Harvard Business School - Full-Time MBA

Harvard Full-Time MBA Program Structure

Harvard Business School’s Full-Time MBA program lasts two years, with students using the summer break between the first and second year to complete an internship.

Curriculum

At the start of the Harvard MBA program, incoming students are divided into sections of around 90 students who take all of their first-year courses together. These sections are designed to include a diverse range of backgrounds, professional experiences and interests and are seen as a highlight of an HBS student’s MBA experience.

HBS mandates that all students complete the first-year required curriculum, which is comprised of a total of 11 courses spread across two semesters and the January Term and a year-long course called the Field Immersion Experience for Leadership Development (FIELD). The program begins with five required courses: Finance; Financial Reporting and Control; Leadership and Organizational Behavior; Marketing; and Technology and Operations Management. In the spring semester of the first year, students take Business, Government, and the International Economy; Strategy; The Entrepreneurial Manager; Leadership and Corporate Accountability; and Finance 2.

Throughout their first year, students also complete their FIELD course. In the fall, students break into smaller teams to evaluate their leadership styles. During the January Term, students travel abroad to an emerging market to develop a product or service for a global partner. The year concludes with students designing and launching microbusinesses.

During the second year, students must complete 30 credits worth of electives, selecting from over 120 options across 10 academic areas: Accounting and Management; Business, Government & the International Economy; Entrepreneurial Management; Finance; General Management; Marketing; Negotiation, Organizations & Markets; Organizational Behavior; Strategy; and Technology & Operations Management. Electives are worth either three or 1.5 credits, with three-credit courses lasting the full semester and 1.5-credit courses lasting a single quarter. Options include 17 FIELD courses, where students design an independent project related to a specific area of interest, and seven immersion experience courses, where students travel abroad during the January Term to work with an organization on a specific business problem.

Harvard Full-Time MBA Rankings

• U.S. News & World Report: 5 (tie)
• Bloomberg: 2 (tie)
• Forbes: 4
• Financial Times: 4 (tie)

Class Profile at the Harvard Full-Time MBA

Harvard Business School enrolled 1,015 students in its Class of 2024. The median GMAT score is 730. Approximately 46 percent of the class is female, 38 percent is international, and 55 percent of students come from U.S. ethnic minority groups. A full 63 percent of students have an educational background in STEM or business, and 32 percent of the class came from professional backgrounds in consulting or private equity.

Career Statistics

Nearly 95 percent of 2022 Harvard Full-Time MBA graduates received a job offer within three months of graduating with 90 percent accepting their offers. The median salary of Harvard MBA graduates is $175,000 with a $30,000 median signing bonus and $40,000 in other median guaranteed compensation. 63 percent of the graduating class that accepted job offers received a signing bonus. The majority of employed graduates worked in private equity, consulting, and technology.

Tuition, Scholarships, and Financial Aid for the Harvard Full-Time MBA

The Harvard Business School full-time MBA tuition is $73,440 per year for the Class of 2023, with slight differences in tuition for those that are married and or have children. The school estimates that room, board, and other personal expenses for a single student will total $31,390  ($3,488 per month) for a nine-month period, with books, additional materials, and other costs totaling $7,934  per year. The total cost is $112,764 for a single student.

HBS offers need-based fellowships to those with limited financial resources. While the school itself does not offer merit-based scholarships, they do offer fellowships (about half of students admitted are eligible for a need-based fellowship) students are invited to explore scholarship opportunities through the university or outside sources. U.S. citizens and permanent residents are encouraged to rely on federal loans to finance the rest of their MBA costs. International students may apply to the Harvard University Employees Credit Union for a private educational loan that requires no U.S. cosigner.

Admissions

Applicants to the Harvard Full-Time MBA should submit online a GMAT or GRE score, transcripts from any undergraduate or graduate institutions attended, one essay, two recommendation letters, a current résumé, a $250 fee, a completed application form and a signed form stating acceptance of HBS Admission Policies. Applicants who did not attend an English-speaking undergraduate institution should also submit an internet-based TOEFL/IELTS/Pearson Test score. Following an initial review of applications, selected applicants are next invited to interview on campus, in a designated city or over Skype. Interviews last 30 minutes and are conducted by a member of the MBA admissions staff and tailored to the applicant. Within 24 hours after finishing their interview, applicants must submit a reflection on their interview experience. Harvard says the reflection is meant to be like a post-meeting email to a colleague or supervisor.

The application dates for the MBA Class of 2025 (matriculating fall 2023) are:

The application date for 2022 2+2 applicants:

FAQ for the Harvard Full-Time MBA

Are dual degree options available at Harvard Full-Time MBA?

Yes including MD/MBA, JD/MBA and MS/MBA.

How does Harvard prepare students for their careers?

59 job coaches, 600 recruiting partners, career events, and a summer internship help give students a competitive edge entering the workforce.

Working on your Harvard Business School application? Check out the Clear Admit HBS Essay Topic Analysis for advice on how to approach your essays.

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