P&Q’s Must Reads: Harvard MBA Class Of 2025 Achieves School’s First GMAT Increase In 13 Years

Hello everyone — Welcome back to Poets&Quants’ Must Reads, a quick, digestible recap of the top business school news, sponsored by CentreCourt, P&Q’s virtual admission events.

I’m your host, Kristy Bleizeffer, and I’ll be highlighting the most important P&Q stories you might have missed. So, let’s get to it.

No. 1: Harvard MBA Class Of 2025 Achieves School’s First GMAT Increase In 13 Years

In a noteworthy element of its MBA Class of 2025 profile released this week, Harvard Business School reports that its class median GMAT score was 740. That’s up from 730 the school has reported for more than a decade.

HBS also reported a second straight year of falling applications, while its percent of women enrollment dropped by 1%.

You can dive into all the data and trend lines of the HBS MBA Class of 2025, now in our trending tab.

No. 2: Gies Dean To Step Down A Year Early In 2024

Gies College of Business Dean Jeffrey R. Brown announced this week that he would be stepping down from the job a year early at the end of the academic year. Brown, who has served as dean of the University of Illinois business college since 2015, will depart after his successor is found, a year short of his second term which would have ended in May of 2025.

The surprise announcement was delivered to the school’s alumni via a video message.
Brown will leave behind an extraordinary record of achievement in one of the most successful deanships of his generation. Named Dean of the Year by Poets&Quants in 2021, Brown raised more than $350 million, bringing in the largest single gift in the history of the University of Illinois – a $150 million naming gift from alumnus Larry Gies and his wife, Beth, 2017.

Read more about the unexpected announcement on our homepage.

No. 3: Nominations Open For P&Q’s Best Undergraduate Business School Professors Of 2023

Time is running out to nominate outstanding undergrad business school professors for our annual recognition. Poets&Quants For Undergrads is accepting nominations for professors who inspire in the classroom, excel at research, and exhibit outsized influence in their fields.
Nominations for the50 Best Undergraduate Business School Professors of 2023 are open until October 16. We welcome nominations from students, schools, colleagues and professors themselves.

This is the biggest honor P&Q bestows on outstanding undergraduate faculty, so get those nominations in before the deadline. Learn more at Poets&Quants For Undergrads.

No. 4: Our Weekly Round Up of News You Can Use

No matter where you are in your MBA journey, we bring several helpful stories for you this week.

First up: What’s Changing In The New GMAT And GRE? A new version of the GRE launched September 22 with the new Focus Edition of the GMAT following on November 7.
This story, now on our homepage, tells you what’s new.

Next: Crafting The Perfect MBA Elevator Pitch
Your MBA elevator pitch is a tool to convey your personal brand. This story tells you how to craft one to get attention. Find it in our admission hub.

Finally: Mastering Kellogg’s New Video Questions, offers all the advice you need for this M7’s video app. You’ll find this story, and other great admissions advice, in our admissions hub.

And, that’s it for this week’s Must Reads recap.

I also want to alert school seekers to Centre Court’s upcoming MBA Festival. You’ll hear from alumni and career experts from leading business schools about how the MBA can fast-track your career. Our next event is Oct. 3-4, and you can register now for free.

Again, I’m Kristy Bleizeffer, and you can join me next week, right here, for a recap of what’s important in the world of business education. Thanks for listening and, as always, stay informed!