How to get into Harvard Business School: 6 tips + new essay prompts

Your application checklist is primed with a high GPA, top GMAT test scores, and professional experience to match. But each year, thousands of Harvard hopefuls don’t make the cut. The time, effort, and thought it takes to prove to Harvard that you’ve earned that coveted spot is just as rigorous as its two-year, full-time MBA program.

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What sets the application process apart is its “introspective” nature, HBS officials, students, alumni, and MBA experts agree. HBS doesn’t want to hear about how great it is, but how you, as an MBA candidate, can make it even better. 

In 2022-23, Harvard received 8,149 applications for its full-time MBA program and extended admission to 938 candidates (that’s a nitpicky 8.69% acceptance rate). What’s the secret to competing among the world’s future business leaders? 

“It’s more of an art than it is a science,” says Shaifali Aggarwal, an HBS graduate who is the founder and CEO of Ivy Groupe, an MBA admissions consulting firm. “There is no formula, per se.”

HBS’s new essay prompts

A new challenge awaits applicants to the class of 2027: new criteria for candidate evaluation and admissions essays. Historically, HBS has had just one essay prompt, asking students in 900 words or less simply what the admissions team should know more about. Now, students will have to tackle three questions: 

“Business-Minded Essay: Please reflect on how your experiences have influenced your career choices and aspirations and the impact you will have on the businesses, organizations, and communities you plan to serve. (up to 300 words)

Leadership-Focused Essay: What experiences have shaped who you are, how you invest in others, and what kind of leader you want to become? (up to 250 words)

Growth-Oriented Essay: Curiosity can be seen in many ways. Please share an example of how you have demonstrated curiosity and how that has influenced your growth. (up to 250 words)”

These three themes—business, leadership, and growth—are the main characteristics HBS says candidates must prove they embody in order to be accepted into HBS.

The changes may be in an effort to connect the essays with topics prospective employers ask during the recruiting process for summer internships and full-time employment, shares the team at Stacy Blackman Consulting, a firm which is made up of several former HBS admission officers. 

They encourage prospective students to be genuine and leverage creative themes or threads across the three essays to ensure one’s application cohesively stands out—and is not solely based on a story of successes and accomplishments.

“Go deep. Get personal. Make sure the reader feels genuineness and authenticity. Make them get goosebumps while they are reading,” they tell Fortune. 

For those interested in pursuing a Harvard MBA, don’t be put off by the new criteria and essays; in fact, consider it a new opportunity. Fortune has 6 tips for how you can tackle them and eventually get into the best business school in the nation:

• Consider why you want the degree
• Don’t focus solely on test scores and GPA to carry your application
• Choose your recommenders carefully
• Show—don’t tell—your story (with the new essay prompts)
• Memorize your application & practice explaining your “whys”
• Reflect on your interview

1. Consider why you want the degree

Before anything else, applicants to HBS need to take them to think. Consider your goals and motivations. Do you want to go to Harvard just because it’s Harvard? Or is there something in particular that excites you about pursuing an MBA, especially from one of the best schools in the world. (Don’t forget, this will be an endeavor that will cost you close to $250k).

Harvard employs the case study method, using scenarios from real business leaders. Students debate approaches for protagonists to take in a variety of situations and challenges across multiple industries. In total, students tackle a whopping 500 cases during their two years at Harvard. Cold-calling and fast-paced debates are an essential component of an HBS education. Consider whether that’s an environment where you would sink or swim.

“I think if you feel like this is something you want, you should shoot your shot. Most people that get in are not expecting to get in. It’s just something that’s a dream of theirs,” says Erik Rasmussen, who graduated from HBS in 2024 and now consults prospective students.

2. Don’t focus solely on test scores and GPA to carry your application

Students admitted to Harvard Business School in 2023 on average had a 3.73 undergrad GPA, 4.9 years of work experience, and a 740 median GMAT score. While these can indicate success, they don’t guarantee admission. HBS students come from engineering, economics, social sciences, business/commerce, and math and physical science backgrounds, with no one undergrad program representing a majority of admitted students.

Keep in mind that test scores and GPA are just numbers; they are no indication of truly who you are as a person. Focusing on your letters of recommendation, essay, interview, and post-interview reflection will help you differentiate your candidacy.

Rasmussen says he was admitted to HBS despite having a slightly lower than average GMAT as well as number of years of work experience. And while HBS does not have a minimum requirement for students to apply, experts agree that being similar to the class profile can only tremendously help and put less pressure on the other materials to supplement.

“Schools are going to use the GMAT and the GRE and the GPA as a rubric of, can you handle the rest of the curriculum because they want to make sure that they’re accepting people who will succeed in the classroom and not struggle,” Aggarwal explains.

