<p>I know work experience is recommended for admission into the top MBA programs ( or maybe all of them). But Harvard 2+2 lets you get into their school and then go to work. Since being accepted straight into HBS after college is very difficult, is it more difficult to get into Harvard 2+2?</p>
<p>GPA around 3.9? High GMAT scores... but what else?</p>
<p>**My undergraduate concentration is in a business-related field, and I have had a lot of business exposure. Is 2+2 the right program for me?</p>
<p>The 2+2 Program is primarily targeted towards students who are not already on a business track (i.e. students studying the liberal arts, sciences, engineering, etc.). If your current academic training and internship experiences put you on a solid foundation to advance in a business career, 2+2 may not be the right program for you. We encourage candidates with a strong track record of leadership and business exposure to consider applying as college seniors to our regular MBA Program.**</p>
<p>I'm considering going to law school or getting my MBA (username). So I might study Economics and a business-related major (finance, marketing, etc.). Would being involved in Economics help me be more competitive than if I just had a Finance major or a Marketing major?</p>
<p>My understanding was that studying finance or economics will prevent you from getting into this program, which is geared towards students in science or humanities. Otherwise there would be no point in separating this from their regular MBA program</p>
<p>so what do they look for in selecting candidates for this program? besides the usually GPA and GMAT scores, what else is there if one is not a business/finance major?</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard, the program was originally designed to try and catch the overwhelming number of students going into Harvard Law School, to try and even out the success rates of undergraduates. </p>
<p>With that in mind, I think majors in Finance and Economics would definitely hurt your chances of making it into this program.</p>
<p>I am very interested in this program too…but I don’t understand why they look down upon economics majors for admission. Even though much of it provides a theoretical backbone for business, in the end it’s a social science, not a business major.</p>
<p>It’s not that Economics is a business major, its that people who major in economics GENERALLY have some idea of working in some business related field.</p>
<p>The program was created to try and lure students into business who were originally planning on going into law, so that’s why the admissions process looks done upon Econ majors.</p>
<p>This program is meant to attract people who may otherwise not have gotten an MBA. It’s not a shortcut for people who had always planned on going into the business field. They have a regular MBA program for that</p>
<p>Well, thanks VW. That was informative. I am still curious as to where roneald “heard” whatever he heard.</p>
<p>I also do wonder, though, if anyone who is a “junior” in college isn’t a “non-traditional” student by B-school MBA admission standards…</p>
<p>Also, Economics majors are certainly treated as liberal arts people–provided the degree is granted by the school of arts and sciences and not an undergraduate b-school.</p>
<p>Well, AM, there are plenty of people who decide to pursue an MBA after they graduate. There are also plenty of people who major in the liberal arts with the intention of going into business after college, get an MBA down the road, etc… so, I am not sure how this is not a shortcut to an MBA program. I mean, you get admitted before you enter your senior year. Unless you have a crystal ball that allows you to see into the future and can, then, separate those who will get an MBA in the future and those who won’t (in order to admit those who won’t), I am not sure what you are trying to say. Trust me, HBS does not have such crystal ball. </p>
<p>Do you really think the admissions committee will sit around and say: hmmm, I think this kid will get an MBA in the future…rejected! (???) Or… this kid is too good (or a perfect fit or what have you) but he’s an econ major, let’s not take him! (???)</p>
<p>My friend goes to Yale and he considered applying for the 2+2 and one of his econ professors shared this bit of information with him, and he then shared it with me.</p>
<p>There’s no need to get defensive I’m simply conveying the information which I have and you can choose to use it or not. I’m saying I spoke with the Dean of Admissions or anything. </p>
<p>To your second response, I think they might say “This kid has had business internships two summers in a row, he’s taken 30 credits worth of undergraduate business classes, and his vocational intentions are to work on Wall Street, chances are he’s going to get an MBA anyways, so maybe this isn’t the program for him.”</p>
<p>Where you accept my premise or not, the information on the website clearly shows that they’re not looking for the average MBA applicant, but rather someone who might not have previously considered going into business but has the intellectual capacity, leadership, and intelligence to succeed in the field. </p>
<p>I also do not COMPLETELY agree with your statement that an Econ degree is seen as purely a liberal arts degree. At schools (such as Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Yale, and Dartmouth) where there is no undergraduate degree in business, many students who plan on going into business may be at least be partially view as an aspiring member in the field of business. </p>
<p>Thanks for sharing, Roneald. That was helpful. </p>
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<p>Look, I am not being defensive. I simply *hate *to see misinformation (and nonsense) spread around in this forum. It is only right that people share their sources when they make claims, regardless of whether the claims are about HBS or the University of Phoenix. </p>
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<p>Now, tell me… why would your imagination be a valid source? Do you know people on the admissions committee? If you don’t, then you have no reason to believe they might say something like that. It’s pure speculation. Which is fine, it’s simply your (mis)informed opinion, but it’s only fine as long as you realize it and don’t mislead other people. </p>
<p>In any case, I never said anything about our hypothetical ‘liberal arts economics major student’ having taken undergraduate business classes. You are–conveniently–bringing in new information to change the hypothetical scenario in your favor. But, even then, let’s just humor you for a second: Being that the case, let me ask you… </p>
<p>Do you think HBS is interested in discriminating against people who are interested in business? (I mean, last time I checked they are a business school. Or, do you think they are interested in training business leaders?</p>
<p>Do you think they are interested in discriminating against talented people simply because they <em>might</em> go on to a business career and/or an MBA or seem to have the potential to do so? Or, alternatively, do you think they trying to snatch *talent *early on?</p>
