מענה ל־ארכיון 2: שאל את ארינגו: תהליך הקבלה

[hbs06]

#9123

To: rocksrabbit

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Itzik,

Although there is no HBS Forum (the reason for which is a topic for another posting), I can assure you that every question regarding HBS, the MBA program and/or living in Boston is answered quite promptly by one of the Israeli Students at HBS, regardless of which forum you post it in or if you send us an email ([email protected]).

Regarding your questions –

TOEFL – I do not know the official guidelines of the HBS admissions office (nobody does but them), but here is my view on this. The case study method and the fact that 50% of your grade is based on class participation mean that you have to speak in class in order to get good grades and in order for the system to work.
I can assure you that learning to state a point in a concise and clear way in front of 90 other very smart people is something you need to get used to even if it were in Hebrew. doing it in English when it is not your native tongue is something all international students here struggle with during the first few months.
In my view the school has realized that some people arrive here with an insufficient level in English which hinders their ability to succeed here and damages the learning experience for everyone. thus they have decided to raise the bar for the TOEFL score as the best approximation for your level of English (this is of course debatable).
Having a score of 267 as a minimum means that any score below that will raise a red flag and will force you to present a very compelling case why your English level is indeed sufficient. I don't think it means you can't get in with a 265, but if that's your score you better show them why it shouldn't be a concern. If you're around the 267 score and it is at all possible, do the exam again and get a 267 or higher – it will save you a lot of pain and hard work.

Community Standards – here is a link to the HBS community standards: http://www.hbs.edu/about/community.html. They are in essence our code of conduct (or ethics code). If you have a specific questions regarding them, I will be happy to try and answer.

Hope I helped,
Danny
HBS Class of 2006