The Harvard MBA – Harvard University

Harvard’s MBA program is among the best-known, most prestigious and most sought-after in the world.

Harvard Business School

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Average Age

Class size

Acceptance Rate

Average GMAT

Average GPA

FT Ranking

Percent of Hires in Each Industry:

  • Financial 33.9%
  • Consulting 26.4%
  • Technology 18.8%

Median Starting Salary per industry:

  • Financial – $175000
  • Consulting – $175000
  • Consumer – $125000
  • Technology – $165000
  • Manufacturing – $150000
  • Health Care – $155000
  • Real Estate – $135000
  • Energy – $150000
  • Nonprofits – $110000
  • Media – $154000
  • Government – $100000
  • Harvard’s primary concern is leadership. The school is seeking leadership potential, and not necessarily leadership per se. Contact us for help highlighting your leadership potential in your Harvard application.
  • Harvard is particularly interested in ‘Leadership without Authority’- your ability to influence, motivate, initiate and convince others to effect change without being in a traditional leadership position.
  • Have a generalist viewpoint – it’s better to be good at many things than to be extraordinarily good at just one thing (unless that one thing happens to be leadership).
  • Harvard is very fond of military leaders.
  • The school values competitive drive, diversity, and action-oriented, rather than academically-oriented, individuals.
  • It is best to avoid waiting until round three to apply.
  • Harvard is opening up to younger candidates with less experience.
These traits make you more likely to get accepted into Harvard’s MBA program:

Trait

Importance
(4 is highest, 1 is lowest)

Leader/Manager 5
Team Player/Relationship Builder 2
Smart 3
Initiates 2
International/Cultural 1
Creative 2
Presentation Skills 3
Persuasion Skills 3
Community/Society 2
Risk Taker 2
Business Skills 1
Source of career plan/prog choice 1
Promotions 2
Credible Names 2
Story is unique 1
Learn more about the meaning of these traits and how they are reflected in your application.

ARINGO has developed this information through ARINGO employees who worked with the Harvard MBA admissions committee, thousands of hours of research, and by helping hundreds of applicants apply to Harvard. ARINGO knows Harvard, and we can help your strengths shine through your application. Contact us today.

General Management (Corporate Strategy, Marketing, Nonprofit)

Harvard consistently appears at the top of business school rankings. Founded in 1908, it is the third-oldest MBA program worldwide and the largest in the United States, with about 1,800 students. Its main academic strength is general management and strategy. In addition, Harvard is considered strong in marketing and non-profit management.

The main quality Harvard seeks in a candidate is leadership potential, defined as the ability to influence, persuade and take initiative.

Harvard pioneered the case-study method of pedagogy, which has now spread to the overwhelming majority of business schools internationally, which quite often use Harvard’s original case studies. The program boasts a general management orientation with a unique emphasis on leadership. Its alumni network boasts 41,000 graduates of legendary power and prestige.

Harvard has a preference for relatively young candidates, and recently launched its 2+2 program, which allows college seniors to gain entry into the MBA program and then embark on two years of HBS-approved professional work experience before entering the program.

Notable alumni of Harvard Business School include George W. Bush (43rd president of the United States), Robert McNamara (former U.S. Secretary of Defense and former President of the World Bank), Fritz Henderson (former President and CEO of General Motors), Robert Selander (President and CEO of MasterCard), David Nelms (Chairman and CEO of Discover Financial Services), and James McNerny (CEO of Boeing).

  • Strict rules, serious atmosphere
  • Amazing campus and facilities
  • Harvard has one of the strongest and largest alumni networks in the world
  • The program relies heavily on case-study method
  • Harvard is the world’s most prestigious business school
  • Harvard offers a supplemental need-based fellowship program for international and domestic students who accept jobs in the private sector with salaries below the MBA average.
  • Students who submitted their applications through ARINGO have had a 36% higher admission rate than Harvard MBA’s average admissions. Contact us to start working on your Harvard MBA application.
  • $150,000
  • $80,000
  • $100,000
  • $90,000
  • $62,000
  • $100,000
  • $100,000
  • $81,000
  • $65,000
  • $40,000
  • $36,000
  • $55,000

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