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Thursday, June 19, 2008

Harvard Business School Admissions Director Offers Advice on Letters of Recommendation

In a blog post yesterday http://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/blog.html#post-2008-06-17, Harvard Business School (HBS) Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Dee Leopold responded to the often asked question from prospective applicants of who should write their recommendation letters.

“Hands down, this is the most commonly asked question during our outreach presentations both at home and on the road,” Leopold writes, “so I’d like to tackle it here to reach the broadest possible audience.”

Of course, there is no right answer, she says. “Candidates simply must use common sense and trust that we on the Admissions Board are reasonable and understanding,” she continues.

As guidance, Leopold explains a little about how the Admission Board reviews the recommendations and what she herself looks for as she reads them.

All written applications are compiled into folders that are circulated to Board members for their comments. The three letters of recommendation are included in these folders. When Leopold reads a recommendation, the first thing she looks to ascertain is how – and how well – the recommender knows the candidate. She then focuses on the recommenders responses to the actual questions.

“The Board puts a great deal of thought into these questions and we value a direct response,” she writes. In other words, ask your recommender to reply directly to the questions HBS poses – rather than submitting a standard format “letter of reference.”

Again reminding candidates to trust that the Admission Board is “reasonable and understanding,” Leopold stresses that they are not looking for recommenders to say that that a given applicant is perfect. “It’s hard to imagine the value of a Harvard education for someone who is ‘perfect,’” she says. “We prefer our candidates to be ‘normal’ with opportunities for growth and development.”

Likewise, says Leopold, the Board understands that many successful candidates aren’t able to provide recommendations from current supervisors – whether because they are new to their company or haven’t yet shared with their employer that they are considering business school. “We get it,” she says. “Make your best judgment call and stop worrying.”

If members of the Admissions Board truly are struggling to understand why a strong candidate made an unusual choice of recommenders, they’ll ask you, she says.

But do choose recommenders that know you well, she cautions, because it’s not uncommon for the Board to pick up the phone and call a recommender for clarification. “A simple test might be that if a recommender doesn’t know you well enough to answer the questions we pose, he/she is not a good choice,” Leopold offers.

College seniors should also feel encouraged to ask for recommendations from college professors they have worked closely with. “We do not expect you to have the same relationships in the professional world as those who are applying from the work force,” she says.

Leopold closes with a few things she urges against: Recommendations from fifth grade piano teachers, recommendations from family members and informal input from current HBS students.

In fact, for the first time this year HBS is openly discouraging input from current HBS students submitted outside of the three required recommendations. “Of course we value their opinions and are deeply appreciative of their efforts to find wonderful new admits to the MBA Program,” Leopold says. “However, it is not comfortable to send any signal that those who are not fortunate enough to count HBS students as friends or former colleagues are in any way disadvantaged in the admissions process.”

# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:00 am in Admissions Tips, General, School: Harvard

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