HBS 2+2's New Look - For starters, for business majors and who should apply

1. HBS 2+2’s New Look
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2. HBS 2+2’s New Look
New ins and outs of the
HBS 2+2 program
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3. HBS 2+2’s New Look
"Director's Blog", Dee Leopold of HBS explained some of
the new ins and outs of the HBS 2+2 program.
Her explanation centered on the way all college seniors
are being folded into the 2+2 pool of applicants and she
stressed that it did not signal a sea change for 2+2 as
much as it did reinforce that no college seniors will be
going straight to Harvard Business School after
graduation.
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4. In other words, HBS has always offered deferred
admission spots to college seniors applying in the regular
rounds one, two, and three, so now they will just be
formally moved into the 2+2 pool.
The part that Dee (one of my favorite admissions
professionals, by the way - incredibly smart, loves her
school, plays chess while others are often playing
checkers) didn't get into was the removal of the "business
major restriction" - in the past, business majors were not
allowed to apply to 2+2, as the program was designed to
pull people from disciplines such as engineering,
humanities, and the arts.
MBA Admissions Consultant | http://www.amerasiaconsulting.com

5. Obviously, now that all college seniors are being
pushed out of the regular pool and into 2+2, that
restriction had to be removed.
So what does any of it mean, exactly?
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6. For starters - and we will stress that this is has a minor
impact - it possibly makes the 2+2 pool a little tougher and
it definitely makes the regular pool a little easier. Say
there were 15 amazing college seniors to apply in a year
that HBS decided to offer deferred admission to. In the
past, those 15 spots were coming out of the 900 full-time
seats, two years down the road.
Now, either those spots will come out of those earmarked
for traditional 2+2 students, or, since college seniors will
be applying AFTER their more traditional "junior summer"
counterparts, the size of that year's cohort will just swell a
bit.
MBA Admissions Consultant | http://www.amerasiaconsulting.com

7. As for business majors, our instinct is that it will still be
harder to earn a spot in the 2+2 program if you are
coming from a business background. This is in part
because the road is now paved for you to go do all the
things a great HBS applicant should do in the business
sector, but also because we believe the program was
originally conceived in order to draw would-be law
students, public policy students, med students, and PhDs
into the b-school orbit.
If that is a core philosophy - to capture incredibly bright
young leaders and give them business training - then it
stands to reason that there won't be massive changes in
"typing."
MBA Admissions Consultant | http://www.amerasiaconsulting.com

8. Who should apply? We actually haven't changed our
stance on this much. We believe that anyone - yes, even
a business major - who has strong academic chops, has
displayed great leadership, and has the passion to apply
SHOULD DO SO. Why? A couple of reasons: first, worst
case scenario, this is a dry run that will transform the way
you approach the next 2-6 years.
Being asked to sit down and map out your strengths,
articulate your goals, analyze who you are ... that's
intense stuff and if you do it for real, with actual stakes,
you will become a better employee and eventual b-school
applicant.
MBA Admissions Consultant | http://www.amerasiaconsulting.com

9. Even if you didn't get into HBS 2+2, if you take a real run
at it and take the process seriously, you will absolutely
accelerate your career and grad school time line.
Second, there still seems to be a *slightly* easier chance
at getting in. There simply aren't as many 20 and 21 year
olds who have academic excellence, great leadership, and
self awareness as there are 24, 25, and 26 year olds who
have those same attributes.
The field tends to crowd the more you hit the HBS sweet
spot of 3 or 4 years out of school.
MBA Admissions Consultant | http://www.amerasiaconsulting.com

10. You are up against not only the elite juniors and seniors
from your year, but also the people who had the light bulb
go off post-college. In other words, if you enjoy an
advantage - ANY advantage - now, you should try to
press it before people who currently aren't on your radar
wind up passing you.
Conversely, if you are not competitive now, take heart that
you can lap a lot of superior candidates in a few years.
MBA Admissions Consultant | http://www.amerasiaconsulting.com

11. All told, whatever the reasons it was created and
whatever small changes are being made
administratively, 2+2 is a really cool program that gives
college students a unique opportunity to walk the walk
and see what they are made of.
A lot of truly exceptional people have been "found" this
way already, and HBS is confident they will find many
more. So are we.
Be sure to check out our free guide on How to Apply to
HBS.
MBA Admissions Consultant | http://www.amerasiaconsulting.com