The newest addition to the Harvard Business School (HBS) podcast library features an in-depth discussion about the 2+2 Program, which offers promising college students an opportunity to secure a spot in the HBS class that they can fill after completing two years of approved work experience.

In the new podcast, Kerry McLaughlin, an assistant director in MBA admissions, speaks with Andrea Kimmel from the 2+2 Program and Mark Michaelman, a recent 2+2 Program admit. Their discussion reveals the history of the program’s creation and provides details about the application process.

As Kimmel explains, the 2+2 Program provides a way for students to apply to the HBS MBA program as a rising college senior. Applications are due on July 1st after completion of the junior year. HBS invites the candidates it is most interested in to campus to interview in August and delivers admissions decisions in early September. Admitted students then finish out their senior year and work for two years before assuming their space in the HBS MBA class. “You are applying to our regular core MBA program, you’re just following a slightly different application process,” Kimmel says.

The program got its start as a result of HBS taking a close look not at who was applying to the school but at who wasn’t applying, explains Kimmel. “We realized there was a real opportunity to start to talk to younger people who maybe would never have business or an MBA degree on their radar screen,” she says.

Specifically, HBS wanted to target scientists, engineers and liberal arts majors who might never have had the opportunity to fully consider careers in business. “We want to show how broad they are and how flexible the MBA degree is when you consider it against a law degree or medical degree,” Kimmel says.

As HBS prepares this year to enter its second application cycle for the 2+2 program, representatives have visited more than 80 college campuses to share details with students. In its first year, the program drew more than 630 applicants, which yielded 106 admitted students. “We couldn’t have been happier, and we are looking forward to even more this year,” Kimmel says.  

Michaelman, a senior at Northeastern University in Boston, heard about the program from a friend. The chance to secure a spot at one of the world’s premier business schools and obtain real-world experience before starting appealed to him immediately and made it easy to prioritize getting his application done even amid a heavy course load in his junior year, he says.

The basics of the application process are similar to those of a normal business school cycle – taking the GMAT, writing application essays and obtaining recommendation letters. This year, HBS also will accept the GRE as an alternative to the GMAT, giving applicants even greater flexibility and, it hopes, appealing to students from a wider range of academic backgrounds. Again, the deadline for this year’s rising college juniors is July 1, 2009, so there’s still plenty of time to get started.

The actual online application will be available later this month on the HBS website. In the meantime, for details about the program’s specific requirements – including this year’s essay questions – click here. 

To hear the 2+2 Program podcast in its entirety, click here.