essay about mba

How to Write a Powerful MBA Essay—With Examples

The MBA essay is critical to your business school application. Read our guide to writing the perfect MBA essay, with successful admit examples.

Posted June 14, 2024

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Former AdCom Evaluates an MBA Application

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Table of Contents

What is the mba essay.

The MBA admissions essay.

Those words alone are enough to make most MBA candidates run screaming. Writing in general is hard enough. Writing about why you want an MBA? Your short-term goals and career aspirations? What matters to you most, and why? Forget it.

Of course, you still have to write these essays.

The MBA essay is perhaps the most important part of the business school application. Every other part of the application — your GPA, your test scores, your letters of recommendation — is quantified, cut and dried, or out of your control. The essay is your chance to show up as a fully realized MBA candidate, with hopes, dreams, and vulnerabilities. Admissions committees are not simply assessing your candidacy as a future leader — they're looking to admit human beings. That's where the MBA applicant essays come in.

That being the case, rather than being intimidated by it, treat the MBA essay writing process like the opportunity that it is — the chance for you to highlight your unique, iridescent self; the only moment in the MBA admissions process (prior to the interview) when you can speak directly to admissions officers; the time when you'll show them who you really are. It's not easy to write something that will do that, of course, but with the tips and tricks in this guide, and some help from one of Leland's vetted, world-class admissions coaches, we know you can do it. Give the essay the time, attention, and respect it deserves, and you'll be on your way to an offer of admission at your dream school.

Without further ado, let's dive in!

Ultimate MBA Essay Guide

See the MBA essay prompts, top tips from experts, and real examples from admits with this comprehensive guide.

How Long Will My MBA Essay Take?

First things first: let's talk about timing.

The MBA application is a behemoth; between exams, resumes, gathering your official transcripts, letters of recommendation, and the applications themselves, there's a lot to juggle. That being the case, we suggest you give yourself ample time to draft, write, and revise your essays. The last thing you want is to be rushed to the finish line.

So, give yourself at least three months to write your MBA admission essays. That should allow you enough time to draft, write, and edit. For more information on timing your entire business school application, click here for  A Comprehensive MBA Application Timeline--With Chart .

Now, on to the critical question:

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What Makes a Great MBA Essay?

At the highest level, the answer is the one that is truest to you. The whole point of an MBA application essay is to shine through as an authentic, vibrant human being, so the best essays are the ones that cut through the clutter, and allow you to do that.

Which begs the question — how do you cut through the clutter and shine through as a vibrant human being? Here are four critical tips to follow as you begin thinking about your essays.

1. Answer the Question

This one sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised how many applicants launch into their story, get carried away, and forget to answer the question. Follow the prompt, and answer the question the admissions committee has asked you. Those prompts can actually be very useful when writing MBA essays — it's a great deal harder to write when you have no guidance or guardrails. With these essays, you have a very specific question you need to answer. So answer it!

2. Be Specific

Another mistake some MBA applicants make is to stay at a high level in their essays, keeping their writing abstract and therefore inaccessible to the admissions committee. If at any point, an admissions officer could replace your name with the name of another applicant, then your essay isn't getting deep enough. It's not enough, for instance, to say that you suffered adversity in high school, or that you really, really want a Wharton MBA. You need to explain, in detail, the adversity you faced, and give concrete and unique reasons why you think Wharton is the right program for you. The best essays offer hyper-specific examples and anecdotes, with details and anecdotes that no other candidate could bring to the table. To get those anecdotes, we recommend using the STAR template, as explained below:

• Situation : What was the situation you were facing? Where were you? How old were you? If you were in a professional role during this anecdote, what was the role, and how long had you been in it? If you were volunteering, at what organization? How long had you been volunteering there? Why did you start? Offer all the relevant information that the admissions readers will need to understand your story.
• Task : What was the task at hand? What went wrong? In your professional role, what was the challenge you faced? In that volunteering experience, what were the hurdles you had to overcome? You can't have a good story without conflict or tension, so after you set up the anecdote, explain what that conflict or tension was (and remember, be specific!).
• Action : What was the action you took to resolve the problem? What did you have to do to fix that issue at work? How did you clear that hurdle in your volunteer experience? Again, be specific about how you came through on the other side of that conflict/tension — and while you're doing it, highlight your leadership capabilities as much as possible! Remember that top MBA programs are looking for future leaders who can assess a situation and decisively take action. (We'll say a bit more about this below, in the Personal Statement section.
• Result : What was the result of your action? If you were facing a growth problem at work, were you able to increase sales? If so, by what percentage? If you were advocating for diversity and inclusion at your local charity, what new programs did you implement to help with that effort, and what was the enrollment like in those new programs? Detail what happened in your anecdote with as much specificity as possible — and quantify, quantify, quantify!

If you want to learn more about how to master the STAR Method, read our article How to Nail “Tell Me About a Time…” Interview Questions .

3. Get Vulnerable

Most MBA admissions essay prompts are written with the goal of getting to know as much about you as possible in the shortest number of words. To do that, you're going to have to share real things from your life — to get personal, intimate, and vulnerable. Do not shy away from this. If you're starting to get emotional during the reflection, drafting, and writing process, good — that means you're on the right track. Keep going.

Pro tip: If it’s making you cry, it will make them cry.

Another good rule of thumb is to put something real and true on the table. Admissions officers have to read thousands of applications from thoroughly qualified individuals, some of whom might come from similar roles to yours, with letters of recommendation from equally impressive supervisors. In order to cut through that noise, you'll have to share something honest.

If you're doing it right, this can feel risky. At some point, you’ll likely think to yourself: “Can I say that?” The answer is: “Yes.” Of course, there is a line, you don’t want to be crass or offensive but always err on the side of being open and authentic.

The very worst thing you can do is be overly cautious and write something you think will please the admissions committee. These poor people have to read thousands of essays. If yours is just like everyone else’s, they’ll fall asleep. Don’t let that happen. Wake them up by putting yourself —your true, bright, vibrant, quirky self—on the page.

4. Don't Exaggerate

Finally, do not exaggerate, over-inflate, or lie. This goes without saying, but admissions committees are looking for honest candidates. The surest way to get rejected is to lie about something. (Business schools do a background check on you before you're properly admitted, so they will find out.) Don't be the person who over-inflates on their essays and then has their offer letter rescinded.

The Types of MBA Essays

All right — since we've covered high-level approaches to the MBA essays, it's time to dig into the various types.

There are three general categories of MBA essays you'll see across the board.

1. Personal Statement

These questions ask you to offer up something sincere about yourself. They'll often touch on such things as your values and your character. In these, you'll want to be as authentic as possible, while also highlighting attributes like leadership, intellectual vitality, and teamwork that business schools are looking for.

Here are a few examples of previous personal statement essays:

• As we review your application, what more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Harvard Business School MBA program? (HBS)
• What matters most to you, and why? (Stanford GSB)

2. Why an MBA/Why This School

In these, schools first want to hear about how an MBA will fit into your career, both short and long term. Top MBA programs are looking for candidates who will: first of all, be gainfully employed upon graduating, second of all, have an illustrious career that will make their institution look good and encourage future generations of applicants to apply, and third, be consistent and generous donors. That being the case, they want to know about your career trajectory, and how an MBA will fit into it.

Pro tip: Here, you want to be ambitious and inspiring in laying out your future career, but not naïve. Walk the line between shooting for the stars and sounding dreamlike and uninformed.

In this set of questions, you'll also encounter questions geared at figuring out why you would want to attend a specific school. MBA programs want to know that you're serious about attending their school — yield, or the percentage of admitted candidates who accept their offers of admission, is an important metric for them — but they also want to envision how you'll contribute to their admitted class. What will you uniquely bring to the table, the things that you'll do that the other candidates wouldn’t be able to offer?

We've heard former deans of business schools say that, in choosing a class, they're curating a world-class dinner party, and that each person invited to the dinner party has to bring something different. What will you bring to the dinner party?

Another Pro tip: To demonstrate that you've done your research, and to help the admissions committee envision you in their program, indicate which classes you might take when earning your MBA and why, which professors you might hope to study with, and in which clubs you might participate.

Here are a few examples of "why MBA / why this school" essays we've seen before:

• How is a Columbia MBA going to help you? (Columbia)
• What do you hope to gain professionally from the Wharton MBA? (Wharton)
• Why Stanford? Describe your aspirations and how your Stanford GSB experience will help you realize them. (Stanford GSB)

3. Behavioral/Other

Finally, most other essays will be behavioral in the sense that they’ll ask you about experiences, traits, strengths, weaknesses, and achievements. There's a wide variety of topics here, but all the guidelines from above apply, with the final note to always prioritize authenticity (as mentioned in the Personal Statement section) and leadership ability (remember, business schools are choosing future leaders).

Here are a few examples of behavioral/other essays from the past:

• Describe the biggest commitment you have ever made. (Yale SOM)
• Tell us about your favorite book, movie, or song and why it resonates with you. (Columbia)
• Think about times you’ve created a positive impact, whether in professional, extracurricular, academic, or other settings. What was your impact? What made it significant to you or to others? (Stanford GSB)

Top MBA Program Essay Prompts (Updated 2022)

To help you get started, we've compiled the required prompts from a few top MBA programs below:

1. Harvard Business School (HBS)

As we review your application, what more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Harvard Business School MBA program? (900 words)

For more information, visit A Guide to the HBS Essay .

2. Stanford Graduate School of Business

What matters to you most, and why? (650 words)

Why Stanford? (400 words)

Read What Matters Most When Writing the GSB Essays.

How do you plan to use the Wharton MBA program to help you achieve your future professional goals? You might consider your past experience, short and long-term goals, and resources available at Wharton. (500 words)

Taking into consideration your background – personal, professional, and/or academic – how do you plan to make specific, meaningful contributions to the Wharton community? (400 words)

For Wharton-specific advice, visit A Guide to the Wharton Essays .

4. Columbia Business School

Essay 1: Through your resume and recommendation, we have a clear sense of your professional path to date. What are your career goals over the next three to five years and what, in your imagination, would be your long-term dream job? (500 words)

Essay 2: The Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership (PPIL) is a new co-curricular program designed to ensure that every CBS student develops the skills to become an ethical and inclusive leader. Through PPIL, students attend programming focused on five essential diversity, equity, and inclusion skills: Creating an Inclusive Environment, Mitigating Bias, Communicating Across Identities, Addressing Systemic Inequity, and Managing Difficult Conversations. Tell us about a time you were challenged around one of these five skills. Describe the situation, the actions you took, and the outcome. (250 words)

Essay 3: We believe Columbia Business School is a special place with a collaborative learning environment in which students feel a sense of belonging, agency, and partnership--academically, culturally, and professionally. How would you co-create your optimal MBA experience at CBS? Please be specific. (250 words)

If you’re looking for more tips on the CBS essays, read our Guide to the Columbia Business School Essays .

5. Chicago Booth

How will the Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career goals? (250-word minimum)

An MBA is as much about personal growth as it is about professional development. In addition to sharing your experience and goals in terms of your career, we’d like to learn more about you outside of the office. Use this opportunity to tell us something about who you are… (250-word minimum)

*Pro tip: Some essay questions such as these will say “no maximum.” While it’s certainly a good thing that you’re allowed to write more, keep in mind to never write too much. Our rule of thumb for things like this is to never go over 200 words past the “minimum” count.

Read more at A Guide to the Booth Essays .

6. Northwestern Kellogg

Intentionality is a key aspect of what makes our graduates successful Kellogg leaders. Help us understand your journey by articulating your motivations for pursuing an MBA, the specific goals you aim to achieve, and why you believe now is the right moment. Moreover, share why you feel Kellogg is best suited to serve as a catalyst for your career aspirations and what you will contribute to our community of lifelong learners during your time here. (450 words)

Kellogg leaders are primed to tackle challenges everywhere, from the boardroom to their neighborhoods. Describe a specific professional experience where you had to make a difficult decision. Reflecting on this experience, identify the values that guided your decision-making process and how it impacted your leadership style. (450 words)

For more on Kellogg’s essays, read How to Nail Your Kellogg MBA Application Essays .

7. MIT Sloan

MIT Sloan seeks students whose personal characteristics demonstrate that they will make the most of the incredible opportunities at MIT, both academic and non-academic. We are on a quest to find those whose presence will enhance the experience of other students. We seek thoughtful leaders with exceptional intellectual abilities and the drive and determination to put their stamp on the world. We welcome people who are independent, authentic, and fearlessly creative — true doers. We want people who can redefine solutions to conventional problems, and strive to preempt unconventional dilemmas with cutting-edge ideas. We demand integrity, respect, and passion.

Taking the above into consideration, please submit a cover letter seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA program. Your letter should conform to standard business correspondence, include one or more professional examples that illustrate why you meet the desired criteria above, and be addressed to the Admissions Committee (300 words or fewer, excluding address and salutation)

Applicants are also required to upload a 1 minute (60 seconds) video as part of their application. In your video, you should introduce yourself to your future classmates, tell us about your past experiences, and touch on why MIT Sloan is the best place for you to pursue your degree.

For top-notch advice on the MIT Sloan essays, read our articles Expert Guide to the MIT Sloan Short Answer Question and MIT Sloan Video Statement: Overview, Advice, & Common Mistakes .

How to Start Writing Your MBA Essay

So you've read about the types of essays, and seen some of the prompts from top MBA programs. Now it's time to actually start diving into the essay.

The very first thing to do, before putting pen to paper, is to look inward .

Why do you want an MBA? What role will this degree play in your professional growth? How do you imagine it will shape your life? What do you want out of your career? What is the most important thing in the world to you?

Yes, these are life’s deep-end questions, but you’ll need to tackle them in these essays, so before you start all of your writing, take the time to think through them. Go for a run, swim some laps, bake a cake—however you get into the flow — and start a dialogue with yourself. Put down your work, turn your phone off, and give your mind permission to go to the places it usually avoids. That’s a good place to start. That’s where the answers are.

Pro tip: The first sentence is the hardest one to write. When you're starting out, it can be intimidating and anxiety-producing. The trick is to simply put anything down — and don't look back. Keep putting one sentence after the other. You can edit later: let whatever comes to you out onto the page. If you’re struggling with self-critique, dim your computer screen until you can’t even see the words you’re typing. Then keep going.

Additional Tips & Tricks

Once you've started your essay, it's a matter of persistence: keep writing, then keep drafting and editing until you have something you're really proud of.

To help you write a successful MBA essay, here are a few more tips and tricks:

Take Breaks

When you hit the wall — and you will hit the wall — stop and take a breather. This is your brain telling you it needs to do something else. Walk your dog. Take a lap around your room. Eat some cheese. Your body needs sleep every night to function; your mind is the same way. That next leap of inspiration will come exactly at the moment when you’re least expecting it.

Read it Out Loud

When you finally have a draft, print it and read it out loud to yourself. Your ear will catch things your eyes miss. Reading out loud is the best way to pick up on spelling errors, clunky transitions, and paragraphs that still need ironing out. It’s also a good way to envision how the admissions committee will experience your essay.

Don’t be precious with your essay. Send it to anyone willing to read it. Solicit as much feedback as you can. If you don’t like what people have to say, you don’t have to incorporate it, but you need an impartial third party to give notes on what they’re seeing, thinking, and feeling. (You’re too close to things to do it for yourself.) This is where a Leland coach comes very much in handy!

Complete Everything Early

This is more of a timing consideration, but you do not want to trip at the finish line because your internet went down the night before the deadline, or your credit card was denied when paying your application fee (it's happened before). Don't let that be you!

Here is another article to get you started, written by an expert essay coach: 7 MBA Essay Tips to Make You Stand Out in 2022 .

Example MBA Essays

Finally, here are two essays to help inspire you. The first, a personal statement essay, was submitted by an admit to Berkeley Haas' Executive MBA program; the second, a career goals / why MBA essay, was submitted by an admit to Chicago Booth's deferred MBA program.

Haas Admit:

A person’s identity is shaped by many different aspects, including family, culture, personal interests, and surrounding environments. Please share a facet of your identity or story that is essential to who you are. (300 words) My upbringing in India, filled with countless myths and legends, had a profound influence on me. The most formative tale was about a sage who prays for years to the goddess of knowledge, but in vain. In the end, the goddess didn’t appear for the sage because he was turning his prayer beads the wrong way! As a child, this story upset me: the sage worked so hard and had the right intentions. As an adult, though, I’ve come to realize that the goddess of knowledge was right: you can’t succeed unless you do things the right way.

Seven years ago, two friends and I started a company, XXXX: a digital health platform that would allow patients to store medical records online and consult doctors remotely. We had early success—we brought on 2,000 patients at XXXX, a gynecology clinic in XXXX—but ultimately we didn’t have the resources to properly scale, and had to shut the company down. Among the many lessons I learned, the most valuable was that ideas and hard work are common; businesses succeed or fail based on execution—on doing things the right way. Two years ago, I relearned this lesson in the most painful way possible: when my marriage ended. My wife and I loved each other, but we weren’t there for each other when it mattered most. Our feelings weren’t enough—we had to back them up with the right actions.

It’s disheartening when you have good intentions but still fall short. When this happens, though, you have to keep trying—because eventually you will do things the right way. I carry the story of the sage with me always, not as a harsh lesson, but as a motivating goal: one that keeps me striving towards doing things the right way.

Booth Admit:

How will the Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career goals? (250 word minimum)

I want to start a geothermal company that will help lead the energy transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy—by targeting existing oil wells as sites for geothermal plants. Oil fields are close to electric grids and have high nearby subsurface temperatures, making them ideal sites for geothermal plants. By building geothermal infrastructure nearby, my company will produce cleaner, cheaper energy, making it more profitable for operators to switch from oil to geothermal. As oil companies decommission their wells, I’ll negotiate for their land rights, so I can use their existing wells for new geothermal vents. I want my company to prove the case for economically viable, carbon-neutral energy production.

After getting an MBA, I want to start a geothermal company which will help me lead the energy transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy. I plan to target developed oil fields in Texas, where, in many places, producing wells are flowing enough hot fluid to generate clean energy. Using this geothermal heat, the carbon footprint of oil and gas extraction will decrease as fewer fossil fuels are utilized to power surrounding infrastructure. As the wells approach their economic life, I will negotiate the lease from various operators, saving them millions in plug and abandonment costs, and retrofit the wells for direct geothermal energy production via closed-loop binary fluid systems, bringing emissions to zero. To accomplish this goal, I need to shore up my knowledge of energy economics and entrepreneurial finance, develop a strong sense of leadership, and build a network of like-minded individuals that will help me lead the transition and I believe I can get those things at Chicago Booth.

My immediate career goal is to develop my first co-production site in Shelby County, Texas at the Blanton well site, which produces abnormally heated fluid from the flanks of an active salt dome. Before investing in capital expenditures, developing a strong sense of energy economics and broader markets is necessary to verify financial feasibility. The University of Chicago, through the Graduate-Student-At-Large: Business program, is already allowing me to accomplish this goal with my enrollment in “Microeconomics” with Professor Andrew McClellan. His instruction helped me understand the impact taxes and subsidies have on market equilibrium, an important aspect of renewable energy as green energy tax incentives continue to change on a yearly basis. As my company continues to grow, having a strong finance and accounting foundation is imperative to building and sustaining a healthy company. Electives such as “Accounting for Entrepreneurship: From Start-Up through IPO” will provide the skills I need to be successful by following the life-cycle of a business that originates as a start-up and covers topics such as building an initial accounting infrastructure. I understand that the execution of the business is as important as developing the idea and proof of concept, and Booth is the best place for me to develop financial fluency.

