Meet Harvard Business School’s MBA Class Of 2023

Spring on campus. Photo: Hensley Carrasco

BIGGEST CLASS EVER

…and attractive too. This year, HBS boasted its largest class ever — 1,010 students. That’s a huge jump over last year’s COVID-impacted cycle, which drew a 732 member class. This year’s class, however, also includes over 100 deferrals, another aftershock of the pandemic. Factoring that, this year’s high mark is technically aligned with the Classes of 2019-2021, which ranged from 928-938 students. Still, the Class of 2023 may not be an anomaly, size-wise. The school expects another 100 deferrals to join after the coming applications cycle.

The return to normal, however, didn’t impact applications profoundly. In the 2020-2021 cycle, HBS received 9,773 applications. That’s up from the previous year’s 9,304 application low…but also down from the 10,351 apps the school received for a spot in the Class of 2019. While HBS doesn’t release its acceptance rate, P&Q estimates that it hovered around 9% this year, with 9 of every 10 candidates ultimately cashing in on their acceptance offer.

In addition, the class’ 730 median GMAT fits with the scores produced by previous classes. The lowest GMAT stood at 590, with 790 being the peak. The median undergrad GPA also came in at 3.69. Overall, 29% of the Class of 2023 submitted GRE scores, a 9% bump over the past two years. Chad Losee, HBS’ Managing Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid, believes these numbers dispel a myth about the school.

“I am glad the message is getting out that we are truly agnostic on either exam,” he says. “So applicants should take the exam that allows them to put their best foot forward. We’re seeing more GRE scores partly due to the diversity of people who are coming in from all different kinds of backgrounds. The GRE is more widely accepted for other graduate schools and the effort we have made to communicate the value of the MBA is getting out.”

Harvard Business School Grounds. Photo: Hensley Carrasco

MORE STUDENTS WITH STEM BACKGROUNDS

The Class of 2023 may also rank among HBS’ most diverse. 46% of the class is women, an all-time high. International students also account for 37% of the class. This is up 4% over last year, but in line with three of the last four classes. 66% of the class hails from North America, though Asia (13%), Europe (8%), South and Central America (6%), and Africa (3%) are also represented in numbers consistent with previous years

Looking at the class’ backgrounds, 43% of the class majored in STEM-related fields, edging out Business and Economics majors by two points. Another 17% of the class holds degrees in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Among these categories STEM has experienced the biggest shift, increasing its class share by 7% over the past five years. This year’s class has also studied at over 295 universities globally, up from last year’s total of 232.

In terms of professional experience, Consulting represents 17% of the class (with McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, and Bain & Company ultimately hiring more HBS MBAs than any other firms). Venture Capital and Private Equity and Financial Services hold 15% and 12% of the class seats respectively. The class also boasts experience in Technology (11%), Manufacturing and Engineering (11%), Consumer Products (9%), Government, Education, and Non-Profits (8%), and Healthcare (7%). Military service members make up another 5% of the class.

Harvard Business School Classroom. Photo: Natalie Keyssar

MAKING SENSE OF THE CASE METHOD

Harvard Business School, you could say, is the school for students looking to play the long game. Home to nearly 1,900 MBAs alone, the access swells to nearly 50,000 alumni in nearly every imaginable industry, region, and role. Here, everyone is good. That can be threatening. That’s why you’ll hear — from outsiders — that HBS is an intensely competitive place where you get ahead by dominating. In reality, Harvard People make their name by serving, contributing, and persuading, In 90 member sections, some assume you can hide out in anonymity. However, HBS doesn’t subscribe to the view that half of success is simply showing up. No, that half starts by participating in discussions. That means MBAs are going to be cold called by professors and challenged by peers. Their assumptions will be questioned and even picked apart. Sometimes, they will be wrong…or only able to formulate a short-term or incomplete solution. Those moments are what drive students to elevate themselves.

Indeed, the case method is the foundation of the Harvard Business School experience. Think of cases as a mix of story — rife with dubious characters and universal conflicts — and puzzle —one with lost and ill-shaped pieces. The goal is to clarify the situation, despite missing and unreliable data, so students can formulate go-forward strategies to issues ranging from product recalls to technological disruptions. In the end, there are no right-or-wrong answers in cases, just flawed options and uncertain tradeoffs chosen under limited time and maximum pressure. In many ways, the case method leverages HBS’ diversity, exposing students to a variety of vantage points from classmates who’ve worked in a range of industries, roles, and cultures. At the same time, cases are a daily lesson in humility, as MBAs often shift their thinking in response to their peers’ positions.

“The case method puts you in the seat of the CEO or general manager facing a significant business challenge,” writes Kristina Brown.It’s a teaching style that forces you to distill a complex issue, make a decision, and communicate your thoughts effectively to others.”

