how to write a good mba essay

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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.

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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 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 April 4, 2024

Featuring Geri T. and Andy P.

Applying to Top MBA Programs as a Consultant

Wednesday, april 24.

11:00 PM UTC · 60 minutes

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. (It's also getting more and more important by the day, with some business schools moving away from traditional, quantitative measuring sticks, like the GMAT and the GRE.) Every other part of the application — your GPA, your test scores, your letters of recommendation — are 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 essay 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 the 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 thing's 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 essays. That should allow you ample time to draft, write, and edit. For more information on timing your entire b-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 these essays 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 do to 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 your essays — it's a great deal harder to write when you have no guidance or guardrails. With the MBA 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!

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 literally 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 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, 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 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

The next category of essays is the "Why an MBA" / "Why This School" set.

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?

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:

• 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 either be behavioral, asking 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:

• 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. CBS proudly fosters a collaborative learning environment through curricular experiences like our clusters and learning teams , an extremely active co-curricular and student life environment, and career mentorship opportunities like our Executives-in-Residence program .Why do you feel Columbia Business School is a good fit for you academically, culturally, and professionally? Please be specific. (250 words)

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)

Read more at A Guide to the Booth Essays .

6. Kellogg Northwestern

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

Values are what guide you in your life and work. What values are important to you and how have they influenced you? (450 words)

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 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.

How to Start 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 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 if it can 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 with that process, here are a few more tips and tricks:

• Take Breaks

When you hit the wall — you will hit the wall — stop. 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 essays 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. 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 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.

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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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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Essential MBA Essay Tips

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• Start writing your MBA admission essay early and carefully proofread before submitting.
• Clearly communicate the qualities that will lead you to success in an MBA program.
• Use a sound storytelling structure and avoid relying too much on sample MBA essays.
• Stay on topic, write succinctly, and never exceed the word limit.

With a great essay, you can gain entry into the top MBA programs across the country. An advanced degree gives you a big advantage in the business world, as a Bloomberg Businessweek survey found that MBA degree-holders can increase their salary by as much as 80% after graduation.

Although grades, standardized tests, and work experience can play an important role in your admission status, your MBA essay gives you an opportunity to clearly demonstrate exactly what you would bring to your desired program.

How Important Are MBA Admission Essays?

An MBA essay is perhaps the most important part of the admissions process. You should therefore spend a considerable amount of time on your essay to ensure you showcase your skills, characteristics, and experiences as clearly and effectively as possible.

When evaluating essays, admissions departments look at applicants' writing abilities, personal characteristics, and business experience they have gained so far. An essay gives you a chance to share your background, any unique experiences you have had, and why you believe you will succeed when seeking an MBA degree.

MBA programs typically look for applicants with strong creativity and critical thinking skills, along with a drive to achieve clearly defined goals. They also seek well-rounded individuals who have made an effort to interact with people from outside their own community or culture.

Five Essential MBA Essay Tips

Start writing early.

While you may not need to write thousands of words for your MBA admission essay, writing requires a great deal of thought, reflection, and creativity. Give yourself plenty of time to overcome potential writer's block and ensure your essay truly represents what you would bring to an MBA program.

Demonstrate Your Qualities

Go beyond simply listing your skills by providing anecdotes that demonstrate exactly why you have the qualities necessary to succeed when seeking your MBA degree. Include an example or two of how your experience or dedication paid off for an employer or how you overcame challenges to succeed on a project.

Clearly Define Your Goals

Every MBA essay should include a series of clearly defined goals. Explain what you want to achieve while enrolled in the MBA program and how you will leverage the knowledge you gain to reach your career goals. Detail why you possess an interest or passion for the specific area of business you wish to pursue.

Be Succinct and Stay on Topic

Take some time to learn the fundamentals of good business writing and persuasion. Write concisely and avoid unnecessary filler words.

Address the specific prompt or question directly and as early on in your MBA essay as possible. Admissions departments tend to favor applicants who demonstrate strong writing skills.