Leading the energy transition will require a strong sense of leadership. Not only will I need to lead those I get to work with over my career, but to lead the energy transition, and reverse the impact fossil fuels have had thus far, I must have the emotional intelligence to inspire others to join me in my journey. The “Interpersonal Dynamics” course at Booth will allow me to develop my communication skills and better understand the emotions and perceptions of my colleagues. These skills, synthesized with leadership development acquired in “Leadership Practicum” will prepare me to act as a relational leader, who understands the needs of others. As a relational leader, I hope to foster an environment which promotes happiness and maximizes efficiency, not only to make our efforts in changing the world more successful, but to excite other people to join our cause.

To find the greatest chance of success in leading the energy transition, I will need a network of like-minded individuals who can provide a diversity of thought. Chicago Booth provides the opportunity to develop that network through different community experiences. The Energy Club’s “Energy Forward” conference, which designates time to topics in oil and gas and renewable energy will allow me to hear from industry leaders, build meaningful relationships with peers, and contribute my sector experience to the public forum as I learn from those around me. Opportunities through the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Group such as “SeedCon” will help me connect with successful entrepreneurs and early-stage investors whose ideas and funding might change the course of my venture’s trajectory. Even in the GSALB program, I have had the opportunity to connect with other students in various sectors, including the energy industry. I hope to continue to strengthen those connections and continue building new ones with matriculation into the full time program.

Connect with an Expert for all your MBA Essay Questions

We know that a lot goes into the process of MBA essay writing. Research, planning, and execution all are major stages that take a lot of time. If you’re looking to fast-track your essay writing process while still blowing away the admission committee, try looking at some of our all-star MBA admissions consultants . We have a wide array of experts ready to give you as much help with MBA essays as you need, just check out some of our top-rated coaches below!

FAQs for Writing Your MBA Essay

What is the most important aspect of an MBA essay that admissions committees are looking for?

• The most crucial aspect of an MBA essay is authenticity. Admissions committees want to see the real you, so be honest and genuine in your responses. Highlight your unique experiences, values, and aspirations to stand out.

How long should my MBA essay be?

• The length of your MBA essay will depend on the specific prompts and guidelines provided by each school. Generally, essays range from 500 to 1,000 words. Always adhere to the word limit specified in the prompt. In the event that there’s no limit, we recommend floating within 200-300 words of whatever posted word count there is.

Can I use the same essay for multiple MBA applications?

• You can use similar content, but it’s essential to edit each essay to be about the specific school and prompt. Schools are looking for personalized responses that demonstrate your understanding of their program and how it aligns with your goals.

How do I figure out what to write about?

• Select experiences that showcase your leadership, problem-solving skills, and personal growth. Focus on stories that highlight your unique qualities and align with the values and culture of the MBA program you're applying to.

What should I avoid doing in my essay?

• Avoid clichés, generic statements, and exaggerations. Be specific and detailed in your responses. Also, steer clear of overly technical jargon that might be hard for the admissions committee to understand unless it’s directly relevant to your story.

Who can I ask for feedback on my essay?

• Seeking feedback from trusted friends, family, or mentors can be very helpful. In addition, consider working with one of our admissions coaches who can provide professional insights and help refine your essay to make it more compelling.

What should I do if I don’t have a traditional business background?

• If you don’t have a traditional business background, focus on transferable skills and experiences that highlight your leadership, analytical abilities, and teamwork. Demonstrate how your unique perspective will contribute to the MBA program and your future career.

How do I handle multiple essay prompts for the same school?

• Approach each prompt separately and ensure that each essay provides new insights about you. Avoid repeating the same information across essays. Instead, use each essay to highlight different aspects of your experiences, skills, and aspirations.

Here are several other articles that you may find helpful as you put together your MBA application:

• The Most Frequently Asked Questions on MBA Applications
• How to Answer the "Why an MBA?" Essay Question
• My Top Piece of Advice for MBA Applicants
• How I Nailed My MBA Interview and Gained Admission to Top 10 Business Schools
• 4 Expert Tips on Paying for Business School

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What is an MBA Application Essay?

What admission committee look for in an mba essay.

If you want to learn more, here is the complete guide on how admission committees process MBA applications.

20 Great MBA Applications Essays Samples

Now you have known that what makes a great MBA admission essay, the next step is to write one for yourself. Before writing, check out this list of expert-vetted MBA application essays that secured admissions to top-rated business schools in the world. Admission consultants have shared these samples and they can be helpful if you read and analyze them carefully. If you’re completely unsure about how to get started, there are also custom essay writing services that can help you structure your essay with the help of professional editors.

Sample 1: Leadership-focused MBA application essay

Sample 2: self-focused mba application essay .

If you are asked to write about your strengths, weaknesses, aims, and goals in your application essay, this sample will help you. The applicant who wrote this got accepted to the INSEAD business school. It doesn’t merely describe her strengths and weaknesses, but it presents a complete picture of herself as a person. It highlighted the events and incidents that shaped her personality.

Sample 3: Life-hardships-focused MBA application essay

If you want to explain your life’s hardships and the events that turned you into an ambitious person, this sample is for you. In this application essay, the candidate has defined three phases of his life and how he survived through each adversity. He beautifully explained why the MBA program is important to his future.

Sample 4: Continuous growth and learning-focused MBA application essay

Sample 5: best mba application essay for low scorers.

Have a low GPA? What would you write about academics in an MBA essay to convince the admission committee? Do not overthink! MBA essay is not all about high achievements and sterling background. It is also an opportunity to atone for your past mistakes. This MBA essay was written by a student who obtained very low academic grades, yet got admitted to her desired business school. Her turning point? A powerful application essay.

Sample 6: A guitarist’s application essay for the MBA program

Sample 7: an engineer’s essay for mba application, sample 8: harvard business school mba essay, sample 9: wharton business school mba essay, sample 10: columbia business school mba essay, sample 11: stanford graduate school of business mba essay, sample 12: university of california business school mba essay.

This sample was taken from a pool of successful MBA application essays submitted to the University of California business school. Read it carefully and analyze its structure, words, and substance before you compose your own fantastic MBA essay.

Sample 13: University of OXFORD business school MBA essay

Sample 14: london business school mba essay, sample 15: a goal-oriented mba application essay.

Sometimes the MBA admission portal may demand an essay specifically focused on your future goals. In such a case, you must be very sure about yourself and must convey your goals and future directions based on your experiences and planning. Check out this sample to get an idea of how a successful candidate writes about personal goals.

Sample 16: Executive MBA essay

Sample 17: mba video essay, sample 18: short-answer-based mba application essay.

Some business schools require candidates to respond to short questions to get insights into their personalities and suitability for the MBA program. More or less, most of the questions revolve around the same theme. The key to success is to grasp the intention of the admission committee behind the questions and to stick to your identity . These successful answers submitted to the Tepper School of Business will help you in formulating your answers.

Sample 19: MIT Sloan School of Management

Sample 20:  michigan ross school of business mba program, what should be included in the mba application essay, what makes a great mba application essay.

Do you want more tips? Here is a complete guide to writing a compelling MBA application essay.

Rafal Reyzer

Hey there, welcome to my blog! I'm a full-time entrepreneur building two companies, a digital marketer, and a content creator with 10+ years of experience. I started RafalReyzer.com to provide you with great tools and strategies you can use to become a proficient digital marketer and achieve freedom through online creativity. My site is a one-stop shop for digital marketers, and content enthusiasts who want to be independent, earn more money, and create beautiful things. Explore my journey here , and don't miss out on my AI Marketing Mastery online course.

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Mba personal statement examples.

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MBA Personal Statement Sample Essays & Tips

Your academic record, GMAT scores, and GPA are important factors in the MBA application process. But, more than that, business schools ultimately care about who you are and whether you would be a good fit for their program. This is where your application essays come in. The goal here is to complete the picture that your scores and stats began sketching. Take your time when writing these essays. They will form the image the admissions committee will see before they meet you at your interview. Write, edit, and edit again. Be sure there are no spelling or grammatical errors in your essay. You want your portrait to be clean and clear. Once you are satisfied with your essay, ask a trusted friend, mentor, or admissions pro to read it. A fresh pair of eyes can often see things that you can’t.

7 tips for creating the best MBA essays

Here are some important things to remember when writing your MBA essays.

• Show who you are in a background essay Use this opportunity to reveal your values and personality, the obstacles you’ve overcome, and the seminal experiences that have shaped you into the person you are today. No two people have the same history. Use stories and examples to make your background bright and stand out to demonstrate what makes you special. Discuss how your history has brought you to this point. What is there in your background that compels you to pursue an MBA at this time?
• Show your direction in the goals essay Use this opportunity to show that you have clear direction and purpose based on experience and planning. Business school is not another opportunity to “find yourself.” Even if you have had one career path and will use your MBA to launch another career, this essay must describe the reasons behind your career-change, your new goals, and how the program will help you achieve them.
• Use your optional essay to explain negatives in your stats If your GPA was lower than you would have liked early in your undergraduate education, use your essay to show how you learned from this experience. Everyone makes mistakes. How you deal with your mistakes shows a lot to the admissions committee – determination, discipline, success, resilience, and breadth of experience are qualities that will serve you well in your MBA studies and later in life. Be sure that you explain your negatives and don’t try to justify them. Show that you understand the mistake you made, learned from it and changed as a result of processing the experience. That response shows maturity. Justifying – instead of learning or changing – is a sign of immaturity. MBA programs want mature adults. Almost all of them have made mistakes.
• Say what you mean, and mean what you say Admissions committees read thousands of essays during each admissions round. A concise, well thought-out essay will have them reading yours to the end.  You need examples and stories to support your statements and make your essay interesting and readable. Each of these needs to be to the point. These professionals are trained to spot an essay that is full of fluff and without substance.Avoid rambling and the use of keywords that you think the reader wants to see. A non-substantive essay will lead the reader to conclude that you, too, are without substance.
• Find your passion This relates to tip #4 above. You want to grab the reader right away and create an essay that will keep their attention to the very end – and leave them wanting to meet you and get to know you even better. In other words, offer you a coveted interview! Find a theme, and weave it throughout your essay. If you can identify a passion that you had from an early age and follow it through the different stages of your life, you will have an interesting, readable essay. Connect your passion to your childhood and you professional and extracurricular experiences and accomplishments. Demonstrate how your passion will influence your future career and serve the community at the school you want to attend.
• Focus on your professional experience and achievements Not everyone has a passion that they have carried with them throughout their life. However, since you are planning on attending an MBA program, you must have had professional and personal achievements. Highlight your professional skills and successes, as well as personal accomplishments. Show how these experiences and achievements have brought you to this point, and how they have influenced your long-term plans and reasons for pursuing an MBA.
• Highlight your experience in your EMBA essay An applicant to an Executive MBA program is an executive or manager currently in the workforce, usually with at least eight years of business experience. As an EMBA student you will be expected to excel in your coursework while continuing to hold down your full-time job. You must demonstrate significant leadership, impact, potential, and the legitimate need for the degree to be accepted. Highlight your current responsibilities and recent achievements, as well as your skill sets. Discuss your goals and how an EMBA will help you reach them. Include how you will positively impact the community at the program you are applying to.

Read MBA Personal Statement Examples

Now that you have the tools to write your compelling essay, check out our sample MBA application essays to see what you will be able to accomplish.

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20 Must-Read MBA Essay Tips

Business school admissions committees care about more than (just) your  GMAT scores and GPA —they want to know who you are and why you belong in their program . Your MBA essays are your best chance to sell the person behind the résumé. They should tie all the pieces of your business school application together and create a comprehensive picture of who you are, what you've done, and what you bring to the table.  Here's a roundup of our best MBA essay tips to keep in mind as you begin to write.

How to Write an Unforgettable B-School Essay

1. communicate that you are a proactive, can-do sort of person..

Business schools want leaders, not applicants content with following the herd.

2. Put yourself on ego-alert.

Stress what makes you unique, not what makes you number one.

3. Communicate specific reasons why you're great fit for each school.

Simply stating "I am the ideal candidate for your program" won't convince the admission committee to push you into the admit pile.

Read More: Find Your Business School

4. Bring passion to your writing.

Admissions officers want to know what excites you. And if you'll bring a similar enthusiasm to the classroom.

5. Break the mold.

Challenge perceptions with unexpected essays that say, "There's more to me than you think."

6. If you've taken an unorthodox path to business school, play it up.

Admissions officers appreciate risk-takers.

7. Talk about your gender, ethnicity, minority status or foreign background....

But only if it has affected your outlook or experiences.

8. Fill your essays with plenty of real-life examples.

Specific anecdotes and vivid details make a much greater impact than general claims and broad summaries.

9. Demonstrate a sense of humor or vulnerability.

You're a real person, and it's okay to show it!

BONUS: Don't Make These MBA Essay Mistakes

1. write about your high school glory days. .

Admissions committees don't care if you were editor of the yearbook or captain of the varsity team. They expect their candidates to have moved onto more current, professional achievements.

2. Submit essays that don't answer the questions.

An off-topic essay, or one that merely restates your résumé, will frustrate and bore the admissions committee. More importantly, it won't lead to any new insight about you.

Attend UNC's top-ranked online MBA program without putting your career on hold. See how.

3. Fill essays with industry jargon.

Construct your essays with only enough detail about your job to frame your story and make your point.

4. Reveal half-baked reasons for wanting the MBA.

Admissions officers favor applicants who have well-defined goals. However unsure you are about your future, it's critical that you demonstrate that you have a plan.

5. Exceed the recommended word limits.

This suggests you don't know how to follow directions, operate within constraints or organize your thoughts.

6. Submit an application full of typos and grammatical errors.

A sloppy application suggests a sloppy attitude.

7. Send one school an essay intended for another—or forget to change the school name when using the same essay for several applications.

Admissions committees are (understandably) insulted when they see another school's name or forms.

8. Make excuses.

If your undergraduate experience was one long party, be honest. Discuss how you've matured, both personally and professionally.

9. Be impersonal in the personal statement.

Many applicants avoid the personal like the plague. Instead of talking about how putting themselves through school lowered their GPA, they talk about the rising cost of tuition in America. Admissions officers want to know about YOU.

Read More: How to Ace Your MBA Interview

10. Make too many generalizations.

An essay full of generalizations is a giveaway that you don't have anything to say.

11. Write in a vacuum.

Make sure that each of your essays reinforce and build on the others to present a consistent and compelling representation of who you are, what you've done, and what you bring to the table.

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How to Write a Killer MBA Essay

Introduction.

Writing a great MBA essay is a crucial component of applying to business school . According to Lisa Koengeter , the Director of Admissions at Booth School of Business , your essay provides them with “a better understanding of you, your self-assessment and your aspirations.” 

This article will outline what MBA admissions committees look for in your essays, show you how to write a killer MBA essay, and tell you what mistakes to avoid.

Types of MBA Essays

There are a few different types of MBA essay questions you will answer as part of your MBA application. The type of essay can be determined through the keywords used in the essay question. Each type of essay will have its own length requirements, depending on the business school.

This type of essay asks you to detail your personal and professional goals and how attending business school will help you achieve them. An essay question that asks about your aspirations or what you hope to gain from an MBA program is classified as a goal essay.

For example, Wharton is one of many schools that ask for a goal essay from applicants using the question: “What do you hope to gain professionally from the Wharton MBA?” Columbia , NYU Stern , Darden , Dartmouth Tuck , and McCombs are some of the many other schools that ask about your goals.

Self-Reflection

A self-reflection essay is an opportunity for you to showcase the values and characteristics that make up your personal identity. It also requires you to discuss how you handled a failure at some point in your life or how you would approach an ethical dilemma.

Yale School of Management is one business school that uses self-reflection questions in its MBA essays . They want to know what the biggest commitment you have ever made is, including why you chose it and how you went about making it. 

Answering this question will require you to do some deep reflection in order to answer it thoroughly. 

Contribution

The objective of this type of essay is to show an admissions committee how you will add value and contribute to their MBA program. 

Booth School of Business poses this question: “An MBA is as much about personal growth as it is about professional development. In addition to sharing your experience and goals in terms of career, we’d like to learn more about you outside of the office. Use this opportunity to tell us something about who you are.” 

Booth clearly wants you to elaborate on who you are, what you value, and how you live those values in your everyday life.

Some business schools want to know about the impact you will have on their program and pose a question that asks you to describe a time when you demonstrated leadership. This will involve discussing why you took on the leadership role in your chosen situation and your leadership impact.

Darden School of Business poses essay questions designed to gauge your leadership capabilities and the impact you’ll have on the program. As Dean of Admissions Dawna Clarke states, they are interested in “cultivating high impact leaders.” 

It’s no surprise that one of their essay questions from a recent application cycle was, “Darden strives to identify and cultivate responsible leaders who follow their purpose. Please provide an example of a situation in which you have made a meaningful impact.”

Instead of writing a traditional essay, some business schools ask you to submit a video essay. The types of questions asked for a video essay can range from a short introduction to longer, multi-component questions.

Kellogg is one business school that uses video essays . They will ask you three questions. First up is an introduction, and the second is about your career goals and how Kellogg will help get you there. 

The third question varies annually and is generally more randomized, so you and all the other applicants won’t necessarily respond to the same question. 

How to Write a Great Business School Essay

Successfully writing business school essays is tricky. Many factors go into constructing a successful one. However, the top tips we’ve provided below outline how to write an MBA application essay that stands out from the crowd. 

Pay Attention to Your Essay Structure

Blair Mannix , the Admissions Director at Wharton, noticed successful essays all had the same structure: the setup, the pivot point, and the future. 

The setup is the opening of your essay, where you tell the admissions committee about who you are, what you do, and what you have learned so far. 

The pivot point is where you shift from discussing what you already know and do to talking about what you would like to learn and how that will help you succeed. Mannix also describes this as a lightbulb moment, where something clicks, and you realize that if you had more education in one or two areas, you would be better at your job. 

The final section of your essay is your opportunity to describe how gaining knowledge and skills in the area(s) you identified in the pivot point will help your career and why that specific MBA program will make this possible.

For essays that ask you to describe how you will contribute to the institution’s MBA community, Mannix states successful essays are personal, set up as a story, and show how your experiences resonate with the community.

Consider the Tone You Use While Writing Your Essay

It’s important to be genuine in your essay. Admissions committees want to know about you as a person and know if you’re being insincere or simply writing what you think they want to hear. 

As Laurel Grodman from Yale School of Management states, your essay is an “opportunity to speak in your own voice about something meaningful and distinctive in your life.” Don’t waste this opportunity by writing about something you think will make you look better. 

Write something that actually matters to you.

Authenticity is another key element to incorporate in your essay. Clarke recommends integrating aspects of your personality into your essay. For example, she suggests showcasing your creativity, humor, or any other attributes you possess. This allows admission committees to get to know you even better.

The Best MBA Essays Are School-Specific 

At first, this seems like an obvious one; of course, writing a business school essay means writing about the business school itself. However, this is a great opportunity to show off your research and explain why you specifically want to attend this institution. 

Have you looked into the school’s curriculum? Have you found which extracurricular opportunities you want to pursue if you are admitted? Are there any research centers that you want to become involved in? 

