Harvard vs Stanford: Ranking, Class Profile, and Curriculum!!

Question

Harvard vs Stanford

Harvard and Stanford are the two best business schools in the world. Both of them are known for producing some of the world’s foremost business leaders and innovators. Harvard is credited with the development of its famed case study method whereas Stanford, most selective business school in the US, is well known for its focus on innovation and entrepreneurship and its tight-knit, collaborative culture.

So how do you decide which program is best for you? To help prospective applicants as well as those who have already been admitted and deciding which one to choose, we decided to compare these MBA programs side-by-side and analyze the differences between them

We compared class profiles, curriculum, strengths and weaknesses, rankings, and placements of these two. Below is the detailed comparison of these schools taking all factors one by one. Article ends with main conclusion and winner of this competition.

Class Profile

Among all top US schools, Stanford has lowest acceptance rate. Last year Stanford received 8116 applications and roughly 6% of these applicants got admission call from GSB. On the other hand, Harvard's acceptance rate was 11%
Although GSB takes over HBS in acceptance rate, yield rate of latter is slightly higher than GSB and this is very valuable input to measure the percentage of admitted students who actually go to a school rather than turn it down. This is contrary to findings of the survey of 63 HBS-GSB dual admits conducted by Businessweek in 2015 in which 56% of the admits said they are going to turn down HBS's offer and choose GSB, whereas only 22% chose HBS over GSB.
Proportion of international students at HBS is lower by 5 percentage points than that of GSB, but HBS has representation of 68 countries whereas GSB has 62 countries.
Students who did their undergraduate work in humanities represent 48% of the Class of 2018 at Stanford, versus 21% at Harvard. On the other hand, Harvard is much more open to enrolling business/economics undergrads than Stanford.
GSB has a smaller full-time student body (around 400 students) than HBS (950), which helps maintain high interaction levels between students and their peers and professors.
Based on these inputs we can say HBS is preferred choice for Business/Economics undergrads whereas GSB is preferred by those who did their undergraduate work in the humanities/social sciences.

HBS vs GSB: Class Profile
	Harvard	Stanford
Length of Program	2 Years	2 Years
# of Applicants	9759	8116
Admitted	1038	474
Enrolled	934	417
Yield	90%	88%
Avg GMAT	730 (Middle 80%: 690 - 760)	737 (Range: 590 - 790)
Avg GPA	3.67	3.73
Avg Age	27	N/A
Avg WE (Months)	N/A	48
Female Students	43%	41%
International Students	35%	40%
Countries Represented	68	62
Most Common Educational Background	Business/Economics (41%)	Humanities//Social Sciences (48%)

HBS vs GSB: Feeder Industries
	Harvard	Stanford
Consulting	15%	18%
Banking and Finance	26%	27%
Retail and Consumer Products	7%	7%
Edu, Govt, Military, & Non Profit	7%	9%
Technology/E-Commerce/Internet	15%	16%
Media, Entertainment, and Sports	N/A	6%
Real Estate	N/A	N/A
Telecom	Included in Technology	N/A
Energy & Utilities	7%	6%
Healthcare & Biotech	7%	5%
Manufacturing	5%	2%
Other	11%	4%

Location

Stanford GSB is in the heart of Silicon Valley, a short drive away from the most important VCs and tech startups/companies in the world, and HBS is in Boston, one of the most dynamic and inviting cities, known as the Athens of America.

