Meet Harvard Business School’s MBA Class Of 2021

A DIVERSE AND DYNAMIC CLASS

Outside work and class, Mallika Saharia – “a pocket-sized powerhouse”— is a “self-proclaimed foodie,” who is fluent in five languages. After graduation, Abena Anima Nyantekyi Owusu created and presented an alternative music and lifestyle radio show in Ghana’s largest market. For Tory Voight, chess is almost an obsession…and for good reason.

“I always bring my compact chessboard with me when I travel to challenge people I meet to a game, whether I am rock climbing in Yosemite, rafting the Grand Canyon, or on a work trip. I love the constant problem-solving, creativity, and a broad range of relationships chess fosters, which also happen to be some of the reasons I’m excited to enter HBS.”

For the Class of 2021, the program has lived up to the hype. Ronnie Wimberley, for one, touts his classmates as “incredibly earnest, forward-looking, brilliant, and driven.” “Go-getters” is the word that Sebastian Fischer uses: “If something needs to be done, nobody will sit back and say that that is not their job.” For Mallika Saharia, the biggest surprise was how multifaceted HBS really is.

“I think understanding what “diversity” in the classroom meant was an eye-opener for me – the number of countries represented and the range of professional and personal backgrounds of the students (also reflected in the variety of student clubs on campus.”

Diverse – and “dynamic” too, Elizabeth Breiter adds. “A mentor once told me a good conversation is like a dance. My classmates at HBS have the ability to skillfully dance the tango, east coast swing, and ballroom all in one conversation. They effortlessly glide through numerous topics with an agility to delve into deep, thought-provoking conversation while maintaining an openness to go offbeat and challenge their assumptions through their growth mindset.”

FEWER APPLICATIONS, BUT MORE WOMEN

It may be impossible to categorize Harvard Business School MBAs, but class profile data reveals some intriguing trends. For one, applications actually decreased at the school. In 2019, the program received 9,228 applications – down from the 10,351 high water mark in 2017 (and 9,886 submissions last year). Still, this 6.7% drop falls in line with peers like MIT Sloan (-6.5%) and Stanford GSB -5.8%) in a year where only one Top 10 program experienced an uptick in applications. What’s more, student quality hiked up in the 2018-2019 application cycle, as HBS increased its class size from 930 to 938 students. In doing so, the program’s acceptance rate rose by a point to 12%. At the same time, the school’s yield – the percentage of accepted applicants who ultimately join the program – held relatively steady at 89%. Not bad for a down year in the marketplace in general.

Academically, the Class of 2021 maintained its predecessors’ lofty standards. The class’ median GMAT remained lodged at an impressive 730, with average undergraduate GPAs coming in again at 3.7. The school also notched another high in 2019: 20% of the class posted a GRE score in lieu of a GMAT, with median verbal and quantitative both standing at 163.

That said, the percentage of women in the class rose two points to 43%, the school’s best mark in four classes. The percentage of underrepresented minorities also climbed a point to 27%, HBS’ best performance since the Class of 2017. Overall, 63% of the calls hails from the United States (with another 4% joining from Canada). 14% of the class arrives from Asia, with Europe (9%) and Central and South America (5%) also well-represented in a class that features students from 71 countries.

Academically, the Class of 2021 closely resembles its forerunners. 43% of the class majored in business or economics as undergraduates, down three points from last year’s high. This gap was mostly made up of the humanities and social sciences, which climbed two points to 19%. STEM majors took up the remaining 38% of the class. In terms of professional backgrounds, the class brings an array of experiences, headed by venture capital and private equity which again accounts for 16% of the class. Consulting (15%), financial services (12%), manufacturing and energy (12%), and technology (12%) comprise large blocs of the class – though technology lost four points over the previous year. The remainder of the class features students with backgrounds in consumer products (9%), nonprofits and government (8%), healthcare and biotech (7%), military (4%), services (4%), and media and entertainment (3%).