Show how this school is the ideal stepping stone to help you achieve your future ambitions. The University of Cambridge Judge Business School provides two MBA application essay examples that highlight the importance of this: 

Example 1 - “The programme will equip me with an entrepreneurial toolkit, allowing me to efficiently evaluate and capitalise on future business opportunities, further bolstering my credibility with future stakeholders.”

Example 2 - “Upon completion of the MBA programme at Cambridge Judge Business School I want to be a decisive and successful business professional.”

The first example is far more compelling; it explains what the student will gain from the program and how they will use it to achieve future success. 

Pick an Event or Situation That Matters to You

When you select your topic to write about in your MBA essay, you need to make sure it is something that had a significant impact on your life and resonates with you personally. This will help ensure your authenticity shows through.

Kellogg Director of Admissions Jennifer Hayes , says that “the best essays [she has] read have heart, are not over-edited, and let the applicant’s personality emerge.” This is best done when you do not force yourself to write something you think admissions directors want to read, but rather tell an organic story that carries significant personal meaning.

The Importance of Storytelling in MBA Essays

Business school admissions officers want to see how you approach traits like leadership and commitment in your MBA application essay. Yet, if you describe an experience and don’t reflect upon it, you will not highlight your mindset, dedication, and motivation. 

The best writers outline the traits that business schools want to see by telling personal stories and anecdotes. But how can you do that? It’s simple — show how your experiences impacted you. Don’t just tell us about it. 

Indeed, to use the idea of commitment as an example, Yale’s admissions committee “cares less about the commitment you choose and more about the behaviors surrounding the commitment.” They want to “come away learning something new about you as a person that helps us understand your values and motivations.”

Illustrating how your experiences affect your values and motivations is difficult; this process requires a lot of introspection and self-reflection. The trick is to use plenty of real-life examples and explain how they embody your values. 

One way to successfully do this is to use the STAR technique . The STAR technique is split into four distinct steps: 

• Situation - Describe the situation and when it took place.
• Task - Explain the task and what was the goal.
• Action - Provide details about the action you took to attain this.
• Result - Conclude with the result of your action.

Using the four steps outlined above, you can create concise, compelling answers to your essay prompts. Let’s use one of the Berkeley Haas essay prompts as an example for an MBA essay outline:

What makes you feel alive when you are doing it, and why? (300 words maximum) . 

We can split this prompt into two sections: 

• Describe an activity, hobby, or anything that makes you “feel alive” when you do it. 
• Explain why you find so much enjoyment in this one thing. 

Storytelling is key here, and the STAR technique can help you break down exactly what you want to say. Remember, it is important to reflect upon your experiences and, in this case, show why you enjoy something. 

If you manage to do this in your essays and show how you achieved results along the way, you will submit a strong MBA application essay. 

Plagiarizing Your MBA Essay 

Plagiarism is a big deal. 

Even if a student doesn’t intend to plagiarize someone’s work, colleges can and will detect it. If colleges detect plagiarism, they will likely reject the application outright; UCLA’s Anderson School of Management rejected 52 MBA hopefuls for application plagiarism. 

Applicants can easily and accidentally plagiarize someone else’s work by following MBA essay examples too closely. Essay examples are useful, as they can inspire you and give you an idea of how you can reflect upon your experiences. However, someone has written that example about their own experience in their own words, and you can’t copy it. 

If you are worried about plagiarism, the simple fix is to be original. After all, admissions committees want to hear about your experiences, motivations, and opinions. 

Authenticity is also an extremely important part of writing well; you will come across as more genuine writing about your genuine thoughts and experiences. If you want to check your work, you can use reliable and low-cost plagiarism checker tools like PrePostSEO and Copyscape .  

MBA Essay Examples

US News wrote an article on what makes for a successful MBA essay. They provided the following MBA entrance essay sample essays written by applicants recently admitted into highly reputable business schools.

This sample was written for Fox School of Business at Temple University .

This essay was well-received by the admissions committee because it was written clearly and concisely, free of grammatical errors, and told a story. The candidate showed their personality and explained why a Fox MBA would help them achieve their career goals. 

This particular candidate was honest in their essay about their weaknesses and professional growth, which is generally well-received by admissions committees. The candidate detailed the initiative they had taken in learning about the MBA program at Fox and why they decided to apply.

This next successful essay sample was written for the Yale School of Management.

Similar to the previous example, this essay told a compelling story through a clear narrative. This particular essay began with an anecdote that demonstrated the candidate’s work ethic, initiative, leadership, and resourcefulness.

This show-don’t-tell essay displayed what was important to the applicant and offered the admission committee insight into their personality and values. It also provided as much detail as was possible, given the 500-word limit.

Don’t Rely Too Much on MBA Essay Examples 

While MBA essay examples are valuable tools to see what got applicants into business school, they all have one problem: They are not yours. Other peoples’ essay examples don’t focus on your achievements, values, motivations, or experiences. 

In their essays, originality and authenticity are two critical themes that business schools look for because your life is unique. Remember, MBA essay writing is all about getting to know you , and your essays should truly reflect who you are as a person. 

MBA essay examples are useful. They can provide you inspiration, an idea of what can work, and outline how to discuss your own experiences. However, you need to draw a line in the sand and write your own essay at some point. 

People are admitted to particular schools for a wide variety of reasons. While their essays are one of those reasons, what works for one person might not work for you. Try not to overthink it — write about your experiences, background, and, most importantly, opinion. 

Mistakes to Avoid While Writing Your MBA Essay

In addition to following the steps for writing a great MBA essay outlined above, there are also some common mistakes you’ll want to avoid while writing your essay. These mistakes are listed below, along with solutions to fix them.

Submitting an Overly Complex Essay

Admissions committees don’t want to know how many buzzwords and how much industry-related jargon you know. They’re looking to find out about you as a person, not solely as a business person. 

Committees may become frustrated if they have to decipher what you’ve written in your overly complicated essay, especially since your application isn’t the only one that needs reviewing.

The fix : Use your own words and write as if you were talking professionally to a coworker. That way, your essay will sound more straightforward and personal and allow you to make a better connection with your reader.

Not Reading the Essay Question Closely or Misunderstanding the Question

You need to know how to answer MBA essay questions. Misreading or misunderstanding the question will lead you to write an essay that completely misses what the admissions committee wants to learn about you. 

This can lead to your application being discarded.

The fix : Find the keyword(s) in the question first. This will provide you with what the admission committee hopes to learn about you in the essay. 

In the Types of MBA Essays section above, identifying terms such as “contribute,” “gain,” and “lead” shows what the admissions committee is looking for you to answer. It is also a good idea to seek clarification if you find the question confusing. 

Restating Your Resume or Letters of Recommendation

Admission committees don’t want your essay to be a restatement of what’s already outlined in your business school resume and letters of recommendation . Your MBA essay should be unique and should tell a story that can’t be found elsewhere in your application.

The fix : Take some time to think about what you want to write about that answers the essay question and isn’t detailed anywhere else in your application. But suppose the moment or experience you want to write about is already included. 

In that case, you could instead focus on a particular project and describe some of the challenges you encountered, how you overcame them, the project’s outcome, and what you learned from the experience. 

Starting Your MBA Essay Close to the Deadline 

Starting too close to the deadline means you won’t have enough time to put together a clear, concise, and expertly written narrative. If you’re rushed, you’re more likely to make simple mistakes.

The fix : Start planning your essay(s) as soon as the essay questions are made available. Take time to create an outline for each essay so you have a solid plan for when you start to write your draft. 

By starting well ahead of the application deadline, you’ll give yourself plenty of time to write and revise without being crunched for time and stressed.

Giving Half-Baked Reasons for Attending Business School  

Business school admissions committees use your essays to gauge your interest in their program and institution. So, if you are vague about your career plans and why you should get an MBA at a specific school, take the time to outline them. 

Admissions officers want to see applicants who demonstrate clear and well-defined goals. So, do your college research and explain why you want to attend their program. 

1. How Long Should My MBA Application Essay Be?

The length of your MBA essay will depend on the specific school; some schools allow up to 500 words, while others want a very short and to-the-point response of 150 words. 

The length set out by the MBA program you’re applying to is an important consideration, and it is not a good idea to go over the word limit. Admissions committees want to see that you can follow instructions and are capable of writing succinctly. It will not reflect well on you to go over the allowed word count.

2. Is the MBA Essay Less Important Than My GPA and GMAT Score?

No, your MBA essay is at least equally as important as your GPA and GMAT score . While your GPA and GMAT scores are good indicators of your academic abilities, the MBA essay is the admission committee’s first opportunity to get to know you personally. 

This is also the first impression you will make on the committee, so it’s imperative that you write a strong and compelling essay. Most business schools use a holistic approach to assessing applications, and your response to the essay question can determine whether you are a good fit for their program.

3. Is There an MBA Essay Guide for Reapplicants?

Many schools will require or suggest that reapplicants submit an additional essay. 

This will vary by school, and it is important to check with each school’s website for the exact details of what’s expected of reapplicants. If it’s optional, it is a good idea to submit one because it allows you to explain how you’ve grown personally and professionally since your previous application. 

4. Can I Use the Same Business School Essay if I’m Reapplying?

It’s unlikely you’ll be successful using the same essay since your response could have been the reason you were rejected the first time around. 

It’s best to consult with an MBA admissions expert or mentor to find out where you went wrong and what you can do to make your reapplication essay strong and stand out in the best way possible.

5. How Do I Edit My MBA Essay Draft to Make It Better?

First of all, make sure there are no errors with your spelling, grammar, and syntax. Business schools want students with superb communication skills, and having basic errors in your MBA essay does not demonstrate that you have strong communication skills. 

Then, you should go through the common mistakes outlined above and make sure those are not present in your essay; if they are, fix them. Seeking a second opinion from a friend, mentor, colleague, or MBA essay editing expert will also help locate errors or improvement areas.

6. How Can I Ensure My Business School Essay Stands Out?

Whether you are faced with the Wharton MBA essays , Harvard Business School essay , or Booth MBA essays , to name a few, there are a few things you can do to make your essay stand out. 

The event or experience you choose to write about should be something you are able to write about in a compelling narrative. It should also be something you can write about with passion, which will allow the admission committee to see your genuine and authentic voice. 

Your strengths should be woven in with the story you’re telling. These things will make your essay stand out to the admission committee and help them remember you.

Unlock Your Future with the Perfect Business School Essay

Knowing how to write a great MBA essay can be a challenging component of the business school application process. 

But, if you know where to start, make an outline for each essay, and get expert assistance, the process becomes significantly more manageable. Following these steps will help you write a killer MBA essay.

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MBA Essay Examples, Tips, and Analysis

Y our MBA application essays are your best opportunity to share meaningful life experiences that hide in the “white spaces” of the resume and to tell admissions officers not only “what” you have achieved but also “why” those achievements are meaningful to you.

Your MBA application essays are going to be crucial if you are competing for a spot at one of the world’s top business schools.

These resources will show you how to excel in the rigorous MBA essay writing challenges ahead of you, provide you with the guidance to create MBA essays that will impress admissions officers, and share MBA essay examples that illustrate our advice in action.

Second, we survey the five most frequently asked MBA essay questions. We preview video essay questions and link to detailed guidance on how to tackle this emerging class of application essays.

Third, we will teach you how to choose topics and stories for your essays and share a story-outlining technique to help you tell those stories.

Common MBA Essay Forms: Persuasive versus Narrative Essays

There are two primary forms that MBA application essays take: persuasive essays and narrative essays. In a persuasive essay, you must persuade your reader that your argument is a sound one. An op-ed column in a newspaper is one example of a persuasive essay.

The classic “What Will You Contribute to the Class?” question is an excellent example of a persuasive essay question that MBA programs like to ask. The essay you write must persuade the admissions committee that you will enrich next year’s class. You will generally present evidence from past experiences and achievements to support your claims about what you can offer the MBA community.

The other style of essay you’ll encounter in your MBA applications is the narrative essay. Certain MBA essay questions don’t sound like questions at all; they are, in fact, an invitation for you to tell a story. We refer to these as narrative essays – but others call them behavioral essays or expository essays.

The Leadership Story Essay is a perfect example of a narrative essay. It’s one thing to claim to be a leader – but it’s quite another to show the admissions committee that you’re a leader by telling a captivating leadership story in which you played the starring role.

While MBA essays often fall into these two categories, the actual prompts will differ from school to school. Let’s discuss the five most frequently asked MBA essay questions. ↑ To the Top

The Five Most Frequently Asked MBA Essay Questions

Every business school application requires you to answer one or more MBA essay questions. Although the essay prompts differ from application to application, we identified five types of MBA application essay questions that appear again and again.

Career Goals Essays

A career goals essay question regularly appears in one form or another on just about every MBA application. Even if you aren’t required to write this type of essay, you will almost certainly be asked about your post-MBA career goals during an admissions interview.

Admissions committees ask about your career plans because they want to understand what you aspire to do after your MBA and how the MBA degree fits into your career plan. As it turns out, a strong career goals essay is one of the best tools in your application to stand out from MBA candidates who don’t have a compelling career vision or haven’t effectively articulated their professional goals in their MBA application essays.

Leadership Essays

Leadership essays are your absolute best opportunity to convince MBA admissions committees of your leadership abilities. Remember that MBA admissions officers will be interested in your leadership achievements both inside and outside of work.

You probably won’t be asked directly, “Are you a leader?” Instead, you’ll be asked to tell stories about your leadership achievements. When given the opportunity, you need to supply evidence that you can rally other people and motivate them to work together to achieve an important shared vision or goal. Therein lies the objective of a great leadership essay.

Why MBA? and Why Our School? Essays

The “Why MBA? Why Our School?” essay is your chance to convince admissions officers that their school is the perfect fit for what you need from an MBA program. The best answers to these types of questions are both personal and specific. You need to effectively convey what you are looking for in an MBA program and tell the admissions committee why their school will best satisfy your learning goals and help you achieve your career development objectives.

“What Will You Contribute?” Essays

The “What Will You Contribute?” essay presents you with an opportunity to tell the MBA Admissions Committee why you would be a valuable addition to their incoming class. The schools are looking for candidates who can put in just as much as they take out. One critical thing to understand when preparing to answer these questions is that concrete and tailored answers about what you can contribute to each MBA program are crucial.

Professional Experience Essays

The professional experience essay is an executive summary of your career thus far. A resume is a record of jobs and achievements — a Professional Experience Essay provides the connections and interrelationships between those jobs and brings your resume to life. An effective Professional Experience essay will give the admissions committee a sense of the career decisions you’ve made, your major achievements in each step of your career, and the skills and knowledge you’ve acquired along the way.

MBA Application Video Essays

MBA admissions committees are increasingly relying on technology to help them evaluate and manage their growing applicant pools. MBA application video essays are becoming a popular tool, as MBA programs can use them to learn far more about candidates than the traditional application permits. In recent years, leading MBA programs including Kellogg Northwestern , MIT Sloan , and Chicago Booth have incorporated a video component into their evaluation process. Video essays are excellent screening tools that allow admissions officers to assess candidates’ professional presence and communication skills.

Free MBA Essay Writing Course

Please enter your email below to gain 30 days of free access to our MBA Essay Writing course. Learn about the five most frequently asked MBA application essay questions and access our brainstorming tools and sample essays.

No matter which type of MBA essay question you are tackling, your primary objective is to provide evidence that proves you possess the qualities that admissions committees value most. By doing so, you will move one step closer to an acceptance letter from a top business school.

Now that you have a better picture of the classic MBA essay questions you’re likely to face, let’s cover selecting the strongest stories to present in your MBA application essays.

How to Choose the Best Stories for your MBA Essays

Story selection is something all MBA applicants wrestle with. When you first read the MBA application essay questions, it may be hard to figure out which topics to cover or which of your stories to tell. We’ll explain how to go step-by-step to choose your best stories. Here are the steps:

Research the School’s Fit Qualities

Categorize the question.

• Brainstorm Topic/Stories

Choose a Topic or Story

To choose your best stories, you need to know what qualities MBA programs truly value when evaluating applicants. You want to tell stories that prove to the admissions officers that you possess the attributes they seek in MBA candidates. We refer to these as the school’s Fit Qualities . You might think of them as the highest-common denominators among the candidates who are accepted.

Early in your MBA essay writing process is the time to make some strategic choices about which qualities and strengths you will put front and center in your MBA essays. If you attempt to feature all of your strengths, you run the risk that admissions officers will finish your essays with no clear idea of any of them. Instead, select three or four of the qualities that your research tells you the school you are applying to prizes most of all.

Second, study the essay question to determine if it falls into one of the five essay categories discussed earlier in this article.

By categorizing each question, you’ll have a better idea of what the admissions committee will be looking for in your response. You’ll know the criteria for scoring top marks in that essay style, which will guide your application essay design decisions.

Brainstorm Topics/Stories

Third, you are ready to start brainstorming potential topics and stories. Remember that your central objective is to find opportunities to feature the key elements of your application strategy .

Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help you to choose your best topic or story:

Are you the star of the story or supporting cast?

With very few exceptions, you need to write stories where you play the starring role. Don’t make the mistake some applicants make of writing a thrilling story about their parents’ hardships and triumphs, leaving little room for their own.

Did the experience occur recently?

It is usually best to choose stories that happened within the last three years. If an older story is incredibly compelling, then keep it on your list. However, bear in mind that admissions officers are rarely interested in reading about your high school glory days.

Does the essay feature several Fit Qualities?

Review your topic ideas objectively and ask yourself if they exemplify the school’s Fit Qualities. Because you’ll be limited to telling only a few stories, you’ll want to choose the ones that feature a few different Fit Qualities if at all possible.

Once you have selected your best stories, it is time to create an outline to organize your thoughts before jumping into the writing process. ↑ To the Top

How to Outline Your MBA Essay Stories

The persuasive essay writing style is prevalent in university and work settings, so it may have been some time since you were asked to write a story. For that reason, we want to share a powerful outlining technique called the STAR framework that will help with the “story-telling” essays you may be asked to write in your MBA application.

The STAR framework is designed to help you tell a concise story with a beginning, middle, and end.

The “S” in STAR stands for Situation .

The Situation is the time, place, and context of the story; you can think of it as the setting, but it might also include the broader challenge or conflict you or your organization faced. In essence, this is the set-up of the story.

“T” in the STAR acronym stands for Task . The Task is your role and goal in the story. What were you expected to accomplish by the end of the story? An effective story has built-in conflicts and complications.

The Action of the story is what admissions officers are really interested in because this is their chance to see your strengths and qualities in action. While it won’t be necessary to write down every step you took at the outlining stage, you’ll want to jot down the highlights.

Below is an MBA essay example told using the STAR framework. It outlines a story written by a candidate who served as a donation chair for a fundraising event for a non-profit organization.

Task: Assigning specific jobs to committee members, checking on their progress, helping teammates meet agreed-upon deadlines for obtaining the donations, and offering other assistance

Action: Motivated my team by having them meet Literacy Now children. Assigned tasks and checked in regularly. Successfully mediated team disputes. Visited 20 restaurants and called 12 wineries. Ensured deadlines were met.

Sample MBA Essays: MBA Applicant Beware!

MBA Prep School’s guide is replete with essay writing tips, and we do provide excerpts from sample essays to illustrate the most common MBA essay categories. However, while you will find page-after-page of helpful advice and building blocks for constructing your own original MBA essays and stories, we don’t publish an extensive catalog of MBA essays written by MBA Prep School’s past clients.

