How many people apply to the HBS/HKS Joint Program?

If you majored in political science, are interested in public service, have ever interned for your congressman, or just enjoy reading FiveThirtyEight or Politico, you should consider applying to the joint degree program between Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School -- the three year program that results in both an MBA and a Masters in Public Policy or a Masters in Public Administration in International Development.

It's hard enough getting into one graduation school, let alone two programs at Harvard! Some people may be intimidated by how many people apply to the joint degree program, which routinely comes with prestigious fellowship funding from both PE Juggernaut David Rubenstein and CEO/Philanthropist Bill George.  The schools themselves are pretty tight-lipped about application numbers, but we can back into it with a little math.

If there are about 25-30 Jointees a year, and the yield for the joint program is about 80% then we have 30-38 admitted students per year. (Note: those who don't enroll in the joint degree program almost always enroll in HBS alone. Some choose GSB instead. Everyone else stays in the workforce.)

If HKS admits about half of the prospective Jointees that get into HBS, then there are about 60-75 students admitted to HBS each year expressing interest in the joint program. (Note: a lot of the MBA-minded applicants take the HKS application for granted, which they shouldn't since HKS is more selective than most elite MBA programs.)

If the admissions rate for prospective Jointees is the same as the general HBS applicant pool (11%), then the joint degree program has 545-680 applicants a year.