<p>...........or younger don't ignore the relatively new Harvard MBA 2+2 program.</p>
<p>I know that 2+2 has been mentioned elsewhere in CollegeConfidential but I am mentioning it in this Parent Forum because it is us parents who often coach/remind/harass our kids to plan for the future and the 2+2 program is an nice opportunity to not only have a stress free undergraduate senior year but also two years to explore/mature before taking your reserved seat in a Harvard MBA class. </p>
<p>My kid applied in the summer or 2010, was accepted before he began his senior year, is working now, and will start his Harvard MBA studies in the fall of 2013.</p>
<p>2+2 Program Class of 2016 Application Steps</p>
<p>The 2+2 Program is an application process for rising and current college seniors to apply to HBS. It is comprised of two years of professional work experience followed by two years in the HBS MBA Program. Upon graduating from college, admitted 2+2 students spend two years working in a professional, HBS-approved position in the public, private, or nonprofit sector. The 2+2 Program attracts accomplished college seniors from all fields of study. We're looking for innovative thinkers who have demonstrated leadership and analytical skills and want to apply their knowledge and passion to make a difference in the world.</p>
<p>Are you eligible?</p>
<p>To be considered for admission to the 2+2 Program Class of 2016 (entering Fall 2014), you must be graduating from your college or university between October 1, 2011 and September 30, 2012. This timing applies to candidates from bachelor degree programs as well as joint bachelor/graduate degree programs.</p>
<p>Do you have a kid in that program? I know one girl who got accepted last year. She attended a top tier college, graduated summa cum laude along with tons of achievement. In short, if this kid is a typical candidate, the program you mentioned is out of reach for most of MBA applicants, just like HS sr. applying to Harvard College.</p>
<p>Hi jvtDad…yes, my son was accepted to the Harvard B School under the 2+2 program and it sounds like he was accepted at the same time the highly accomplished girl that you mention was accepted - maybe they’ll become friends.</p>
<p>Please don’t take this wrong but when you say (based on the girl that you know) “…program you mentioned is out of reach for most of MBA applicants, just like HS sr. applying to Harvard College”… I completely understand where you’re coming from, because I used to think that way too, but I also think people who think that way are making a mistake because while Harvard College and Harvard Business School have silly low acceptance rates one would be surprised at the number of relatively ordinary people who do get accepted - so why not try? I hate to see people “telling themselves NO” rather than applying and letting the school “tell them NO”. Granted no dolts get into any Harvard school (unless they’re legacies) but my kid is pretty ordinary, didn’t have any family connections to Harvard and went to Harvard College and will go to Harvard B School - the secret was to try.</p>
<p>In HS he applied to 8 “super selective” schools as well as several “match” schools and Harvard was the only super selective school that accepted him - go figure. The same thing happen when he applied to the B school under 2+2 after his junior year - he didn’t exactly fit the HBS profile but the 2+2 program was only two years old so he figured “what the hell, maybe they have’t figured out who they should accept and who they shouldn’t” so he applied and much to everyone’s surprise was accepted.</p>
<p>So the point of this thread is that HBS 2+2 provides a completely different (and maybe easier) path to getting into a top notch MBA program, and I don’t think enough people are aware of it.</p>
<p>But at the same time, it has diminished the number of spaces available at Harvard Business School for young people who prefer to seek their own jobs between college and business school or who, for whatever reason, prefer to work for more (or less) than two years before starting an MBA program.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine that the kids Harvard is accepting for this program can’t easily find themselves a suitable job for two years. I don’t see the tuition associated with this program. Surely Harvard doesn’t find you this prestigious job for free. Given that Harvard pretty much requires substantial work experience for admission, this seems more like a chance for Harvard to grab 4 years worth of your money instead of only two.</p>
<p>Most top MBA programs expect all except the very tippy-top academic applicants(i.e. 3.8+ GPAs from Harvard) to work a minimum of two years before applying to their programs. </p>
<p>More importantly, nearly all of the corporate firms I’ve worked for will only hire MBA graduates with at least two years of work experience prior to that MBA. </p>
<p>Such firms tend to perceive an MBA with less than 2 years/no work experience as someone who avoided spending adequate time in the professional working world and thus, didn’t gain enough relevant working experience to get much out of their MBA experience.</p>
<p>I was actually under the impression that people who want to enroll in MBA programs typically work for three or four years before doing so, but there must be exceptions in both directions.</p>
<p>That is the case from what I’ve seen. 2 years of work experience between college and MBA is the absolute minimum. Typically…MBA admissions and more importantly, employers prefer applicants to go beyond those minimums.</p>
<p>As indicated above, HBS did not increase the size of an HBS class (which is around 900 students) when they introduced 2+2, they simply “carved out” 100 seats for 2+2’ers.</p>
