Harvard Business School vs.

Stanford GSB
by John A. Byrne on June 28, 2010
Lets just say it right out: Stanford and Harvard are the two best business schools in the world. In
terms of prestige and status, you cant do better than to win the coveted MBA letters from either
Stanford or Harvard. So its not surprising that a large number of people who apply to Stanford
also apply to Harvard and vice versa. When Harvard gets turned down by applicants it accepts
(about 11% of those who gain an offer), more often than not the applicants go west to Stanford.
The same is true when Stanfords Graduate School of Business (known as GSB) is passed over
by accepted applicants. They inevitably head for Harvard Business School.
Forget the persistent stereotypes about these powerhouse schools, that Stanford is the place for
those who want to do a startup and Harvard is the the place for those who want to climb a more
traditional corporate ladder to the top of a Fortune 500 company. That may have been true many
years ago, but its not true now. There are some dramatic differences between these two MBA
educational giants. Most notably:
Geography: This is an obvious point, but an important one. Stanford is in the heart of Silicon
Valley on a campus dotted with massive palm trees that sway in the afternoon breezes. In the
winter months, when Harvard students are bundled up and trudging through ice and snow,
Stanford MBAs might still be wearing shorts. The Stanford campus is located between San Jose
and San Francisco, which is about a 45-minute drive away. The Harvard Business School, of
course, is in Boston, one of the worlds most dynamic and inviting cities. Fenway Park, home of
the Boston Red Sox, is just minutes away. So is world-class arts and culture of all kinds. But the
winter months can be brutal in New England so the east-west difference is a big one.
Size: With about 390 students per class, Stanford pretty much guarantees that almost every
student knows each other. A Stanford class is less than half that of Harvard which has the largest
MBA enrollment of any top school in the world. Total full-time MBA enrollment at Stanford is
just 765, versus Harvards 1,837. Its the difference between intimate scale and large scale.
Facilities: The campus of Stanfords Graduate School of Business is small and compact: a
complex of eight new, separate buildings created around three quadrangles opened in 2011 and a
single residence hall. Harvard Business School, on the other hand, is like a university onto itself
with 34 separate buildings on 40 acres of property along the Charles River. Harvard has its own
state-of-the-art fitness center, a massive library, a new innovation lab, and a chapel. Strategy
guru Michael Porter and his Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness even has his own building
on campus. There is no other business school in the world that can even remotely match Harvard
for its expansive classrooms and study halls. Stanfords new Knight Management Center, named
after Nike founder and Stanford alum Phil Knight who tossed in $100 million of the $345 million
cost, has given the school modern, up-to-date, world-class facilities. The available square footage
increased by 30% over the previous 280,000 sq. foot of space when Stanford lacked even a
single classroom with windows (HBS boasts more than 1.5 million square foot of space).
Stanford now boasts 13 tiered classrooms, up from 11, 20 flat-floored classrooms, up from eight,
and 70 breakout and study rooms, a huge improvement from 28 previously. The larger number of
breakout rooms, in particular, have helped the school to more effectively deliver its new
curriculum changes that emphasize smaller seminar-style courses. A new 600-seat auditorium

replaces the previous 324-seat model. There also are eight 16-person seminar rooms, to allow for
more intimate instruction, eight showers for MBA students who also can use the university
athletic center next store, and an 870-car underground parking structure on a campus where
parking was always an ordeal. But that still makes it 34 buildings to nine, if youre counting.
Culture: When Harvard Business School opens its essay section inquiring about your three
most substantial accomplishments, its not a leap to believe that Harvard a bastion of higher
overachievement is signaling that accomplishment, past and future, is paramount. That
Harvard people value getting things done comes through loud and clear. My favorite question on
the Harvard application, though, is one of four optional essays, with a 400-word limit: When
you join the HBS Class of 2013, how will you introduce yourself to your new classmates? This
gets at the aspiring students sense of identity, and how they present themselves, and may shed
light on how they might fit into a diverse group of students. The answer might also shed light on
applicants anxiety about joining such a potent group.
Stanford Business School, on the other hand, starts by asking about values and aspirations:
What matters most to you, and why? and then, more directly, What are your career
aspirations? Hear, hear for directness. Not that Stanford is entirely focused on ideals; they also
give applicants a choice among four other essay options, one of which inquires about experience
on a high-performing team. As far as I could tell, Stanford was the only one of the top ten that
didnt specify the maximum number of words for their essays. It says something affirmative
about the place that they trust applicants to use their own judgment about how much to write.

