This summer HBS Admissions headed to Israel to host a number of events for prospective students in the area. Outreach Director, Jill Fadule (along with her youngest son Joseph), had the chance to sightsee, connect with local alumni, and meet a number of talented HBS candidates. We recently caught up with Jill to learn about the highlights from her trip (besides Joseph’s camel ride, of course).
What was your favorite part of the trip?
The people I met in Israel were wonderful. Warm, welcoming, interesting, curious, engaging, really great people. My favorite city was Jerusalem. I felt immediately at home there. We loved everything about Jerusalem, especially spending time in the Old City and visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. On our final day in Israel, we floated in the Dead Sea, dipped our feet in the River Jordan, and my son even rode a camel! I would recommend spending as much time in Jerusalem as possible. There is so much history in this small, stunning city. I will have to go back again to see more.
Why does HBS travel to Israel?
We go to Israel regularly because we love our HBS Israeli students and alumni, and we want to spread the word so that more Israelis will apply and attend HBS. Students from Israel are a diverse group, but there are some things they tend to have in common including excellent military service records, strong entrepreneurial sense, and a meaningful commitment to social impact.
For the first-time ever, we
hosted a Women’s Outreach event in Tel Aviv. 30 women attended and learned a lot from our alumnae and incoming
students. There was great energy in the
room for this special event.
What questions were asked during the event?
There was lots of interest in the great work we do in Social Enterprise. HBS is a natural fit for Israelis who are really passionate about making a difference and doing their own thing.
What was the most valuable piece of advice offered by the alumni panels?
It’s hard to choose. Our alumni were terrific and gave great advice. If forced to pick, I’d say the alumni did a great job helping prospective applicants understand that HBS has really generous financial aid packages. Clearest, simplest advice from the alumni panel? Apply to HBS!
What advice would you give to prospective students?
Keep doing what you’re doing—gaining meaningful experience in diverse fields, always with an eye to making a difference in the world.
We also checked in with recent grad Lior Litwak (MBA 2015) about his HBS experience and his decision to be an admissions ambassador when he was a student. Lior was home in Israel this summer (and participated in these events with Jill) before heading to California to start his new job. Here’s what he wants prospective students to know:
For me, the importance of "spreading the word" about HBS, wherever in the world, is first and foremost a personal passion (regardless of me being Israeli). When I went through the admissions process with HBS three years ago, and more importantly the decision process that followed it, I was impressed with the high level of professionalism and personal care with which HBS treated its applicants and admitted students.
It was only natural for me to pay these feelings forward when I started school, and I decided to join the Admissions Advisory Board to serve as an ambassador to HBS among potential students. Since then, I have been doing my best to convey the HBS experience in the most personal and genuine way I can, so that prospective and admitted students could see beyond the "brand" and "stigma" of the school, and get to truly understand what an amazing place HBS is.
In Israel, I continue in the same manner, and hope to see enthusiastic, unique individuals make their way to Boston to enrich the HBS program with their experience and personality. I believe Israelis have a unique background to contribute to each HBS class, and can share perspectives from this complicated piece of land that few other individuals have. Altogether, I wish the trend of a large Israeli community at HBS persists, so that future world leaders can learn more about complex dilemmas first hand.