Proofread Your Essay

You may need to go through several rounds of revisions before you reach a final draft of your MBA admission essay. Carefully proofread your draft for clarity, word choice, grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Ask someone you trust to edit and proofread your essay before you submit it.

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Five MBA Essay Mistakes to Avoid

Focusing only on your accomplishments.

Your MBA essay should go beyond simply listing your accomplishments. Dive deeper by sharing your values, perspectives, and what you learned through your experiences. Doing so can show admissions departments how your accomplishments have led to you becoming a well-rounded individual focused on success.

Using a Sample Essay

Make your MBA admission essay your own. While you can look at examples online to get you started, avoid modeling your essay too closely to them. You want your essay to stand out and reflect who you are and what you would bring to an MBA program.

Lacking Structure or Storytelling

The best MBA essays tell a story. Your essay should start with an overarching theme and use stories of your experiences to support that theme. If you do not know what an effective story structure looks like, search for examples online. Admissions departments are drawn to essays that tell them a story.

If you do not know what an effective story structure looks like, search for examples online. Admissions departments are drawn to essays that tell them a story.

Making Too Many Generalizations

Including too many general statements in your MBA admission essay can make it uninteresting. Instead, use real-life examples and specific reasons for the claims you make in your essay. Tell the readers exactly why you believe you will succeed when seeking your MBA degree.

Exceeding the Word Limit

Some students believe exceeding the word count limit makes them look like overachievers. That's not the case. In fact, writing too much may signal to admissions departments that you cannot write succinctly. You can keep your MBA essay within the requested word count through sound proofreading and editing.

Frequently Asked Questions About MBA Essays

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Do MBA essay questions change every year?

Most MBA programs change their essay questions each year . While some may ask completely new questions, others may simply tweak what appeared on their application the year before. Therefore, you may find yourself answering different MBA essay questions as you apply to various programs.

How do you end an MBA essay?

The end of your MBA essay gives you a chance to demonstrate your career goals beyond your degree program. Wrap it up by summarizing how your master's degree will prepare you for what you hope to achieve once you have completed your education. Be as specific as possible and connect your goals to the offerings of the specific MBA program for which you are applying.

How long should MBA essays be?

While the length of your MBA admission essay depends on the program, most are 750-1,200 words. While it may seem counterintuitive at first, falling short of the word limit is better than going over. Using fewer words to get your point across demonstrates you can write concisely, a key skill in the business world.

How do you write a good MBA essay?

Start writing early on and clearly outline your goals. You should also be as succinct as possible and proofread your essay numerous times to ensure it truly reflects who you are and what you would bring to an MBA program.

Is an MBA difficult?

Earning an MBA degree requires significant time and effort. Some programs feature more demanding course loads than others. However, if you work hard, maintain an interest in business, and focus on always building your skills, you can increase your chances of success.

Interview From:

Petia Whitmore

Petia Whitmore is the founder of the MBA admissions consulting firm My MBA Path. Previously, she served as Dean of Graduate Admissions at Babson College and Managing Director of The MBA Tour, a subsidiary of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Now she helps create MBA success stories, one candidate at a time.

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MBA essays: how’s your way with words?

Quants strengths definitely make a difference when it comes to getting into a Master of Business Administration (MBA) program. But don’t just think you can complete applications to top-tier MBA programs “by the numbers”! MBA applications also typically include essay questions that challenge your verbal skills.

Whether you look forward to writing or dread expressing yourself in words, your MBA admissions essays are going to be significant documents to draft. Whether you’re working on personal statements, “short answers” or other types of responses, your essays need to express your motivation, purpose and goals, presenting a perfectly balanced view of you – personally and professionally.

That’s a tall order for what’s often got to be a pretty short piece of writing. Do you know how to write an MBA essay that will wow admissions officers?

How to write a great MBA essay

These MBA essay tips from the admissions experts at The MBA Exchange set you up for compelling essays that won’t exceed word limits.

Pick your targets

You often get a couple of places to express yourself in writing over the course of the MBA application process. You might need to craft a response to a specific question, including “short answer” sections, or include a personal statement with your application materials.