Academics

Harvard

Program Length: 2 years
Curriculum: Harvard is known for its case study method, which was pioneered and perfected by the HBS faculty. The case method places students in the role of decision-maker and requires them to confront real issues. It is incredibly helpful in facilitating the transition from Junior level positions to Management as it helps students think about the problem as a whole and not focus on specific aspects of the theory being thaught, writes a current first year student. FIELD - Field Immersion Experiences for Leadership Development - is another highlight of HBS MBA experience, which, HBS says, complements case-method learning with smaller hands-on team projects, personal reflection, and global immersions.
Required Courses (1st year): In the first year all students follow the same core curriculum comprised of 6 required courses, including FIELD foundation and global immersion, in term1 and term2 each. Students are divided into the groups of 90 students and take every single class together in the same classroom.
Electives (2nd year): You can choose from nearly 120 elective courses. Students can take up to 5 elective courses per semester. Students can also cross-register for certain programs offered by MIT Sloan and Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Complete list of electives is available here https://www.hbs.edu/coursecatalog/
Interdisciplinary Programs: 5 joint degree programs are available at HBS to prepare students for complex leadership challenges that balance expertise with effective management skills.
1) MBA/MPP (Master of Public Policy) in collaboration with Harvard Kennedy School https://www.hbs.edu/mba/academic-experie ... chool.aspx
2) MBA/MPA-ID (Master of Public Administration-International Development) in collaboration with Harvard Kennedy School https://www.hbs.edu/mba/academic-experie ... chool.aspx
3) JD/MBA in collaboration with Harvard Law School https://www.hbs.edu/mba/academic-experie ... chool.aspx
4) MD/MBA in collaboration with Harvard Medical School https://www.hbs.edu/mba/academic-experie ... chool.aspx
5) DMD/MBA in collaboration with Harvard School of Dental Medicine https://www.hbs.edu/mba/academic-experie ... icine.aspx

Stanford

Program Length: 2 years
Curriculum: GSB has a more customizable curriculum. In the first year, students develop their general management knowledge and gain global experience.
GSB also requires students to participate in a global experience. This can be in the form of a four-week overseas project during the summer working with a partner firm, a trip with classmates to discuss major issues with business leaders, a similar trip with classmates focused on social innovation and coupled with a short project, or participation in a short exchange program (STEP) with Tsinghua University in China.
Electives: During your second year you can build your own curriculum of electives as you see fit. Students may take up to 18 electives, as well as compressed courses – a series of two-week courses to build deep knowledge in specific business topics. More info can be found here.. https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/programs/m ... curriculum
Interdisciplinary Programs: More than 20% of Stanford MBA students take a joint or dual degree to complement their MBA. Around 6 joint degree and 2 dual degree options are available at Stanford. Students can also take degree programs at schools outside of Stanford University. Complete list of available joint/dual degree options is here.. https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/programs/m ... al-degrees

Rankings

A tricky situation to deal with, mostly because they both are most prestigious business schools in the world. In last 10 years, HBS has topped US News rankings 8 times whereas Stanford was on top 7 times.
In current scenario, HBS has surpassed GSB in US News, Economist, and BW rankings where as GSB is ahead of HBS in Forbes and FT rankings.
So a clear tie between HBS and GSB in this area of comparison considering historical as well as current rankings.

HBS vs GSB: Current Rankings
	Harvard	Stanford
US News 17	1	2
Economist 16	4	5
BusinessWeek 16	1	2
Forbes 15	2	1
Financial Times 17	4	2

Placements

Placement stats below show that HBS and GSB are leaders in the world of the business education. The difference in average salaries of these schools is largely nominal, though It seems HBS graduates are slightly quicker off the mark; 94% find employment within three months, while the equivalent figure for Stanford is 74%.
In 2016, 28% of HBS graduates went into finance (down from 31% the previous year), 25% into consulting (up from 24%), and 19% went into technology (down from 20%).
At GSB, the Class of 2016 chose careers in a wide variety of industries—finance and technology being at the top at 31% and 33% (up from 28% the previous year), respectively. Consulting increased to 16% (up from 14% the previous year)
At GSB, 15% of the Class of 2016 decided to go into entrepreneurship whereas 7% of HBS graduates decided to start a new business. This makes us believe that GSB is more likely to inspire its students to become entrepreneurs.
HBS is perceived to have a broader placement reach, not just within the US but also outside. 43% of the HBS students employed in Northeast, 43% at other US locations, and 14% outside the US. On the other hand 65% of the GSB students employed in West, 25% at other US locations, and 10% outside the US. The international job market seems to have a slight preference for HBS over GSB.
Considering its slightly higher acceptance rate and broader placement reach, we can say HBS has slight advantage over GSB in placements.