The problem with collections of sample MBA application essays is that they can mislead you into thinking that if you can just replicate one of those sample essays, you’ve got your golden ticket into business school. Unfortunately, the opposite can be true. The reason those essays “succeeded” is because they were an integral part of a complete story about an impressive human being whom the admission committee concluded belonged at their business school.

And the scary truth is that reading MBA essay examples might even harm your chance of admission for several reasons:

1. They might stunt your creativity and ability to express yourself. If you are trying to mimic someone else’s essays – the content, the style, or the approach – your story and voice are likely to get lost in the process. Admissions committees want to be impressed – but they want to be impressed by you. Feature the traits and tell the stories that depict “you” at your best.

2. Sample MBA essays can undermine your confidence in your MBA candidacy. The essays that get published as samples are often truly eye-catching, dramatic, and sensational – stories of exceptional accomplishment, rare feats, or extreme obstacles. It may seem, in comparison, that none of your stories stack up. The good news is that the whole package is what matters, not a single defining moment in a candidate’s life.

The last thing you need is to doubt your abilities or have a crisis of confidence when you’re trying to put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard). Trust in your own experiences and tell stories about what you – and only you – will bring to the MBA program.

3. Admissions officers can tell when you’ve “sampled” from sample MBA essays. The pesky thing about MBA admissions committees is that they’re filled with brilliant people who know how this game is played and what resources are available. They can spot themes and clichéd stories inspired by sample essay collections. More importantly, they can sense when you’re telling someone else’s story or when the story doesn’t ring true to your MBA application’s other elements. Don’t give an admissions officer reason to doubt your authenticity by risking even the appearance that you “sampled” from MBA sample essays that are swirling around on the Internet.

At MBA Prep School, we work with clients we believe in and help them tell their stories, not someone else’s. Remember that the MBA application process is not a storytelling contest; even if it were, the winners would be chosen based on the authenticity, originality, and integrity of the stories they tell!

Final Thoughts

Critics of MBA essays often wonder if they still have a place in the application process when admissions committees can rely on quantitative data points to choose among applicants. However, your transcripts, test scores, and resume are historical documents that only tell a fraction of the story. Your MBA essays represent a powerful opportunity to communicate your goals, strengths, reasons for applying, and potential contributions to the class.

The process of writing MBA essays provides you with a rare opportunity for self-examination and self-expression. Many applicants value the introspection required of them in the MBA essay-writing process and find they can better articulate their strengths and goals during their subsequent MBA interviews as a result. By putting ample thought and effort into brainstorming and writing your MBA essays, you will almost certainly increase your odds of being accepted to a top MBA program.

Related Articles: Essay Examples

• Career Goals Essay Example
• What Will You Contribute? Essay Example
• Why MBA? and Why Our School? Essay Example
• Leadership Story Essay Example
• Professional Experience Essay Example
• MBA Video Essays
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Top Five Tips for Writing Compelling MBA Admissions Essays

Erin Wand - Personal MBA Coach

Erin Wand is an mba.com Featured Contributor and the Vice President of Marketing and Operations for Personal MBA Coach , a boutique MBA admissions consulting and tutoring firm.

For many of the business school applicants I work with, the MBA admissions essay is the part of the application they dread the most.

Does that sound like you? It doesn’t have to be! If you’re unsure about how to start on your MBA admissions essays, don’t worry. This is your opportunity to move beyond your GMAT exam scores , GPA, or resume and reveal something deeper about yourself to the admissions committee. Read along for my best MBA admission essay tips.

Crafting winning MBA admissions essays

The question is: how to you write MBA admissions essays for top-tier programs that stand out from the stack and effectively tell your story? Here are five tips for compelling essays that will stick in the minds of the admissions committee and help you get into your top choice business school program.

1. Stay focused and answer the question asked

It’s surprising how often candidates write beautiful essays but do not answer the question. While I certainly endorse thinking outside of the box and considering the “why” behind an essay prompt, first and foremost you must answer the question.

Business school applicants like you are often highly accomplished, and it can be tempting to try to include as many of the details of your accomplishments as possible into your essays. It’s crucial that you avoid this urge and focus on the specific question at hand.

2. Less can be more: be succinct

A trend I’m seeing at many leading full-time MBA programs is shorter essay word limits. Michigan Ross , Stanford GSB , UCLA Anderson , and Duke Fuqua are just a few of the programs that have reduced their essay word counts in recent admissions cycles. This trend underscores a key piece of advice: be succinct!

Remember, your essays and short answers are just one part of your application. In addition to the details you’ll provide on the application form itself, you’ll also submit an MBA resume ( check out my resume tips here! ). This allows admissions committee members ample opportunity to read about everything you have accomplished, all the roles you have held, and the awards you have won. There is no need to fit every detail into your essays.

Instead of squeezing in as much as you can, focus on sharing a few key highlights, peppering in some interesting details, and convey your authentic voice through your writing. This is your chance to explain your choices, show your accomplishments, and share your passions. The fewer things you try to cover in your essays, the more you will be able to achieve this objective.

3. Be authentic, not what you think schools want to hear

I can’t emphasize this enough: do not write what you think admissions committee members want to read! The qualities and experiences that make you unique are your greatest selling points. Each essay should paint a clear picture of who you are, what motivates you, and what you’re passionate about.

Related to this, don’t feel compelled to show how you fit the mold that seemingly makes up the “ideal” candidate. If you have no desire to run a non-profit, that’s okay! If you’re not motivated to save the planet, don’t pretend you are! The admissions committee will see right through this, and you could end up doing more harm than good. Instead, focus your energy on simply being authentic.

4. Keep your language approachable and focus on the “so what?”

The terms you regularly use at the office may be foreign to others, including admissions committee members. When in doubt, do not assume the reader is familiar with everything about your job. Admissions directors come from all backgrounds and fields and are not assigned to candidates with similar backgrounds. They do not know the ins and outs of your industry and do not need to. In fact, details and accomplishments that are significant only to someone in your industry are less compelling than understandable results and transferable skills.

Everyone from your grandmother to a professor of microfinance should be able to understand your essays. So even if your accomplishment would be extremely impressive to another engineer or investment banker, if the reader doesn’t understand the “so what,” you’re wasting your words.

5. Limit the amount of flowery prose

Remember: You’ re not submitting your essays for a Pulitzer Prize. All you’re trying to do is tell your story. While of course you want your essays to be well-written and free of grammatical mistakes and typos, you also want them to be relatable and easy to follow. They should also convey why you are someone others would want to study with, learn from, and eventually be inspired by. That type of person is human and down to earth. Your essays should show this. 

Erin Wand is an mba.com Featured Contributor and the Vice President of Marketing and Operations for Personal MBA Coach , a boutique MBA admissions consulting and tutoring firm.

Founded by a Wharton MBA and MIT Sloan graduate who sits on the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants Board of Directors, Personal MBA Coach has been guiding clients for 14 years and is consistently ranked #1 or #2, currently holding the #1 ranking in the US on Poets&Quants.

We help clients with all aspects of the MBA application process including early planning, GMAT/GRE/EA tutoring, application strategy, school selection, essay editing and mock interviews. Our team includes a former M7 admissions director and former M7 admissions interviewers.

Last year, our clients earned more than $6M in scholarships!

How to write powerful MBA essays that actually work

Candidates often wonder what it takes to write strong MBA essays that work. It can be a scary and confusing process. Let’s try to figure out a step-by-step process to write a great MBA essay.

For many of us, writing an essay brings back memories of a hot, stuffy classroom on a sleepy summer afternoon, a strict English teacher keeping watch with hawk-like eyes, a mostly blank sheet of paper with the words “My Best Friend” written on top.

And in the middle of it all, you looking desperately at your friend seated next to you, hoping for some inspiration to strike. Or at the very least, for the school bell to strike, lest the English teacher see your as-yet blank sheet of paper and strike first.

In other words, you think of essays as boring. Perhaps even traumatizing, depending on how strict your English teacher was, and how inspiring your best friend was.

We’re here to tell you that that’s not what an essay should be.

An essay should be educating, entertaining, inspiring, thrilling, humorous, and heartbreaking.

Basically, anything but boring.

So if you’re writing boring essays, or if you think essays are boring, you’re doing them wrong.

What is the purpose of writing an MBA essay?

Everybody has seen The Wolf of Wall Street . Remember that famous scene where Leonardo di Caprio pulls out a pen from his coat pocket and tries to sell it to a spellbound, captivated audience hanging on to every word of his?

That’s how an essay should be.

Instead of the pen, you’re trying to sell your story. Your audience is the MBA admissions committee of your dream B-school, and at stake is your MBA dream.

But first, a word of caution – channelling your inner wolf of Wall Street does not mean that you throw form and formality to the wind. This is a B-school, and you’re still expected to wear a suit and tie.

An essay could be like a piece of classical music with multiple layers that merge seeamlessly. Or it could be like hip-hop with a catchy vibe and an impactful message.

But if you can demonstrate that you possess an aesthetic palette eclectic enough to accommodate both Beethoven and Busta Rhymes, that is impressive.

If however, you’re more of a Bollywood and Bhangra person with no appreciation or flair for classical music or hip-hop, you can still write a rocking MBA essay.

The point being, there’s no formula to create successful MBA essays. But you can still improve your odds of creating an essay that you’re proud of, if you follow these simple tips.

Here are 6 steps to writing an impressive MBA essay.

• Start early
• Understand the MBA essay prompts
• Demonstrate your fit with the MBA program
• Stick to the word count
• Add a little X factor to it
• Get someone to look over your essay

Let’s delve into each of them to understand the finer nuances.

How to write powerful MBA essays

1. start early.

Writing takes time. A slow cooked dish brings out the flavors of the food being cooked by allowing the spices to percolate, the aromas to emerge, and the textures to develop.

It’s the same with writing.

You need to let the thoughts in your head marinate on low simmer for days for them to develop into well-formed sentences that will delight your reader. Even if you think you’ve got it all sorted out in your head, putting it on paper is a different challenge altogether.

You’ll need a few days of contemplation to come up with points you want to put in. Jot these down as they strike you. Next, brainstorm with friends, foes, family – anyone willing to provide feedback, and whose judgement you trust.

Next, organize your ideas in a structured framework. What this means, in plain English, is that you need to be able to weave your ideas into a story your readers would love.

No, you don’t need a degree in creative writing to be able to do that.

It’s actually pretty simple. Every story has 3 parts – a beginning, a middle, and an end. In theater and film-making jargon, this is called the 3-act structure.

Act 1 is the set-up.

This is where we get to meet the protagonist (you!), and what is called the “inciting incident”, which is something that incites our protagonist into action. ( the need to do an MBA/ get into your dream B-school)

At this point, the stage is set for an exciting journey. The reader is now expecting an adventure of Tolkien-esque proportions. ( we’re kidding, this is an MBA application, not the Lord of the Rings)

Act 2 is the conflict

This is where our protagonist runs into challenges and obstacles. Their attempt to overcome these is the beating heart of the story. It’s the action that the reader started reading the story for, in the first place.

In your MBA essay, this is where you explain why you want to do an MBA, and why specifically from the B-school you are applying to, and how this will help you in achieving your career goals.

Act 3 is the resolution

This is the happy ending of the story. This is where you tie all the lose ends together, and the reader realizes that the protagonist has been transformed by the quest.

Remember that the journey from act 1 to act 3 is not any series of random actions strung together – it needs to be transformative. At the end of the story both the protagonist and the reader of the story get a sense of a change that has happened.

In the case of MBA essay, what this means is that your essay should convey a clear sense of how the MBA (and only this particular MBA from this particular school) will help you overcome the challenges you foresee in your career, and will thus be transformative.

Also keep in mind, that while it is important for your essay to be engaging, this does not mean by any stretch of imagination, that you invent incidents merely to spice things up. Always state facts and facts only.

Remember, facts are stranger than fiction, and the simplest stories are the most beautiful The novelist John Updike once said that the purpose of art is to give the mundane its beautiful due.

Any story can be made beautiful and exciting with the 3-step act. The journey of the caterpillar from egg to butterfly is a classic 3-step act.

There is no need to go chasing fantastic beasts and inventing imaginary islands; all the magic ingredients you need to write that rockstar MBA essay are already within you in the form of your own unique and wonderful life journey. Let the world hear it.

In the interest of time, some applicants may be tempted to use ChatGPT to write their MBA essays. Find out what should and shouldn’t be done if you are planning to use it, here .

2. Understand the MBA essay prompts

Most things in life come with user manuals. It’s the same with B-school essays.

Your school will usually provide instructions of what kind of essays they want, and what they are looking for in an essay. Make sure you follow these instructions to a T.

For instance, some B-schools might want one long essay, while others might want two to three shorter essays.

Often the essay would come with a question, or an essay statement, such as “state your short-term and long-term career goals, or “why do you want to pursue an MBA at this particular stage in your career”, and so on.

Pay close attention to what is being asked as what you write will depend on the question.

Unfortunately, most of us have a habit of tossing the user manual into trash unopened, and then call customer care when we can’t figure out how to operate the washing machine. Let this not be the case with your MBA essay.

Here’s an introduction to the most commonly used MBA essay questions

Why MBA now? MBA Essay question: Why this school? Long-term and short-term career goals essay Leadership in MBA essays Optional MBA essays – Career failure essay – career break , education gap, low GPA or any other aspects.

3. Demonstrate your fit with the MBA program

This is an exercise you need to perform as much for your own benefit, as for the admission committee’s. First and foremost, convince yourself that the particular MBA program is exactly what you need to meet your career goals.

Because MBAs are expensive, and confirmation bias is real.

Just because someone put it into our heads when we were 16 that xyz is a great B-school, it is entirely possible that we will psych ourselves into believing that this school is the perfect fit for us, even if it is not.

Then, at the other end of the spectrum are the cases where we just want to get into any B-school at all, and never really give a good thought into why we want to do an MBA.

If you’ve got USD 150,000 lying around the house, and all you want is to make more money, you’d be better off opening a post office savings account and living off the 7.5% interest you get on it.

An MBA is a different beast. It’ll take from you not just your money, but also two years off the prime of your life, a lot of energy (read pulling off all-nighters trying to crack case studies and making presentations), and time spent away from your loved ones.

If you’re going to be investing all this into an MBA, you need to be very sure of two things – why you want to do an MBA, and why you want to do it from the particular school you are applying to.

Once you have it all figured out, put it down in your MBA application. Remember, if you’re not convinced yourself, you will most certainly not be able to convince the admissions committee either.

Our MBA MAP process is a helpful tool used by many applicants to select the right business schools.

Read this: – How to write business school specific MBA essays – How to evaluate ‘Fit’ with MBA program

4. Stick to the word count

There’s an old bit of Jewish wisdom which says that a proverb has 3 characteristics – few words, good sense, and a fine image.

While the adage may be about proverbs, it is the hallmark of all good writing.

There’s a reason people remember proverbs but forget stories. Proverbs speak to us less with words, and more with sense and images.

Word counts exist for a reason. One of which, of course, is that admissions committees have to wade through a ton of applications, and their time is limited.

But, equally importantly, a word count tests your ability to communicate ideas effectively. If you can’t get your message across in a 1000 words, you definitely will not get it across in 10,000.

And a good manager is nothing if not a good communicator. So take the word count of your essay as another test that you must pass on your way to your dream B-school.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you obsessively start counting words after every sentence you type. A margin of (+/-) 5% to 10% is acceptable in most cases.

But even if the b-school’s online application form does not enforce a hard cut-off, we’d recommend erring on the conservative side and staying below the word count.

Try to fit in all you need to say within this. You really don’t need anything more than that to tell your story. You’re writing an essay, not an autobiography.

Oscar Wilde famously said that brevity is the soul of wit, and we have since come to accept that brevity is pretty much the soul of most forms of communication, MBA essays included. Be frugal with your words and fathomless in your meaning.

Read: How important is the word count for MBA essays

5. Add a little X factor to it

This one is a little difficult to pin down, since what this X factor means will differ from one candidate to another.

That little magic dust that you sprinkle on your application to make it stand out from the crowd.

This become more important when you’re fighting in very competitive applicant pools and your resume doesn’t have much that automatically grabs the admission officer’s attention.

Here are some examples of what you can look at.

A small aspect of your life-story that you may have overlooked could provide that X factor that converts a regular story into a memorable masterpiece.

Or it could be related to your extracurricular activities where you achieved or experienced something remarkable.

Or it could be your unique writing style, or the way you use analogies to bring your ideas to life.

With the right, structured introspection, you’ll find that there are several avenues to highlight that makes the essays unmistakably reflect the real you.

This is one of the reasons we strongly discourage MBA applicants from using sample MBA essays that worked for others.

At first glance, they may look impressive to a new applicant, but they weren’t designed for recycling.

Using sample MBA essays will kill the uniqueness of your essays and consequently the crucial X factor.

Read why sample MBA essays don’t work .

Before we share our 6th and final tip, let’s first delve a little into the reasons we kept it for the end.

Despite their best efforts, even the strongest applicants tend to make mistakes in their application. We invited a special guest from a top school to list them down.

Top 5 mistakes to avoid while writing MBA essays

By rebecca loades, director, career accelerator programs, esmt berlin.

Unfortunately, the following 5 mistakes are all too common:

• Not being authentic . No matter how qualified you may be on paper, authenticity counts. The biggest mistake we see is when applicants tell us what they think we want to hear, rather than showing us who they actually are.
• Not answering the question or going beyond the word count . There’s a reason we ask the questions we do and limit the word count. Ignoring the prompt makes you stand out for the wrong reasons
• Not trying . You might have stellar credentials and a super high test score but that doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed a place. Being successful in an MBA program requires more than pure academics. The essays are where you can help us see beyond your CV so that we get a sense of you, the unique perspective you will bring, and what you want to achieve.
• Spelling and grammar errors . Spellcheck is there for a reason, use it! Ditto for making sure that you’ve spelled the school’s name properly and/or are calling us by our name vs the last business school you applied to.

  With that context, it becomes apparent why this final tip is so important.  

6. Get someone to look over your essay

Once you’re done writing, take a break and get some one you trust to have a look at your essay.

Having a fresh set of eyes go over your writing is always helpful. This is the reason why editors even exist.

Even the most gifted writers – the madcap literary geniuses and the Nobel Prize winners – relied on editors to polish their rough drafts into the enduring literary classics we know them as today.

The thing with writing is that when you’ve been living with the ideas in your head for so long, and then you begin the long, slow, painful process of putting those ideas on paper, you become just too familiar with them to be your own critic.

Those words have been a part of you for so long, you can no longer tell whether they’re good or bad.

It’s like how when we stare at a screen too long without blinking we begin to see the fine pixels and dots that make up the picture, but lose sight of the picture itself?

That sort of a thing.

A good editor can make that draft shine like a lapidary polishes a rough diamond to brilliance.

A “good editor” does not mean you need to get in touch with the New York Times to ask if they can loan out their literary editor for a day.

Here’s a candidate who got a USA MBA admit despite a big mistake in application .

A friend or a mentor with the experience and knowledge of the admissions process can help.

If you don’t have anyone like that in your life, and if all this sounds a little overwhelming, consider hiring a good MBA application consultant .

MBA Crystal Ball has highly experienced admission consultants who can help you polish your application. Read more about our MBA essay editing services .