Even if you’re not given a specific essay prompt, make each of your written responses count as part of your overall strategy.

• Complement but don’t repeat your resume
• Coordinate with essays and recommendations
• Use verb-centered language to keep it current and emphasize action

The name of the game is thinking tactically and avoiding repetition across the body of your MBA application.

Keep it personal

Let your words convey your authentic, unique personal voice. That’s not to say you need to include a lot of slang, and rambling on aimlessly in your text submissions is never a good idea. A simple style may be best to convey the immediacy and impact of your story. 

Admissions committee members look at your essay responses to get an idea of who you are, and you want to give them plenty to go on. If you find yourself with a choice between a more middle-of-the-road course and an opportunity for real personal expression when writing your MBA essays, maybe take the risk on the latter. It just might pay off big. That’s also why you should also never buy someone else’s MBA essay. You need your story to be your own.

Edit like your life depends on it

All your eloquence is no good if your spelling and grammar aren’t on point. Watch out for grammatical errors! Length requirements, desired format and writing prompts vary significantly from program to program, so stay on your toes when it comes to double-checking directions, as well.

Your editing process should also check for internal consistency, including across multiple written responses for the same application package. Don’t let little discrepancies or unnoticed typos risk your candidacy. Include only what you could document if asked. Even after acceptance, you’ve still got to get through background verification.

School-specific essays

Essay response processes differ among top-tier business schools. Your application for Harvard asks for 500 words about your career aspirations, while Stanford GSB wants 1500 characters on times you’ve created a positive impact. And then there’s Duke Fuqua, with three required 500-character answers on essay questions related to career goals and goal alternatives. It gets to be a lot to juggle!

For support with following through on these MBA essay tips, all while navigating the business school application process and avoiding risks of plagiarism, contact The MBA Exchange and find out how our admissions services can help you write an MBA admissions essay that opens doors for you.

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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

How To Write A Powerful MBA Essay

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Your business school essays are about bringing your story to life and providing context to your application by connecting the dots. You’ll want to capture an admissions reviewer’s attention with your story and authenticity, persuading them to learn more by inviting you to interview. To get there, your essays should convey a strong sense of who you are as a person and what makes you tick, up and beyond what the admissions team will glean from your academic record and work history.

In her recent video conversation with Poets&Quants Editor-in-Chief John A. Byrne, Fortuna’s Melissa Joelson (veteran storyteller and former INSEAD Director of Communications), zeroed in on three essential tips for crafting a standout MBA essay. View her top tips in this 6-minutes strategy session and read on to discover our combined advice on getting how to get started – from strategy to sample prompts. 

For a deep dive on the topic and a chance to get your questions answered in a live Q&A, join Fortuna’s free, 50-minute MBA Admissions Masterclass: Writing a Powerful MBA Essay on Wednesday, July 13 at noon ET . Registration is free but space is limited so reserve your seat. 

If the prospect of distilling your essence into essay form makes your stomach tighten (especially the quant-leaning among us), take heart: This isn’t an essay writing competition and you’re not trying to win the Pulitzer Prize (although admission to a top 10 program can feel that competitive). Schools care more about the substance and messages than the style.

The worst thing you can do is play it safe and write something you think admissions wants to hear (yawn). This is a medium to be courageous, although memorable cuts both ways – how well you walk the line between original (good!) and weird (lamentable) reflects your judgment.

Within Melissa’s top three trips for a successful MBA essay, I’m offering some strategies for getting started and providing questions to consider.

Laser focus on the question. 

“ Schools are looking for key qualities including leadership potential, aptitude, and alignment with program values,” says Melissa Joelson. “Each school has a different way of discerning this, and you want to keep laser focus on the question to ensure you’re speaking to what they’re asking.”

Before sitting down to write, consider the big picture. Your ability to be both genuine and reflective about some fundamental questions – such as your motivations, goals, strengths, and career aspirations – will set you up for success. In the end, your motivations and future ambitions become the filter for crafting a powerful narrative about who you are and where you’re going. 

