Table of Contents
Key Takeaways:
-Master the art of storytelling in MBA essays by using specific examples and personal experiences that showcase your leadership potential and career growth.
-Apply proven strategies to address common prompts, including career goals, program fit, and overcoming challenges.
-Highlight professional achievements authentically while avoiding common pitfalls.
-Learn to craft concise, compelling narratives that maximize impact within word limits.
MBA essays are a crucial part of your business school application, offering a chance to share your story beyond test scores and resumes. These essays allow you to highlight your career goals, leadership potential, and why you're a perfect fit for the program. They’re not just another requirement; MBA essays are your opportunity to stand out in a competitive applicant pool by showing admissions committees who you truly are and why pursuing an MBA is essential for your future.
This guide will walk you through the key steps to craft impactful essays that showcase your strengths, align with program values, and leave a lasting impression. With clear strategies and actionable tips, you’ll learn how to present your story effectively and boost your chances of securing admission to your dream business school.
How Many Types of MBA Essays are There?
MBA essays come in several types, each serving a distinct purpose to showcase different aspects of your personality, skills, and goals. Here are the most common types of MBA essays you’ll encounter:
Here's a breakdown of why essays for MBA Program are so crucial and how to approach them.
- A Personal Introduction
- Showcasing Your Fit and Potential
- Highlighting Your Experience and Goals
- Demonstrating Your Communication Skills
- Reflecting Your Authenticity
| Essay Type | Purpose |
| Career Goals Essay | Outlines your career plans and how the MBA fits into them. |
| Why MBA/Why This School Essay | Explains your choice of program and its relevance to your goals. |
| Leadership Essay | Demonstrates leadership abilities through real-life examples. |
| Personal Growth Essay | Highlights experiences that contributed to your development. |
| Contribution Essay | Shows how you’ll add value to the program and its community. |
| Optional Essay | Provides additional context or addresses potential weaknesses in your application. |
What Key Elements will Lead to Successful MBA Essays?
When writing your MBA essays, it's really important to talk about a few key things: what you want to do in your career, your leadership experiences, how you've grown personally, what you've achieved, and how you can add value to the MBA program.
Each of these areas tells the school something special about you, like your goals, how you lead, how you've overcome challenges, and what you'll bring to the table.
| Elements | Tips |
|---|---|
| Career Goals |
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| Leadership Experience |
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| Personal Growth and Achievements |
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| Contribution |
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Let’s look at each of these elements of MBA essays and analyze what are the crucial key points we have to remember while writing these essays:
Career Goals
Its important to clearly describe your career goals, both short-term and long-term. Begin your MBA essays by mentioning where you see yourself working, the kind of job you aim for, and the type of company you wish to join. It's important to explain why you believe an MBA is essential for reaching these goals.
Some examples of essays focusing on career goals are:
| School | Question |
|---|---|
| Oxford Business School | Describe below your immediate plan after graduating from the MBA ( No-Limit) |
| Cambridge Judge Business School | Please provide details of your post-MBA career plans. The statement should not exceed 500 words and must address the following: short and long-term career objectives; how the Cambridge MBA will equip you to achieve these; your short-term career goal research; confidence in meeting your short-term career goal; skills/characteristics you have to achieve them; and preparation you are doing now. |
| Ivey Business School | What are your short-term career plans immediately post-MBA, and why is an Ivey MBA essential to those plans? (250 words) |
| London Business School | What are your post-MBA goals and how will your prior experience and the London Business School programme contribute towards these? (500 words) |
| HEC Paris |
Why are you applying to the HEC MBA Program now? What is the professional objective that will guide your career choice after your MBA, and how will the HEC MBA contribute to the achievement of this objective? (500 words) |
| Booth School of Business | How will a Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career() goals? (min 250 words) |
| ESCP Paris | What are your career objectives and how do you expect the MBA to help you reach them? (500 words) |
Leadership Experiences
Sharing your leadership experiences is key while writing your essays. Talk about times you've led a team or a project, focusing on the change or impact you made. It's not just about what you did but how you moved things forward.
This shows schools you have what it takes to lead in business, too. Each story in your MBA essays should highlight your skills and how you've grown as a leader, making your application stand out.
