17 Sep 2008

Harvard Business School Admits First 2+2 Program™ Participants

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BOSTON — Harvard Business School (HBS) has accepted the first undergraduates who will take part in HBS 2+2, the School's groundbreaking deferred MBA admission program.

A total of 106 seniors from 52 colleges have been admitted to the HBS 2+2 program, which was designed to reach a diverse group of high-achieving college students, studying in the fields of science, engineering, healthcare, government, and public service, among other disciplines, as they begin to explore career and graduate school opportunities. After two years of work experience, they will begin the Harvard MBA program in 2011 as members of the Class of 2013.

"We are delighted with this inaugural group of 2+2 students," said Deirdre Leopold, Managing Director of Admissions and Financial Aid. "The Harvard MBA degree offers a wide range of options after graduation - from startups to giant corporations, businesses to social enterprises, hospitals to the halls of government. HBS 2+2 enables undergraduates to understand that flexibility early in their education. It also contradicts the conventional - and incorrect - notion that prospective students must have worked for five or six years before applying to the School. As far as we're concerned, there is no single profile for the successful applicant to HBS."

Class of 2013 2+2 Admitted Student Profile

Total Applicants 630
Admits 106
% admitted 17%
Undergraduate Institutions Represented 52
Female 41%
International 25%
Countries Represented 15
Average GMAT 718
Average GPA* 3.73

* Excludes GPAs not on 4.0 scales.
Educational Background

Humanities and Social Sciences 49%
Engineering and Natural Sciences 48%
Business Administration 3%

The 2+2 program gives undergraduates a guaranteed place in a future Harvard Business School MBA class, contingent upon their graduation from college and the successful completion of two years of approved work experience. As many as 76 organizations, including Google, Teach for America, The Clorox Company, and McKinsey & Company, serve as recruiting partners to facilitate the job search process; and HBS 2+2 admitted students receive assistance from HBS in finding a job for the two years between their college graduation and full-time matriculation at HBS.

During their two year-work experience, students also participate in on-campus summer academic programs that allow them to experience HBS classes taught by HBS faculty as well as meet their fellow classmates. In addition, HBS 2+2 admits have a dedicated career coach and access to strategic career coaching advice through the self-assessment on-line tool CareerLeader-CollegeTM (developed by faculty at HBS).

Additional information is available at www.hbs.edu/2+2.

About Harvard Business School

Founded in 1908 as part of Harvard University, Harvard Business School is located on a 40-acre campus in Boston. Its faculty of more than 250 offers full-time programs leading to the MBA and PhD degrees, as well as more than 175 Executive Education programs, and Harvard Business School Online, the School’s digital learning platform. For more than a century, faculty have drawn on their research, their experience in working with organizations worldwide, and their passion for teaching, to educate leaders who make a difference in the world. The School and its curriculum attract the boldest thinkers and the most collaborative learners who will go on to shape the practice of business and entrepreneurship around the globe.