Prospective HBS 2+2/ equivalent applicant: in need of guidance!
I am a current undergrad looking to apply to HBS (2+2) (and perhaps other similar programs accepting undergraduate applications) in 2015/16 admissions cycle. Would really appreciate some guidance in terms of the journey from now.
Background:
I am studying a pure science/ math at a top European university. Just started my second year, and hope to graduate 2015/2016. In terms of experience so far, I'm interned this summer at a tech company in Asia and next summer will be interning at an investment bank (hopefully tech M&A, but this is not in my control atm) in Europe. Have good grades from first year of university (although unsure how this translate into US GPA: a simple % conversion I feel is not accurate). Yes, I realise this is a very typical set of experiences so far for the 2+2. Extra curriculars: captain a sports team, hopefully will get to senior positions in some finance/ entrepreneur societies.
I have a few questions about what to do/look out for in the coming years leading up to the 2+2 application:
Firstly what kind of things would be recommended in order to make my application "stand out"/ interesting? From reading around, it seems that the application process is not about over-scoring/ over-achieving compared to your peers (because that is not really possible for HBS), but rather creating your own niche and story. As things are still at a relatively early stage for me, I don't have any specific pre-determined industries/ professions I am committed to. Deciding what I want to do is still not totally clear, but if pushed I would say areas of interest would be tech/ education/ entrepreneurship (which are all kind of common again!). Could use some guidance here from any b-school experts or current/previous HBS applicants from their experiences.
Secondly, for the letters of recommendation: how important are they and who should I be looking to get them from?
For GMAT, let's say aiming for 750+ score, how much preparation is necessary? Are retakes seen by HBS, or is only the highest score available? I am a complete beginner to GMAT, so any help/ link to useful resources would be welcome. (I do realise helpful links are all across this site, but thoughts from previous applicants would be welcomed).
Whatever you choose as your story, make sure your resume and history aligns with that story. That's key. You know your story the best so can't help you there.
They don't care too much about the prestige of the recommender. Get one that will talk you up and has worked close enough with you that they can give specific examples of success.
Lastly, they don't care about retakes. Take it as many times as necessary.
apply to the early round
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