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The big news about the upcoming 2018-19 application cycle at Harvard Business School is that it is dropping its third round for all MBA applicants except 2+2 applicants. <\/span><\/p>\n This past MBA application cycle all 2+2 applicants were reviewed after the Round 3 deadline but non-2+2 MBA applicants could also apply. For this upcoming cycle the last deadline will be the exclusive 2+2 deadline, unless Harvard changes something. In 2018, that deadline occurred on April 2.<\/span><\/p>\n Ironically, MIT Sloan, Harvard's neighbor in Cambridge, only added a third round a couple of years ago. Until then MIT had only two rounds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Harvard Business School, ranked #1 by US News<\/em>, is, according to Accepted's B-School Selectivity Index<\/a>, the second hardest MBA program to get into, following Stanford GSB. That status reflects HBS' second lowest acceptance rate (11%), the third highest average GMAT for accepted students (729),\u00a0 and second highest GPA for accepted students (3.67). However, that second-place status is misleading. The Harvard brand is matched perhaps only by Stanford, and the second-place standing is probably accounted for by class size more than anything else. Harvard's class is more than double Stanford's, and Harvard simply accepts more people so its acceptance rate is higher\u00a0 (Data is from the US News 2019 Rankings<\/em><\/a> for the class that entered in 2017).<\/span><\/p>\n On to the Harvard MBA application and essay question itself:\u00a0 HBS clearly likes the responses it has received to the last two years' excellent essay question because this year's question is identical. Indeed there is little change in HBS' application this year, period. The essay is again required, and there is NO word limit.<\/span><\/p>\n The round 1 and round 2 deadlines are only slightly different\u00a0from last year. The Round 1 deadline is Sept. 5, 2018, one day earlier than last year.<\/span><\/p>\n There is <\/strong>one question<\/a><\/strong> for the Class of 2021:<\/strong><\/p>\n As we review your application, what more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Harvard Business School MBA program?<\/strong><\/p>\n There is no word limit for this question. We think you know what guidance we're going to give here. Don't overthink, overcraft and overwrite. Just answer the question in clear language that those of us who don't know your world can understand.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Before you begin to write I have two suggestions for you:<\/span><\/p>\n 1.<\/strong> Review <\/span>Harvard's criteria for admission<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 2.<\/strong> Watch the embedded video on the case method at HBS.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHarvard Business School Application Tips<\/h2>\n