• Brainstorm: What factors have driven your personal life and professional career?
• Reflect: What key messages do you want to convey? What are the three or so most important take-aways you want the reader to know in the context of the questions?
• Frame: Start with a bullet point version and show a logical flow in your path.

Get personal and storytell.

“Those essay questions are all trying to elicit who you really are. It requires a lot of introspection,” Melissa Joelson says. “Schools want to know what makes you tick, what are you passionate about and why? This includes why you made certain choices throughout your career and life, what inspires you? You want to get personal and tell your story.”  

Think about the memorable experience and why it might have brought you great happiness – or proved to be a particularly rewarding challenge. This might be an opportunity to share an experience where you grew in confidence from a lesson in failure or went beyond yourself to succeed. Consider what you want a business school to take away from your essay before you try to capture the story in writing. 

A few ideas to consider:

• What are your major accomplishments, and why do you consider them accomplishments?
• Does any attribute, quality or skill distinguish you from everyone else? How did you develop this attribute?
• What was the most difficult time in your life, and why? How did your perspective on life change because of the difficulty?
• Have you ever struggled mightily for something and succeeded? What made you successful?
• Have you ever struggled mightily for something and failed? How did you respond?
• What are your most important extracurricular or community activities? What made you join and continue these activities and why are you passionate about them?

Then, think about it from the program’s perspective: they want students who love the school, understand what makes it special, and can explain why it’s a great fit. They also want to understand how your presence and participation will enhance the overall experience—for others as well as for yourself. Take the pulse of the program and show that you understand what the school cares about and that its values are aligned with your own. And as Melissa Joelson emphasizes in tip #1, outlining your key messages will help you to stay on track and keep a laser focus on the question .

More ideas to consider:

• What are your dreams for the future? When you look back on your life in 30 years, what would it take for you to consider your life successful? What people, things, and accomplishments do you need?
• How does this particular program fit into your plans for the future?
• And, most importantly, why the MBA?

Edit, edit… then edit some more. 

Get inspired and avoid working in isolation. This is where an MBA admissions coach can add a lot of value – both in helping you to discern the stories that will capture the MBA admissions committee’s attention and in helping you to edit your story with unflinching precision. The secret, as Melissa Joelson says, “is that the best writers have the best editors.” 

If you’re feeling stuck, seek some inspiration or entertainment in other great writing. To this end:

• Read sample admissions essays.
• Consider your childhood.
• Consider your role models.
• Ask for feedback (if not from a coach, then from a trusted supervisor, colleague, friend, professor, or relative.)
• Reflect upon self-assessment tools you might have taken in the past, such as CliftonStrengths, and how your unique set of talents and traits can be highlighted in your b-school essays.

Once you’re sufficiently prepared and inspired, start to play with possibilities on the page. Dare to have a little fun here – humans respond to enthusiasm and your voice conveys your personality. Know this: There is no right story other than your own. And the person best poised to tell that story is you. 

Join us for Fortuna’s MBA Admissions Masterclass: Writing a Powerful MBA Essay on Wednesday, July 13 at noon ET, a free, 50-minute strategy session and the chance to get your questions answered in a live Q&A. Registration is free but space is limited so reserve your seat today. 

MORE FROM SHARON:   How To Use LinkedIn To Improve Your MBA Strategy ,   How To Develop Your Personal MBA Elevator Pitch ,

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

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How To Write a Winning MBA Essay

Master of Business Administration (MBA) degrees are in high demand for a reason: 2021 data shows the average starting salary for MBA degree holders across the U.S. has risen to $115,000—a record high. 1 This starting salary is a whopping 75% more than it is for those with only bachelor’s degrees, making this graduate business degree a viable way to lift career and financial outcomes. 2

The first step for those who are ready to pursue the professional rewards of a salary-boosting online MBA by earning their degrees is to apply to a top online program with a top-notch essay.

Read on to learn how to craft your perfect MBA essay and increase your chances of being accepted to the leading online MBA program of your choice.

