Meet Harvard Business School’s MBA Class Of 2027

What makes a great leader?

In class, business schools are bound to click off all the qualities. In alphabetical order, you could say great leaders are accountable, authentic, confident, consistent, courageous, honest, open, optimistic, passionate, self-aware, and visionary. They operate in the here-and-now – with an eye always fixed on the future. Leading by example, they stay poised under pressure. They listen before they speak and never stop learning. They frame their mission so their people adopt it as their own. In the process, they carry out a punishing balancing act: positioning their organizations at the forefront of change…while being the caretaker of its history, brand, and culture.

Above all, great leaders act decisively – and always follow through.

ELEVATING THE BEST-OF-THE-BEST

That’s exactly what Harvard Business School trains its students to do. Not surprisingly, it has been called the “West Point of Leadership.” By that, it is inferred that HBS students are required to engage in intense, daily preparation, where lessons are absorbed by engaging and repeating until they become second nature. It is a proven formula, one that has produced alumni like Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan), Andy Jassy (Amazon), Sal Khan (Khan Academy), and Jane Fraser (Citigroup). And this formula is executed by the top thought leaders in business education: Amy Edmondson, Linda Hill, Frances Frei, and Youngme Moon.

Like West Point, HBS is sharpening its graduates to make an impact through service. Along the way, Harvard MBAs gain a certain humility from being around over 900 others who were A-students, high potentials, early adopters just like them. They learn that what had made them so successful only goes so far at Hawes and Aldrich. Like every great leader facing a crossroads, they learn to truly communicate and collaborate, attentively listen and quickly adapt.

“HBS is built around the idea that leaders are made through practice, debate, and real decision-making – not lectures,” says Chris Weathers, a first-year MBA who was most recently a Director of Strategy & Corporate Development at UPS. “The case method, section experience, and broader ecosystem all reinforce a culture where students learn to think and act like leaders long before they ever hold the title.”

MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS

It’s not just structure that reinforces leadership. The HBS community also plays a major part in student development, says Abhi Gunasekar, a current MS-MBA student. For him, the difference is how the culture rewards “generosity over posturing [and] learning over performance.” Watching his classmates help each other prepare for classes and celebrate each other’s milestones, Gunasekar discovered a new form for leadership.

“Leadership is relational before it is positional,” he tells P&Q. “This sense of community also reframed my understanding of ambition. Prior to HBS, ambition often meant endurance and self-reliance. Here, I learned that ambition paired with empathy scales further. Strength does not require hardness; it can coexist with warmth. Approachability, I discovered, is not a liability for leaders. It is a multiplier.”

That hasn’t been the only leadership epiphany that Gunasekar has gained from his Harvard Business School experience. “HBS did not give me answers. It gave me better questions.”

A PLACE TO ‘COMMIT’

You could describe HBS as an enigma. Founded over 100 years ago, it is a bastion of tradition on the forefront of innovation. Known for its high-level connections, wide expertise, state-of-the-art facilities, and deep resources, the school also boasts a $5.4-billion-dollar endowment. Yet, it awarded $47-million in financial support in 2025 alone. The brand conveys exclusivity, yet its students often come from hardscrabble backgrounds. While it is one of the largest graduate business schools in the world – not including over 90,000 alumni across 173 countries – HBS is known for its community feel, says first-year Marika Vissak.

“Even a school of ~1,800 MBAs can feel intimate, thanks to the section experience as well as travel, clubs, and a general attitude of openness,” writes Vissak, a BCG consultant. “I have loved getting to know hundreds of RCs (first-years) as well as ECs (second-years) through trips to Morocco and Cape Cod and mutual interests like tennis and the jewelry industry.”

How does the MBA Class of 2027 describe Harvard Business School? Playwright Woody Allen once quipped that ‘80% of success is just showing up.’ HBS demands 110%. It is a place where students get the most by saying ‘Yes’ – particularly to opportunities that may not be what fits their plan at first glance. That’s one reason why Alek Woltjer – a mechanical engineer who closed one of his company’s biggest sales – says the HBS experience is defined by commitment.

“HBS is all about committing to a stance, committing to a rigorous class schedule, committing to your section, and committing to investing in the experience. The beauty of the program is that we all get so much out of it as students because of our commitment to making HBS an incredible learning environment.”

WHERE ‘BIG IDEAS’ TAKE ROOT

Woltjer’s classmate, John Finn, associates Harvard Business School with innovation. A biologist by training, he has been impressed by the program’s commitment to entrepreneurship.

“Harvard’s ability to encourage new ideas and ventures is astounding. There is the Rock Center, the i-Lab, Startup Bootcamp, and more. The access that entrepreneurs and founders have to support systems and encouragement is fantastic. Professors are deeply involved in new ventures and mentorship of the next generation of business innovators. Harvard is the place to be to bring new ideas to life.”

Among the ventures founded by HBS alumni, you’ll find Cloud Flare, Bloomberg, Rent the Runway, and Sam Adams Beer. One reason, says Neidelyn Pina, is that the cornerstone of the HBS mission is fostering global impact.

“HBS is a place that encourages BIG ideas and the belief that we can really change the world through business and have a big impact on the world,” explains Pina, who most recently served as a JPMorgan Chase. “It encourages you to dream. Through this idea that anything you’re interested in, HBS can help you get there. It’s incredible to be in this environment.”