<p>Since my kid went to Harvard undergrad he heard some scuttlebutt on campus regarding what HBS was trying to achieve with the 2+2 program. My kid was an applied math kid.</p>
<p>The first rumor was that they are trying to attract more math, science & engineering to the HBS and 2+2 was a way to “lock them in” before they get too settled in a career or are in the middle of a PhD program. This rumor is backed up by the above statement…“Roughly half of each cohort will be students coming from engineering and science backgrounds”.</p>
<p>The other rumor is that HBS wanted to lower the average age of a HBS’er which is currently 26-27. The 2+2’ers will be a couple of years younger when they start.</p>
<p>The required two years of work before HBS (the first “2” in “2+2”) appears straightforward. HBS asks for a “plan of work” in the fall after the kid graduates. My son found a full time job in Cambridge that he’ll probably keep for the two years. He updated HBS on what he’s doing and said that it was no big deal - they just wanted to see that you weren’t going to goof off. But these people probably aren’t the type to goof off, although my son has his days.</p>
<p>Have you ever watched the HBS admission videos? They’re kinda scary or at least intimidating. [The</a> HBS Advantage - MBA - Harvard Business School](<a href=“http://www.hbs.edu/mba/hbsadvantage/]The”>Academic Experience - MBA - Harvard Business School) My son watched them only after he was accepted and said “I’m going to have to do all that?”. “Yup” I said “and pay $85,000 per year for the priviledge!”</p>
<p>Honestly, the HBS students that I’ve met seem more down to earth and nicer than the students in the video but there’s no question that it will be tough & interesting.
But getting back to the original purpose of this thread, it may not be right for everyone but at least everyone should be AWARE of 2+2.</p>
<p>My kid was nowhere near the above GPA and he got in.</p>
<p>I’m afraid that too many people talk themselves out of applying to selective undergraduate and graduate schools. In my kid’s experience, that’s a big mistake. If you’re anywhere remotely qualified, why not apply? What do you have to lose - a little time and a fee?</p>
<p>One Down – I’m sure Harvard is aware it is much harder for a science math concentrator to finish with a 3.8 - 4.0 GPA than many of the other concentrations. As an Applied Math student, Harvard would know how to compare your son’s GPA to an Economics or other nonMath Science GPA.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I was accepted to the 2+2 program as a humanities major with a GPA (I think) in the 3.5 range around the time I applied (summer after junior year). That’s not to say everyone can get in (of course not) but it has been, in my experience, a rewarding program, if with some kinks still to work out.</p>
<p>So…if you say it’s been “a rewarding program” does that mean that you started your MBA this fall and therefore were in the first accepted class of 2+2’ers in 2008?</p>
<p>Do you feel (like I do) that awareness of 2+2 is still quite low? It is such an odd program because its timing doesn’t fit where people’s heads are.</p>
<p>As was said earlier in this thread, most people don’t even think of applying to MBA programs until they’ve worked a few years so why would a rising senior even stumble upon the 2+2 opportunity? My kid heard about it because he was already on the Harvard campus and could read the school newspaper. Otherwise, he would have never become aware of the opportunity.</p>
<p>I actually was admitted in 2009 and am due to start in 2012 (although I may defer but that’s a whole other story!) I refer to the “rewarding program” aspect because of the communications I’ve had with admissions staff, career advice services I’ve had access to, and the usefulness of not having to prepare graduate school applications while simultaneously working (we 2014ers just sent in our application updates and it was difficult enough to find time to write ONE additional essay and follow up with ONE recommender while working 80 hour weeks – can’t imagine if I was doing the whole process from scratch and with no assurance I’d get in at all, while working full time).</p>
<p>I agree, the program is not well known - I believe I actually found out about it on College Confidential. One of my parents is an HBS alum but was not aware of the program. That being said, my senior year (so gearing up for the third year of the program) HBS admissions staff did visit my undergrad and provide information about the HBS MBA, including the 2+2 program. It seems to be gaining traction, but it’s done so as it’s simultaneously broadened focus (ie, in the first couple of years, you were explicitly discouraged from applying if you were a business major, now that’s not the case, it used to have a focus of recruiting engineers/scientists/humanities/social science students and a focus on raising the female percentage of the class, again, that seems to be less of a focus in the marketing materials now). Now I believe (I may be wrong) that every college senior who applies to HBS must apply via the 2+2 program.</p>
<p>There are several “Early MBA” programs which are not well known - Simon School of Management at URochester has the early leaders program, and I believe Yale SOM has the Silver Scholars program. They’re certainly worth exploring if a) you have had a successful college career and b) you’re considering a career in business and c) you’re interested in finishing up your graduate studies earlier than the traditional 3-5 yrs of work experience then an MBA.</p>