Malvika Patil
- Mar 5
- 5 min read

Harvard Business School MBA Recommendation Questions 2023 - 2024

Updated: Mar 19

Harvard Business School (HBS) focuses on three broad skills when looking for prospective candidates: a habit of leadership, analytical aptitude and appetite, and engaged community citizenship. The school emphasizes, however, that there is no one type of leader that fits the mold; diversity of background, identity, and experience is crucial in the HBS MBA program.

So when you write your HBS essays and prepare for the interview, you will need to demonstrate evidence of leadership - in your unique way. This is also reflected in HBS’s letters of recommendation.

How Many Letters of Recommendation Does Harvard Business School Require?

HBS requires 2 letters of recommendation, at least one of which is from a current manager/supervisor. However, if you are unable to provide one from your current manager (applicable to professionals who may not have disclosed their MBA plans with their company), you may select a recommender who can adequately speak to your professional/personal strengths, potential to succeed, and fit with the HBS MBA program.

HBS uses the GMAC Common Letter of Recommendation format to frame its recommendation questions, but has shorter word limits.

Harvard Business School MBA Recommendation Questions

Part 1: Your Information

This section includes your name, contact information, current employment, and HBS background.

Part 2: Relationship Context

Are you a graduate of the Harvard Business School MBA program? (Yes/No)
If yes, year of graduation:
Relationship Type (drop-down menu):
Current employer
Previous employer
University/Academic
Extracurricular/Community
Other
Relationship Context (drop-down menu):
Direct Supervisor
Other Supervisor
Advisor
Colleague/Peer
Direct Report
Indirect Report
Other
Number of applicants you are recommending to the HBS MBA Program this year:
Please provide a brief description of your interaction with the applicant and, if applicable, their role in your organization (300 characters)

Part 3: Candidate Evaluation

The MBA Admissions Board would like to learn more about the candidate's strengths and areas of development. For each attribute, please indicate how you have experienced the candidate. All candidates are growing professionally and therefore some of their attributes are likely to be more developed than others. It is helpful to the Admissions Committee to understand your assessment of the candidate's relative strengths compared to areas they are actively working to develop. To that end, we ask that you distribute the ratings across the whole grid accordingly.

Leadership Attributes:

Adaptability and resilience
Awareness of and respect for others
Curiosity
Emotional Intelligence
Initiative
Integrity
Interpersonal skills with subordinates and colleagues
Interpersonal skills with superiors
Professional maturity
Self-awareness
Self-confidence
Teamwork: engagement and collaboration
Teamwork: leadership and development of others

Please comment on the ratings you have assigned, elaborating on relative strengths and opportunities for further development. (Required, 500 character limit).

The MBA Admissions Board is also interested in your evaluation of the candidate's skills based on the interactions you have had with the candidate.

Skill Assessment:

Analytical thinking
Creative problem solving
Listening skills
Quantitative skills
Verbal communication
Written communication

Please use this space to comment on the skills ratings you have assigned, elaborating on relative strengths and opportunities for further development. (Required, 500 character limit).

Part 4: Open Response Questions

Please respond to the questions below in a single document.

How do the applicant’s performance, potential, background, or personal qualities compare to those of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? Please provide specific examples. (Recommended: 300 words)
Please describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant’s response. (Recommended: 250 words)
(Optional) Is there anything else we should know? Please be concise.

Analysis

Grid

Your recommender grid will look like this:

The recommender is asked to rate the applicant in 2 areas: Leadership Attributes and Skill Assessment. Each area has a number of characteristics, mentioned above. For each characteristic, they will be asked to mark the applicant on the following scale:

No Basis For Judgment	Potential Area Of Concern	Developing	Strong	Distinctive

We do not recommend choosing the “Distinctive” option for all characteristics; the AdCom may perceive that the recommender has not honestly evaluated the applicant’s profile. Discuss your strengths and weaknesses with your recommender and guide them to select the Distinctive choice in 7-8 of the characteristics listed, and the Strong option in the remaining 2-3. Reserve the middle rating (Developing) for a maximum of 1 characteristic, only if it requires major improvement.

Your recommender is also asked to comment on their ratings for both the Leadership Attributes and Skill Assessment in separate, 500 character answers. Ideally, they’d give you the “Distinctive” rating for most questions, but not all.

Recommender Questions

The recommender will have to answer 2 mandatory open response questions. They may also answer the optional question if required.

How do the applicant's performance, potential, background, or personal qualities compare to those of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? Please provide specific examples. (Recommended: 300 words)

In this answer, your recommender will evaluate your work performance, strengths, and personal qualities in comparison to their experience with your peers in similar positions. There is no strict word limit, but try to stick to the recommended 300 words.

Typically, recommenders provide up to 2-3 anecdotes that each demonstrate a unique strength or quality. When writing about your strengths, ensure that they are aligned with Harvard’s values. Harvard looks for the following in their MBA candidates:

Impactful leadership
Hard work and humility
Strong communication and debate skills
Analytical ability
Collaboration and teamwork skills

Suggest that they use the SCAR method (Situation, Challenge, Action, Results) to structure these anecdotes and connect them to your fit with the school. Try to quantify your results by including figures, dollar amounts, and percentages to showcase impact.

Please describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant’s response. (Recommended: 250 words)

For this answer, guide your recommender to select a personal or professional weakness that they have observed and advised you on. Your recommender should provide an anecdote in the SCAR format where you presented this weakness, how it impacted your work or team, what feedback they provided, and how you acted upon it to improve in this area. Again, there is no strict word limit, but try to stick to the recommended 250 words. Given this short word limit, focus on one major weakness that you have identified and worked upon.

Remember to make sure that your weakness is authentic. Avoid fake weaknesses like “being a perfectionist”. Your weakness should clearly demonstrate that you are self-aware, adaptive, and open to learning even when uncomfortable.

Harvard looks for diverse candidates who can show leadership in a diverse range of fields and situations, and who can work with all kinds of people to create change. Guide your recommender to show your fit with these values.

(Optional) Is there anything else we should know? Please be concise.

HBS puts our main point of advice right in the prompt: please be concise. Don’t ask your recommender to fill this field out just because they can. The Optional Answer should include only any important information that clarifies one of the above answers, or a special circumstance. Most recommenders leave this blank.

Our complete Recommender Guide course on MBAConsultant.com has all the advice (and sample letters based on real applicants) you need to create a compelling letter of recommendation.