The mission of Harvard Business School is to educate leaders who make a difference in the world. In each MBA class, we create a dynamic environment that mirrors the breadth and depth of our world economy. Our promise to our faculty and to every HBS student is to create a class of 900+ students who bring as many different experiences and perspectives as possible. Take a look at the first-year class profile.
While it’s important to us that our students' perspectives vary, they all share three characteristics. Our students are: business-minded, leadership-focused, and growth-oriented.
Business-Minded
We are looking for individuals who are passionate about using business as a force for good – who strive to improve and transform companies, industries, and the world. We are seeking those who are eager to solve today’s biggest problems and shape the future through creative and integrated thinking. Being business-minded is about the interest to help organizations succeed, whether in the private, public, or non-profit sector. This business inclination can be found in individuals with a variety of professional and educational experiences, not just those who come from traditional business backgrounds.
In Your Application: We will look for evidence of your interpersonal skills, quantitative abilities, and the ways in which you plan to create impact through business in the future.
Leadership-Focused
We are looking for individuals who aspire to lead others toward making a difference in the world, and those who recognize that to build and sustain successful organizations, they must develop and nurture diverse teams. Leadership takes many forms in many contexts – you do not have to have a formal leadership role to make a difference. We deliberately create a class that includes different kinds of leaders, from the front-line manager to the startup founder to the behind-the-scenes thought leader.
In Your Application: Your leadership impact may be most evident in extracurriculars, community initiatives, or your professional work.
Growth-Oriented
We are looking for individuals who desire to broaden their perspectives through creative problem solving, active listening, and lively discussion. At HBS you will be surrounded by future leaders from around the world who will make you think more expansively about what impact you might have. Our case and field-based learning methods depend on the active participation of curious students who are excited to listen and learn from faculty and classmates, as well as contribute their own ideas and perspectives.
In Your Application: We will look for the ways in which you have grown, developed, and how you engage with the world around you.
MBA Voices Blog
Community Values
