Two applicants apply to Harvard Business School (HBS) with near-identical test scores, GPAs, and career trajectories. One earns an interview invitation. The other does not. More often than applicants expect, the recommendation letter is what separates them.
Your recommendation letter is the only part of your application where someone else speaks for you, and when it is done well, it can be the most persuasive document in your entire file. For the Class of 2027,HBS admitted just 11.3% of applicants—943 candidates from a pool of 9,409. When two applicants look nearly identical on paper, a detailed, credible recommendation letter is often what tips the balance.
In this episode of The mbaMission Podcast, mbaMission Senior Consultant Harold Simansky, Founder Jeremy Shinewald, and Managing Director Gavriella Semaya discuss whether MBA students in 2026 and going forward can expect to see a meaningful return on their investment in the degree. The question eludes a simple yes-or-no answer. While the degree can deliver enormous value, applicants must measure that value through the proper lens.
By Jen Kedrowski, MBA Admissions Consultant, mbaMission, and former GMAT/GRE Instructor & Curriculum Manager
If you are planning to apply to MBA programs, you have likely heard about exams such as the GMAT, GRE, and Executive Assessment (EA).
The question is how do you decide which admissions exam to take before applying to business schools?
In this post, we offer insight into the different exam options for applying to MBA programs to help you identify the one you should take to increase your chances of success. Ultimately, you want to choose the exam that is the best fit for you—the one that will most effectively showcase your abilities and add to your applicant profile.
Is attending a modern, innovative, one-year MBA program within a globally renowned historic university of interest to you? Only two business schools uniquely blend cutting-edge innovation with a rich historic backdrop going back more than 800 years, and they are Oxford Saïd Business School and Cambridge Judge Business School.
Whether you are still deciding where to apply to or already have offers in hand, thinking through the similarities and differences between the two programs is helpful.
Yin and yang, two halves of a whole, a bagel and cream cheese—no, these are not philosophical concepts (or breakfast options); they are ways of thinking about how to choose your MBA application recommenders. Nearly all business schools require two recommendations, and rather than viewing the people who will write them as two discrete individuals, each making a separate point about you, you should think of them as two knowledgeable sources whose letters will complement—and not repeat—each other. If you choose two recommenders who both highlight the same strengths they see in you, you will miss a valuable opportunity to make an impression on the admissions committee.
A first-of-its-kind, on-demand MBA application experience that delivers a personalized curriculum for you and leverages interactive tools to guide you through the entire MBA application process.