HBS vs GSB: Placements
	Harvard	Stanford
Placement Rate	94%	90%
Median Base Salary	$135,000	$136,000
Placements by Industry
Consulting	25%	16%
Banking and Finance	28%	31%
Technology	19%	33%
Retail and Consumer Products	5%	2%
Entertainment and Sports	3%	3%
Healcare/Pharma/Biotech	8%	6%
Manufacturing	5%	N/A
Edu/Non-Profit/Govt	2%	N/A
Energy and Utilities	N/A	3%
Other	5%	6%

So who is the winner??

It's really difficult to choose from HBS and GSB. In terms of prestige, they both have strong reputation. In both schools you will be surrounded by really excellent, interesting people.

In academics, according to our member students, HBS is slightly more intense than GSB. If you like case based learning you should consider HBS, but if you are looking for a flexible curriculum and mix of various teaching methods, you should go for Stanford.

In terms of placements, both schools will provide you world of opportunities. Whether you want to go in to PE and start your own venture, you will have your chance at either school, and the Stanford brand and connections will help you as much as Harvard. So it is not about the best school but the school that is best for you.

Harvard: 5 Stanford: 5
It's a Tie

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rohan2345 · Answer

Great analysis. Thanks Narenn. I have visited both the schools and they both are great. However I'd like to add the climate at Palo Alto >> Boston.

HKD1710 · Answer

Facts & Figures are presented really well. thank you for this Narenn

Narenn · Answer

Thanks rohan2345 and HKD1710 for your comments.

rohan2345 There's a section in our Bschool reviews where applicants can post their school visit experiences for the benefit of other applicants. I would appeal you to post your experience of HBS and GSB visits in Bschool reviews. https://gmatclub.com/reviews/business_schools?fl=menu

I can see many people have chosen their favourite school between HBS and GSB in a poll added in the first post. It would be nice if applicants could illustrate their reasons behind choosing one school over another.

rohan2345 · Answer

Hi Nareen,

Thank you for your reply. Yes surely I will be writing a comprehensive review on my visit not only to HBS and Stanford but also other business schools I have visited. 
In terms of my choice, although both Stanford and Harvard are great schools and I will consider myself highly blessed to be admitted to any one of the schools, I would choose Stanford over Harvard. My reasons are as follows:-

1-   Business schools Community  - Stanford has a comparatively smaller class size than Harvard (~400 VS ~900), and smaller class size ensures a more collaborative community. As I visited both the schools, I could truly feel that the difference between a big school and a small school is palpable, and a small school is definitely better for me. I felt that the students at Stanford were much more connected with each other and almost everyone knew all of their classmates which is a great feeling.

2-   Flexibility in curriculum  - As I spoke to the classmates and alumni of both schools about the curriculum, I realised that GSB has a more flexible curriculum than HBS. Stanford boasts a personalized curriculum that helps students develop their vision and gives them the skills necessary to achieve it. In the first year, students develop their general management knowledge and gain global experience (Stanford places a strong emphasis on international experience). In the second year, students tailor their experience by taking different electives. Stanford also encourages its students to walk across campus and take classes at other Stanford schools.

3-   Strong emphasis on entrepreneurship.   
No problems here. Stanford, located in the heart of Silicon Valley, has strong programs in entrepreneurship especially Social Entrepreneurship. I come from social entrepreneurship background and would like to grow my start-up on a more global level. Although I think other schools such as Harvard are quickly catching up, Stanford still remains a winner in the entrepreneurship race. Despite a small class size, I loved the fact that most students I spoke to were interested in entrepreneurship either immediately or in a couple of years down the road.

4-   Location  - As I mentioned in my earlier post, in terms of Location, Stanford is a clear winner. Not only is the weather beautiful, but being centred in Silicon Valley and near lots of venture capital firms is really helpful.

5-    Teaching Approach  - I found the teaching method at Stanford far more flexible than Harvard. Harvard is known for its famed case study method. Most of the teaching takes place in a case based environment. At Stanford, I noticed there’s far less reliance on case studies. Team projects, experiential learning, lecture and simulations make up half the teaching. Although I liked the case study method, I felt more comfortable with Stanford’s approach of teaching.

Harvard vs Stanford: Ranking, Class Profile, and Curriculum!!

Given a choice which school would you like to attend?

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