Impactful MBA Essays: An Essential Guide

According to admissions experts, the ideal MBA essay provides a convincing argument why a prospective student belongs in a particular MBA program at a particular school. 3 These application essays are also a valuable tool for admissions officers to get to know a candidate better and truly determine if this candidate is a good fit for a program’s academics, values and culture. 3 Turning in a well-written essay that sheds light on who you are while answering key MBA application questions and generating a lasting impression, improves your overall admission prospects.

When writing your MBA essay, be sure to follow these key writing tips to make sure it’s a winning document that opens online MBA program doors.

Tailor Your Essay

One way to ensure that your essay stands out to admissions officers (who receive a tremendous number of essays) is to tailor your writing for their institution.

Submitting generic MBA essays that do the bare minimum to check application essay boxes is a sure-fire way to slip to the bottom of consideration lists. While admissions teams understand that applicants may be applying to more than one program, candidates who choose to recycle the same essay to multiple programs, in an effort to save time, risk turning in a vague, “one size fits all” piece that falls flat at each and every institution.

Spending enough time to craft essays individually. Make sure to mention the ways a particular program appeals to you in each by shining a light on the following:

• Specific courses, teachings, academic opportunities
• Faculty and thought leadership
• Campus life
• Student life and engagement
• Networking opportunities
• Notable program benefits, unique opportunities

If your program has an ethical business focus , for example, be sure to explain why a responsible business approach is critical to your professional pursuits.

Your essay should also answer the program’s essay question(s) thoroughly. Remember to answer what is being asked, and not the question that you would prefer to answer, in order to make a genuine impact with your admissions audience.

Avoid Common Pitfalls

Don’t waste valuable paragraphs of your limited-word essay writing about what top online program admissions officers already know. Avoid waxing poetic about the importance of the school name, its Ivy-league status, impressive rankings, newly-minted sports awards, and program costs as driving forces behind your application decision.

In fact, focusing on those features over other important program factors could have a detrimental effect, giving readers the impression that any competitor program with a famous name would suffice. Instead, focus on the features that are unique to the particular institution, showing that you understand its key differentiators.

Great MBA essays stick to the point and get essential information to the reader in a timely manner. University admissions officers are, in general, inundated with a huge number of essays at once and appreciate essays that aren’t a chore to read, meandering, overwritten or verbose.

Make It a Joy to Read

While you avoid common essay writing pitfalls, make sure to write an essay that’s enjoyable and easy to read. To achieve this, your well-crafted essay should:

• Start off with an attention-grabbing sentence that strikes a professional tone
• Be original
• Be clear and concise
• Stay on topic and not meander
• Have a logical flow from one paragraph to the next
• Have an overarching, encompassing theme
• Omit erroneous information
• Have zero grammatical errors and typos
• Use an easy to read, standardized font
• Use traditional spacing and layout
• Stick to the listed word limit
• Avoid being grandiose or melodramatic

In order to make sure that your essay is a hit with readers and meets the tips suggested above, have a few trusted people who have a great command of the written word proofread your essay draft and each subsequent revision. Ask them to check for grammatical and spelling errors as they go, notating any sections of your work that need correction.

Have your trusted test readers determine how well your essay flows from section to section and if it makes a positive impression. At the least, a reliable draft reader should offer constructive criticism to make edits not just negative critiques that derail your progress or confidence.

As a final note of advice, give your test reader plenty of time to provide feedback so you can incorporate their reviews into your MBA essay and submit a fully-polished version before any application deadlines.

Share Your Story

To really stand out and make a lasting impression, MBA essays need to tell your story. While this directive may be intimidating, especially if you’re modest, take your essay application writing requirement as an opportunity to genuinely explain why you, and you alone, have come to your current circumstances and are seeking a highly-respected MBA to boost your professional and personal future.

Share your short and long-term goals—being as specific as you can—and why an MBA is your ideal next step. If your dream is to be an entrepreneur running your own online t-shirt business in five years, don’t hesitate to provide what kind of shirts you plan to sell, how many employees you hope to have and what inspired this goal. Include why MBA skills will help you run your shirt shop.

