P&Q’s Must Reads: Harvard Business School’s New MBA Essays For Applicants

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 Business School’s New MBA Essays For Applicants

With just 10 weeks before its first application deadline on Sept. 4th, Harvard Business School today revealed a newly revised application for MBA candidates, including a new set of three short essays along with a refresh on how it will evaluate applicants for future classes.

Our own editor in chief John Byrne has synthesized everything Harvard hopefuls need to know about this change. You can find the story on our homepage.

No. 2: The Tech Bloodbath Is Far From Over: Industry Limps To Midpoint Of 2024

2023 was a historically terrible year for the tech industry. Halfway through, 2024 has not been as bad.

But it’s still a bloodbath out there, according to two websites that track industry layoffs.

TrueUp, a career advisory platform that has been tracking layoffs at companies big and small since mass layoffs began in 2022, says that so far in 2024 there have been 648 layoffs at tech companies, with 151,165 people impacted.

Get all the data and our analysis in this story, now in our news tab.

No. 3:  Why McKinsey, Bain & BCG Aren’t Likely To Hire Many MBAs Full-Time In Fall 2024

The recruitment outlook for MBA students aiming to join either McKinsey, Bain, or Boston Consulting Group — the elite MBB firms — is becoming increasingly uncertain.

MBB hiring strategies for Fall 2024 are likely to be more selective than ever before. The explosive growth in headcount seen just a couple of years ago has given way to a period of restructuring and a drop in new hires.

PeterK.org, a training service for consulting hopefuls, dove into the recruitment data for the MBB and has some alarming news for MBAs hoping to land a prime role. You can find his analysis on our homepage.

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: 2024-2025 MBA Application Deadlines. This story, which you can find on our admissions hub, tells prospects when to apply to all the top business schools.

Next: How To Ace The INSEAD Video Questions. Learn the purpose of INSEAD’s video requirement, how it’s used, and tips for success in this story on our homepage.

Finally: Applying In Round 1? Here’s A Checklist For June. This article also offers tips for getting a job in investment banking. You can find it on our homepage.

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

I also want to alert school seekers to our events tab from our main menu. There, you’ll find all the upcoming admissions events for a range of degrees and programs including full-time and online MBAs, specialized masters, entrepreneurship and more. Registration is 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.