How is Harvard Business School trying to tackle COVID-19?

The world is changing fast despite being in this limbo and to say that things will be different once the pandemic is over will be an understatement. Every sector is revamping and working on new models to stay afloat. The education sector too. Top business schools have been trying their best to accommodate and adjust to the present pandemic and have tried even harder to make this change smoother for their students. COVID-19 COVID-19They have tried to bring changes to the admissions processes, through extended deadlines and even GMAT waivers.

The latest such announcement came from the prominent Harvard Business School. Adcom members have asked students to take a ‘leap of faith’ in the present pandemic and take a step closer to their study-abroad future. HBS has offered to give all admitted MBA students a choice in whether they want to defer their enrollment for either one or two years or continue this year. They announced that the present batch of admitted students have the time till June 1st to request a deferral.

This unexpected move came as a response to the present problem that many applicants have been subjected to a sudden change in the course of their plans about the future. Many students are plagued by doubts about how their future will pan out in case they choose either of the two options.

HBS’s dean of admissions, Chad Losee, told Poets & Quants quite recently, “For people who applied in September and were admitted in December, none of us could’ve imagined where we would be at this point in time.” He also added that this was a response to the inputs from students, as the school “started to hear from students about the personal situations that they were going through in different parts of the world.”

At present, they have admitted that they are unsure about the number of students who will choose the option of deferring this year. The possibility of a significant number of the admitted candidates deferring the enrollment would consequently have several effects. The change might turn out to be something positive for the applicants who have been waitlisted. HBS says that if enough students choose to defer, the school would fill the vacated seats with students from the waitlist.

On the other hand, an excess number of deferrals could mean tighter and tougher admissions over the next few years. The school has said that in such a case, they would try their best to handle it by spreading out the deferrals over both years and seeing how much the school could possibly increase the size of its future classes.

However, while HBS has provided the option of deferral to students, it is requesting them to take a ‘leap of faith’ in these dim situations, to continue as the Class of 2022 as much as possible.
HBS Dean Nitin Nohria told students, “Every person on this call will have to make some leap of faith about their own developmental journey of leaders.”
As a strong generation, we hope that all of you make the best choices for yourself be it a deferral or even enrolling this year. Good luck to you!
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