HBS Says Its Class Of 2022 Is ‘At Capacity’

Harvard Business School

Harvard Business School had some less-than-positive news today (May 22) for MBA applicants who are on its enlarged waitlist hoping to get admitted for the Class of 2022.

Eileen Chang, an associate director of admissions at HBS dubbed “the WL Lady” by HBSGuru.com founder Sandy Kreisberg, informed waitlisted candidates by email that the incoming class this fall is now at “capacity,” though there is still some hope left for opening slots.

“At this time, we are not able to make any additional admissions offers,” she wrote in an email obtained by Poets&Quants. “However, incoming first-year students have until June 1 to let us know if they will be taking the deferral option mentioned in my last update, which may open up spots in the Class of 2022 at that time. with a process update before we head into Memorial Day Weekend here in the U.S.”

A FEW MORE SLOTS SHOULD OPEN UP ON JUNE 1

That is a distinct possibility because HBS has offered all of its admits an unconditional deferment if requested due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In April, MBA Admissions and Financial Aid Director Chad Losee and Jana Kierstead, executive director of the MBA and doctoral programs, opened the door to deferrals, typically granted on a case-by-case basis. “We realize that the world has changed significantly since you applied — your employment, health, visa, or financial situation (or that of your families) may have shifted in the past few months,” Losee and Kierstead write. “To provide you as much flexibility as possible, we will consider allowing you to defer your offer of admission.”

HBS said it would not accept deferral requests after June 1 “beyond medical emergencies, military deployments, or joint Harvard degrees.” “While we want to be as supportive as possible to you, one real constraint is the operational capacity of the faculty and the school,” wrote Losee and Kierstead. They also told admits who might want to wait that the school may need to spread the deferred enrollment over the next two years — starting in 2021 and 2022 — if enough accepted students request the deferment.

In her email, Chang noted that “if there is movement in the class in early June, I will send another update at that time and provide more information. We are aware that a number of you have other options to consider and that waiting for a decision from HBS is not feasible given the timing outlined above. If you wish to remove yourself from the waitlist to pursue another option, we certainly understand. Simply send me an email and I can remove you. We are grateful for your patience with our process and will be in touch in early June with more information.”

LAST YEAR HBS GOT 9.8 APPLICATIONS FOR EVERY CLASS SEAT AVAILABLE

Last year, HBS admitted 1,058 candidates to get to a class size of 938 first-year MBA students. Some 9,228 applied to the school in 2018-2019, roughly 9.8 for every class seat available, for an overall admit rate of 11.5%. The school’s 89% yield rate, down two percentage points in the past year, is the envy of the business school world. The class average GMAT score for the latest entering cohort was 728 (the median is 730), though the range went from a low of 590 to a perfect 800 score. The median quant score was 48, while the verbal was 41. The average undergrad GPA was 3.7. One in five students got in and enrolled with a GRE score. The median verbal and quant scores were the same: 163. Newly enrolled students at HBS average 4.7 years of full-time work experience and average 27 years of age. All 938 students in the Class of 2021 brought work experience to the game.

“Many of you submitted updates to your application earlier this month, which were helpful in giving us a more complete picture of where you are right now in your professional and extracurricular activities. For those who did not submit an update, we assume that the information we have for you continues to remain current. Thank you all for your continued interest in HBS.”

DON’T MISS: HOW HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL DECIDED TO OFFER EVERY ADMIT A DEFERRAL or AN UNCOMMON JOURNEY TO HBS