<p>More importantly, do you think the adcoms at HBS are so stupid as to speculate about the career options a person will have? Again, they don’t have a crystal ball. No crystal ball=no certain look into the future. Adcoms are not prophets, nor do they pretend to be. And in the scenario a person *already has an offer<a href=“as%20opposed%20to%20wishful%20thinking”>/I</a> from a wall street bank, well, 1) they don’t have to disclose that in the application, but 2) if they do, it might even be advantageous for the 2+2 program. You see, that’s one less 2+2 member HBS has to worry about placing in a job for two years. </p>
<p>So, if after reading these questions you are honest with yourself, chances are your common sense has proven you wrong already. </p>
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<p>Right. But, Roneald, let’s think a little. What is “the average MBA applicant”? You seem to be confusing intent with desire and possibility with actuality. The “average MBA applicant” is one who already has 2 years on wall street or management consulting or 4 to 5 years in industry. <em>All</em> undergraduates are not “the average MBA applicant”. It should be pretty clear.HBS even took people who came with Bachelors in Business Administration! Sure, only something like 2%… but they got in!!</p>
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<p>Uh, buddy, you don’t have to agree with me. I, frankly, don’t care. But you (and people who are interested in 2+2) would be wise to agree with HBS’ lead admission director. That’s what she has said everywhere. Don’t believe me? Go to an informational meeting (where she’s usually accompanied by current MBA students and alumni whom you’d be wise to listen to) or visit the Dhillon house and ask. Heck, save yourself the trouble and *give HBS a call! *</p>
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<p>Well… thank you for your “insight”, if we can call it that. But it’s completely irrelevant to the argument at hand. Goldman Sachs’ favorite majors for their investment banking division are Ivy kids with degrees in philosophy and history… by your (mis)informed (and also flawed) reasoning, HBS ought to discriminate against those philosophy and history majors who are courted by Goldman Sachs! After all, a career with Goldman Sachs was once seen as the holy grail in business (and I would argue that it is still quite desirable). And, please, I’d like to see you try and tell me that philosophy and history are not, what is it, “purely liberal arts”!</p>
<p>Please don’t get me wrong: your 0.02 cents are welcome. Monopoly money, however, is not.</p>
<p>First of all thanks for correcting me on the [not] in my statement. </p>
<p>Next, I’m hypothesizing situations based on the information I’ve gathered on this program. For the statement I made up there in regards to summer experience, it came from the 2+2 website where it states,</p>
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<p>I’m on a page where I can’t see previous posts, but I’m pretty sure this has already been posted on here. I’m not re-posting it to be redundant, just to site my sources as you have asked me to do.</p>
<p>I think this is exactly what they’re trying to do-- catch talent that previously was not planning on entering the business field. From the information I’ve gathered I’ve ascertained that the goal of the program is trying to appeal people who might not have originally planned on going into business, but show the promise of being able to succeed in the field.</p>
<p>There’s no way they only want students who aren’t interested in business, if they weren’t interested in business they wouldn’t be applying for an MBA. However, there’s a difference between garnering interest in an MBA and planning on going for one when you graduated high school.</p>
<p>I think you misunderstand me on this facet of my argument. I meant to compare two seniors (since that’s how old you are when you apply for the 2+2 program), or even people finishing their undergraduate studies, one whose resume and years in college were built to apply for an MBA and one whose weren’t. The first will obviously have more classes in Business (if their school offered them), summer internships that are business related, president of their school’s Entrepreneurship Club-- whatever. Point is, its very easy to see. The point I was trying to make was it can be pretty easy to distinguish someone whose been planning on getting an MBA their entire undergraduate career.</p>
<p>Take for example, my friend Charles. He’s going to be a junior at Cornell next year, and he’s majoring in Economics in the CAS. However, he’s spent a good 2/3 of his electives taking classes in the Undergraduate Business Program (AEM) and the School of Hotel Administration. Last summer he did an internship with BoA, and the year before was a KCAL marketing internship. Sure, hes an econ major, but can you say that he “wasn’t previously planning on entering a field in business”?</p>
<p>Now again, this is why I made my first statement objective depending on the situation, which is why I said “I don’t COMPLETELY” agree. You raised the point that I was “conveniently” altering the situation, but I wasn’t trying to edge the argument my way unfairly, I was just saying that IF the student is an Econ major that takes this path (like my friend), then it doesn’t hold the same “Liberal Arts Major” title as someone who didn’t. My entire point in making my statement was that not ALL people with an Econ major are purely liberal arts students, and that (from personal experience) I know of many students who plan on going into business and decided to major in Economics when their school did not offer an undergraduate business program, and these students are often easy to spot out. </p>
<p>Your point about Philosophy and History majors only goes to further my own argument. Granted, some of those people might have planned on going into business but instead opted to major in something they were more interested in that would expand the breadth of their intellectual capacity (I will be one of these students in the fall), but there are also some of them who didn’t plan on going into business, that possess the qualities and abilities necessary to thrive in the field. These are (strictly in my opinion) primarily the students the program is trying to catch; the people who did not previously know what they wanted to do, who currently if they applied for internships/jobs out of college would be at a disadvantage because of their lack of experience in the field. </p>
<p>As far as the 2% of BBA students that got into the program, again there is no reason to say HBS is going to disqualify an extremely competitive student who they feel will be able to succeed, but even then this is an EXTREMELY small number. 2% out of 106 is either 2 or 3 people, so you’re either looking at some AMAZING students, or people who could of possibly been late transfers into business programs? I’m just inferring at this point, but the point is even if they were traditional business prospects, that’s not a very staggering acceptance rate.</p>