Prospective applicants to Harvard Business School (HBS) will have an opportunity to sign up for fall class visits by the end of this week, HBS Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Dee Leopold announced on her Director’s Blog last week.
Classes aren’t open to visitors earlier in the semester because faculty like to let the first-year students get comfortable with the case method before welcoming guests and because on certain days first-years are doing small group projects in FIELD which won’t accommodate visitors, Leopold wrote.
When HBS does open classes for visitor sign-up later this week, it will only open a two-week period at a time. By not allowing prospective applicants to sign up for sessions way in advance, HBS hopes to minimize the number of no-shows and empty seats, Leopold continued.
“I know this system isn’t perfect,” Leopold conceded. “Many of you are traveling great distances in order to see us and we take that investment seriously,” she continued. For the first time this year, HBS opened a select number of second-year classes to visitors in September as well in an effort to provide visiting prospective applicant with more options.
In addition to class visits, HBS does offer information sessions led by Admission Board members and student-led campus tours on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays during the fall semester. No advance sign up is required for these sessions; simply arrive at Dillon House at 3 p.m. on one of the above days for a campus tour or at 4:15 p.m. for an information session.
For those who can’t take advantage of the class visit program but still really want to glimpse what an HBS class is like, Leopold recommends the videos of first-year classes, which are available on the HBS website.
Read the full article: Registration for Harvard Business School Class Visits to Open by Week’s End