Leader among the Leaders: HBS versus Stanford GSB

Life could be tricky when it comes to making a choice between two titans. Both Harvard Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business are highly prestigious institutes for MBA courses. Stalwarts in their own manner both HBS and Stanford GSB are places where leaders are nurtured. However, making a choice among the two could be a daunting task. While both offer world-class education and a thrilling student life, certain differences makes them stand apart. To begin with geography plays a major role. Located in Allston, across the Charles River, the HBS offers an exciting life in one of the world’s most dynamic and inviting cities, Boston. On the other hand, Stanford GSB, considered to be one of the most selective business schools in the world is situated in Stanford, California. Its campus, located between San Jose and San Francisco, offers balmy winters as opposed to the icy winter months at Harvard. Other parameters that differentiate the two can be outlined as follows:

Size

Harvard Business School has the largest MBA enrollment of any top school in the world. Its total full-time MBA enrollment accounts to 1,837 whereas, that of Stanford is just 765! HBS is known for its vast areas, expansive classrooms and study halls. The business school is a university in itself with 33 separate buildings on 40 acres of property.  Compared to this the campus of Stanford GSB is a minnow with just four buildings (residence hall included). Besides giant classrooms, HBS offers respite from hectic schedules at it own state-of-the-art fitness center and a chapel. Its Baker library, Bloomberg Centre is home to vast titles across the world. It’s the world’s largest business library holding over 6, 00,000 volumes!

Courses Offered

Both the institutes offer a full two-year MBA program with a general management focus. However, the teaching methods differ. Harvard’s MBA program depends heavily upon case studies. At Stanford, emphasis is upon team projects, experiential learning, lectures and simulations. One can also see the difference in the entrepreneurship status among the two. Harvard, by its sheer size of classes, produces greater number of entrepreneurs in a general manner while, Stanford is the first choice for those who want to become entrepreneurs in “technology” sector. The current class size at Harvard is 900 students, divided into ten sections (A–J) of 90 students. Stanford offers a more intimate environment with far lesser number of students taken per year. Other courses offered at both HBS and Stanford GSB are as follows:

At Harvard: 

a) MBA/MPP (Master of Public Policy)

b) MBA/MPA-ID (Master of Public Administration-International Development

c) Doctoral Programs

d) Non-degree executive programs like: the Owner/President Management Program (OPM), a part-time, multi-year program for self-employed entrepreneurs; the Advanced Management Program (AMP), an eight-week intensive course for senior managers; and the General Management Program (GMP), which combines campus and distance learning and is intended for middle managers.

At Stanford GSB:

a) One-year Stanford Sloan Master’s Program for mid-career executives

b) PhD Program for future academics

c) Executive Education programs for experienced managers

d) Faculty research program.

The two institutes have their own set of strengths and exclusivities. When it comes to leadership and overachievement, Harvard Business School definitely is the name. Laying stress upon values and aspirations and experiential learning and team projects Stanford is known for its extremely selective nature. There’s also an observable difference among the campus recruiting procedures of the two behemoths. Harvard witnesses a melee of recruiters and companies as opposed to the fewer companies that visit the Stanford campus. This is precisely because most of the Stanford’s graduating MBAs opt for entrepreneurship over company jobs.

Selection: The selection procedure of these B schools is pretty much similar. There’s, however, a slight difference among the GMAT score requirements.

Rankings: According to Business Week both Harvard and Stanford are among the top 10 business schools in the world.