A McKINSEY THOUGHT LEADER

Kira Smiley’s big moonshot was fusing underwater vision technology, robotics, and AI together to support a more sustainable seafood supply chain. An environmental scientist trained at Stanford, Smiley and her colleagues spun their startup, TidalX AI, out of Google X and she has since expanded her firm’s operations to four continents. Ali Dahir has already served as a CEO of an information technology company in Kenya, where he nearly doubled staff and grew topline by 250% during his tenure. At McKinsey, Leti Valle rose from being a business analyst to the chief of staff for the North American chairman. Her biggest contributions?

“In 2024, I developed a new-joiner training program for new McKinsey Business Analysts and Associates called “how to be a Baller BA.” This training was piloted in North America across our 25 offices and has since been rolled out to other offices, such as London, Portugal, Spain. I also codified the learnings into a McKinsey Op-Ed which was published in early 2025 and distributed to our 40,000 colleagues.”

A U.S. Air Force veteran, Connor Elkin is earning a joint MBA-MA in Engineering Sciences at Harvard. Before business school, he headed up product development at Shadow’s Edge Software, serving as the military officer who oversaw a team of civilians, military personnel, and contractors to enhance the cyber warfare capabilities of the U.S. Cyber Command.

“My biggest career accomplishment was integrating cutting-edge AI technology into our mission and product portfolio,” he tells P&Q. “Leveraging the diverse set of experiences in my team, we combined Air Force Ventures startup investments, in-house software development, and research partnerships to bring first-of-its-kind machine learning and AI capabilities to cyber warfare operations.”

MAJOR SCHOOL ACCOMPLISHMENTS: CONFIDENCE…AND 6 HOURS OF SLEEP

John Finn is also earning a dual degree (Biotechnology) at Harvard. A Biology major in college, Finn saved lives by developing an automated laboratory platform, which enabled doctors to diagnose patients with Stage 1 Cancers more quickly. Marika Vissak collected the Boston Consulting Group’s Shining Citizen Award for her work in the Nashville office. At JPMorgan Chase, Neidelyn Pina spearheaded a market analysis project among the firm’s most affluent clients that garnered attention at the highest level.

“The analysis was presented to Chase Consumer Bank CEO Jen Roberts and has since become a model for similar analyses across the bank. Knowing that the work continues to influence strategy at the bank today makes it one of my proudest accomplishments.”

Another of Pina’s big achievements was something equally profound: gaining confidence and proving she belonged at Harvard Business School.

“My first few weeks were challenging—I often hesitated to speak up in class, overthinking my comments and doubting whether I belonged in the room. But in a short time, I’ve seen a real shift in myself. I’m contributing more, trusting my voice, and noticing how much more confident I feel compared to those early days. I’m proud of how I’ve leaned into the discomfort and allowed this experience to stretch me in ways I didn’t expect.”

You could say that Kira Smiley accomplished something equally profound during her first semester at HBS: “Sleeping more than six hours on most nights!”

Smiley can also speak six languages. That’s not the only fun tidbit about the MBA Class of 2027. Neidelyn Pina is a history buff…about food. Leti Valle once walked over 100,000 steps in one day…or roughly more than 50 miles. Marika Vissa loves to scuba dive. Chances are, she could swap some great water stories with Connor Elkin.

“I was headbutted by a shark while spearfishing in Florida,” he jokes.

A CLASS PROFILE

HBS remained one of the world’s most selective graduate business schools during the 2024-2025 admissions cycle, accepting just 11.3% of applicants. Overall, the school received 9,409 applications, with roughly 87% of accepted applicants ultimately choosing to enroll. In total, there are 943 students in the MBA Class of 2027.

U.S. ethnic minorities account for a 49% share of the class, while women account for 44%. Both represent a one-point drop from the previous year. International students make up 37% of the class and hail from 62 countries. Another 10% of the class are first generation college graduates. In terms of testing, the median GMAT and GRE came in a 730 and 328 respectively.

As undergraduates, 43% earned STEM-related degrees. Business and Economics majors constitute 41% of the class followed by the Social Sciences at 16%. In terms of professional backgrounds, 19% of the class last worked in Consulting. Venture Capital and Private Equity (16%), Technology and Communications (13%), and Financial Services (10%) also represent double-digit shares of the class.

HBS grads remain coveted by the marketplace. The Class of 2025 saw its starting pay packages rise by 5.4% to $232,800. Consulting (22%) and Technology (21%) were the biggest industry consumers of Harvard MBA talent, though 17% of the class started their own business after graduate (and another 17% were hired by an existing startup within three months of graduation.

At the same time, HBS continues to maintain its influence. In a 2025 Bloomberg Businessweek survey, Harvard Business School ranked 1st when students were asked to name their ‘dream school’ (if cost and admission standards were not a factor). That same year, when U.S. News surveyed business school deans and MBA directors about the top programs in various disciplines, HBS ranked 1st for Management and 2nd for both International Business and Nonprofit. When it comes to the influence of its academic research, HBS ranks 2nd to only the Wharton School according to The Financial Times.

Next Page: An interview with Rupal Gadhia, Managing Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid

Page 3: Profiles of 9 Members of the MBA Class of 2027

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