Welcome to a new edition of Trivia Tuesday, a weekly column in which we examine the contrasting policies and procedures that shape the student experience at leading business schools. Last week we discussed the auction-style course selection system used by many MBA programs to manage class enrollment. This week we’ll look at the very different systems used by Harvard, Stanford and Tuck.
Harvard’s course registration for second-year students takes place during spring of the first year and is completed using a computerized assignment system. Each student submits a ranked list of up to 30 target elective courses (though 15 to 20 is the norm) to the HBS Course Services department. These lists are then entered into a computer program that allocates 10 courses to each student based on considerations of student preference and classroom capacity. Of course, career objectives and course preferences can shift over the summer, so spaces in over-enrolled classes often do open up. Second-year students receive their tentative EC schedules in mid-August, up to four months later than some counterparts at schools using an auction model. After a short add/drop period at the beginning of fall term, students finalize their schedules in early September.
Stanford employs a preference ranking model that closely resembles Harvard’s system. Toward the end of each quarter, students set their schedule for the next term by submitting a ranked list of six or seven elective courses to the Academic Committee, which then runs an algorithm that places students in classes based on a randomly assigned priority number, their course preferences, the availability of seats and scheduling considerations. Students attend the first week of classes each quarter based on this tentative schedule and finalize their courses after a week-long add/drop period.
As one of the smallest of the leading business schools, Tuck’s model for elective registration is also one of the simplest. Unlike most of its peer schools, Tuck does not use a bidding or computerized assignment system for electives. Instead, to accommodate student interest, Tuck polls students on their preferred courses prior to course registration and may adjust the course schedule in response to student demand. If after these efforts there are still oversubscribed courses, the MBA Program Office assigns spaces based on students’ ranked course preferences and career-related needs, resorting to a lottery only in rare circumstances. The school reports that it is 99% successful in providing students with their preferred electives using this system.
These methods of course registration may remove some of the stress and strategy of auction-style enrollment. However, because students at Harvard and Stanford have their tentative schedules set by a computer, they have far less control over their day-to-day class schedule than do their peers at auction-style schools (though this drawback is mitigated by the add/drop period, which allows students to refine their originally assigned schedules). In the end, students at all schools tend to report satisfaction with the overall course selection system in use at their program, but if you have your heart set on taking a particular course in business school, it would be wise to be aware of the varying methods of course selection, since these could impact your odds of getting a seat in that high-profile class.
To learn more about the elective options and course selection procedures at the leading business schools, be sure to check out the Clear Admit School Guides!
Read the full article: Trivia Tuesday: Elective Selection at Harvard, Stanford and Tuck