Drop us an email when you’re ready: info [at] mbacrystalball [dot] com

That’s all folks. Make sure you follow these steps, and we’re confident that you will be able to write an amazing MBA essay that with the potential to impress the admissions committee and to get you that elite MBA seat that could change your life.   Also read: – Top MBA application tips – Sample Harvard Stanford MBA essays using ChatGPT

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7 tips for writing a winning mba application essay.

Nervous about your MBA admissions essay? You’re not alone! Many applicants wonder how to put their best foot forward in a business school entrance essay.

In this article, I’ll tell you what admissions committees look for in application essays and offer MBA essay tips on how to make yours stand out. We’ll also take a look at the different kinds of business school essays and a few examples of MBA essay prompts.

Why Do Business Schools Ask for Essays? What Do They Look For?

Business schools ask for essays for several reasons, all of which help admissions committees determine whether you have the skills and traits to succeed in an MBA program.

First, MBA admissions committees want to see how you write. Communication skills—including concision, clarity, style, and fluency in English—will be essential to your success in business school. One way of discerning your level of writing ability is to require an original writing sample. In an MBA essay, you have to get your point across straightforwardly, elegantly, and concisely; being able to do this is a key element of succeeding in business school and the world of business in general.

Also, MBA admissions committees want to get a sense of who you are on a more personal level. MBA application essays tell admissions officials about you not only through what you say, but in how you say it. Are you self-aware, for example, and can you reflect on past challenges or mistakes in a thoughtful way? Do you demonstrate insight into who you are and your goals? How you answer questions about yourself, your career, and your journey can help MBA admissions officials discern your level of critical thinking and personal insight.

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You can have countless accomplishments, but to succeed in business school, you’ll also need to fit in with the campus climate, work well with your peers, and contribute to campus diversity in a meaningful way. The MBA essay is a place for you to talk about the background or experiences you have that are unique to you and that you believe could differentiate you from your colleagues and/or provide a fresh perspective to campus.

Finally, essays are a way for you to showcase the qualities that most MBA programs say they are looking for in applicants, such as leadership skills, community involvement, problem-solving skills, communication skills, clear goals, and a strong sense of ethics. Some of these traits might not be readily apparent from a resume alone, and an MBA essay can be a place for you to elaborate on how you’ve cultivated them in yourself.

MBA Entrance Essay Sample Prompts

Most MBA entrance essays ask you about one of several things. Many of them are variations on similar questions: the open-ended question, the leadership question, the personal growth question, questions on short- and long-term academic and career goals, and the diversity question. For each one, I’ll give an example of a real MBA essay prompt from 2016 or 2017.

#1: Open-Ended

The open-ended MBA application essay question is just that: open. It allows you to tell your own story, giving you quite a bit of freedom but also little to no guidance. For that reason, many applicants find it to be the most challenging MBA essay prompt.

Harvard Business School has only one essay for its MBA application, and it’s the quintessential open-ended MBA essay question. This is the prompt for 2017-2018 applicants.

As we review your application, what more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Harvard Business School MBA program?

Note that, as in other open-ended MBA admission essay prompts, this question asks you to decide what you’ll write about. Successful Harvard applicants and HBS admissions counselors have advised applicants to use the prompt as a chance to demonstrate their past use of an especially desired trait, such as problem-solving skills. For example, many successful applicants use the prompt to describe a scenario in which they faced and overcame a challenge, especially as a leader or alongside a team.

Notably, Harvard also doesn’t list a word limit, so you can decide the appropriate length for your essay. However, most admissions counselors will advise you to keep it concise and straightforward.

#2: Leadership

Another common MBA essay prompt asks you to demonstrate your experience and skills as a leader. Leadership qualities are listed by nearly all MBA admissions counselors as fundamental to a career in business and, thus, to a successful business school application.

Let’s look at a sample leadership MBA essay prompt from Kellogg.

Leadership and teamwork are integral parts of the Kellogg experience. Describe a recent and meaningful time you were a leader. What challenges did you face, and what did you learn? (450 words)

In a response to this kind of prompt, you should be as specific as possible. Name the company you were working for or specifically describe the project you were heading. Who was on your team? What were your objectives? Did you meet them? How could you have done so more effectively?

While you shouldn’t be overly self-deprecating, don’t be afraid to address the challenges you met and how you overcame them (or would overcome them now, with more experience and knowledge). Remember that one important aspect of leadership is accountability, so if there were problems, don’t solely blame your team for them. Instead, reflect on how you successfully worked with your team to solve the problems, and/or on how you could have done so more effectively or efficiently.

#3: Personal Growth

The personal growth MBA admission essay prompt will ask you how you’ve changed in the past and how you want to grow in the future. Here’s one example from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management.

Pursuing an MBA is a catalyst for personal and professional growth. How have you grown in the past? How do you intend to grow at Kellogg? (450 words)

Don’t be afraid to get a bit personal with these kinds of prompts . They’re meant to gauge something about your personality and who you are, rather than only what you’ve done.

Many successful MBA admission essays that respond to these kinds of questions follow a past/present/future format. Ask yourself what traits you’ve gathered over the years that have benefited you personally and professionally, how you’ve improved, and what you’ve learned. What experiences have shaped you? Be as specific as possible.

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Then, take stock of yourself now: your career, your education, and where you see yourself in the future. What do you need in order to get there?

Finally, most essay MBA prompts in this vein (like Kellogg’s) will ask you how they can help you move towards that personal or professional goal. Be as specific as you can, focusing on the particular strengths of the prospective MBA program and how they match up with what you want to improve about yourself as a person, colleague, and leader.

#4: Your Plan

Some MBA application essay prompts will ask you about your career goals and how attendance at a particular business school will help you to achieve them. Let’s look at one from the USC Marshall School of Business.

Essay #1 (Required) – What is your specific, immediate short-term career goal upon completion of your MBA? Please include an intended position, function, and industry in your response. (word limit: 100)

As you can see, questions like these often request brief responses. So get straight to the point, and give details. Name a specific job you’d like to hold, what you’d like to do there, and even particular companies if you can.

Questions like this one will require some research. Research alumni from your prospective business school who’ve ended up in positions comparable to ones you’d like to hold in the future, particular companies and positions that match up with your personal and professional goals, and specific coursework or industry experiences offered by your prospective business school that would help you get there.

#5: Diversity, Culture, and Community

Finally, some MBA essay prompts will ask you how your unique background and experiences would contribute to the overall diversity and collegial atmosphere of a school’s campus climate and community. Here’s one example from USC.

Essay #2 (Required) – At Marshall, we take pride in the fact that our students work collaboratively, both inside and outside the classroom, to create a culture, a community, and an environment that truly defines what we call the Trojan Family. Please describe the contributions you expect to make to your classmates during your time at USC. How will they benefit from your presence in the program? (word limit: 500)

You can respond to questions like this, depending on the wording of the original prompt, by discussing your cultural background, identity, and/or personal experiences that have given you particular insight into a given community or that have lent you a unique perspective that could be valuable to your colleagues as you collaborate.

You can also discuss past community service projects or issues you’re passionate about and how you plan to carry those experiences and passions into your work at your prospective MBA program.

7 MBA Essay Tips

Writing MBA essays takes a particular skill set. Let’s go over the top seven MBA essay tips for making your application essay shine.

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#1: Write Early and Often

Even though MBA entrance essays are brief, they take a lot of polishing. Writing MBA essays takes time.

Don’t expect to write yours at the last minute or knock out a quality essay in a day. Most students need several drafts to make sure they’re getting their points across as elegantly and clearly as possible.

Start your essay well before the application deadline, when you don’t yet feel any pressure. For several weeks, don’t try to write at all. Instead, before crafting your essay for MBA admission, take notes on your past, present, and future. What have you learned? What unique experiences have you had? What have been the most meaningful projects you’ve undertaken? Ask friends, family, and mentors to tell you what they value most about you or what they see as your greatest personal and professional assets.

Only once you’ve gathered this material should you begin your first draft of your MBA application essay. Start with an outline for each one that includes the story you want to tell and the main points you want to get across.

Once you have a clear outline, you can start drafting. Taking the writing process seriously from start to finish will give you a much better product in the end than trying to write something hastily right before the deadline.

#2: Show, Don’t Tell

MBA admissions committees want to be able to tell that you have the qualities that are necessary to succeed in business school, such as leadership skills and integrity.

Your MBA admissions essay can be a great place to showcase those qualities. However, remember to show, not tell. Saying “I have strong leadership skills” doesn’t tell an admissions committee much. Through an anecdote about, say, meeting a difficult deadline or overcoming an obstacle, a reader should be able to tell that you have the qualities of a strong leader without your having to say so explicitly.

#3: Research Your Goals

When describing your future goals, be as specific as possible. Business schools know that your goals may change in the future, but stating specific goals now will show that you’ve done your research and have an idea of what you want and how an MBA program can help you get there.

Before writing your essay for MBA admission, research the ins and outs of the industry you want to enter, the position you’d like to have, companies you might like to work for, and coursework and internships or fieldwork that could aid you on your way to those goals.

#4: Keep It Concise

Never, ever go over a stated word count limit when you’re writing your essay for MBA admission. It might be tempting, but business schools want to see that you can get your point across concisely and straightforwardly.This rule goes for MBA essay prompts that don’t have specific word counts, too: sometimes, less is more.

One of the biggest mistakes applicants make in writing an essay for MBA admission is to use too much flowery language to come across as more professional. If you do this, it can be distracting and cause the admissions committee to miss the main points you’re making.

Bottom line, trim anything extraneous from your essay —that is, anything that doesn’t actively support the main point(s) you’re trying to get across.

#5: Show Self-Awareness

It might feel tempting to use the MBA admission essay as a space to list all of your accomplishments (and since your resume is already part of your application, this is unnecessary), but MBA admissions committees would rather see that you have insight into both your strengths and weaknesses. No one is perfect, and in your essay for MBA admission, you shouldn’t try to come across as if you’ve never made a mistake or faced a challenge that you’ve had to learn from.

Also, in business school and the business world at large, bouncing back from failures, being flexible, and problem solving are all essential skills. All of them require a thick skin and awareness of what you could do better.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t showcase your achievements, but if you’re asked about personal growth or an obstacle you’ve overcome, be clear about what you could have done more effectively in the past (at a job or in your education, for example) and the steps you’ve taken or will take to sidestep that mistake in the future.

#6: Share Your Personal Journey

Many applicants would prefer to focus only on their professional backgrounds and goals in their MBA essays, but you shouldn’t be afraid to get personal in your essay. You don’t need to tell your whole life story, but especially in response to questions that ask about your growth over time, you should showcase your personality and give the admissions committee an idea of your personal background and experiences.

#7: Ask for Edits

It might seem obvious, but many applicants don’t do it: proofread your work! When writing MBA essays, revision is key. Turning in an MBA essay with typos and other errors will come off as thoughtless and unprofessional.

You should also get a second (and, perhaps, a third and fourth) pair of eyes on your essay to make sure it’s coming across as you want it to. Going through several rounds of drafts is a necessary part of the writing process to ensure that you’re putting your best foot forward in your MBA entrance essay.

What’s Next?

Worried about how your GMAT score matches up to other applicants’? Find out more in our list of average GMAT scores by school.

Concerned about your chances of getting into an MBA program? Our guide to business school acceptance rates will help.

Ready to apply to business school? Check out our top eight tips for applying to MBA programs here.

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Author: Laura Dorwart

Laura Dorwart is a Ph.D. student at UC San Diego. She has taught and tutored hundreds of students in standardized testing, literature, and writing. View all posts by Laura Dorwart

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MBA Essay Tips: The 4 Admissions Essays You’ll Likely Encounter When Applying to Business School

It can seem like there are an infinite variety of MBA admissions essays. With famous examples, like the Stanford GSB application’s “What Matters Most to You, and Why?” or the Duke Fuqua application’s “25 Random Things”, it is easy to get overwhelmed thinking that you will have to write a completely different essay with a different subject for every question on every one of your business school applications. While each type of MBA essay does need to be tailored to each b-school, you can simplify and streamline the process of essay writing by embracing the idea that most admission essay prompts can be categorized into core themes.

Let’s get to know them below:

MBA Application Essay #1: The Personal Statement

MBA admissions committees care about your core values, your moral character, and the passions that motivate you. For example, UC Berkeley’s Haas Business School has four stated defining principles :

• Question the Status Quo
• Confidence Without Attitude
• Students Always
• Beyond Yourself

Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business is interested in accepting genuinely nice people . Duke’s Fuqua School of Business is interested in people’s “ decency quotient .” These business schools look to recruit people with worldviews that are compatible with these values and it is your job, in this category of essay, to make sure that comes across.

Luckily, you can talk about almost anything in these personal essays. Applicants will often discuss relationships with friends and mentors. Others might talk about the hardships they overcame or difficult experiences. However, there are some things to avoid which we discus here: 4 Mistakes Applicants Make when Writing the Personal Essay .

At the core, your business school personal statement should serve to illuminate who you are as a person and demonstrate that you live according to a code that is in line with your target business school’s own approach to education.

Yaron Dahan on the Importance of Your Story:

Mba application essay #2: the career goals essay.

Business school admissions committees want you to have a good job when you graduate from their MBA program. This is for three reasons:

• Business schools want their employment report to look good! That means that a very high percentage of graduates receive job offers (currently 98.4% at Wharton , for example), and those jobs have high compensation.
• Business schools want you to get not just “a job”, but a job that you really want. Satisfied students who achieved their goals are likely to promote the school to other potential students and speak well of the program.
• Business schools hope for (some of) their graduates to make enough money to eventually become donors.

Even though getting a good job is important, this isn’t everything. In order to stand out from other candidates, the job needs to be a bit inspiring as well. If you are not ambitious enough in outlining your goals and the impact you want to make in your future career, it is possible to come across as a boring candidate who is more or less content to stay in their current position with slightly better pay. Business schools will likely take a hard pass on those applicants. That said, if you are not somewhat realistic with what you want to accomplish, you can end up sounding naïve or unserious.

The goal here is to walk the line between the two. It is your job to convince the school that you have goals which are meaningful, but also grounded in your past experiences and considered enough that your success is assured.

To hear more on this, check out: Career Goals for MBA Essay Writing and More .

Demonstrating School Fit

After you state your goals, you’ll also need to explain how the MBA is a necessary part of achieving those goals. This is a chance to show that not only do you need an MBA , but that the particular program you’re applying to is exactly the right fit with your development needs.

What MBA programs really want to know is that you have done your homework and researched the school in detail. Admissions officers DON’T want to see copy/paste from the course catalogue. It is important to network with schools beforehand and then use what you learned to show that only their institution really has the resources to make your goals a reality.

Rebecca Heath Anderson on Researching Career Goals:

Mba application essay #3: school participation essay.

Business schools are selfish! They want to know that you will add something to their institution by attending. Schools rely on students to run many programs, such as professional clubs, and want to know that you will be an active participant in the campus culture. In fact, MBA programs tend to do almost every class and activity in groups.

In order to answer questions like these effectively, you will need to map out the kinds of school-sponsored clubs, conferences, and activities in which you are interested in participating. Consider where you can make helpful contributions to campus life: how can you benefit your classmates as well as the school as a whole?

MBA Application Essay #4: Behavioral Essays

An MBA program might ask about your previous experiences, both to gauge whether you’re ready to benefit from the school’s leadership development programs and to know your moral values as a leader. These questions can come in a number of forms.

They might prompt you by saying “Tell us about a time when you led a team” or even “Tell us about a time when you failed.”

What schools really are looking for, in this instance, is some sign that you are self-reflective. They want to understand that you have experienced some leadership setbacks that have made you interested in and prepared to take in the knowledge they have to offer.

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MBA Leadership Essays and How to Write Them

What makes you a strong leader? This can be a difficult question to answer. If you have a lot of leadership experience, your challenge is to tell your story in a compelling and authentic way. And if you don’t have a lot of leadership experience, your task is to be creative about how you answer the prompt, so that you can demonstrate to admissions committees the type of leader you’ll be.

In both cases it’s important not to exaggerate the truth. As soon as you inflate what your actual experience was, you call into question not only your response to the leadership question, but also the truthfulness of the rest of your application.

When shaping a response to the leadership question, you should first think about all of the people you interact with at your job: your manager, colleagues, team members of other departments, office staff, and HR. Consider your role on this team, and what your contributions were.

If you truly had a leadership role, reflect upon your experiences—good and bad—in leading a team. Admissions committees want to see not just your successes, but also your resilience and ability to learn from mistakes. If you weren’t the leader, you can pull from examples of good leadership that you have encountered, and demonstrate how you embody those skills, perhaps by describing non-work-related leadership positions you have held.

Questions to Consider for Leadership Essays

When developing your response to the leadership question, it is important to provide as many specifics as possible—particularly in your earliest drafts. Here are some questions that can help you make your essay convincing and engaging. (You don’t necessarily need to answer all of them; they are just a starting point.)

• What did you do in your role to fix problems?
• How did you handle situations where you had to escalate the issue to management?
• How did you work with people who weren’t members of your team? How did you get what you needed, even from people who couldn’t care less about you?
• If everyone in the office was down, what did you do to perk people up?
• Did you ever informally mentor junior colleagues?
• What fears or problems did you overcome in order to lead successfully?

Writing about Difficulties, Failures and Weaknesses

A common question in MBA essay prompts concerns a failure or setback in your career. These are a few examples of essay prompts that top MBA programs have used to ask about this topic:

• Tell us three setbacks you have faced.
• Describe a situation taken from your personal or professional life where you failed. Discuss what you learned.
• Discuss a time when you faced a challenging interpersonal experience. How did you navigate the situation and what did you learn from it?

These can be unpleasant topics to write about. How should an applicant respond to questions like these?

Pick a Genuine Failure or Weakness

Although it may seem tempting to tell a story in which your own failures are minimized, this type of response is unlikely to be effective, because it does not give you the chance to show self-reflection and personal growth. Moreover, an example where you give a ‘faux failure’ is much less likely to engage the reader than one where you describe a genuine failure of setback.

For example, imagine that you decided to write about an important project that failed due to an error by someone in the team you supervised. You may be tempted to write that “the team member was unable to take the responsibility and should have been monitored more closely.” Although this may be part of the story, a better response would include some reflection on your personal contribution to the problem. Instead of giving the trite insight that you should have monitored the team more carefully, you could write about the shortcomings in your management style and ability to motivate the team. By doing this, you show that you are honest and able to to reflect on failures, and you give yourself the chance to go on to describe what you have learned.

Don’t Turn a Failure Essay Into an Achievement Essay

For instance, in the above example, do not draw the attention away from your failure in managing the team by pointing out how hard you worked on the project yourself. You do not want to give the application committee the impression that you only want to talk about your successes, but are reluctant to reflect on your weaknesses.

Describe What You Learned

End your essay by describing what you have learned from your failure or setback and give an example of how you used your new insight. This is an expected topic even if it is not mentioned in the text of the prompt.

An average essay draws trite lessons. Sticking again with the example above, you might write that “each team member has a unique style and should be motivated accordingly.” A better response includes more details: Why did you fail to connect with the problem team member? Were there warning signs that you could have seen? A great response includes an example where you put your fix into action: you can mention, for instance, how you worked successfully with the same team member on a later project or were able to spot a potential problem early on in another team you managed afterwards.

