A lot of applicants have been wondering what the loss of the Round 3 deadline means in terms of an HBS submission strategy. In fact, it means very little. Harvard’s Round 3 deadline has for a long time accounted for only a very small percentage of its class, which has also meant far lower chances of acceptance.
On Harvard’s Direct from the Director blog, HBS Managing Director Chad Losee noted that the third round was a logistics nightmare, especially for foreign applicants. He went on to explain that “[g]etting a decision earlier will give admitted students better access to on-campus housing, more cohort options for HBX CORe, and more time for visa processing. For students admitted in Round 3 in the past, the timing has always been tight.”
With one deadline left to apply for the Harvard Business School Class of 2021, some are wondering if their chances have significantly fallen in Round 2 vs. Round 1. Luckily that’s not the case. Chad assuaged fears in an interview posted on Poets & Quants: “You have no advantage by applying in round one. Round one and round two give you the exact same advantage.” So, you can rest easy that applying in the second round will not negatively impact your chances.
If you’re trying to figure out whatever happened to Harvard’s spring round, the HBS 2+2 program is still using April 9th as its submission deadline. However, HBS 2+2 is exclusively for university seniors who wish to gain a deferred entry into the Harvard Business School MBA program.
There are many important considerations that you need to make concerning Harvard’s Round 2 deadline, which is coming up on January 4, 2019. For instance, you can reflect on whether you can improve your GMAT score or find better recommenders, whether your professional or personal profile may improve over the next year, or whether your family situation may change. However, you don’t need to worry over general chances between rounds 1 and 2. Feel free to hit the submit button.
