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BusinessWeek Interview with HBS Admissions Director

Last week, Harvard Business School’s Executive Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid, Deirdre Leopold, held a much-anticipated online chat with BusinessWeek.

Highlights of the interview include:

  1. After many years of six to seven mandatory essays, HBS will be changing its approach, requesting two mandatory essays and a selection of three others from six choices.
  2. HBS will be more transparent in its decision-making process, keeping candidates up to date on when interviews are sent out.
  3. HBS does not frown upon repeated GMAT attempts and only looks at the score reported in the application.
  4. HBS received 7,400 applications last year, an increase of approximately 11% from the previous year.
  5. Re-applicants start ‘fresh” at HBS; when a new application is read, the candidate’s previous status is unknown. If the candidate advances to an interview a previous application may be read in order to get a more full picture.

A full transcript can be accessed via the following link: Admissions Tips From Harvard



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