Battle of the Blogs!

(No not really.)

While we would never be so presumptuous as to think anyone at HBS (besides Alex) is reading this blahg, Dee Leopold posted a bit of a smackdown on her own blog on a topic we had covered here a few days previous:

Check out point #1 in our post from a few weeks back on “Possible Benefits of a Round 1 Application.”*

In our post on Sept. 12, we claimed that Round 1 applicants might have greater chances of getting some help with the cost of the MBA, because of more funds being available early on. We even said that Round 3 candidates are unlikely to get much money at all, that the funds would be all dried up by then.

Apparently this is a non-issue for those lucky enough to get into Harvard. Apparently — as Ms. Leopold pointed out on Sept. 15 —  if you’re in at Harvard and you need help with funding your MBA, then you’ll get it. Regardless of whether you applied on day one or day the last. And, the HBS scholarship money is entirely need-based. (That part especially is kinda cool, we think.)

Now, while Ms. Leopold called this “admissions folklore” — keep in mind that it’s folklore at Harvard. This dealio about the scholarship funding and rounds is, actually, true at some other schools. Here’s a (somewhat dated) post from former adm dir at Chicago Booth that mentions this topic.  It’s also how it works at Columbia. And we’ve seen it mentioned at other schools too (Michigan? We’re misremembering now….)

We offer this post in full disclosure – the admissions picture is different from school to school – at some schools, this funding/rounds issue is a reality worth knowing about. Harvard is, we are reminded yet again, in a category unto itself.

Mostly though, we don’t want anyone to think that EssaySnark is not reading the HBS blog, particularly if there’s a chance that they’re reading ours!!! 

* boy are we glad for the face-saving use of the term “possible” in that title!