Harvard Business School vs. Stanford GSB

Applicants often ask what distinguishes these two world-class, competitive institutions. What ‘type’ of applicant appeals to each program? Is it appropriate to use similar essay content for both of their open-ended prompts?

As MBA admissions consultants, we’ve spent considerable time analyzing these questions. We help clients incorporate nuances into their applications. We’ll be the first to admit that the differences are subtle, yet important. Here’s what we’ve learned from clients accepted to either or both programs.

Harvard Business School vs. Stanford GSB – Hear It from the Horses’ Mouths

Many applicants overlook what the schools themselves say they seek in successful candidates. This information sits right on their websites. This practice proves incredibly informative. We review these criteria annually – sometimes multiple times – to keep them fresh.

Here is what HBS shares about the qualities it seeks in applicants:

Business-Minded

We are looking for individuals who are passionate about using business as a force for good – who strive to improve and transform companies, industries, and the world. We are seeking those who are eager to solve today’s biggest problems and shape the future through creative and integrated thinking. Being business-minded is about the interest to help organizations succeed, whether in the private, public, or non-profit sector. This business inclination can be found in individuals with a variety of professional and educational experiences, not just those who come from traditional business backgrounds.

Leadership-Focused

We are looking for individuals who aspire to lead others toward making a difference in the world, and those who recognize that to build and sustain successful organizations, they must develop and nurture diverse teams. Leadership takes many forms in many contexts – you do not have to have a formal leadership role to make a difference. We deliberately create a class that includes different kinds of leaders, from the front-line manager to the startup founder to the behind-the-scenes thought leader.

Growth-Oriented

We are looking for individuals who desire to broaden their perspectives through creative problem solving, active listening, and lively discussion. At HBS you will be surrounded by future leaders from around the world who will make you think more expansively about what impact you might have. Our case and field-based learning methods depend on the active participation of curious students who are excited to listen and learn from faculty and classmates, as well as contribute their own ideas and perspectives.

Here is how Stanford GSB describes its Evaluation Criteria (also condensed slightly for brevity):

‘In our application, we seek to learn about how you think, how you lead, and how you see the world.

How You Think

When completing your application, reflect on times you took initiative. Consider moments when you learned new things, solved challenging problems, or developed fresh insights. What have you discovered? How did you share what you learned? Why does it matter to you and others? Share these experiences with us. They help us understand how you’ll contribute to our learning community – inside and outside the classroom.

How You Lead

We believe past actions predict future behavior. Tell us how you created positive change in organizations and communities where you’ve been involved. Leaders guide others toward common goals. They exist at every level and in every area of an organization. You do not need to hold a specific role nor reach a certain level or title to show leadership. We seek examples of initiative, persistence through challenges, engagement of others, and support for those around you. Demonstrate these behaviors anywhere – at university, in professional roles, or through extracurriculars. We want to know your impact and why it mattered.

How You See the World

Your values, beliefs, identity, and ambitions will help shape your journey and enrich the perspectives of your classmates. We provide the opportunity for you to share what matters most to you and your aspirations in your essays. We want to know how your background shaped your path and guides your future dreams. We seek candidates with diverse perspectives and experiences. Stanford’s collaborative process leverages this breadth to deliver varied insights and approaches to real-world problems. This diversity – defined broadly – helps you understand others’ experiences, challenge your assumptions, and develop new ways of seeing the world.’

Harvard Business School vs. Stanford GSB – Commonalities and Contrasts

In contemplating these two sets of ‘criteria’, you can see that there are certainly commonalities. Some essay content can transfer from HBS to Stanford (or vice versa). But as the saying goes, there’s more than one way to peel an orange. Our experience confirms this applies to how each school evaluates candidates. Demonstrate this understanding through each school’s essay. Always remain true to your authentic self. This approach keys successful applications.

For instance, it’s clear (and not unexpected) that leadership is central to what both programs seek. However, the language each uses to describe leadership signals how to approach that school’s essay. HBS uses language that is more focused on consistency across settings and concrete accomplishments related to leadership – in other words, they want to know what you’ve done in a leadership capacity and the concrete impact your actions have had. The GSB on the other hand, intentionally asks about how you lead. They want you to describe your leadership style, including how you communicate with and inspire others. Said concretely, the difference is in the ‘what’ (HBS) versus the ‘how’ (GSB). You may tell the same story in both essays, but, in our experience, it is a best practice to tailor the details you choose to share within each story to align with each school’s contrasting focus.

Another commonality that sneakily doubles as a contrast is the way each program seeks to assess the impact you will have while on campus. HBS emphasizes that it wants people who have a growth mindset and are flexible enough to learn in a case-based classroom environment. The GSB, on the other hand, wants to understand your background and how it has shaped the diverse perspective you would bring to campus (of course they also require you to be analytically minded and a strong communicator). The latter, in particular, forces you to ‘go deep’ and get a little (or a lot) uncomfortable.

To define this further, perhaps you tell a story about how you courageously voiced a dissenting opinion in front of a senior audience. For HBS, you might share the logic you used and the resulting impact of your choice to speak up (i.e., a business decision was altered in a way that was ultimately successful). For the GSB, you might share how, growing up, you watched your mother learn to advocate for herself, which inspired this to be a core value of yours. You could then share how you chose to voice your dissent in a respectful, collaborative way that left people open to your point of view.

Hopefully that analysis helps you distill down what distinguishes these two highly competitive, elusive programs from one another so that you can tailor your essays accordingly. If you’d like guidance on your HBS and/or Stanford GSB essays, reach out to our top-ranked team of MBA admissions consultants today.