Harvard Business School vs. Stanford GSB

by John A. Byrne on June 28, 2010
Teaching Methods: At Stanford, theres far less reliance on case studies. Team projects,
experiential learning, lecture and simulations make up half the teaching. Obviously, teaching
methods vary by course. In Managerial Finance, for example, Stanford MBAs will largely be
taught via lecture and discussion, with case studies accounting for about half of the work. In
Strategic Leadership, however, most of the teaching (60%) is via case study, with about 10%
lecture, and 30% experiential learning. At Harvard, the case study thoroughly dominates. Sure
there are team projects, simulations and experiential learning in the mix, but its primary learning
tool at Harvard is the case study. There are 30 cases in a course. The ten courses youll take at
Harvard in the first year alone will require that you read 300 case studies. As a current HBS
student who blogs under the non de plume MilitarytoBusiness explains, the average student in
a 90-plus person class gains air time to comment on a case every other class. That means that
the professor determines half of your grade on an average of 15 comments over the period of
three-to-five months. Thats not an incredibly deep well of information to help differentiate 94
highly talented students, he says. That is the consequence of case studies in a 90-plus person
class environment. Obviously, the system breeds a certain level of competition.
Program Focus: Both MBA programs have a general management focus. The biggest single
difference is in entrepreneurship. Stanfords location in Palo Alto, just down the street from Sand
Hill Road, known for its concentration of venture capitalists, as well the mindset of its students
makes the GSB the ideal place for would-be entrepreneurs in technology. The words to focus on,
however, are in technology. Harvards size makes it a formidable player in entrepreneurship.
Harvard, for example, has its own building devoted to the subject, the Arthur Rock Center,

named after the HBS alum who invested in both Apple and Intel. Harvard boasts 35 faculty
members who teach entrepreneurship, the second largest faculty group at the school, versus
Stanfords 10 to 15 teachers, a number that includes adjunct instructors. All first-year MBAs at
Harvard have a required course in entrepreneurship and can choose from nearly two dozen
second-year electives on the topicpretty much the same number of courses that Stanford
offers. As a percentage, more Stanford grads (about 15%) are likely to either start companies or
immediately work for startups than grads at Harvard. Indeed, about 10% of Stanfords
graduating class launch companies right out of school, versus about 3% to 4% at Harvard.
However, 15 years out of HBS, about half of its grads end up as entrepreneursroughly the same
percentage as Stanford. Even more surprisingly, Harvard alums compose nearly 25% of the
entire venture capital industry. Clearly, its a myth that Harvard is the breeding ground for
corporate chieftains, while Stanford is the hotbed for entrepreneurs. In the most survey of bschool deans and directors by U.S. News & World Report, Stanford ranked second in
entrepreneurship vs. Harvards fourth-place showing. In this same survey, Stanford did slightly
better than Harvard in finance, marketing, and non-profit management. Harvard edged out
Stanford in general management and international business.
On-Campus Recruiting: If youre aiming for a top MBA job at McKinsey, Bain, BCG,
Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley, the Harvard- or Stanford-punched MBA will easily get you
in the door. The small size of the graduating class at Stanford, however, along with the more
entrepreneurial mindset of the students, puts it at a disadvantage in getting large numbers of
company recruiters on campus. In fact, more than 90% of the companies that hire Stanford grads
hire only one a year. Thats one major reason why Harvard gets more campus recruiters than
Stanford, or for that matter than any other business school in the world. Its also why half of
Stanfords graduating MBAs do self-directed job searches. Stanford has an edge in technology,
given its location, and geography also plays a part in where MBAs land their first jobs. Some
52% of Stanford grads stay in the west, while only 15% of HBS grads migrate to the West Coast.
About 18% of GSB grads land jobs in the Northeast, compared to 38% of HBS grads.
Alumni Network: You cant really go wrong by being part of either the Harvard or the Stanford
alumni network. Over the years, BusinessWeek surveys of MBA graduates show that Harvard,
Stanford and Dartmouth boast the strongest alumni networks of any business schools in the
world. With 41,378 living MBA alums, Harvards network is larger and more global. Stanford,
meantime, boasts 16,852 living MBA alums, with a strong concentration in the Bay Area and
Silicon Valley. Harvard also has more global reach because of the size of its network. Because
Stanford is clearly the underdog to Harvards size and massive resources, its very likely that
alums try to be a bit more helpful to each other than those at Harvard.
Rankings:
In the rankings, Harvard tends to edge out Stanford. The P&Q rankwhich factors into
consideration all the major rankings weighted by their individual authorityputs Harvard at
number one and Stanford at number two. These are the up-to-date rankings from each ranking
organization.
MBA Rankings
StanfordHarvard
Poets & Quants
2
1
BusinessWeek
6
2
Forbes
1
3
U.S. News & World Report1
1