By taking the courage to write honestly and directly about your failures, and then showing how you have put your learnings into action after the failure, you will have tackled this difficult essay topic successfully.

Now that we have looked at the main categories of MBA essays, let’s talk about one of the persistent myths about the MBA application process: using example essays and templates.

MBA Essay Examples and Templates–A Bad Idea

It is tempting to think that you can model your business school essay off of someone else’s successful essay. People spend time and money searching for “the perfect MBA essay sample” to use as a guide. First, you may hope to avoid the effort of having to write the essay yourself. Second, this is the sort of cargo cult thinking that says: if I copy what a successful applicant did, then I will also be admitted.

The truth of the matter is that sample essays don’t work. People get admitted to MBA programs for many reasons. Menlo Coaching has bought and reviewed several editions of the Harbus Essay Guide , which contains a number of successful HBS essays… and some of the essays therein are absolutely terrible. One essay spent its entire length bragging about the writer’s vast family wealth and all the celebrities the writer knew. Clearly, that applicant did not get in on the merits of their essay-writing skills.

Former HBS director of admissions Dee Leopold famously said that “Applying to Harvard is not an essay writing contest.” As per our MBA applications and admissions guide , people are accepted to MBA programs not on the quality of the writing, but on the quality of the thinking that went into the essay. As a result, “the perfect essay” is actually the one that answers the question based on your perspective and experiences.

By focusing on these broad categories, you can avoid some of the pitfalls of the essay writing process. Try to keep in mind what your overall MBA story is and don’t get lost in some of the things that don’t matter, such as “sample essays” or figuring out the exact language you are going to use.

Remember, the best application essay is the one that addresses the question in a way that is tied in to your personal experience.

Discover what sets standout MBA application essays apart from the crowd with expert guidance from our experienced MBA admissions consulting team .

Read more on MBA essays

• Taking the Stress out of the MBA Essay Writing Process
• Best strategies for the Harvard MBA Essay
• What Matters Most: Conquering the Stanford GSB Essay A
• Give & Take in the Wharton MBA Essays

• MBA Admissions
• ISB Admissions
• MBA Application Tips
• MBA Essay Tips
• Business Schools

Expert MBA Essay Tips and How to Write a Great MBA Essay

Admit expert.

• MBA Application Tips , MBA Essay Tips
• April 27, 2024

Writing an MBA essay can be a pivotal step in your journey towards earning a coveted spot in a top business school. It’s a chance to let your personality shine, communicate your goals, and explain why a particular institution is the perfect fit for you.

In this comprehensive article, we delve into the importance of MBA essays, the various types you might encounter, expert MBA essay tips, and provide a roadmap for crafting impeccable B-School essays. Whether you’re pondering “Why MBA and Why Now?” or tackling the intricate “Why this Business School?” question, we’ve got you covered. Dive into the world of MBA essays, where your aspirations and abilities find their voice.

The Importance of MBA Essays 

Types of mba essays , how to write a great mba essay, 10 common mistakes to avoid while writing mba essays .

• How we’ll help you write amazing essays 

MBA Essay – FAQs 

MBA essays are a perfect opportunity to showcase your strengths and explain any weak points in your application. A well-written essay can provide context to a low GMAT score or GPA, but strong numbers will never make up for a weak essay.

Renice Jones, Ex. Assistant Director of Recruitment and Admissions at Schulich MBA program rightly said:

“Candidates who are below average can use the other components of the application, such as the essays, to exhibit why they may be a great fit for Schulich.”

MBA essays also become very important if you are from an over-represented pool of candidates, such as an Indian male IT/software engineer. Like you, many candidates will have similar work profiles and experiences. You cannot change your work experience but can make sure that you portray your spikes to the admission committee through your essays.

Stanford MBA admissions committee gives this advice to its applicants every year,

“There is no typical Stanford MBA student, no ideal for applicants to chase. Our advice is to just focus on you and ensure that your application is a true reflection of yourself.”

MBA Essays – A way to showcase your personality 

A compelling MBA essay helps the Adcoms get a peek inside your personality. Chad Losee, HBS Managing Director of MBA Admissions and Financial aid, pointed out that their primary goal in the essay is to get to know you better. The decisions you have made, your motivations, or any formative experiences. However, you must not shy away from your personality in the process.

The MBA admissions team at Yale School of Management held a webinar , where they talked about what they are interested in knowing through its essay.

How to impress the MBA admissions committee in the admissions events. Here are a few tips in this article .

Yale SoM MBA essays are generally open-ended, like – “Describe the biggest commitment you have ever made.” For this essay question, the admissions committee is interested in knowing how you approach commitments and the behavior that supports them. It can be a personal or a professional story, as long as it is something distinctive to your life and helps them know more about your personality. 

It is the story that you put together about your passion, experience, goals, and how business school fits into that mix that sets you apart from other candidates.

Looking for expert help for MBA essays?

At Admit Expert, we have helped hundreds of students get into top MBA programs around the world. We would be happy to help you too. Schedule a free call with us today to learn more about our services and how we can help you achieve your goals.

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Although the MBA admissions essay questions differ across schools, they tend to evaluate you based on who you are, what you have done, and what value you can add. 

Thus, there are a certain set of questions that help the Adcoms evaluate your candidacy. The length of an essay can range from anywhere between 200 – 1500 words, depending on the business school. But, remember each question is crafted in such a way that helps the Adcoms to know you better and evaluate your fit with the B-school.

We have helped many students craft their MBA essays and created a list of 6 most common essay questions that you can expect on your MBA application: 

Here are the 6 most common essay questions that you can expect on your MBA application:

• Why MBA and Why Now? 
• Why this Business School?

Leadership essay 

• Video essay 
• Open-ended essay 
• Community/Contribution essay 

Why MBA and Why Now?  

This essay is the most common question, which requires you to logically craft a link between your past experiences, your future aspirations, and how pursuing an MBA fits in. This essay aims to understand your motivation to pursue an MBA. In hindsight, this type of essay question can also incorporate your goals. 

However, you can even get a question that is just focused on what your short and long-term goals are? For example, Tuck MBA question on why MBA and how your prior experience and MBA from Tuck fits in. 

Why this Business School? 

This essay aims to see how your goals fit into applying to XYZ business school. In this essay, you need to state how pursuing an MBA from that particular B-school will enable you to achieve your short and long-term goals. 

The admissions committee wants to know if you have done your research on the business school.

For example, Kellogg is known as one of the best business schools for Marketing. So, if you aspire to become a successful marketer, schools like Kellogg can be a good fit for you. 

Leadership qualities are ones that every top business school looks for in a candidate. This essay aims to know about instances where you have shown leadership.

Remember, you don’t have to be a manager or lead a team to showcase leadership qualities. Cases in which you have changed opinions, shown integrity, take crucial decisions, displayed structured thinking, etc. can also demonstrate leadership skills. 

For example, essay questions that ask you to provide instances where you have shown leadership and challenges related to ethics you have faced (HEC Paris).

ISB also has a question on similar lines –examples of the most important personal quality that will lead you to become a successful leader. 

Video Essay 

The video essay evaluates your language skills, confidence, and capability to think on your feet. It is an opportunity for you to create a good first impression on the admissions committee. 

Moreover, video essays give a chance to the Admissions committee to put a face on the application received. 

Kellogg and MIT Sloan are a few business schools that ask candidates to submit video essays. MIT Sloan asks you for a 60-sec video where you need to introduce yourself to your future classmates. Kellogg’s video essay consists of three questions – An introduction about yourself, the path you are interested in pursuing, and the challenges you have faced.  

Open-ended essay (Value-based/personality)

This type of essay question evaluates your values and personality. For example, describe your biggest commitment (Yale), values that have guided your life and work (Kellogg), or showcase your personal characteristics by providing instances (INSEAD).

Community contribution

Contribution to the community is an integral part of many top business schools. The aim is to reflect upon your unique background and think about the values you can add to the community. For example, the Cornell essay analyzes your desire to impact communities and organizations positively. They want to understand how you will make a meaningful impact on Cornell’s MBA community. 

Do you want to impress the MBA Adcom with your essay?

Crafting a compelling B-School essay can be the key to unlocking the door to your dream MBA program. Here are some expert tips to help you write an unforgettable essay that stands out from the crowd:

1. Showcase Proactivity: Business schools seek leaders who are proactive and innovative. Emphasize your ability to take initiative and drive change.

2. Embrace Uniqueness: Highlight what sets you apart from others rather than focusing solely on achievements. Showcase your individuality and what makes you truly unique.

3. Tailor Each Essay: Provide specific reasons why you’re a great fit for each school. Avoid generic statements and demonstrate your understanding of the program’s unique offerings.

4. Inject Passion: Let your enthusiasm shine through in your writing. Admissions officers want to see what excites you and how you’ll bring that energy to the classroom.

5. Break the Mold: Challenge conventional perceptions with unexpected essays that reveal different facets of your personality and experiences.

6. Embrace Your Journey: If you’ve taken an unconventional path to business school, embrace it. Admissions officers appreciate candidates who have taken risks and overcome challenges.

7. Address Identity and Background: Discuss your gender, ethnicity, or minority status only if it has influenced your perspectives or experiences significantly.

8. Use Real-Life Examples: Enrich your essays with specific anecdotes and vivid details that illustrate your qualities and achievements.

9. Show Your Humanity: Don’t be afraid to show vulnerability or humor. Admissions officers appreciate authenticity and want to connect with the real person behind the application.

10. Be Authentic: Write about what truly matters to you, not what you think the admissions committee wants to hear. Your essays should paint a clear picture of who you are, what drives you, and what you’re passionate about.

Kris Mercuri, Director of Admissions, Recruiting and Outreach at the Yale School of Management  states , your essay is an “opportunity to speak in your own voice about something meaningful and distinctive in your life.” Don’t waste this opportunity by writing about something inauthentic that you think will make you look better, but is actually a pretense.

11. Structure Matters: Follow a clear structure for your essays, including the setup, the pivot point, and the future. This helps you present your story cohesively and effectively.

12. Answer the Prompt: Ensure your essays directly address the questions asked. Don’t get sidetracked by showcasing all your achievements; focus on what’s relevant to the prompt.

13. Be Succinct: With word limits becoming stricter, keep your essays concise and impactful. Highlight essential points and let your voice shine through without overwhelming the reader with unnecessary details.

14. Focus on the Business School: Tailor your essays to each business school, demonstrating your understanding of the program and how you’ll contribute to its community and culture.

The admissions committee reads thousands of essays every year. For your essay to stand out, you must put a comprehensive picture of who you are and how you fit into the B-school program.  Your essays need to be interesting and unique if you want to grab Adcom’s attention. 

Here is a stepwise process that you should follow to write an essay that Adcom would want to read: 

Step 1 – Start Early 

One of the mistakes that candidates make is to start writing their essays near the application deadline. Writing compelling MBA essays needs deep introspection. You need to take a step back and look into various instances in your life, such as:

• Your past experiences that led to where you are today.
• Your future aspirations
• The turning points and defining moments in your life
• Your accomplishments – past, present, future
• The decisions that helped in shaping your core values
• Your learnings from failure
• Your perspective and experiences that shaped your passion 

Jotting down such instances requires you to sit down, clear your mind, and think about everything that has led you to become who you are and what you want to be. Thus, it would be best to give yourself enough time to introspect. Your mind will respond better when you don’t have a deadline to meet. 

It’s recommended that you start your essays at least 5-6 months before the deadline. This way you’ll get enough time to self-reflect and inculcate the process of thoughtful introspection in your routine. 

 Identify incidents around some common skills that Adcoms look for – Academic Excellence, result-oriented, Leadership, Team management, and Learning. 

Step 2: Know your Whys 

You must get familiar with the most common essay questions:

• Why MBA? 
• Why is it the best time to do an MBA? 
• Why XYZ MBA Program?

Although not all business schools ask you these questions, they are bound to come up in the interview if not in your essays. Moreover, answering these questions can help you get clarity and focus on how to position yourself. You must create a logical link between these three questions by connecting your goals and aspirations. 

Tips on answering the ‘Why’ MBA essay questions

Here are a few tips on how you can go about finding the answer to these questions:

• Why MBA? Look into your future aspirations and how pursuing an MBA fits into them. You should establish a clear, logical, and career-oriented reason for pursuing an MBA. 
• Why MBA Now? Look into your past experiences and provide context as to how pursuing an MBA now fits into your plans. You need to make sure that Adcoms understand that it is the right time for you to pursue an MBA.
• Why XYZ MBA Program? Evaluate how aligned the business school is with your career goals. For example, if you are looking for leadership development during the course, check if that B-school offers such a program. You also need to align your values with the school. Go to the selected business school website and see if their values align with yours. For example, ISB values openness, passion for excellence, collaboration, initiative, and innovation. So, if these values are in-line with your values, ISB is a good fit for you. 

Step 3: Decode the essay prompt 

Once you self-reflect and get familiar with the standard essay questions, it’s time to decode the essay prompt. Each B-school has a unique essay question through which Adcoms evaluate a specific set of things. Understand what the Adcoms are looking to know from that particular question. For example, essay prompts such as, “Describe what you learned from your most spectacular failure?” Here, the Adcom wants to know how you overcame your biggest failure and learned something meaningful from that experience.

Step 4: Create a draft and respect the word count 

After understanding what is required in a particular essay question, create a draft within the word limit. Chad Losee from HBS points out that essays should be about the right length. Use your judgment and be clear and concise in your writing. Moreover, you need to make sure that your essay adds new information. What more is there to you apart from your resume, LOR, and numbers? 

Here are a few tips for writing an essay: 

• Provide instances wherever necessary. Write instances in the form of stories. We suggest using a SAR format – Situation, Action, and Result. Start your story by providing a context, and mention the action you took and the results of your actions. 
• Make sure the essay is in a flow. Have your story structured so that it conveys the overall message. 
• Make sure that your essay has correct/genuine content. It should be concise, cohesive, clear, and convincing. 
• Your Essays should be in line with your overall MBA application.
• Do not be afraid to show your vulnerability. Adcoms are more interested in knowing how you tackle them. 
• Invite inputs from others. 

Step 5: Review and Submit 

You must review your application before submitting it. Readout your essay aloud and ask yourself, could this essay also describe someone else? If yes, it’s probably not personal enough to add to your overall application. 

It helps to get a fresh perspective on your essay. Ask your friend, family, or colleague to read it. Their inputs can be valuable as they know who you are and provide characteristic traits that you might have missed. Moreover, they can also help you understand how others perceive you and if it is consistent with what you have written.

Here is a quick overview of mistakes that you should avoid while writing essays:

• Going over the word count. 
• Lack of the 5C’s – Correct content, cohesive, concise, clear, and convincing. 
• Too many instances.
• Not providing something new. Repetitive content. 
• Lack of introspection. 
• Candidates tend to copy/paste the same answer that they used in a different B-school application. 
• Not proofreading.
• Not addressing each part of the question. 
• Lack of flow.
• Lack of reason for why MBA, Why now, and Why XYZ B-school?

We hope that this article provides you with insights into how to write your MBA essay. We can help you write amazing essays.

Our MBA admission consultants have been part of the actual MBA admission team and interview panel at top global B-schools. Therefore, we know what the MBA admissions team actually looks for in a candidate and can guide you accordingly. 

How we’ll help you write amazing essays  

Our MBA admission consulting services are structured considering the above points. Broadly, our services cover the following: 

• Narrative building by a lead consultant, who is a top B-school alum and has got extensive admission consulting experience 
• Identifying your leadership personality trait 
• Identifying and Shortlisting incidents from your personal and professional life having a significant impact and leadership traits 
• Aligning your post MBA career goals with these skills and leadership traits that you have displayed in the above incidents 
• Customizing the narrative by school mentors, who are alumni of the B-schools you are applying to 
• Customizing the narrative by an industry mentor, who is a top B-school alum from your industry/function 
• Essay editing – multiple iterations 
• Essay review by school mentors 
• Resume and Letter of Recommendation guidance 
• Interview prep 

If you follow the above method, you can crack any B-school essay. For more information on our plans and pricing, please visit our  plans and pricing page . For a free profile evaluation, please write to us at  [email protected]  or fill out the  form . 

MBA essays are your chance to showcase your worth to your target business school. They are an excellent means to distinguish your application and let the admissions committee know the real you.  

Yes. Essays are the only place in your application where you can reveal your aspiration, why an MBA makes sense as the next step in your career path, and address any drawbacks in your application. They help the Admission committee know the person behind those facts and figures in your application. Thus, an MBA essay is a crucial part of your application. 

The length of your MBA essay depends on the program, but generally, essays are anywhere between 200-1200 words. The important thing to remember is that you should not go over the word limit and if the limit is not set by the program, make sure your essay is cohesive, concise, and clear. 

To start an MBA essay, make sure that you self-reflect and do some introspection about your life and career. Think about your past experiences and how they have shaped you. Get yourself familiar with the common essay questions like why MBA and why now. It is important that you identify incidents around some common skills that Adcoms look for – Academic Excellence, result-oriented, Leadership, Team management, and Learning. 

Do you want to get into your dream business school?

Take the first step towards your MBA dream and schedule a free 1 on 1 application strategy call with us.

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Essays help us learn about who you are rather than solely what you have done.

Other parts of the application give insight into your academic and professional accomplishments; the essays reveal the person behind those achievements.

Essay Questions

We request that you write two personal essays.

In each essay, we want to hear your genuine voice. Think carefully about your values, passions, aims, and dreams. There is no “right answer” to these questions — the best answer is the one that is truest for you.

Essay A: What matters most to you, and why?

For this essay, we would like you to reflect deeply and write from the heart. Once you’ve identified what matters most to you, help us understand why. You might consider, for example, what makes this so important to you? What people, insights, or experiences have shaped your perspectives?

Essay B: Why Stanford?

Describe your aspirations and how your Stanford GSB experience will help you realize them. If you are applying to both the MBA and MSx programs, use Essay B to address your interest in both programs.

Both essays combined may not exceed 1,000 words. We recommend up to 650 words for Essay A and up to 350 words for Essay B. We often read effective essays that are written in fewer words.

Editing Your Essays

Begin work on the essays early to give yourself time to reflect, write, and edit.

Feel free to ask friends or family members for feedback, especially about whether the tone and voice sound like you. Your family and friends know you better than anyone. If they think the essays do not capture who you are, what you believe, and what you aspire to do, then surely we will be unable to recognize what is distinctive about you.

Feedback vs. Coaching

There is a big difference between “feedback” and “coaching.” You cross that line when any part of the application (excluding the letters of recommendation ) ceases to be exclusively yours in either thought or word.

Appropriate feedback occurs when others review your completed application — perhaps once or twice — and apprise you of omissions, errors, or inaccuracies that you later correct or address. After editing is complete, your thoughts, voice, and style remain intact. Inappropriate coaching occurs when you allow others to craft any part of your application for you and, as a result, your application or self-presentation is not authentic.

It is improper and a violation of the terms of this application process to have another person or tool write your essays. Such behavior will result in denial of your application or revocation of your admission.

Additional Information

If there is any information that is critical for us to know and is not captured elsewhere, include it in the Additional Information section of the application. Pertinent examples include:

• Extenuating circumstances affecting your candidacy, including academic, work, or test-taking experiences
• Academic experience (e.g., independent research) not noted elsewhere
• Explanation of why you are not using a current supervisor as a recommender

This section should not be used as an additional essay.