3. Choose your recommenders carefully

Accompanying your application are two letters of recommendation, which should illustrate HBS pillars. While the school notes that there is no set formula for who is best suited to be a recommender, former supervisors, colleagues, or an outside-of-work collaborator are examples of who could work. Moreover, while a good recommender could be an HBS alum or senior leader at your company, it’s more important to have someone who knows you well to speak on your behalf. 

A recommender can be a great person to vouch for any holes or caution flags in your application, such as a lower-than-average years of work experience or gap in your resume. Moreover, they can explain in detail how you are business-minded, leadership-focused, and growth-oriented. Having them provide examples of your interpersonal skills and quantitative abilities can be especially great.

Making sure your recommenders are also prepared and fully aware of your whole self, including employment and extracurricular history as well as future goals, are key, Rasmussen says.

4. Show—don’t tell—your story (with the new essay prompts)

Writing a response to the HBS essay prompts is not something you can respond to quickly or in one setting. Neither should you copy your response sent to another school. It takes time to reflect on your past and plan your future—and to illustrate it through a well-crafted story catered specific to HBS.

While the admission essays are new for the first time in several years, it is a prime opportunity for students since the admissions counselors have no previous years to base your responses on.

Critical points to hit in your essay responses: Why now is the right time to pursue your MBA, what your goals are, what you’re hoping to get from the program to get you where you want to be, and (in a non-generic way) why you want to earn your MBA. Do these things by showing—not telling, meaning rather than explicitly stating some ideas, express it through unique details and examples.

“You have to be realistic about being vulnerable and telling a real story and really taking the time to reflect on who you want to portray in your essay,” Rasmussen suggests, adding that instead of explaining that, for example, you have a dream to become a CEO of a biotech company, instead think about:

• What does that goal mean to you? 
• What are the deeper parts of you as an individual, and how does that relate to your goal?
• How does your goal fit into how you can contribute to society?

Aggarwal says the essay space is a place to step back and have introspection: think strategically about your life and what you want to do in the future; how do your experiences connect to what you want your future to look like; and what’s your overall motivation.

It can be helpful to friends, family, and others who know you well to help reflect on your own life and be able to better craft an authentic response to the essays, Aggarwal adds. 

All of this is especially important in the context of generative AI tools, like ChatGPT, being an elephant in the room when it comes to admissions. While applicants may think the technology may be able to write elegant essay responses, generative AI is still not perfect; it still lacks human authenticity and cannot incorporate your real-world life experiences into your writing. Plus, it’ll be a little awkward in the interview when you do not sound like the person (or thing) that wrote the essay.

5. Memorize your application & practice explaining your “whys”

HBS typically invites one in five applicants for a 30-minute interview, which may be on-campus, in a hub city or on Zoom. Unlike other programs, only HBS admissions board members conduct interviews. And believe it or not, these officials likely spend more time preparing than you. 

Your interviewer will know your application to a T. They’ll know the classes you took your freshman year of college, where you had your first internship, in which clubs you were involved—and even where you went to high school. They know your story from your essay. 

To nail the interview is to know yourself and to justify your decisions. Aggarwal says the interviewer will be looking to see truly what perspective you can bring to the classroom and can you handle being on your feet.

“Once you get to the interview stage, then you have to just be who you were in your application,” Rasmussen says. “The more authentic you are from that, the more you’re able to back up what you’ve said, I think the stronger you perform.”

Googling HBS interview questions won’t be very helpful, as every interview is tailored to the applicant. To prepare for the hot seat, memorize your application and practice explaining your “whys.”

Be also prepared to be human. Aggarwal says they might ask you about a recent news event or about the industry as a whole.

“It’s not only understanding your story, but understanding the space that you’re in. So, it’s a lot of prep that is required for 30 minutes,” she says.

6. Reflect on your interview

Within 24 hours of the interview, applicants must submit a follow-up letter—the last piece of the puzzle.

The post-interview reflection takes the traditional thank-you note a step further and allows applicants to have the last word. Applicants can expand on topics addressed during their interview and bridge any gaps in their application. It’s also another opportunity for HBS to understand how applicants synthesize conversations, says Aggarwal, who counsels prospects for top MBA programs.

There’s no prescription for the structure or length of the reflection, but it should be concise and direct. It’s not something that you can prepare for since no two HBS interviews are alike.

The takeaway

Any MBA program is a huge investment—of both your time and money. The decision to apply could take months or years. 

Before and during the application process, do your research, speak with current students and professors, listen to information sessions and webinars, and spend time on campus. Think beyond the two years you’ll spend at HBS. Investigate industries you’re interested in pursuing and connect with HBS alum to hear their stories. 

It is also important to not put all of your eggs in one basket. Apply for more schools than just HBS; you never know which will surprise you as being the best fit. 

“I always tell people that you might want to broaden your net a little bit because even if you think you have all the credentials to get into your top one or two schools, you don’t really know completely what’s going on the back end,” says Rasmussen. “You might get through their process, but you might actually just fall through and do really well in another process. So, it’s all a very complicated game you have to play.”

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