Veterans and HBS
Harvard Business School (HBS) is consistently ranked among the foremost business schools in the world. With its mission of "Educating leaders who make a difference in the world," it looks for candidates who display a habit of leadership, analytical aptitude and appetite, and engaged community citizenship. As such, veterans bring a variety of valuable skills to the HBS community, and find the case method particularly well-suited to complement the skill sets that we have honed in the military.
If you are interested in applying to HBS and are coming from a military background, the Armed Forces Alumni Association can be a great resource, especially as you seek to transition from the military into the private sector. Please do not hesitate to contact an AFAA RC Admissions officer as you begin your application process. In the introductory email, please outline your branch of service, MOS/function, and any other information that may help us provide personalized feedback.
Admissions/Prospective Students
Harvard Business School (HBS) is consistently ranked among the foremost business schools in the world. With the mission of “Educating Leaders who make a difference in the world,” it looks for candidates who display a habit of leadership, analytical aptitude and appetite, and engaged community citizenship. As such, veterans bring a variety of valuable skills to the HBS community, and find the case method to be particularly well-suited to complement the skill sets that we have honed in the military.
If you are interested in applying to Harvard Business School and are coming from a military background, the Armed Forces Alumni Association can be a great resource, especially as you seek to transition from the military into the business sector. Please do not hesitate to contact an AFAA RC Admissions officer as you begin your application process. In the introductory e-mail, please outline your branch of service, MOS/function, and any other helpful information pertaining to application.
Visiting HBS
Visiting HBS is a great way to become better informed about HBS as you make your way through the application process. Having the opportunity to talk to students in person and sit in on classes will help you assess whether HBS is a good fit for you and will allow you to speak more intelligently about the school and MBA program in your essays and interview.
We recommend that you register for a visit through the admissions department, but if no class visits are listed as available you can contact any of our admissions vice presidents and we can arrange to take you to one or more classes with us. We can also meet with you for lunch or to answer any questions you have about the MBA admissions process. The admissions department also offers information sessions, which are worth attending if they fit your schedule.
A visit is not a requirement for admission—several of us never visited HBS prior to arriving for classes this fall, and others did not visit until coming to Boston to interview with admissions. Geography obviously plays a role—if you are deployed, stationed overseas, or on the west coast, you will have a harder time planning a visit than an applicant from the east coast. Based on last year’s trend, most military applicants who interviewed did not have the option of interviewing at a hub location—our only options were on campus at HBS or via Skype or satellite phone. Given that fact, you may choose to delay visiting until you find out if you are selected for an interview. If that is the case, we recommend you schedule an on-campus interview at a day and time that would allow you to spend a half-day or a full day around campus prior to your interview.
Application Deadline
The application deadlines for MBA Class of 2017 are:
Round 1 - Sept 9, 2014
Round 2 - Jan 5, 2015
Round 3 - Apr 6, 2015