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Sample MBA Essay for Wharton

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MBA essays can be hard to write, but they are one of the most important parts of the MBA application process . If you need help getting started, you may want to view a few sample MBA essays for inspiration. The sample MBA essay shown below has been reprinted (with permission) from EssayEdge.com . EssayEdge did not write or edit this sample MBA essay. It is a good example of how an MBA essay should be formatted.

Wharton Essay Prompt

Prompt: Describe how your experiences, both professional and personal, have led to your decision to pursue an MBA at the Wharton school this year. How does this decision relate to your career goals for the future? Throughout my life, I have observed two distinct career paths, my father's and my uncle's. My father completed his engineering degree and secured a government job in India, which he continues to hold to this day. My uncle's path began similarly; like my father, he earned an engineering degree. My uncle, on the other hand, continued his education by moving to the United States to earn an MBA, then started his own venture and became a successful businessman in Los Angeles. Evaluating their experiences helped me understand what I wanted from my life and create a master plan for my career. While I appreciate the excitement, flexibility, and independence my uncle has in his life, I value my father's proximity to his family and culture. I now realize that a career as an entrepreneur in India could provide me with the best of both worlds. With the objective of learning about business, I completed my bachelor's degree in Commerce and joined KPMG in the Audit & Business Advisory Department. I believed that a career with an accounting firm would serve me in two ways: first, by enhancing my knowledge of accounting -- the language of business -- and second, by providing me with an excellent introduction to the business world. My decision seemed to be a sound one; in my first two years at KPMG, I worked on a wide variety of assignments that not only strengthened my analytical and problem-solving skills, but also taught me how large businesses managed their sourcing, manufacturing, and distribution functions. After enjoying this productive and educational experience for two years, I decided I wanted greater opportunities than what the audit department could offer. Thus, when the Management Assurance Services (MAS) practice was established in India, the challenge of working in a new service line and the opportunity to help improve the risk management mechanisms of businesses influenced me to join it. In the last three years, I have improved risk management capabilities of clients by addressing strategic, enterprise and operational risk issues. I have also assisted the MAS practice in tailoring our international portfolio of services to the Indian marketplace by conducting risk management surveys, interacting with professionals in other developing economies, and conducting interviews with senior client management. Besides becoming skilled at process risk consulting, I have also significantly improved my project management and new service development abilities in the last three years.

During my tenure with the MAS department, I have encountered challenges that have motivated me to seek  a management degree . For example, last year, we conducted a process risk review for a cash-starved Indian auto ancillary that had expanded capacity without assessing sources of competitive advantage. It was clear that the company needed to rethink its business and operational strategy. Since the MAS department lacked the necessary skills to execute the project, we hired consultants to assist us in the assignment. Their approach of reviewing both the strategic and operational aspects of the business was an eye-opener for me. The pair of consultants used their knowledge of international business and macroeconomics to evaluate key industry trends and identify new markets for the company. In addition, they employed their understanding of supply chain management to benchmark key capabilities with competition and identify opportunities for improvement. As I witnessed the progress made by these two consultants, I realized that in order to achieve my long-term professional goals, I needed to return to school to expand my understanding of the fundamentals of corporate and industry analysis. I also believe that management education can help me develop other vital skills essential to my standing as a professional. For example, I will benefit from the opportunity to further polish my public speaking ability and hone my skills as a negotiator. Also, I have had limited experience working outside India, and I feel that an international education will equip me with the skills necessary to deal with foreign suppliers and customers. After graduating from Wharton, I will seek a position in a strategy consulting firm in its business building/growth practice. In addition to providing me with an opportunity to apply what I have learned, a position in the growth practice will expose me to the practical issues of new business creation. Three to five years after earning an MBA, I would expect to establish my own business venture. In the short-term, however, I may explore exciting business ideas and examine ways to build a  sustainable business  with the help of the Wharton Venture Initiation Program. The ideal education for me includes the Wharton Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management majors coupled with unique experiences like the Wharton Business Plan Competition and the Wharton Technology Entrepreneurship Internship. Perhaps even more importantly, I look to benefit from the Wharton environment -- an environment of boundless innovation. Wharton will give me the opportunity to apply the theory, models and techniques I learn in the classroom to the real world. I intend to join the 'entrepreneurs club' and consulting club, which will not only help me form lifelong friendships with fellow students but also give me exposure to  top consulting firms  and successful entrepreneurs. I would be proud to be a part of the Women in Business club and contribute to the 125 years of women at Penn. After five years of business experience, I believe that I am ready to take the next step toward my dream of being an entrepreneur. I also am confident that I am ready to participate actively as a member of the incoming Wharton class. At this point I am looking to gain the requisite skills and relationships to grow as a professional; I know that Wharton is the right place for me to accomplish this objective.

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MBA Admission Essay Samples

Featured Expert: Anand Singh, MBA

Are you looking for some MBA admission essay samples? Look no further. In this blog, we share four outstanding MBA admission essay samples that will definitely inspire you to write your own. 

Most business schools will give you specific essay prompts that you will need to answer with your essay, but ultimately, you will either be writing an  MBA personal statement , an  MBA statement of purpose , or an  MBA diversity essay . These are the three most common types of admission essays, and they can all be challenging to write. Reviewing examples, giving yourself enough time to write and edit, and working with an expert such as an  MBA essay consultant  can really improve the quality of your admissions essay. To help you get started, we’ve put together a few examples with prompts from some of the top business schools.

>> Want us to help you get accepted? Schedule a free strategy call here . <<

Article Contents 8 min read

Mba admission essays: sample #1.

Prompt from Wharton Business School : Considering your background – personal, professional, and/or academic – how do you plan to make specific, meaningful contributions to the Wharton community? (400 words).

Fifteen years ago, after graduating from high school, I left Tanzania and moved to the United States because I wanted to study multimedia marketing, and my research told me there was no better place to learn. I moved halfway across the world at the age of seventeen to follow my dreams of becoming an advertising expert and opening my own firm one day.

It took me some time to find my footing in the US. I often felt isolated and confused. Sometimes, it was little things. For example, I remember the first time I went into a grocery store and found that the food was measured in pounds. I grew up using the metric system, so instead of spending twenty minutes in the store as planned, I spent almost an hour because I had to calculate the weight of things.

Other times, it was bigger things that made me feel isolated. Like the second time I went to that same grocery store and asked a young woman who worked there where I could find scallions, she responded with a blank stare. After I explained what they were, she informed me that they are called spring onions and that if I was going to live in America, I should learn to speak English, or I could go back to where I came from.

I always made it a point to try and learn as much as possible about the places I visited to ensure that I didn't make anyone feel uncomfortable or end up feeling uncomfortable myself. I eventually found the International Student Association at the University of X, where other international students embraced me and introduced me to American students with whom I am still friends to this day. One of whom I fell in love with and married.

My experiences as an international student helped me understand the importance of being welcomed and having access to information. I know that 30% of Wharton business school's student body comprises international students and that every year, it welcomes more. I would like to join the efforts of the students who help make their transition to life in America easier.

Furthermore, I believe that my experiences have taught me to be more open-minded. I look forward to sharing my point of view with students from all over the world and having the chance to learn from them too.  (396 words)

Want to see more Wharton MBA essay examples ?

Prompt from Harvard Business School : Briefly tell us more about your career aspirations. (300 words)

My long-term career goal is to advise small businesses in my community and help them grow. I have been working as an associate business advisor with a local bank for almost a decade, and one of the many things that I have learned from this position is that several business owners do not have access to information that can go a long way toward improving, and sometimes even saving, their businesses. 

Having grown up in a relatively underserved community, I understand the importance of supporting local businesses and ensuring that we reinvest in our own communities. However, as a consumer, I also understand how difficult it can be to do this when there are cheaper and faster ways to access the same products or services that a local business offers. 

Over the years, I have built and maintained relationships with over 100 business owners in various industries and helping them manage their finances has taught me about business financial planning. Furthermore, I have had the opportunity to build practical experience through an internship with a local consulting agency.

I believe that these experiences have given me a solid foundation, but to achieve my goal of becoming a business consultant and helping small business owners, I need to learn more about business administration and management. 

I chose to apply to the Harvard Business School MBA program because it has a rigorous curriculum emphasizing real-world experience through the FIELD immersion program and partnerships with other institutions. This is the perfect program for a person like me who learns by doing. 

I am ready and eager to take this next step in my career so that I can help those around me get the most out of their businesses. I believe that this is the perfect program to help me improve on the skills required to achieve my goal.

Want to learn how to write a Harvard MBA personal statement ?

Prompt from Kellogg Business School : Kellogg’s purpose is to educate, equip & inspire brave leaders who create lasting value. Provide a recent example where you have demonstrated leadership and created lasting value. What challenges did you face, and what did you learn? (450 words)

As one of six operations managers in a contact center, I spend most of my days making decisions that are meant to create lasting value. I lead a team of thirty employees, and my job is to maximize efficiency by ensuring that we have enough employees to provide the service requested by our clients and that the employees have everything they need to do their jobs well.

I was promoted to this role a year ago, and one of the issues I wanted to tackle was our high turnover rate. I know that contact centers have notoriously high turnover rates, but instead of the expected 30 - 40%, we were averaging a rate of 60%. This was not only costing the company a lot of money, but it was reducing the quality of the service that we could provide for our clients.

I spent months pouring over the numbers, trying to understand why we were losing so many employees and what we could do to change it. We pay our agents above market average, give employees good health benefits and vacation time, and hold several contests and competitions to keep them motivated.

After a few months of analyzing the data and finding nothing, I decided to go straight to the source. I changed the company's exit strategy procedure. Instead of a conversation between exiting contact center agents and their former supervisors, they would simply fill out an anonymous survey online that only a few people had access to.

The comments on these surveys helped me understand that the issue actually came from our hiring practices. Most of the comments showed me that many of our new recruits were not understanding the role they were signing up for. So, they would begin working, find something completely different from what they expected and decide to leave.

This information allowed me to take the lead and make some changes that benefited the whole company. I worked with an HR consultant to create better job descriptions that all the different managers now use when hiring contact center agents. Our turnover rate is now 22%, which is lower than the national average for contact centers. 

I pride myself on my ability to look at problems objectively and approach them from different angles until I find a solution. In this case, I was able to do the same thing, and in the process, I learned the importance of asking questions and looking beyond the numbers.

I am conscious of the fact that I still have a lot to learn, and I am eager to do so because I know that the knowledge I gain from this program will help me do right by my team. (449 words)

Check out more Kellogg MBA essay examples !

Prompt from Columbia University : Tell us about your favorite book, movie, or song and why it resonates with you. (250 words)

When I first started writing this essay, I began by writing a list of all my favorite books. I had filled about two pages with titles when I realized that I don't have one favorite; I have several. I initially told myself that I should talk about a business book, or something related to finances, but as much as I enjoy such books and as much as I learn from them, they are honestly not my favorites. 

After careful consideration and a few pro-con lists, I decided to write about one of the books that I have read and enjoyed multiple times: The girl with the louding voice, by the Nigerian author Abi Dare. This book follows a young girl from a poor and remote community as she tries to raise enough funds to get an education and use what she calls her 'louding voice.' Her story is both heartbreaking and inspiring. 

This particular book resonates with me so much because it reminds me of the importance of literacy and that millions of young girls worldwide do not have access to education. A cause that I am very passionate about.

I have and continue to donate my time and money towards changing things for the better. That is why I started an initiative in our publishing house to distribute books in underserved areas and underfunded schools. I hope that the knowledge and know-how that I will gain from your MBA program will allow me to do even more to help.  (250 words)

Want to see more MBA admission essays from the best MBA programs in the US ?

• More Columbia MBA essay examples
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• Cornell MBA essay examples

Have you started preparing for your MBA interviews? This video is for you:

As you can tell from the different essays you just read, business schools can ask MBA applicants about various topics. Sometimes, the same school might even give you several different prompts and ask you to choose a few from the list.  Harvard MBA personal statement  prompts are a great example of this. It is therefore important to review as many MBA admission essay samples as possible to get inspiration and familiarize yourself with the proper structure of an admission essay.

We would be remiss if we did not remind you that while looking at MBA admission samples for inspiration is great, you should not use these essays or parts of these essays as your own. Not only is this unethical, but  universities can detect plagiarism , and it can have severe consequences.

After reviewing examples, you should start by brainstorming for your own essay. Think about the experiences and motivations that have led you to apply for an MBA program and your reasons for choosing each particular MBA program that you are applying to. You can then use this information, along with examples and anecdotes from your academic and professional background to create an MBA admission essay that will stand out.

Write down as much information as possible when you are brainstorming for your essay, this information can be very helpful when you start to prepare for MBA interviews . ","label":"Bonus tip","title":"Bonus tip"}]" code="tab1" template="BlogArticle">

We recommend that you give yourself at least six to eight weeks to go through this process. If you're unsure how to craft your own essay, invest in MBA admissions consulting . The consultants can guide you through the brainstorming, writing, and editing process to help you ensure that you are submitting an essay that is not only compelling but original. Thus, improving your overall chances of getting into your chosen MBA program. 

Your admission essays are very important. They give you an opportunity to present your strengths and explain your weaknesses to the admission committee. They also give you a chance to tell them exactly what you have to offer and why you deserve a spot in their class. A well-written essay can differentiate you from other candidates and significantly improve your chances of getting into your program.

MBAs are highly sought after, so the competition to get into the programs can be fierce, especially for the top institutions such as  Ivy League schools . You will need a stellar application if you want to get in.

That will depend on the school you are applying to and the specific type of admission essay that has been requested. Unless otherwise specified by the school, your essay should be between 400 and 650 words.

Not all MBA programs ask for one, but the majority of them do. Many schools require more than one admission essay, so you should always verify the school's requirements you're interested in.

A personal statement is one of the many different types of admission essays. You may be required to write a personal statement and a different type of essay, such as a letter of intent. Or your chosen school may only require one essay. Either way, you should verify the school's admissions page for the most accurate and up-to-date information.

They don't necessarily change every year, but they are subject to change depending on the school and the admission committee. You should always check the school's website before you start writing your essays to be prepared.

If you want your MBA admission essay to stand out, you need to make sure that you are showing instead of telling. Use specific examples and short anecdotes to back up any claims that you make about yourself. You should also make sure that you are following any instructions or guidelines provided by the school. If you truly want to beat the competition and craft an outstand essay, you may want to work with an MBA essay consultant.

An MBA essay consultant is an admission expert that helps students through the MBA admissions process, specifically with admission essays. They guide students as they try to craft their personal statements or other MBA admission essays. These consultants also help students improve their research and writing skills.

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Everything You Need to Know about MBA Admissions Essays

The MBA application process can be daunting, but don’t worry—we’re here to help! Read on to find out everything you need to know about your MBA Admissions Essays. 

What is the purpose of the mba essay.

Just like for your undergrad applications, your MBA essays are there to help admissions get to know you as a person beyond the facts and figures of your transcripts, test scores, and resume. Each school asks slightly different questions to help determine how you will fit into their unique culture and benefit from their specific program and its offerings. The essays are an opportunity to share your personality, your background, your future goals, and your enthusiasm for a specific program. Whereas your resume is a more formal document, your essays should be more personal, written in your own unique voice. 

How many MBA essays will I need to write?

Most schools require 1-4 written essays and some of them are also beginning to require 1-2 video essays. The most important thing to do as you collect application information is to read the prompts closely and carefully to make sure that you’re answering the questions completely and accurately. 

What are the most common MBA essay questions?

There are 6 common essay questions, and many schools’ prompts will be a combination of these types. Let’s dive in!

1. The Goals Essay

Perhaps the most common essay for an MBA application, the Goals Essay asks you to explain what you hope to do after you receive your degree. Typically, these essays ask both about your short-term and long-term goals and range from 100-500 words. The key here is to be specific: rather than write that you want to be a CEO by the time you’re 30, reflect on your past educational and work experiences to identify attainable goals that gel with your background and interests. Maybe, when you were an accountant, your firm hired a management consultant who opened your eyes to the field, so you hope to get a job consulting after you graduate and eventually open your own firm. Admissions is trying to build a cohort with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and interests, so don’t be shy here—rather than writing what you think they want to hear, be honest about what you hope to accomplish. 

See Columbia’s 2023-24 Essay 1 Prompt as an example:

Through your resume and recommendation, we have a clear sense of your professional path to date. What are your career goals over the next three to five years and what is your long-term dream job? (500 words)

2. The Why Essay

Anyone can apply for an MBA at any time, so explain to the Admission Committee why you want to pursue an MBA right now. What circumstances, experiences, ambitions, or skill gaps led you to this decision? How will the MBA coursework and experiences set you on the right path? This essay has two main components: your personal reasons for applying and the specific school offerings. After explaining what led you to this decision, describe what aspects of the school’s program attract you. Perhaps you work for your family restaurant and have realized that further education in finance, marketing, and business planning will help you take the business to the next level. Make sure you cite specific courses, internships, extracurriculars, or other offerings that draw you to each school. 

It’s also worth noting that the Goals Essay and Why Essay are often combined. 

William & Mary’s 2023-24 Essay Prompt 1 is a great example:

Why is an MBA the next logical step towards achieving your short-term and long-term professional goals? Why is the William & Mary MBA the right program for you? (approx. 800 words)

3. The Personal Statement (a.k.a. Personal Story)

The Personal Statement focuses on who you are as a person, your background, and what brought you to this application. These essays can vary wildly in length, ranging anywhere from 250-1200 words. This essay should be vulnerable, personal, and unique to you and your own life experiences. What are your interests? What personal, academic, or professional challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them? What inspired you to pursue your MBA? How did you decide to apply to this particular program? Admissions should walk away from your essay feeling like they have a sense of who you are as a person and what has shaped you: your family, your background, your interests, and your personal journey. Crucially, be sure to include a pivot from your background and story to the reasons you are applying for an MBA at this time. Show how your journey has naturally culminated in this decision. The most compelling personal statements weave your challenges and accomplishments into a unique narrative, charting your personal growth. 

See Stanford’s 2023-24 Essay A Prompt as an example:

For this essay, we would like you to reflect deeply and write from the heart. Once you’ve identified what matters most to you, help us understand why. You might consider, for example, what makes this so important to you? What people, insights, or experiences have shaped your perspectives?

4. The Contribution Essay

Often combined with questions about your background, the Contribution Essay is a chance to dig into your research and get specific about how you expect to fit into the school community. This is a great place to highlight your professional skills, personal interests, unique background, or leadership capabilities while demonstrating your eagerness to join each particular school culture. Spend some time on each school’s website to get a feel for what they have to offer and what you can bring to their community. Maybe you plan to leverage your experience on Wall Street and your advocacy background to start a Women Investors Club. Perhaps you’ll use your events management experience to help organize the Private Equity Club’s speaker series. Show admissions that you have not only something to gain from their program, but something to add, too. 

See Johnson’s 2023-24 Impact Essay Prompt:

At Cornell, our students and alumni share a desire to positively impact the organizations and communities they serve. Taking into consideration your background, how do you intend to make a meaningful impact on an elite MBA community? (350 words)

5. The Leadership Essay

The Leadership Essay asks you to tell a story illustrating your leadership experience. Some of these essays ask you to refer to the university’s principles of leadership, while others ask you about the skills you used to solve a problem. Think about all the ways in which you’ve been a leader, whether that’s as a parent, a student council officer, a department manager, or a pick-up kickball league captain. What challenges did you face? How did you resolve issues? Did you discover that certain techniques were more successful than others? While you, of course, want to highlight your accomplishments, you also want to show that you still have something to learn about leadership in the MBA program. 

