Does applying to HBS during the earlier rounds increase ones probability of garnering financial aid?
I wouldn’t say so. I think that anyone who is admitted to the program and applies for aid before matriculation — before September for fall matriculants or before January for Jan cohort martriculants — should have an equally good chance of qualifying for a fellowship. People who wait until they are already in the program to apply for aid may find that the fellowship money could have dried up. But we typically plan ahead so that we have sufficient funds to cover all of our students. In general, however, we do encourage people to apply earlier, but aid shouldn’t be a top consideration for doing so.
