After roaring back a year earlier, applications to the M7 reached a plateau for the class that entered in fall 2025. The seven elite U.S. business schools — the so-called “Magnificent Seven” — received 48,829 applications for the MBA Class of 2027, an increase of just 0.6% after applications surged 22% in the previous cycle.
In the same cycle, schools collectively admitted 2.7% more students than last year while enrolling 1.8% more. Taken together, the MBA programs at Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia Business School, Chicago Booth School of Business, Northwestern Kellogg School of Management, and MIT Sloan School of Management enrolled 4,866 students, 85 more than the year before and the M7’s largest entering class in six years.
The numbers suggest the M7 was able to sustain demand close to its post-pandemic high while creating more room for students at the top of the MBA market.
M7 ENROLLS ITS LARGEST CLASSES IN 6 YEARS
For the thousands of applicants hoping to earn a seat in an M7 classroom, admissions data offers a way to gauge their chances, decide where to focus their energy, and better understand how they compare with the students who ultimately enroll. Each year, Poets&Quants compiles the most important admissions and class-profile data from all seven schools and puts it in one place. We draw from the class profiles released by the M7 schools, our own reporting, and U.S. News & World Report’s MBA rankings when figures are not available through other sources. In some cases, we make estimates based on the best available data.
The M7’s nearly flat application total masks considerable movement among the individual schools. Chicago Booth posted the biggest gain, with applications climbing nearly 14.7% to 5,876. Wharton and Northwestern Kellogg also extended their growth, rising 4% and 4.6%, respectively.
HBS, meanwhile, received 447 fewer applications, a decline of 4.5%. Harvard’s applicant volume followed a similar trajectory to most other M7s since Covid-19. After bottoming out in the Class of 2025 cycle, for students admitted in 2023 when just over 8,000 candidates applied, applications rebounded sharply for the Class of 2026. That surge now appears to be leveling out. HBS’ total of 9,409 applications, the highest by far of any M7, seems to be a return to the 9,000-to-10,000 range the school typically sees.
MIT Sloan’s total apps fell more than 8% while Columbia and Stanford were essentially flat.
Even as application volume largely leveled out, all seven schools expanded enrollment for the Class of 2027. In fact, it’s the highest M7 enrollment since the Class of 2022 who started classes in fall 2020.
However, most of the gains were modest. Wharton posted the largest increase, adding 22 students over the previous class, followed by MIT Sloan with 17 and Harvard with 13.
The longer-term picture is more uneven. Harvard and Columbia account for most of the M7’s growth since the Class of 2022, expanding by 211 and 200 students, respectively. Harvard’s increase reflects, in part, its unusually small Class of 2022, while Columbia has sustained a much larger class since moving to its Manhattanville campus. Booth also grew slightly over the period, while Stanford remained essentially flat.
Application and enrollment growth did not necessarily make the M7 easier to enter. The average acceptance rate edged down from 18.7% to about 18.6%, even as the schools collectively enrolled a few dozen more students.
Stanford remained the most selective school in the group, holding its admit rate at 6.8%, followed by Harvard at an estimated 11.3%. These two behemoths also happen to have the highest yields in the game — the rate at which admitted candidates actually end up enrolling in the program. They typically convert nearly nine out of every 10 admits, with Stanford’s yield rising to 87.9% and Harvard’s estimated yield climbing to 88.7%.
Wharton and Columbia became more selective, while Kellogg and Booth posted smaller declines in their acceptance rates. MIT Sloan moved sharply in the other direction, with its admit rate rising from 14.1% to 18.8% as the school extended 195 more offers.
Wharton and Columbia also strengthened their yields, to 62.7% and an estimated 67.8%, respectively.
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