Even more, it mimics exactly what MBAs will face in c-suite roles, adds Daniel Park. “It’s a cliché, but there is a saying in the military that the plan never survives first contact with the enemy. This is an important similarity between the private and military sectors. Decisions are made with imperfect information in a complex environment. The case method, in my opinion, is the closest one can get to simulating this decision-making process without real-world repercussions. This type of training exercise is critical to enable students to find their management styles and hone their decision-making skills, under pressure and under multiple sets of circumstances.”

Dean Srikant Datar, Webb Chappell for Harvard Business School. Photo: Webb Chappell

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

One circumstance could be entrepreneurship, perhaps the most underrated part of HBS’ programming. In fact, half of HBS grads launch a venture within 15 years of graduation. Many don’t wait that long. In the last seven years, 526 HBS alums have started a company within three months of graduation.  Shorten that span to five years and HBS MBAs have been responsible for 19 of the 100 best-funded startups, raising $449 billion dollars in the process. In fact, Harvard Business School has produced 72 unicorn executives — an impressive number until you consider that Harvard itself has produced 102 more.

HBS has certainly been busy. On the admissions front, the school kicked off the summer by refunding $4.7 million dollars in tuition to first-years who were unable to participate in HBS’ renowned Global Immersion program due to COVID. Two days later, HBS announced that it would be  launching a needs-based application fee waiver for the 2021-2022 cycle. At the same time, the school continued to invest heavily in infrastructure in the wake of CVOID. Notably, the school redesigned 16 case classrooms, including adding 85-inch displays and cameras, not to mention reconstructing their HVAC systems for better safety. That doesn’t count piloting a new student-run impact investing fund and authoring 70 cases with Black protagonists in the past year.

In addition, HBS is experiencing a transition, as Srikant Datar took the reins as dean in January. In the coming years, Datar is looking to leave his own mark on the school. In particular, he hopes to bring HBS faculty research into a larger arena that wrestles with moral and social questions. Along the same lines, Datar is looking to broaden the school’s partnerships, both inside and outside campus, to boost the program’s capabilities. What else can MBAs expect in the coming years at HBS? In August, P&Q reached out to Mark Cautela, head of communications at HBS, to discuss new developments and program differentiators, along with the most popular clubs and courses there. Here are Cautela’s thoughts.

AN INTERVIEW WITH MARK CAUTELA

P&Q: What are the two most exciting developments at your program and how will they enrich the MBA experience for current and future MBAs?

MC: “In the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the resurgent Black Lives Matter movement that followed, institutions across the country, including Harvard Business School (HBS), looked inward with a critical eye. At HBS, we resolved to take action to promote racial equity and diversity, as we heard the calls for the School to move swiftly to address the impacts of racism at our institution and in higher education.

The result was the establishment of 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, supporting the Black community at HBS and beyond, engaging the broader business community, and changing the School’s culture and organization.

Similarly, the School took a hard look at socio economic inclusion (SEI) and how MBA students experience the role of class. Spearheaded by two (then current) students, a SEI Task Force was created, providing 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 were the creation of a need-based application fee waiver, and greater resources for first-generation college students. Both efforts are focused on making HBS a more inclusive and diverse environment for all students.”

HBS Campus. Photo: Hensley Carrasco

P&Q: What are two biggest differentiating features of your MBA program? How do each of these enrich the learning of your MBA students?

MC: “HBS invented the case method pedagogy, which it still uses today. Students are assigned up to 500 cases over their two years at the School, reading and analyzing them before class to prepare themselves for a discussion about how they would solve the business challenge presented. HBS brings together amazingly talented people from diverse backgrounds and puts that experience front-and-center. Students do the majority of the talking (and lots of active listening), and their job is to better understand the decision at hand, what they would do in the case protagonist’s shoes, and why. They do not leave a class thinking about the case the same way they thought about it coming in. In addition to learning more about many different businesses, with the case method they develop communication, listening, analysis, and leadership skills. It is a truly dynamic and immersive learning environment.

The diversity of the classroom is made possible due to the section experience. Upon arrival at HBS, students are assigned to a specific “section”—a group of approximately 90 students with whom they will complete the Required Curriculum (RC). The section’s rich mix of backgrounds, interests, experiences, and ambitions reflects the diversity of the class. Section mates not only take their RC classes together, they share cases, classroom facilities, and their own dedicated team of faculty. Section faculty teach and manage the learning environment, using their own research and real-world experience to introduce innovative ideas and approaches to learning.

The international nature of the HBS MBA program is another major differentiator. In addition to its global alumni network (with a third of MBA alumni living outside the U.S.), the School’s 15 research centers and regional offices in key areas of the world enable faculty to work with leaders, industry, government, and academia worldwide, and to learn from business challenges and innovations wherever they occur. Through sustained work in the field, faculty are provided the opportunity to immerse themselves in the culture and values – as well as intricacies and nuances – that lead to truly meaningful and insightful global research, and in turn, more robust and global-focused curriculum and opportunities for students.”

Next Page: In-depth profiles of 11 members of the Class of 2023.

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