Make sure, in sharing your individual narrative, to remain open and authentic, addressing anything in the rest of your application that should be covered to help increase your chances for admission. These notations could include instances that you feel are positive for your application or not ideal.

For example, if you have lower than desired grades from a previous experience, share how your previous academic challenges have improved the way you will approach graduate-level academics.

On the flip side, highlight the areas you feel you have excelled in professionally and personally, stating how these accomplishments make you a better prospect for an MBA program.

In the end, writing about what makes you uniquely qualified and prepared as a student and future alum—in an authentic manner—will resonate favorably with admissions officers who understand there is no one ideal graduate school candidate; We have all faced different circumstances and challenges. How we have overcome those obstacles and what we learned along the way is key.

In today’s world, well-rounded candidates with a panorama of experiences make valuable real-world business professionals and successful leaders.

Practice Makes Perfect

It’s never too early to start preparing to write the standout MBA essay that will help you gain entrance to the online MBA program of your choice. Reading successful MBA essay examples and knowing the most common essay questions can help you with this important step.

Common example MBA essay questions include:

• Describe a time when you lead a team. What obstacles did you encounter and how did you overcome them as a leader?
• Tell us about the person you admire most and why.
• Describe a personal achievement and how it has impacted your life.
• What are your career goals and why is pursuing an MBA important to achieving these goals?
• How will you contribute to our school community and your MBA student cohort?
• Tell us about a time you failed. What did you learn from this experience?

Give yourself time to gather the necessary information for your document, ponder your answers deeply, write mock essays to perfect your voice and style so you will be fully prepared to write your winning essay when applications open.

Don’t wait to make yourself professionally great.

Now is the perfect time to consider how a respected online MBA program—that puts people first in business—could boost your bottom line for a lifetime.

The Marquette University online MBA program prepares you with the core business knowledge needed to thrive in any organization around the globe. You’ll gain a comprehensive set of essential business skills and leading-edge competencies through study with our faculty innovators and industry veterans. Waivers for the GMAT/GRE-score requirement are available. Reach out to our Admissions Advisors with questions and start your application today.

• Retrieved on January 19, 2022, from wsj.com/articles/m-b-a-starting-salaries-are-soaring-11636952464
• Retrieved on January 19, 2022, from fortune.com/education/business/articles/2021/04/24/will-your-online-mba-result-in-a-higher-salary/
• Retrieved on January 19, 2022, from usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/applying/articles/2016-10-25/2-mba-admissions-essays-that-worked

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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
• Consulting Terms & Conditions

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How to Write a Great MBA Essay

• July 14, 2020

Learn how to write truly great MBA essays (like cash-money winning MBA essays) in this short tips list compiled by one of the MBA Admissions Industry’s leading experts .

MBA Essays are the GOAT. They’re the one chance in your life (till you’re the one giving the commencement address or TED talk) that you can full on tell your story and someone else will not only completely pay attention , but they’ll give you huge amounts of money for it (in the form of scholarships, that is). That’s if you get in and the school is so in love with you that they decide to incentivize you to say yes to their offer for MBA admission with money. That’s ultimately what merit-based scholarships are about, after all.

Table of Contents

So a brilliant MBA essay could be worth $200,000 or so. In fact, on average, for our clients they are worth about $61,000. (That’s the total amount of scholarships earned by our clients in the class of 2021 averaged out over total clients.) That’s why we put so much emphasis on helping our clients tell EPIC stories. They’re not just writing formulaic MBA essays that follow a template of clients past or some tricks for “hooking the reader” and “showing not telling.” They’re digging deep, discovering who they are, and then creating the most inspiring possible narrative about their lives and keeping it 100 in the process.

For a quick glimpse into the in depth self-examination process I recommend, check out this video.

The essay-writing process around the Career Protocol campus is a pretty intricate one that’s one part science, three parts art, and all parts love. It’s iterative and involves multiple drafts, attempts, storyboards, and phone calls. It’s personal, intimate, emotional, and profound. As you can imagine, it’s not super possible to convey all that in a blog post. But here are 10 Tips for MBA Admissions Essay Success that will help you write your own Epic Story.

