“Is a Harvard MBA doable with a 2-year-old baby? Let’s assume there is someone to help out full-time–the question is, will I be able to spend a decent amount of quality time with the baby?”

The Harvard MBA says:

Yes, you can definitely manage HBS with a 2-year-old baby, but you will have to make tradeoffs.

Every HBS student has to allocate their time amongst a variety of activities (class time is mandatory, so there is no variability there):

• Studying
• Socializing
• Attending events
• Searching for a job

All of these activities take time, and all of them could probably consume your entire schedule if you let them.  If you want to spend 4-6 hours of quality time with your baby, that’s 4-6 hours you won’t be able to spend somewhere else.

There are certainly folks who spend 4-6 hours a day on hanging out in restaurants and pubs yet still manage to get a lot out of their time at HBS, so there’s no reason you can’t do the same with your baby.

But there is a cost–that’s 4-6 hours per day you can’t spend building your personal network, learning from guest speakers, or starting a business.  As long as you are willing to pay that price, I don’t see any reason you can’t juggle the roles of parent and student.

As a side note, one of my classmates actually *gave birth* between the first and second semesters of our first year, and she managed to make it through the program!