A quick glance at Harvard Business School: HBS currently ranks in first place (tied with Stanford) as the best business school, according to US News & World Report (March 2012). It was ranked as seventh for finance.
Harvard Business School Class of 2014 Profile
8,963 people applied to Harvard Business School in 2012; 13% were admitted and 925 enrolled.
The Harvard class of 2014 students have an average age of 27 and a median GMAT score of 730. 43% of students have educational backgrounds in economics and business. 12% (or 112 students) worked in financial services prior to attending b-school.
HBS Academics Related to Finance
The Harvard Business School curriculum is divided into two parts: the required curriculum (RC) and the elective curriculum (EC). Students spend their first year taking RC courses which cover fundamental business practices, as well as FIELD courses, smaller, hands-on projects that complement the case-method style used in the RC courses.
Term 1 Required Courses:
- Finance 1
- Financial Reporting and Control
- Leadership and Organizational Behavior
- Marketing
- Technology and Operations Management
Term 2 Required Courses:
- Business, Government, and the International Economy
- Strategy
- The Entrepreneurial Manager
- Finance 2
- Leadership and Corporate Accountability
Elective courses in the second year enable students to delve deeper into the subject areas that most interest them.
Clubs for HBS Finance Students
- Finance Club
- Venture Capital & Private Equity Club
- Global Business Club
- Investment Club
- Turnaround & Restructuring Club
Financial Services Employment Stats at Harvard Business School
35% of the class of 2012 graduates received jobs in the finance industry. See chart for sub-categories and salary details:
| Class of 2012 Salary by Industry Destinations | % | 25th % Base Salary | Median Base Salary | 75th % Base Salary | Median Signing Bonus | % Receiving Signing Bonus |
| Financial Services | 35% | $100,000 | $125,000 | $150,000 | $40,000 | 62% |
| Commercial Banking | <1% | * | * | * | * | * |
| Diversified/Insurance | <1% | * | * | * | * | * |
| Hedge Fund | 5% | $125,000 | $142,500 | $150,000 | $27,500 | 50% |
| I-Banking | 7% | $100,000 | $100,000 | $100,000 | $40,000 | 97% |
| I-Management | 4% | $110,000 | $115,000 | $125,000 | $32,500 | 95% |
| Private Equity/LBO | 15% | $133,750 | $150,000 | $200,000 | $30,000 | 43% |
| Venture Capital | <1% | * | * | * | * | * |
| Other Financial Services | 2% | $97,500 | $100,000 | $115,000 | * | * |
And by function:
| Class of 2012 Salary by Functional Destinations | % | 25th % Base Salary | Median Base Salary | 75th % Base Salary | Median Signing Bonus | % Receiving Signing Bonus |
| Finance | 36% | $100,000 | $125,000 | $150,000 | $35,000 | 63% |
| Accounting/Auditing | <1% | * | * | * | * | * |
| Corporate Finance | <1% | * | * | * | * | * |
| Investment Banking | 6% | $100,000 | $100,000 | $100,000 | $40,000 | 96% |
| Investment Management/Hedge Fund | 9% | $110,000 | $125,000 | $150,000 | $30,000 | 71% |
| Sales & Trading | <1% | * | * | * | * | * |
| VC/Private Equity/LBO | 16% | $127,500 | $150,000 | $200,000 | $25,000 | 42% |
| Other Finance | 4% | $100,000 | $107,500 | $115,000 | $20,000 | 73% |
Historically by industry:
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |
| Financial Services | 41% | 28% | 31% | 36% | 42% | 44% | 45% | 31% | 34% | 39% |
| Investment Banking | 13% | 7% | 6% | 7% | 10% | 11% | 9% | 6% | 10% | 10% |
| Investment Management | 9% | 7% | 7% | 10% | 10% | 12% | 10% | 8% | 9% | 12% |
| Private Equity / LBO | 9% | 6% | 9% | 9% | 13% | 12% | 17% | 11% | 9% | 14% |
| Venture Capital | 3% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 4% | 2% | 3% | 1% |
| Other Finance | 7% | 6% | 7% | 7% | 6% | 6% | 5% | 4% | 3% | 2% |
Historically by function:
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |
| Finance - Corporate | 3% | 10% | 6% | 7% | 6% | 8% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 1% |
| Finance - Professional Services | 32% | 18% | 25% | 30% | 34% | 37% | 43% | 30% | 32% | 38% |
(These statistics – and more – can be found on HBS’s Employment Statistics page.)
A Few Finance Recruiters at HBS
- Goldman Sachs
- Morgan Stanley
- Merrill Lynch
- Credit Suisse
- Citigroup
- Bain Capital, Inc.
- Fidelity Investments
- UBS Investment Bank
- The World Bank Group
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