Some questions based on leadership are:
| School | Question |
|---|---|
| HEC Paris MBA | Leadership and ethics are inevitably intertwined in the business world. Describe a situation in which you have dealt with these issues and how they have influenced you. ( 250 words) |
| Columbia Business School MBA | The Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership (PPIL) is a co-curricular program designed to provide students with the skills and strategies needed to develop as inclusive leaders. Describe a time or situation when you had the need to utilize one or more of these five skills, and tell us the actions you took and the outcome. ( 250 words) |
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Your response should be no longer than 500 words and should address the following question: Reflect on a project or initiative you were involved in that had a significant positive impact on a community, organization, or individual. How did this experience shape your sense of responsibility as a future leader dedicated to making a difference in the world? |
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| Emory Two-Year MBA | Leadership in Business: Goizueta Business School is a values-driven community with a mission to prepare principled leaders to have an influence on business and society. Please tell us which of the Goizueta Core Values (Courage, Accountability, Integrity, Rigor, Diversity, Team, Community) resonates most with you and share a personal account of demonstrating leadership in this area within your current or previous company or service organization. The committee is interested in a personal story of leadership. (200 word limit) |
Personal Growth and Achievements
Writing about how you've grown and what you've achieved is really important. It shows you can learn from what happens to you and that you want to keep getting better. Talking about both success and failure shows you have a strong personality that can face any adversities and overcome them as well.
| School | Question |
|---|---|
| Ivey Business School | Tell us about a challenge you have faced in your life, and what lessons you learned from it. ( 250 words) |
| INSEAD | Give a candid description of yourself, stressing the personal characteristics you feel to be your strengths and weaknesses and the main factors which have influenced your personal development, giving examples when necessary. ( 500 words) |
| NUS Business School | How have people, events, and/or situations in your life influenced who you are today? ( 250 words) |
| ISB | Provide an honest portrayal of yourself, emphasizing your strengths and weaknesses. Highlight the key elements that have shaped your personal journey. Give relevant illustrations as needed. ( 400 words) |
| Booth School of Business | 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… ( min 250 words) |
| Cambridge Judge Business School | What has been your most significant professional achievement? ( 200 words) |
| HEC Paris | What do you consider your most significant life achievement? ( 250 words) |
Contribution Essay
Talking about the unique things you bring to the table is crucial. You should share your special work skills, different cultural views, or how you've led community projects. Also, talk about how you plan to make everyone feel welcome and included in the MBA program. This shows you're not just there to learn; you're also ready to make the program better for others.
The contribution MBA essays are a great way for schools to assess what applicants might bring to the table. Some examples of such essays include:
| School | Question |
|---|---|
| Imperial MBA | What will you contribute to Imperial's cohort and community? ( 1500 characters) |
| ESADE MBA | How will your background, values and non-work-related activities enhance the experience of other ESADE MBA students and add to the diverse culture we strive for at ESADE? (Note: The goal of this essay is to get a sense of who you are, rather than what you have accomplished). (max 3 000 characters including spaces) |
| Darden MBA | 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) |
| Tepper MBA |
The Tepper community is dynamic and unique with students who strive to be collaborative, supportive and inclusive. Please provide an example of when you experienced or created an inclusive environment and how you will use that experience to help members of the community reach their full potential.(Maximum 500 words, double spaced, 12 point font) |
Optional Question
Before diving into the optional essay, it's important to decide if this extra part is right for you. You need to understand why the optional essay exists and be good at telling a convincing story to increase your chances of being accepted into your dream business school.
The optional essay is a chance for you to provide more information or context about your profile or background that the admissions committee may need. It gives you a chance to explain any problems like gaps in your work or study history, low exam scores, health issues, or big life events that have affected your path.
| School | Question |
|---|---|
| Fisher College of Business |
The optional supplemental essay can be used to address any circumstances you'd like the Admissions Committee to be aware of (gaps in work history, explaining your quant ability through work experience, past academic performance, test waiver requests, etc.). This is a valuable opportunity to speak directly to the committee or highlight something not in the rest of your application. Students requesting a GRE/GMAT/EA test waiver may consider using this essay to clarify why they should receive a waiver. The admissions committee will utilize this in consideration of a waiver permission. (Maximum words: 500) |
| ESSEC Business School |
You may choose to write about a subject of your choice if you feel you have something additional to share. You may also use this space to write about any of the components of your candidature that you feel require additional information. (Word limit- 5000 characters) |
| Tuck School of Business | Please provide any additional insight or information that you have not addressed elsewhere (e.g., atypical choice of references, factors affecting academic performance, unexplained job gaps or changes). Complete this question only if you feel your candidacy is not fully represented by this application. For advice on how this section is best used and when to refrain from using it altogether, (300 words) |
| HEC Paris | Is there any additional information you would like to share with us? (no word limit) |
Let's Understand the Importance of Storytelling Essays
The MBA admissions team looks for your take on qualities like leadership and dedication in your MBA essays. Simply talking about an experience without reflecting on it won't show them your true character and drive. It's important to share what you learned from your experiences and how they've shaped your approach and commitment.
