30 Comments
 

Top B-schools don't allow you to defer. Period.

Hopefully in another couple years you will have moe to draw upon and your application will be stronger anyway.

 
envelope12345hbs does allow you to defer for two years, it says on their website.

Um... not really. Allowing a deferral is the exception, not the rule. HBS highly discourages people from doing so - the following was taken directly from HBS's website:

"Candidates should submit applications only for the year they plan to enter the MBA program. Postponements and deferrals are rarely granted and are considered on a case-by-case basis. "

 

Oh. Then I would guess the earlier the better as long as you are submitting your best work possible. That's what B-schools seem to tell all their applicants. Of course you've seen how accurate my posts can be, so I could obviously be way off here too.

 

Haha if you get accepted into HBS out of undergrad and are allowed to differ, youre dad's last name is either Romney, Bush, or Clinton.

 

Last time I checked you are allowed to defer HBS two years IF you apply while in UG. There's other perks of applying in UG like they write a review of your app and you don't have to pay the app fee.

 

I know someone who deferred for 2 years at HBS (this was in the early 70s) after getting accepted. But after the 2nd year they said "you go or you reapply," and that was that (he went obviously.)

 
Cibbir H.I know someone who deferred for 2 years at HBS (this was in the early 70s) after getting accepted. But after the 2nd year they said "you go or you reapply," and that was that (he went obviously.)

Was this your dad or family friend?

Also, what's the deal with Romney's kids, 3 of them went to Harvard Grad? Bastards?

 
Best Response
HBS is one of the only top schools that allows people in with no experience. Wharton does allow a couple of kids per year to go from Wharton ugrad to the b-school, but you can literally count the number on one hand. But even if you get in, I would urge you to get some work experience first for two reasons.

1) One of the most beneficial attributes of the MBA experience is the ability to interact with people from all sorts of backgrounds. As someone directly out of ugrad you have zero value to add to the class, either in case study discussions in the classroom, in recruiting, etc. No offense, but that's the way it is. 2) Because of the reason above, you will also be hurt in recuiting. I was in a position this year to look at someone who went to one of the schools mentioned above and went directly from ugrad. You know they are incredibly intelligent, because it's very difficult to get accepted straight out of ugrad. But you also view them as inexperienced and immature--why pay that person an associate's pay, when you can get an analyst to do the same job for 1/2 the pay?

 

HBS has a special program for undergrads where they can apply during undergrad, defer for 2 years, and then go.

"We are lawyers! We sue people! Occasionally, we get aggressive and garnish wages, but WE DO NOT ABDUCT!" -Boston Legal-
 

My understanding is that while HBS accepts very few people during round 3, a good percentage of those admitted are college seniors. So since you're applying out of UG, it shouldn't hurt you too much.

Of course, as a general rule, I'm told that it's always better to apply earlier. But that's not much of an option anymore.

 

Are you currently at Harvard? I was under the impression that the two-year deferred admit to HBS was only available to current Harvard students.

And “not really an option anymore” is an understatement, since I believe round 2’s for HBS were due last Thursday.

Not sure how much of an impact this has for UG applicants, but as a general rule one should always try to apply in round 1 or 2 of admissions (apparently, one applying for a round 3 admission needs to have a really good reason for not having submitted in either of the 2 prior rounds - e.g., serving in the military).

 

i'm a college senior at an ivy (not harvard) and thought i might as well apply right now since i've already taken the gmat. The 2+2 program isn't an option because that's only for juniors, but i just wanted to apply to the normal program. when you apply to hbs, can you designate that you want to matriculate in 2 years or is that something you work out afterwards?

 

If you're applying for the standard MBA program, the expectation is that you would intend to start in fall '08. Aside from their specifically designated deferral programs, I know that bschools almost never allow deferrals (at least this is the case at HBS, Stanford and Wharton).

If others have heard different then please feel free to jump in and correct me, but from what I understand, deferrals are a very rare part of the standard MBA application process.

 

I've heard that deferrals are only granted when "unforeseen, adverse life circumstances prevent the applicant from enrolling as planned." I interpret that to mean that either the applicant or someone in the applicant's family has to get very sick.

I pulled that quote from rough memory (not directly from any source).

 

The school is really big on leadership and work experience. The only college seniors I've seen them admit are joint JD/MBAs and joint MD/MBAs. So my advice to you is that you land a competative job (kick ass within your group and function) and most importantly... write great essays.

The price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side. -James Baldwin
 

It's definitely true that HBS is big on leadership.  But I respectfully disagree that work experience is necessary.  There's at least one person in every section at HBS who is fresh out of college (we have 10 sections).  That's generally in addition to the joint-degree people (who, as RainMkr noted, are often straight from college themselves).

I've talked to admissions reps who say that many schools are trending away from emphasizing work experience so heavily because MBA programs are missing out on qualified candidates who intend to work in business, but want to start grad school right after college, so they default to, e.g., law school.

As a result, schools like HBS are increasingly admitting people with no work experience.  It's certainly not easy to get in that way, but I wanted to give another point of view.  Hope it helps.

 

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