While many managers think of August as the month for lying on a beach and soaking up the sun, for those considering an MBA, it is the month to dust down the CV, write application essays and sit the GMAT, the entry exam for business school.

This year, however, it’s all change as many of the world’s top schools have radically altered their application processes. Innovation is the buzzword, says Chioma Isiadinso, chief executive of Expartus, the business school admissions consultancy. “In the 15 years I’ve been in this industry I have never seen this level of change,” she says.

At the front of the pack is Harvard Business School and where Harvard leads, others inevitably follow. MBAs who hope to be awarded one of its 920 coveted places for entry in 2013 will now only have to submit two essays instead of the previous four, says Dee Leopold, managing director for MBA admissions. Essay-writing it seems is now considered an anachronistic and often irrelevant skill for the 25 or 27-year-olds applying to business school.