Financial Times
The Economist

4
7

3
5

.
Historical Rankings by BusinessWeek:
The biggest question is how come Harvard or Stanford have never placed number one in the
most influential MBA rankings published. Over a 22-year period and 11 biennial rankings,
BusinessWeek has never put either of these two highly prestigious business schools at the head
of the class. Harvard, with its largest graduating classes and east coast pedigree, has definitely
been ranked far more consistently over the years. HBS has generally came in the number three
spot, going as high as two twice and as low as number five on three different occasions. Stanford
has had a more inconsistent run, going as low as number 11 in 2000 and as high as number four
in three different surveys in 1994, 2002, and 2004. The answer is understandable. BusinessWeek
measures customer satisfaction. While students rate these schools very highly, recruiters often
have other issues. At Harvard, some corporate recruiters balk at the price tag. At Stanford, some
recruiters dislike the fact that so few of the schools MBAs are on the open market. Too many of
them are headed for newer companies or directly become entrepreneurs that recruiting at
Stanford is often frustrating for many companies. Thats generally why both schools have never
been number one in the BusinessWeek survey.
Historical Rankings by The Financial Times:
Unlike BusinessWeeks rankings, The Financial Times includes business schools from all over
the world. So the FT is ranking both Harvard and Stanford against such places as London
Business School, which ranked number one in this survey in 2010 and 2009, and INSEAD,
which ranked fifth these last two years. Over the years, Harvard has bested Stanford in 9 of the
11 years charted below. Only in one year did Stanford edge out HBS, in 2008, when Harvard fell
to fifth and Stanford came in just ahead at number four. Even so, Harvard has topped this list
only twice in 11 years (the biggest winner in the Financial Times surveys has been Wharton
which has been ranked first on nine separate occasions and second twice). Given some of the
peculiar factors that the FT throws into its methodology, including international mobility and
the percentage of women faculty, neither of which has anything to do with quality or customer
satisfaction, both Harvard and Stanford have performed fairly well over the years.
Admissions:
Stanford is the most selective business school in the world, accepting only 6.5% of those who
apply for admission. Its average GMAT score, 726 for the Class of 2011, is also the highest.
Harvard is number two, accepting little more than 12% of its applicants and with an average
GMAT just seven points lower than Stanfords. Only 11% of applicants who gain an offer from
Harvard turn the school down; Stanfords estmated yield is ten percentage points below
Harvard.
Admission StatsStanfordHarvard
Average GMAT 726
719
GMAT Range 540800 490800
Average GPA 3.66
3.67
Selectivity
6.5%
12.2%

Yield

79%

89%

Enrollment:
Stanfords class size is less than half that of Harvard, resulting in a more intimate and close-knit
community environment. The numbers for women, international and minority students are for
the Class of 2011.
Enrollment Stats
StanfordHarvard
Total MBA Enrollment766
1,837
Women
34%
36%
International
33%
36%
Minority
21%
22%
Poets & Quants:
Stanford seems to open its doors for far more poets than Harvard. Students who did their
undergraduate work in the humanities represent 47% of the Class of 2011 at Stanford, versus
40% at Harvard. On the other hand, Harvard is much more open to enrolling business undergrads
than Stanford. About 26% of Harvards Class of 2011 have business undergraduate degrees,
versus just 17% at Stanford.
Undergrad DegreesStanfordHarvard
Humanities
47%
40%
Engineering/Math 36%
33%
Business
17%
26%
Jobs and Pay:
The severe recession of 2009 had a big impact on even the best schools. Nearly a third of
Stanfords Class of 2009 didnt have jobs when they graduated and nearly a quarter of Harvard
MBAs were in the same boat. Grads from both schools fared much better three months after
commencement, but these numbers are rare lows for the two best business schools in the world.
The estimates of median pay over a full career come from a study by PayScale done for
BusinessWeek and do not include stock options or equity stakes by entrepreneurs. We suspect
that if you included stock, Stanford grads would easily make up the half-a-million dollar
difference due to the liberal use of options in Silicon Valley.
Job & Pay Data
Stanford Harvard
Starting salary & bonus
$132,769 $131,219
MBAs employed at commencement
69.1%
76.8%
MBAs employed 3 months after commencement 85.4%
87.3%
Estimated median pay & bonus over a full career$3,327,145$3,867,903