1. Write your essay to one person.

When you're writing your admissions essays, imagine that you're writing to a single person. This is much more effective than writing to a committee or to a school or to a group of faceless individuals. (Think about all those horrifying “To Whom It May Concern” emails floating around out there…They rarely hit the mark.) So write to one person. Even better than that, read or watch interviews with the Dean of Admissions for your target school and then imagine that you're writing to that person specifically.

Here’s a few:

• Kirsten Moss at Stanford talks shop
• Yale’s Bruce DelMonico
• My friend, Soojin Kwon , the MBA world’s most charismatic AdCom leader!
• An old colleague of mine, the lovely Dawna Clarke at Darden!

Just imagine you are talking directly to one of those lovely individuals.

2. Keep it simple.

I can’t emphasize this enough. Great writing (poetry, literature, and yes, narrative MBA essays and personal statements) is simple. Powerful writing is simple and direct. Don’t say in 25 words what you can say in 10. Don’t overburden your action verbs with adverbs and your nouns with multiple extravagant adjectives. Don’t be so baroque, as they say in Italy. Just cut to the chase, say it, and then shut up.

As Jack Kerouac wrote in The Dharma Bums , “One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.” To take that idea even further, “If I had more time, I would write a shorter letter,” to quote famous French Mathematician, Blaise Pascal. Concision often equates to power. Channel this, and give yourself time for the process towards simplicity to unfold. This means multiple drafts.

3. Watch out for “be” verbs.

I’m not gonna get too technical here, but this is a great grammatical tactic for any admissions essay. Having an abundance of “be” verbs in your essay isn’t just weak writing , it's also a clue that you’re “telling” the reader about yourself and your life vs. “showing” them (i.e. demonstrating the qualities that you want them to take away through relevant anecdotes and concrete evidence). Favor vivid verbs over anything like am/are/is/was/were/been or being . Replacing these is a quick and easy way to Replacing these will quickly and easily shift your writing immediately from telling to showing.

4. Fight the urge to go all Shakespearean.

They're evaluating your communication skills in MBA admissions essays. They don't care how well you can write prose. Let me say that again: the MBA ain’t a writer’s degree, ya’ll. After you graduate, your life will be 100% Excel and PowerPoint. So flowery language and an excessive use of adjectives and complex grammatical structures aren't really appropriate here—They just want to see how you make a point. So, for the most part, your essay should actually read more like you talk . Being overly verbose isn’t just unhelpful, it’s actually a strike against you. Think about the case method , which demands concision, clarity, and directness as well as relatability. You have to cut to the chase, but your story also has to be relatable to anyone.

5. Read your essay out loud.

This is more than just proofreading . It’s a such a great trick for evaluating whether that first full draft (and later drafts, too) are on the mark. Not to mention for catching major MBA essay grammar mistakes . If it feels awkward as it comes out of your mouth, it probably won’t land very well for a reader, either. Highlight the places where you stumble as you read. Those are the places to revise. If it feels heavy, if it feels writerly, if it feels too much like a big speech or something that that should only live in the recesses of your mind, then your writing probably isn't simple or direct enough.

6. Get INSPIRED before you sit down to write.

Please, please don’t sit down to write cold or when you’re in a bad mood. It's impossible to write an inspiring story (or personal statement) if you’re not inspired when you sit down to write it. It’s like, you just can’t get there from here. So break out a great Pixar movie or Ted talk. Go for a walk in nature, or ring up a pep talk from your BFF. Do whatever gets your creative juices flowing. If you haven't seen the Pixar movies Up or Inside Out , start there —they almost never fail to uplift. The Ted talks where people tell their personal stories can also be really inspiring. (There are tons of them.)

