For the Class of 2020, the Harvard Full-time MBA program received 9,228 applications, of which only 938 students were enrolled. The program has maintained a high barrier of entry academically with the median GMAT score for the class at 730 and an average GPA at 3.7 – remaining the same as the previous year (3.7).
The percentage of women in the class has remained the same as last year at 43%. International students found higher representation at 37%, with Asians among the highest at 14%, followed by Europeans at 9%. Interestingly, the admission team has also counted US permanent residents (PR) among this group.
Humanities/Social Sciences was the biggest casualty with the background finding one of the lowest representations (19%) despite a 2% increase from last year. The Economics/Business majors lost 3% representation compared to last year at 43% with STEM (38%) continuing to gain higher representation.
The pre-MBA industry representation aligned with the trends we have seen over the past 5 years with Consulting, Venture Capital/Private Equity, and Technology remaining at the top position with 15%, 16%, and 12%, respectively. This year, Manufacturing and Financial services have matched with Technology's representation. Consumer Products and Non-profit/Govt/Education are not far behind, demonstrating a much diverse HBS MBA class.