Talking about how your life events shape what you care about and aim for can be tough. It means looking deep inside yourself. The key is to share real stories and explain how these moments reflect what's important to you. This helps show who you really are and what drives you.
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 and how it impacted your life.
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.
Common Mistakes to Avoid in MBA Essays
Writing MBA essays can be tricky, and certain mistakes might hurt your chances of admission. Avoid these common pitfalls to ensure your essays stand out:
Submitting an Overly Complex Essay
The admissions committees are not interested in how well you can use fancy words or business jargon. They want to get to know you as an individual beyond just your business skills. If your MBA essays are too complex, it can annoy the committee, especially since they have thousands to read.
The fix: Write your MBA essays clearly and straightforwardly, like you're speaking to someone you work with. This makes your writing more relatable and helps you form a stronger connection with the reader.
Not Reading the Essay Question Closely or Misunderstanding the Question
It is crucial for you to understand how to tackle MBA essay questions. If you misinterpret the question, you might end up writing an essay that doesn't show what the admissions committee is looking to find out about you.
This can lead to your application being discarded.
The fix: First, look for the keywords or idea in the question. This helps you understand what the admissions committee wants to learn about you through your essay.
In the Key Elements to include in the MBA Essays section above, identifying terms such as “contribution,” “growth,” and “leadership” shows what the admissions committee is looking for you to answer.
Restating Your Resume or Letters of Recommendation
The admissions team doesn't just want to see a repeat of your MBA resume or LOR for MBA in your MBA essays. It should offer something new and tell a story only you can share, adding a unique layer to your application.
The fix: Spend time thinking about a unique topic for your essay that isn't mentioned elsewhere in your application. If you want to talk about something already included, focus on a specific project. Discuss the challenges, how you overcame them, the outcome, and what you learned. This approach makes your essay fresh and insightful.
Starting Your MBA Essay Close to the Deadline
Starting too close to the MBA deadlines 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 deadline for the best MBA Colleges is generally around the end of the year to early months.
The fix: Begin planning your essays right after the questions are released. Take the time to outline each one, creating a clear plan for when you start writing your drafts. This helps you organize your thoughts and ensures you cover all necessary points.
Plagiarising Your MBA Essays
Plagiarizing your essays can lead to rejection!!!
When working on tight deadlines, applicants can easily plagiarize someone else’s work by following MBA sample essays 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 colleges detect plagiarism, they will reject the application outright.
Here are some simple fixes to avoid plagiarism:
| Tip | Description |
|---|---|
| Wait a Day |
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| Avoid Control C |
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| Footnote |
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| Plagiarism Tools |
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Here Are Sample of MBA Essays
There are some following successful MBA sample essays was written for the Haas MBA Program:
Question: How will an MBA help you achieve your short-term and long-term career goals? (300 words max)
Answer:
The most rewarding aspect of my work in analytics has been contributing to product improvements that genuinely benefit our end users, and I am determined to make this the direct focus of my career. Post-MBA, I will work as a product manager in companies like Google Pay or Amazon Prime and use data-driven insights to build products that improve people's lives. I want to grow in this career path and eventually lead product strategy as a VP of Product.
Due to my undergraduate degree in engineering, I have acquired strong technical knowledge. However, to achieve my career goals, I recognize the need to gain in-depth business knowledge. Therefore, through this MBA, I am eager to engage with the "Opportunity Recognition: Technology & Entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley" course, which will help me develop the skills to learn about the prospects even within unfamiliar industries.
In addition, this course will be crucial in enabling me to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of the technology sector with ease. Further, I believe that this coursework would be well complemented by experiential learning opportunities such as Haas @ Work, which will allow me to apply my learning through a practical, result-oriented program that goes beyond the constraints of a classroom. I am also excited to join the Technology Club, where I wish to build a strong network with like-minded people and gain industry experience.
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Conclusion
Writing MBA essays is your chance to show admissions committees your unique story, motivation, and fit for their program. By focusing on your goals, leadership experiences, and personal growth, you can create essays that make a strong impression. Remember to stay authentic, tailor your responses, and proofread carefully before submission.