Here are 5 of our faves:

• BJ Miller’s touching story of his brush with death and journey as a hospice nurse. Watch how brilliantly he weaves his personal narrative with exhortations for social change.
• This inspiring talk by my buddy, Colin Stokes, featuring many great Hollywood films about a new definition of heroism that’s more inclusive, collaborative, and beneficent. It doesn’t all have to be dragon slaying and light sabers, ya know. 
• Brene Brown’s Legendary take on the meaning of vulnerability that will help you reconnect with your own soft, ugly bits that make you truly unique.
• A poignant discussion of narrative diversity by novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie that explains the importance of having many stories that we tell. Apply her advice to the narratives of your own life, not just society.
• An Epic Story of persistence in overcoming insurmountable obstacles: David Blaine’s fascinating recounting of how he learned to hold his breath for 17 minutes .

And a few more must-watch films to get you jamming (in no particular order):

• Finding Nemo (a Career Protocol favorite!)
• The Fisher King
• Forrest Gump
• Good Will Hunting
• Your fave (we all get moved and inspired by slightly different things, so find yours!)

7. Don't be afraid to talk about small moments when you're choosing where to focus your essay.

You may discover that some of the most important scenes in the movie of your life are actually small moments. They’re the kind of moments that you almost missed when they happened because they didn't seem all that significant. Like when you boarded a plane for a new continent, or submitted your first late paper, or bought a bag you thought you always wanted and then realized it didn’t matter all that much now that you had it, or rang up your boss late one night to finally ask for help.

The small moments make up life. The little lessons define you. The details reveal who you are. It's often only in retrospect that you realize how significant the moment was, because of how it aligned with your values or revealed them or changed them. Don’t be afraid to go there when you have that kind of realization.

8. Zoom in to reveal your interiority.

When you write about pivotal moments—i.e. moments of change and transformation in your life—zoom in on your thoughts, feelings, rationale, and motivations. The reader needs to know how you thought and felt about the challenge and how you drummed up the courage to make the difficult choice that you made in that moment. The how of a life-changing moment is actually more important than the why, because the reader can only relate to you—can only step into your shoes—if you help them understand how you think .

Here’s a great example of this in action:

9. If your essay doesn't inspire you, it's not final.

This is the best way to determine whether your work is “done” or not when you’re writing an MBA admissions essay. It’s a really effective final test, because it hinges on the most crucial aspect of storytelling: establishing an emotional connection with your reader. If you don't read your essay and think, “Oh man, this is a great story. This is exactly how I want people to know me, because this is my best self,” then you’ve probably got some refining (or rewriting) to do.

And that brings me to my final Pro Tip:

10. Don’t be afraid to start over.

Yes, it’s painful, frustrating, and quite frankly terrifying to throw away something that you’ve poured hours of your life into and start again from scratch, but sometimes it must be done . You can’t always refine your way to the story you want (and need) to tell. If you got off on the wrong foot, you may need to start the race all over again.

But here’s the silver lining : the process goes much more quickly when you bite the bullet and start again. It’s actually very time consuming to try to revise an essay into something it’s not; it’s faster to trust your gut and write the story that wants to come out. (You’ll also feel an overwhelming sense of relief when you take the plunge.)

OK That’s it!! If you like these tips, head over to my YouTube channel and leave us a comment on any video there! Lemme know what else I can provide that will help you on your journey!!

Sign up for a free MBA strategy call right here:

Free strategy call.

Angela Guido

Student of Human Nature| Founder and Chief Education Officer of Career Protocol

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20 Great MBA Application Essay Samples (With Links)

Want to ace your MBA application? A stellar essay can be your golden ticket.

With elite business schools like Harvard and Stanford boasting acceptance rates as low as 10% and 6% respectively, every aspect of your application counts. While GPA and GMAT scores matter, your essay can be a game-changer. Recognizing its weight, we’ve gathered top-notch MBA essay samples, endorsed by admission committees from premier institutions. Dive in and let’s craft that standout application!

What is an MBA Application Essay?

An MBA application essay is a detailed write-up about your personal and professional goals and aspirations. It also explains how the MBA program will help you attain your objectives for the future. Your essay is your one shot to convince the admission committee to consider you for the initial interview.

What Admission Committee Look for in an MBA Essay?

• Academic ability
• Impressive work experience
• