Meet Harvard Business School’s MBA Class Of 2024

Students study in Aldrich Hall, Evgenia Elliseeva

P&Q: What types of programming or services does your business school offer that are making it a more diverse, inclusive, and welcoming place?

Losee: “A truly diverse student body is the foundation of the HBS experience. We take seriously our responsibility to make business a force for good and are resolved to take action to promote racial equity and diversity. The HBS Racial Equity Action Plan, drafted by the Dean’s Anti-Racism Task Force with the goal of advancing anti-racism education and research, supports underrepresented minorities at HBS and beyond; it engages the broader business community, and changing the School’s culture and organization.

Similarly, the School puts a great emphasis on socioeconomic inclusion (SEI) and how MBA students experience the role of class. The HBS SEI Task Force provides valuable institutional insights and recommendations for cultivating a more economically diverse and inclusive community at HBS. Some of the outputs based on data gathered from the task force are the creation of a need-based application fee waiver, expanded need-based financial aid, and greater resources for first-generation college students. Both efforts are focused on making HBS a more inclusive and diverse environment for all students.

With over 95 student clubs, there are communities for everyone at HBS, including clubs designed to support and engage with women, moms, veterans, Black and African American students, and international students. As a majority of students’ time in their first year is spent with their sectionmates, clubs provide an easy way to meet other students across sections and years.”

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

Losee: “The incredible entrepreneurial ecosystem at Harvard Business School is one aspect that we wish applicants knew more about! Over half of our alumni create ventures within 15 years of graduating in a quest to change the world, which is a stat itself that reflects how dominant the spirit of innovation is within the MBA program. You can explore the many companies founded by HBS graduates here. This past year we were also ranked #1 by Pitchbook for Female Founders, Founder Count, Company Count, and Capital Raised, which is something we’re proud of.

The unique needs of innovators are supported both inside and outside the classroom, from entrepreneurial courses to the several different entrepreneurship-based clubs to specific Career & Professional Development programs. The Rock Center for Entrepreneurship on campus has a variety of programming including the annual New Venture Competition, one-on-one meetings with our Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, and Rock Summer Fellows.

Whether you’re a founder, joiner, investor, or undecided, HBS is the place for you.”

Klarman Hall auditorium view of seats, HBS campus.

5 REASONS TO CONSIDER HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL

1) Case Method: “So many things about the case method mimic work life. The pace of the discussion simulates the fast-paced business environment we are currently living in. Actively listening while forming our thoughts is an art that will be useful in the boardroom discussions down the road. The 90+ people in the sections, all from different backgrounds and industries, genuinely exemplify the diverse business landscape where the best ideas come to fruition. The open-endedness of the cases and the fact that there are no right or wrong answers prepare us for the ambiguity and unknowns we will face as leaders in the future.”
Yağız Yıldız

“Getting introduced to hundreds of different business scenarios provides a more realistic view on various pressures I may face in my future and how muddy the waters can really be when trying to make a decision. I think I’ll be more well-rounded and realistic as a manager, having been exposed to all of these different cases and point of views at HBS. Henderson

I’ve always believed that the best way of learning is by doing and I found the practical nature of the case method very intriguing. The case method provides a safe space for students to hone their decision-making skills. Here, you put yourself in the shoes of the protagonist. In the midst of conflicting views, you need to make a call. This is what every manager faces in the workplace and it couldn’t be more relevant in today’s world.”
Isaac Mungai

2) Class Size: Classmates and cases aside, the size of the class was really enticing to me. Having 900-1,000 students in my class, going through the same first year curriculum as me, felt like I already had a network that I could rely on and connect with from the start. Additionally, the size of the class also lets you disappear a little bit, if you’d like. I attended a Big Ten school and felt like the world was too small some days, even with over 30,000 undergrad students. Being a part of a bigger MBA class at HBS allows me to carve out my own little corner of the world. I am a firm believer that you can always make a big class smaller, but you can’t make a small class bigger.”
Hannah Henderson

“HBS’s class size was a key factor in my decision. Our class is roughly 1,000 students and it encompasses people from vastly different industries, geographies, educational, and personal backgrounds. HBS’s size enables it to have a robust cohort where I could find pockets of any community I wanted to, whether professional or personal.”
Yina Sun

3) Larger Harvard: “Aside from classmates, cases and professors, it was the cross-school access that sold it for me to attend HBS’s MBA program – meaning the opportunity to take classes from or attend seminars and talks at the other Harvard schools, such as the Kennedy School of Public Policy or the Law School. As our world gets more complex and the business landscape continues to evolve, I think it’s important to be able to discuss and understand topics from several diverse perspectives – regardless of if they are in line with my opinion. I wanted the opportunity to explore issues from a public policy, law, or education lens to complement the in-depth business discussions. This will make me a more empathetic and thoughtful leader.”
Carolina Romeo

4) Faculty: “One thing that stood out for me is the experienced and renowned faculty. I recall breaking the news of my admission to a former colleague and his reaction was “Wow, bet you can’t wait to learn more about Porter’s Five Forces from Michael Porter himself!”. I really look forward to interacting with the professors and all the amazing guest lecturers from the corporate world and tapping into their wealth of knowledge throughout the MBA.”
Isaac Mungai 

5) FIELD Experience: “Aside from the section experience, the FIELD Global Immersion capstone in the second half of the first year was a key factor in choosing HBS. It provides a unique but shared opportunity among the entire class to apply what we’ve learned during the year to a company, while expanding our global perspective.”
Jaye Aster Broder

Live online classroom, Ethiopiah Al-Mahdi

ADVICE TO PROSPECTIVE APPLICANTS

“You should view yourself like the composer creating a musical composition of an upcoming symphony, which is your application submission. A full orchestra has a range of instruments that collectively come together to produce a beautiful harmonic sound. This is the same feeling the Admissions officers should feel after reviewing your application. It should NOT feel like you’re playing the guitar over and over again (i.e. repeating the same information throughout your application). Instead, each part of your application should be considered an instrument that brings a different sound to the application and helps to improve the overall quality of the performance aka application. An example might be to help illustrate your community leadership by over emphasizing any recognition or awards you receive from the non-profit you might chair as opposed to over emphasizing and repeating competitive awards from your job that you already listed in your resume. There are always more things you want to say then you can put down, so I always stress to applicants that they should reflect deeply, and think about how you can orchestrate a wonderful performance by leveraging each aspect of the application (resume, essays, school-based application, recommendation letters, etc..) to play a different instrument of the same musical composition that is you.”
Wale Lawal

“They do not want the “brochure-like” applicants who have always excelled at everything, never facing setbacks, or having to overcome hurdles. It’s not interesting to read about someone who is simply detailing every accomplishment and presenting their experiences as though everything has always gone their way. They want raw and real; and they want to know, beyond a baseline of credentials: what obstacles have you faced in life? What’s driving all the accomplishments on the resume and the activities listed in the extracurricular section of the application? Where is all of this leading you? And why should this interest them?”
Karla Cohen, Fortuna Admissions

“The most common way that smart people blow a Harvard interview is to get lost. Talking too much. Digressing. Getting lost in the weeds. That is the most common mistake. It outweighs every other mistake. You’re asked a simple question like, ‘Why did you go to Cornell for your undergraduate degree?’ And you begin with a history of Cornell and tell the admissions person all about your family. You’re eight minutes into it and you haven’t yet answered the question. It is one of those moments where you hear yourself speaking and you cannot believe you are saying this. You just generally come off as inarticulate and struggling.”
Sandy Kreisberg, HBSGuru.com

MBA Student Hometown Undergrad Alma Mater Last Employer
Jaye Aster Broder Ardmore, PA Penn State University Mondelez International
Hannah Henderson Green Lake, WI University of Wisconsin-Madison Walgreens
Wale Lawal Dallas, TX US Air Force Academy US Air Force
Ramprashanth Mohanasundaram Chennai, India Indian Institute of Technology Madras WestBridge Capital
Isaac Mungai Nairobi, Kenya University of Nairobi International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group)
Carolina Romeo Calgary, Canada University of Calgary Shell
Amrit Sandhu Birmingham, United Kingdom Kingston University British Army
Yina Sun Bar Harbor, ME University of North Carolina NextEra Energy
Yağız Yıldız Bursa, Turkey University of Michigan Dell Technologies

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