana IslandsMarshall IslandsMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPalauPennsylvaniaPuerto RicoRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirgin Islands, U.S.VirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming
Dates of Participation	JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember20242023202220212020201920182017201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990198919881987198619851984198319821981198019791978197719761975toPresentJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember20242023202220212020201920182017201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990198919881987198619851984198319821981198019791978197719761975
Description (360 char. max)

Activity Type	College/UniversityCommunityOther

ADVICE:

Given HBS' instructions on this, I do highly recommend including your best extracurricular activities that showcase your leadership and community engagement and/or unique experiences/interests. If you have done nothing impressive extracurricular-wise after graduating and have 3 good activities from university, feel free to just use use this section for those activities. If you did nothing but study during college or university and really have no activities, hopefully you have three post-college things to include.  If you have any activities that are directly relevant to your professional goals or to your personal story and you really want to emphasize them, use this space accordingly. While I would surely emphasize the most impressive activities, if you need to focus on personal interests that were not group focused (running for example) because you simply don't anything better, put it here.  Activities that show you are well-rounded, civically engaged, artistic, athletic are all possibilities here.

 

Keep in mind that extracurricular activities can (and usually should)  also be fully accounted for on the resume.  Also, if you are not using the space for anything else, the 75 word supplemental information  section could be used for elaborating on anything you consider really important, but could not include in this section or in the resume.

 

Awards and Recognition

List any distinctions, honors, and awards (academic, military, extracurricular, professional, community) in order of importance to you (i.e., list the most important first). You may list up to three awards.

 

Title

Date

JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember2025202420232022202120202019201820172016201520142013201220112010200920082007200620052004200320022001200019991998199719961995199419931992199119901989198819871986198519841983198219811980

Basis of Selection (200 character limit)

ADVICE: For some applicants this section is really easy to fill out because they have won a number of awards, distinctions, or honors and just need to prioritize them. Other candidates will freak out about this section because they never won anything that they think fits.  While, it is sometimes really the case that I will have perfectly great applicant who has nothing to report in this section, most applicants are actually likely to have something.  HBS is not asking you a narrow question here, so think broadly.  It is possible that this section will overlap with the resume, employment, essay, or extracurricular section of the application.  With respect to what to mention, this is so case-by-case that any attempt to provide general advice on it, may prove unhelpful. That said I would prioritize university or later awards and not those prior to university unless they are outstanding.  If you became a Chess Grand Master at age 15,  won national or international level sports competitions, or 5 Grammy's when you are barely 18 (Don't worry Billie Eilish is not your competition for a seat at HBS), et al than certainly mention pre-college stuff.

 

One way to get an extra activity into the resume is to mention an activity that resulted in an Award or Recognition here and not in the Activities section.

 

 

 

Test Scores

Writing Assessment

Writing is an essential component of the MBA program. Therefore, to be admitted to HBS all students must have an official writing assessment. You can satisfy this with a valid GRE, GMAT (10^th Edition), or English language test score (for those whom English test is required). If you only submitted the GMAT (Focus Edition), which lacks a writing section, HBS will contact you at the interview stage about taking the separate GMAC Business Writing Assessment. If you wish to take the GMAC Business Writing Assessment before knowing your interview status, here is the link.

Note: Because the written application has plenty of opportunities to showcase your writing abilities (e.g. essays, short answers), you will not be at a disadvantage if you do not include the GMAC Business Writing Assessment until after you are invited to interview.

ADVICE: If you take GMAT Focus and did not take an English language test, you will need to the GMAC Writing Assessment if you are offered an interview.  Amongst the M7, only HBS and MIT (not in all cases) will require a writing exam (GMAC Business Writing Assessment) for those invited for interview who took GMAT Focus and did not take an IELTS or TOEFL. I see nothing on the websites for Booth, CBS, Kellogg, Stanford, and Wharton indicating a need for a writing exam result. GRE includes a writing test. Unless an applicant applying with GMAT Focus needs an English test score, taking the GMAC Writing Exam is cheap and fast (30 minutes, $30) compared to TOEFL (116 minutes, approx $200 depends on country) and IELTS (165 minutes, really variable India- 17K INR, $203; Japan 27K JPY, $171; US $280-340). Anyway, if you took GMAT Focus, don't worry about taking this test until you get an invite unless you just like taking tests.  There is no advantage to submitting it at the time of application.

 

 

English Language Tests

An English Language Test (TOEFL, IELTS, PTE, or Duolingo English Test) is required if you received your bachelor's degree from a university where English is not the language of instruction. Applicants who received a bachelor's degree from a university where English is NOT the sole language of instruction but received a Master's Degree or PhD degree from a university program where English was the sole language of instruction are also strongly advised, though not required, to submit a test as part of your application.

The same rules apply here – we'll start reviewing your application with self-reported scores, but please send us the official score report as soon as possible. We will accept the in-person or the at-home versions of: the TOEFL iBT and the TOEFL iTP Plus (in China in partnership with Vericant); the IELTS and the IELTS Indicator; the Pearson Test of English (PTE); the Duolingo English Test.

ADVICE: For applicants who are required to take an English test, there are now four options. I have had never had a client take PTE or Doulingo, so have no idea about those tests. Both my Japanese clients and the the Japanese test prep experts I have discussed TOEFL and IELTS with (Shout out to Iijima-san at Affinity and Kono-san at Konojuku) have always told me that a 7.5 IELTS is easier to get than the 109 TOEFL that HBS prefers. I am quite certain this is the case.   I have no specific benchmarks for PTE or Doulingo, but assume a high score on either would be fine.  English ability is really critical at HBS. The HBS interview for non-native English speakers is, in-part, a fluency test. So even if you look good in terms of your test score, you really have to deliver during the interview.

 

 

Supplemental Information

Artificial Intelligence Usage

Have you utilized AI in completing the application? Note, the use of AI is permitted; however, you should not claim AI output as your own independent work, and you should always verify the quality of concepts and content that you develop through the use of generative AI tools.

YesNo

This is a new question for the application form. If your essays were generated by AI and look like they were, that will be a problem. If you use AI for editing, depending on how you use it, that could also look bad or might be totally fine. AI directors are notably bad (see an article on this that I  convinced John Byrne, the founder of Poets and Quants to write) and unlikely to become great. Not sure whether HBS will use them, but I would not be surprised if applicants get asked about use of AI in their interviews.  Since AI is permitted to be used, as long as it is not doing the writing for you, it is fine to indicate YES.

 

Additional Information

Please share additional information here if you need to clarify any information provided in the other sections of your application. This is not meant to be used as an additional essay. Please limit your additional information to the space in this section.

We know you'll be tempted, but please don't send us any additional materials (e.g., additional recommendations, work portfolios). To be fair to all applicants, extra materials won't be considered.

75 words remaining

 

ADVICE: Use this space  to explain anything that can be effectively explained in the space provided.  This is a great place to explain your choice of recommenders, a problem in your past, or to add in information about something you really think HBS needs to know. It is completely fine to leave this space blank if you have nothing you need to add. This is not the place for a mini-essay on some random accomplishment, but for information or explanations that cannot be included elsewhere.  A list is fine. You don't need to write this like an essay.

 

 

FINAL ADVICE: Don't treat it like some form you can do at the last minute.

The HBS app form is not rocket science but it does take time. So give it the necessary time.

 

 

 

Best of luck to everyone applying to HBS!