A Q&A WITH CHAD LOSEE, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF ADMISSIONS AND FINANCIAL AID

Harvard Business School has been dubbed the “West Point of Capitalism,” a cradle of leaders whose current CEO alumni include GE’s H. Lawrence Culp, JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon, Honeywell’s Darius Adamczyk, and Prudential Financial’s Charles Lowrey. Not surprisingly, deans and faculty directors rank HBS as the top MBA program for management education according to a 2019 U.S. News survey. The program also places among the very best, in the view of these academics, in international business, marketing, entrepreneurship, finance, and non-profits. In recent surveys conducted by Bloomberg Businessweek with recruiters, students, and alumni, HBS ranks high for prestige, faculty, developing skills, and building careers. What’s more, HBS grads are coveted assets. 2018 graduates, for example, enjoyed a 10% increase in pay over the previous class, averaging $159,314 to start. It isn’t just the first year when HBS MBAs cash in. Over four years, according to Forbes data, they see average pay increases by $142,000 over pre-MBA earnings.

Pay is only part of the HBS package, a program that’s constantly evolving and growing. Last year, for example, the school opened Klarman Hall, a two-story venue that features a state-of-the-art 1,000 seat auditorium to accommodate distinguished guests for lectures and discussions. What else is new at Harvard Business School? This fall, P&Q reached out to Chad Losee, the Managing Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at HBS. Here are his thoughts on what future MBAs can expect at the school, along with underrated aspects of the experience.

P&Q: What are the most exciting new developments in your program?

CL: “We’re excited about our new MS/MBA Biotechnology: Life Sciences program, which we recently launched with the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The joint degree will bring together a group of students into the MBA class who share a goal of being a future leader at the intersection of science and business. Their backgrounds in life sciences and/or medicine and unique career goals will bring a new perspective to the HBS classroom and diversify the already-strong health care community within HBS. This is the second MS/MBA joint degree we offer, in addition to the MS/MBA Engineering, which also recently launched and prepares students to lead technology ventures.

At HBS, we also continue to evolve our curriculum each year. Several of this year’s new classes that I am personally excited about include:

Tech Ethics: AI, Biotech, and the Future of Human Nature, which brings together faculty and students from across Harvard University to address key ethical questions in tech.

Crafting Your Life, which is focused on helping students think deeply and intentionally about what really matters to them to guide life choices and tradeoffs.

Leading Difference, with Professors Frances Frei and Francesca Gino focused on teaching students to build inclusive organizations.”

P&Q: What is the most underrated part of your program that you wish prospective students knew more about?  

CL: “Prospective students typically know they will learn a lot about business by reading and discussing over 500 cases in their two years at HBS. Yet, they don’t always have an appreciation for how the way things are taught at HBS—through the case method—shapes the way they think and lead for the rest of their lives.

In every case you study at HBS, there is a tough decision to make. Smart people see things differently, and the case method is meant to help you learn from the differences in thought among your classmates. You learn how to approach and solve problems, to seek out and incorporate diverse opinions to improve your ideas or even change your mind altogether. You practice and become adept at influencing and persuading others, and even more importantly, learn how to deeply listen to others.

At HBS, I had the expansive opportunity to learn from people with different experiences from me. As I solve tough problems now, I rely not just on my own perspective, but I also try to channel perspectives from classmates who approach problems differently. And when I am faced with tough decisions, I can reach out to classmates for advice.”

P&Q: Tell us about your Field Projects. How have they evolved since you launched them a decade ago? What are some sample projects that the incoming class will encounter?

CL: “Our FIELD (Field Immersive Experiences for Leadership Development) courses have continued to evolve to ensure that our students can effectively influence a wide range of different people and make a difference in today’s world. We believe leadership is really about the effectiveness of our relationships with others and through small teamwork, interactions with faculty coaches, and engagement with companies outside of HBS, our students hone these important soft skills in FIELD courses.

In fact, this year we’re introducing our Interpersonal Skills Development Lab (ISDL) as part one of the two-part, year-long FIELD course offering students the opportunities to practice leadership, translating their ideas into action. Launching in late October, the goal of ISDL is for students to develop a deeper understanding of the motivations, goals, strengths, and complexities of other people and themselves and build effective relationships in the workplace. This course combines experiential learning, “laboratory team” exercises with classmates, and executive coaches to help students on their journey. Paired with the FIELD Global Immersion in the spring, we hope ISDL will extend and enrich students’ skills in engaging successfully with a wide range of individuals.

In January, first-year students can also participate in an intense, two-week immersion program called Startup Bootcamp, which evolved from an exercise offered during the early days of FIELD. Under the guidance of professors, founders, and investors, students test out ideas and build the skills required to succeed as an early-stage entrepreneur.”

aths and publicly communicate their vision to become future leaders while we eliminate a statistic and blaze an opportunity-filled launchpad for future generations.”

To access 8 in-depth profiles of class members, go to Page 3.