See Northwestern’s 2023-24 Question 1 Prompt :

Kellogg Leaders are primed to tackle today’s pressing concerns everywhere, from the boardroom to their neighborhoods. Tell us about a time in your life where you’ve needed a combination of skills to solve a problem or overcome a challenge. Which skills did you use? What did you accomplish?

6. The Diversity and Inclusion Essay

Finally, the Diversity & Inclusion Essay asks you to describe your dedication to DEI through actual personal experiences you’ve had working to champion these goals. Rather than focus on your personal background, you should discuss how you have demonstrated a commitment to these values through your actions and experiences with others. Perhaps you started an employee mentorship program at your job to connect colleagues of color across generational divides. Maybe you spend your Saturdays mentoring a teenager from an underserved community through Big Brothers Big Sisters. It’s okay if your experience with these values isn’t as clear-cut as these examples; just be sure to thoughtfully demonstrate your relationship to these values through anecdotes from your life. 

See Berkeley Haas’s 2023-24 Essay 3 Prompt :

One of our goals at Berkeley Haas is to develop leaders who value diversity and to create an inclusive environment in which people from different ethnicities, genders, lived experiences, and national origins feel welcomed and supported. Describe any experience or exposure you have in the area of diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging whether through community organizations, personal, or in the workplace?

7. BONUS: Video Essay!

Surprise, there’s one more type of essay: the Video Essay. Many schools are now requiring students to record videos of themselves answering prompts ranging from personal stories to leadership questions. These videos are usually limited to one or two minutes in length and must be recorded in one take with no additional editing or special effects. The video gives you a chance to showcase your personality and communication skills while answering application questions. The key here is to be authentic. Write down some bullet points to help keep yourself focused as you talk, but don’t read a word-for-word script; stay honest and true to your own voice so admissions can get a sense of your unique presence! 

See MIT Sloan’s Video Statement Instructions :

Introduce yourself to your future classmates. Here’s your chance to put a face with a name, let your personality shine through, be conversation, be yourself. We can’t wait to meet you! Videos should adhere to the following guidelines: No more than 1 minute (60 seconds) in length Single take (no editing) Speaking directly to the camera Do not include background music or subtitles

How do I write my essays?

Step 1: Understand the Prompt

The most basic—and most important—thing to remember when you sit down to work on your essays is to read and understand the prompt! Many schools will ask similar, but subtly different, questions. The only thing worse for admissions than an essay that’s too long is an essay that doesn’t answer the question. Look for keywords like “background,” “professional goals,” and “community” and question words like “how” and “why.” If you’re having trouble identifying which type of essay you need to write, ask a friend, family member, or (totally random suggestion) your College Essay Advisor for help! 

Step 2: Brainstorming

Once you’re sure you know what the prompt is asking, it’s time to brainstorm. Let your mind run wild and jot down every thought that comes into your mind. Let the question marinate over several days, adding ideas as they occur to you in your day-to-day life. Once you’ve finished, take a look at what you came up with and select the ideas that speak to both your heart and your mind: you want to write about themes that you find meaningful and that constitute a compelling narrative. 

Step 3: Drafting

Next comes the fun part: drafting! We recommend a method called freewriting, wherein you just let the words flow out of you without editing, judging, or backtracking. Remember, it’s important that your admissions essays are written in your unique voice, so get that stream of consciousness onto the page without regard to grammar, word count, or structure! It’s always easier to trim than it is to add content, so at this stage, every idea, phrase, and tangent is fair game.

Step 4: Editing

Now comes the real work: editing your freewrites into a concise, persuasive, well-structured essay. Start this process by reviewing the prompt. Then, review your freewrites and assemble them into a loose narrative, adding structure and transitions to make it cohesive. Next, read through your essay to make sure it accurately responds to the prompt while fully explaining your perspective. This is the time to sprinkle in your school research, making sure you’ve fully explained why you would be a good fit for each school’s unique program. This is also the time to ask for outside feedback. One good trick is to show someone your essay and see if they can guess the prompt based on what you wrote; if they can’t, you haven’t answered it clearly enough! 

Step 5: Proofreading

You’ve researched, you’ve brainstormed, you’ve drafted, and you’ve edited—so you’re done, right? Not quite! The last step is proofreading your essay to make sure there are no spelling, grammar, or fact-checking errors. Walk away from your essay for a couple of days so you can come back and read it with fresh eyes and ask an eagle-eyed friend, family member, or Advisor to review it, too. Double-check all the professors’ names, course names, or other program offerings to make sure you got everything just right. Nothing is more embarrassing than turning in an essay with the university’s name misspelled!

When should I start writing my essays?

It’s never too early to start writing your essays once the school has released the requirements! As soon as that information is made available, get cracking with brainstorming. Without the pressure of a deadline, you’ll have plenty of time to thoughtfully consider your essays and craft the most compelling, cohesive narratives. And if your application is due in two weeks, you now have the tools to approach your essays systematically and comprehensively! 

MBA essays aren’t so scary anymore, are they? All you have to do is use the same skills you’ll use in business school: reading comprehension, critical thinking, research, analysis, and communication. And as always, your friendly neighborhood College Essay Advisors are here to help!

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Tags: biz school , business school , MBA , MBA admissions , MBA admissions essays , mba applications , mba contribution essay , mba diversity essay , mba essay writing , mba essays , mba goals essay , mba leadership essay , mba personal statement , mba personal story , mba video essay , mba why essay , school

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June 13, 2024

Wharton MBA Essay Tips and Deadlines [2024-2025], Class Profile

Wharton has not changed its application essay questions for several seasons now. This is usually a sign that the admissions committee is happy with the kind of essays applicants are providing in response. Wharton asks candidates to share what they plan to do with their MBA in the short and long term and to discuss what they can contribute to the school’s community. The school’s optional essay then lets applicants address any issues with their profile, if needed.

Ready to get to work on your Wharton application? Read on.

Wharton application essay tips

The wharton mba team-based discussion.

• Wharton application deadlines
• Wharton class profile

Wharton Essay #1

How do you plan to use the Wharton MBA program to help you achieve your future professional goals? You might consider your past experience, short and long-term goals, and resources available at Wharton. (500 words)

This question is specifically asking you to reflect on your aspirations, accomplishments, and essentially, “Why Wharton?” It is future focused and exclusively professional. What do you want to do professionally that you can’t do now and that a Wharton MBA will enable you to do? What “soft” and “hard” skills do you hope to acquire at Wharton? How will a Wharton MBA (the education, credential, and experience), combined with your past experience and education, help you achieve your dreams?

Wharton Director of Admissions Blair Mannix explains:

“We want students to do self-reflection on why they want this degree. We want students to explore the pivot moment – when they decided they wanted to do this – and unpack the talent and treasure they can bring to the MBA. Spend the time and really think about the top three things you will get out of the program.”

As with most MBA goals questions , Wharton wants to see how you plan to connect your MBA education to your future aspirations. Keep in mind that Wharton has an incredibly rich curriculum with a wide variety of majors and courses available, both at Wharton and across Penn. How will you take advantage of its unique offerings to achieve your career goals?

To answer this question well, you need to have a sense of your next steps professionally and how you plan to use Wharton’s myriad resources to make it the perfect next stop on your professional journey. There are many ways you could structure your response. You might start with a pivotal experience that illustrates either what you seek to accomplish or how it shaped your short and long-term goals. Then explain why this experience – ideally, an accomplishment – is important to you and how it relates to the question. In doing so, make sure you specifically state how the Wharton experience is key to achieving your objectives. 

Wharton Essay #2

Taking into consideration your background – personal, professional, and/or academic – how do you plan to make specific, meaningful contributions to the Wharton community? (400 words)

For this essay, start with the end in mind: How do you intend to contribute to the Wharton community?

To answer that question, research the cocurricular opportunities and pedagogical approach at Wharton. How will you add to the program and its community? Based on your experience, what difference do you intend to make? How will you participate and contribute?

Now decide on the aspects of your experience and background that have prepared you to have your intended impact. You can highlight achievements, challenges you’ve overcome , initiatives you’ve led, and teamwork situations, and that’s just for starters. 

Brainstorm ideas and jot them down. Talk with friends and family and ask them what they think your personal strengths are and how they have seen you make an impact in your student or professional communities. What unique value-add do they think you can bring to a student community of professionals?

Remember to think about what is important to you, and not just your goals, but your values. Now you’re now ready to write. The MBA application process is nothing if not a journey of self-reflection!

Start this essay with the impactful experience from your past and analyze the lesson you learned from that accomplishment. Then bring it forward and apply it to your intended role at Wharton.

Alternatively, you can start with your intended impact at Wharton and then go back to your past experience. Regardless of how you structure your essay, you want Wharton to see you as a giver and contributor.

Wharton Reapplicant Essay 

Please use this space to share with the Admissions Committee how you have reflected and grown since your previous application and discuss any relevant updates to your candidacy (e.g., changes in your professional life, additional coursework, and extracurricular/volunteer engagements). (250 words)

The name of the MBA reapplicant game is “Growth and Improvement.” Wharton is asking for reflection, and you need to provide it, while also showing how that reflection has led to action and advancement. Demonstrate to Wharton that you are a better candidate this time than last.

Wharton Optional Essay

Please use this space to share any additional information about yourself that cannot be found elsewhere in your application and that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee. This space can also be used to address any extenuating circumstances (e.g., unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, areas of weakness, etc.) that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider. (500 words)

“Addressing extenuating circumstances” means that you should describe the issues and situations in a straightforward way. Give the admissions committee context, and absolutely avoid giving excuses or deflecting blame. If possible, provide evidence that those circumstances were temporary and will not affect your performance.

Use this essay strategically. Admissions officers are reading many, many applications, so do not use the optional essay to superfluously expand on something you have already touched on in your other essays. Any aspect of your application that you think might raise a question mark for the admissions committee should be addressed clearly and succinctly here. Don’t make them guess. Alternatively, if you have some crucial aspect of your profile that you feel you need to convey (and have not shared in another essay or on your resume), this is a good place to do so. 

If you are invited to participate in a Wharton MBA Team-Based Discussion, be sure to listen to this advice: What Is Wharton’s Team-Based MBA Interview Like? Tips From Director of Admissions Blair Mannix .

Wharton Application Deadlines

To be considered for a round, you must submit a completed application by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the day of the deadline.

Source: Wharton website

***Disclaimer: Information is subject to change. Please check with Wharton directly to verify its essay questions, instructions, and deadlines.***

Wharton Class Profile

Here is a look at the Wharton MBA Class of 2025 (data taken from the Wharton website ):

Applications: 6,194

Enrolled class: 874

LGBTQ+ students: 11%

U.S. race/ethnicity (Federal guidelines reporting): 

• Asian American: 21%
• Black/African American: 9%
• Hispanic/Latinx: 7%
• Multi-race: 4%
• Did not report: 1%
• Native American: 0%

International students: 31%

Countries represented: 70

Average GMAT score: 728

Average GRE Quant score: 162

Average GRE Verbal score: 162

Average GPA (from students who attended universities with a 4.0 grading system): 3.6

Undergraduate major:

• Humanities: 40%
• Business: 27%

Interdisciplinary and dual degree programs (students):

• Health Care Management: 73
• Lauder MBA/MA: 70
• Moelis Advance Access (Deferred Admission): 57
• Carey JD/MBA: 16

Average years of work experience: 5

Range of years of work experience: 1-21

Previous Industry Experience:

• Consulting: 27%
• Private Equity/Venture Capital: 14%
• Technology: 12%
• Nonprofit/Government: 10%
• Investment Banking: 9%
• Financial Services: 7%
• Health Care: 5%
• Investment Management: 3%
• Consumer Packaged Goods: 2%
• Real Estate: 2%
• Media/Entertainment: 1%

Is Wharton your target school?

 Get started with your b-school research:

• Which MBA Program Is Right for Me? The Ultimate Guide to Choosing an MBA Program
• M7 MBA Programs: Everything You Need to Know in 2024

Once you have decided that Wharton is the place for you, Accepted can help you make your application stand out from the rest.

• What’s New at Penn’s The Wharton School. And How to Get In , podcast Episode 440, an interview with Wharton Director of Admissions Blair Mannix
• Applying to Wharton Lauder? Do Your Research! , podcast Episode 465, an interview with Kara Keenan Sweeney, former director of admissions marketing and financial aid at the Lauder Institute

Kara Keenan Sweeney has more than 15 years of experience in MBA admissions, having worked for some of the world’s top business school programs, including Columbia Business School, INSEAD, and The Lauder Institute’s joint degree MA/MBA program with The Wharton School and the MA/JD program with Penn Law at the University of Pennsylvania. Kara has guided, coached, and counseled thousands of MBA and EMBA applicants, reviewed innumerable applications, sat on admissions committees, and interviewed countless applicants, including while running Wharton’s Team-Based Discussions both virtually and in person. Want Kara to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch! 

Related Resources

• What’s New at The Wharton School, an interview with Blair Mannix, Executive Director of Graduate Admissions at The Wharton School
• Admissions Straight Talk Podcast for MBA Applicants
• Accepted’s Business School Selectivity Index

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Harvard Business School Will Now Update Its MBA Essay

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A full month later than its normal release of application deadlines, Harvard Business School today (June 5) posted its cutoff dates for MBA applicants to the Class of 2027 . The application opens Tuesday, June 25.

Though a change in essays had been expected and sources confirmed that a proposed change went before the dean, Harvard initially stuck with the essay prompt it has used for more than a decade. The prompt with a limit of 900 words: “As we review your application, what more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Harvard Business School MBA program?” (See MBA Essays That Worked At Harvard & Stanford ).

Two days after posting the new deadlines, however, Harvard said in a blog post that it would, in fact, reveal a new essay prompt on June 25th when the application goes live on the school’s website. “As part of this year’s application, you can expect some updates including changes to the essay prompt, which will be an opportunity for you to bring to life your journey and future aspirations,” according to the blog post .

For applicants who are invited to interview with admissions, the school also maintained its post-interview reflection requirement (see  Samples Of Harvard Business School Post-Interview Reflections ).

Speculation that the new managing director of admissions and financial aid, Rupal Gadhia , who arrived at Harvard last October, would change the application was rife. Some MBA admission consultants even posted videos suggesting a change was imminent. It now seems that will be true in another two weeks.

HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL MBA APPLICATION DEADLINE: SEPT 4 FOR ROUND ONE, JAN. 6 FOR ROUND TWO

For round one MBA applicants, Harvard set a September 4 deadline with final decisions out on December 10. Though the school did not post a date when R1 candidates would either be invited to interview or rejected outright, HBS typically notifies applicants in early October. Last year, the date was October 4.

For round two candidates, Harvard set a January 6 deadline, with final decisions out on March 26th. Last year, interview invites and rejections for this round came out on January 31.

Harvard posted the new deadlines without a blog post from Gadhia. (Update on June 7: Gadhia posted this update .)

The school said it would update the application dates for the 2025 2+2 deferred admission process in late summer of 2024.

Harvard Business School MBA application deadlines for 2024-2025

Harvard, of course, has one of the world’s most selective MBA programs. Last year, just 13.2% of the 8,149 people who applied were admitted. Application volume at HBS was down for the second straight year in 2023. Over the past three years, in fact, HBS app volume is down by 1,624 candidates. Only MIT Sloan has lost more applicants during that same time frame: 1,795 (see Acceptance Rates & Yield At The Top 100 U.S. MBA Programs ).

DON’T MISS: 2024-2025 MBA APPLICATION DEADLINES FOR THE WORLD’S TOP BUSINESS SCHOOLS or HOW FIVE INDIAN APPLICANTS OVERCAME THE ODDS AT HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL or READ THE ESSAYS THAT GOT THESE WOMEN INTO HARVARD’S MBA PROGRAM

Questions about this article? Email us or leave a comment below.

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Admissions , Full-Time MBA

13 June 2024

Essays and Deadlines Announced for 2024-25 Full-Time MBA Application

T he University of Virginia Darden School of Business is thrilled to announce the essays and deadlines for the 2024-25 Full-Time MBA application. While the full application is not yet available, we share these aspects early to give you the most time possible to prepare your submission.

Our admissions committee looks forward to reading your essays and the wonderful opportunity to learn more about you! We also look forward to interacting with you in the weeks and months ahead at one of our many virtual, on-grounds and off-grounds events. Additionally, we will be providing application tip webinars for each deadline to provide more guidance and encouraging tips as you navigate your applications. - Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions Dawna Clarke

APPLICATION DEADLINES

Prospective applicants are encouraged to apply during whichever round they can deliver the strongest application.   

• Early Action: Thursday, 5 September 2024  
• Round 1: Wednesday, 2 October 2024  
• Round 2: Tuesday, 7 January 2025  
• Round 3: Wednesday, 2 April 2025  

SHORT ANSWER ESSAY PROMPTS

The Admissions Team is excited to launch the 2024-25 application process with the release of our short answer questions and application deadlines. Our short answer essay questions are an opportunity for you to share various facets of your background and aspirations.

Community of Belonging   

What would you want your classmates to know about you that is not on your resume? (100 words)  

Inclusive Impact 

Please describe a tangible example that illuminates your experience promoting an inclusive environment and what you would bring to creating a welcoming, global community at Darden. (300 words)  

Careers with Purpose 

At this time how would you describe your short-term, post-MBA goal in terms of industry, function, geography, company size and/or mission , and how does it align with the the long-term vision you have for your career? (200 words)

VISIT CHARLOTTESVILLE

The best way to get to know Darden’s Full-Time MBA program is to visit us in Charlottesville! We have a full schedule of upcoming tours and coffee chats, where members of Darden Admissions will be happy to answer your application questions. View the event calendar here .  

We cannot wait to see the Class of 2027 take shape!  

Application Updates

The discover darden blog is the best way to receive future application news, related posts.

30 May 2024

Admissions , ExecMBA Application Tips , Executive MBA , Part-Time MBA

15 May 2024

Academics , Career , Darden Community , Full-Time MBA

10 May 2024

Admissions , Part-Time MBA

Academics , Admissions , Darden Community , Diversity, Equity and Inclusion , Executive MBA , Executive Student Profile

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2024-2025 Application Update and Deadlines

Hi everyone - we are looking forward to this year's MBA application cycle. I'm excited to share that the application will open on Tuesday, June 25th. As part of this year's application, you can expect some updates including changes to the essay prompt, which will be an opportunity for you to bring to life your journey and future aspirations.

You can start planning now by noting this year’s application deadlines. The deadlines are September 4th, 2024 for Round 1 and January 6th, 2025 for Round 2. The 2+2 Deferred Admissions deadline will be posted later this summer.

Our team has enjoyed being on the road meeting you in different cities around the world. We can’t wait to read your applications!

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If you have questions, the admissions team is here to help. They are experts ready to give you insider tips to stand out from the crowd.

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Admission dates and deadlines

EMBA admissions are rolling, meaning candidates may apply to either entry term (Fall or Winter) on either campus (Evanston or Miami).

Application deadlines

Decision released

Jan. 24, 2024

April 3, 2024

June 5, 2024*

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Oct. 2, 2024**

Most applicants can expect to receive a decision 4-6 weeks after applying.

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