"There is no business school quite like the Harvard Business School. The MBA at Stanford GSB is more selective, the business school at Wharton has been around longer, the five-year ROI at Chicago Booth is stronger, the three-month placement rate at MIT Sloan is better, the aims achieved scored by Kellogg graduates are rosier, and the median base salary of Columbia MBAs is higher.
But the HBS admissions office receives more full-time MBA applications than any other school. Where and what did the 930 admits study before they went to Harvard?
Critics claim that the case method developed at Harvard is showing signs of its age, and naysayers fret that corporate scandals involving HBS graduates show few signs of slowing. It sometimes feels like the iconic business school on the banks of the Charles River is a punching bag for everything that is wrong with the business world." …
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattsymonds/2019/11/21/feeder-colleges-and-companies-to-harvard-business-school-deep-dive-analysis-of-the-hbs-mba-class-of-2020/#575650cb2ede
Possibly the best & most interesting advertisement that I have ever read.
Interesting. it appears that if one has on the resume, degrees from the most elite private schools (Ivies, HYPS, etc.) and employers (i.e., Goldman Sachs), the chances of a coveted spot at the HBS are higher than for the rest of the applicants.
Many years ago, when I was at Price Waterhouse (PW), a colleague friend, also a Haas graduate who got his CPA license at PW, was admitted to HBS and Stanford. He chose HBS. A friend of mine’s son, also a Haas graduate and worked at PWC (in consulting) and later for a start-up, was admitted recently to HBS.
While interesting, I wonder if hiring expensive MBA admissions consultants is necessary in the current market.
Applications to HBS & the other M-7 MBA programs are down with one exception (UChicago which has seen a multi-year decline, but a slight uptick in the past admissions cycle).
P.S. Plus, MBA programs are reaching out in various ways to encourage more folks to apply. If one needs a consultant in order to help with your MBA application, then maybe an MBA is not an appropriate option at this time. Applicants need to be able to articulate why they want an MBA in an authentic manner.
If guidance is needed, there are dozens of books available for under $40 which offer similiar advice for which a consultant will charge several thousands of dollars.