Harvard MBA

Graduate School Business School - MBA
1

Hello,
Which undergraduate major would be best between finance & business/corporate communication to get into Harvard MBA?
I know Harvard approaches a holistic evaluation but I am still wondering if one major would help over the other.

Thank you!

2

You can major in anything and go to Harvard Business School. In addition to undergraduate business majors, you will find engineers, humanities majors, etc. MBAs do not require business related undergrads. What they do expect is successful work experience. Top MBA programs expect you to graduate undergrad and then work for several years before returning to get an MBA. So pick what you like and get top grades in it, get a job, do very well in that job, and then apply to get an MBA.

9 Likes
3

What @me29034 is spot on. I majored in English and went to HBS ten years post undergrad. My section had just about every background you can imagine including a divinity PhD, an Army helicopter pilot, a nationally ranked runner, a jewelry designer, a professional photographer, several IBs whose companies were paying for their degrees, etc. I didn’t even know what anyone’s undergrad degree was, didn’t matter. What counted was what they’d done after. At the time I went, HBS required a minimum of five years of work experience.

4

I love these posts - “I know they say X, but secretly is the answer Y?”

And the straight up answer is: No, there is no advantage. AdComms are not going to value one over the other, and neither is going to be remotely as important as what else you have done in your life.

Moreover, if you get in they won’t give you any credit for having a finance major: every single Harvard MBA student- no matter what their college major or previous jobs- takes Finance 1 and Financial Reporting & Control.

The whole point of an MBA is to give students a full set of tools, that can be used across sectors.

1 Like
5

Agree with the others that your choice of undergrad major won’t matter as long as you can get a good job after graduation. What DOES matter is having:

  1. an outstanding undergrad GPA and standardized tests;
  2. a minimum 2 - 5 years of meaningful work experience with increasing responsibilities;
  3. great LORs.

My H attended a top 3 MBA program and there were people with various undergrad business degrees – but there were also engineers, English majors, an opera singer, military veterans as well as people with various other backgrounds.

As people have suggested on other threads your major focus now should be on finding a meaningful internship/job.

6

Meaningful work also includes entrepreneurship. My section had several self-employed business people with no corporate experience at all.

1 Like
7

Agree…and if the OP is entrepreneurially oriented (and can take off the HBS or bust glasses), they might find that HBS isn’t the best choice for them! Depending on their field of interest, for example, MIT or Stanford might be better.

2 Likes