What's it really like inside Harvard Business School? The Wall Street Journal look into what goes on during the admission process at Harvard Business. Harvard Business School. IF your aim in life is to make it to the executive washroom, three little words will help get you there faster than anything else. Founded in 1908, the school sits on the banks of Boston's Charles River and is one of the most elite and expensive in the world, churning out plenty of CEOs and politicians over the years. Everyone from JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and even former President George W. Bush went to Harvard. When your dropouts - including Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg - go on to found companies like Microsoft and Facebook, you know the calibre is high. So what's the secret to their success? Unlike other colleges, which are proud of the flexible timetables, Harvard has a gruelling and rigid schedule based on a "Case Method" that has been its signature since inception. Students are given the same core subjects based on real-life situations which are designed to provide the perfect training for managing a company. They might have to decide whether to undertake a merger, offshore staff or fund microfinance initiatives. All of the decisions are made in short time-frames with incomplete or rapidly changing information. They typically work through over 500 of these case studies during their time, with the interaction afterwards responsible for about 50 per cent of their grade, according to the school's website. The grounds of Harvard Business School. Even the staff - who between them published 18 books in a single year - have spoken about the intensely competitive environment and nerves they get before entering the classroom. But the results speak for themselves. Of the top 500 companies in the world today, 25 of them have CEOs that come from Harvard, nearly double the 13 that come from the University of Tokyo and 11 that come from Stanford, according to Forbes. Even the ones that don't go on to become household names do amazing things like create soccer balls that double as portable power, start their own businesses or manage charitable foundations. But before you think you'd like to give it a crack, entry to Harvard Business is notoriously difficult. In 2011, just 1,860 people were admitted from 10,000 applications. The doctoral program is even more exclusive, with 830 applicants fighting it out for 132 places. The application involves writing two 400 word essays, one on something you've done well and one on something you wish you'd done better. From here a select few will go to interviews held in New York City, Palo Alto, London, Paris, Shanghai, Dubai, Mumbai, Sao Paulo, and Santiago or via Skype. After the interview, another required essay provides a chance to add anything you missed. Malala Yousafzai addresses students and faculty Picture: AP Jessica Rinaldi. If it sounds enough to drive you a little crazy, it can. In 2005, 119 applicants were caught attempting to hack into a website that stored admissions information. Those who had been accepted had their offers retracted for the breach of trust, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. The school also publishes a 68-page guide on how to get through the application process. It also costs a bomb, with a single year's tutiion and board coming to $91,200. But there is a payday. The alumni get to listen to inspiring speeches by people like Malala Yousafzai and Sheryl Sandberg at graduation. Statistics also show 89 per cent of graduates had accepted a job within three months, with a median base salary of $120,000. Have you ever been inside Harvard?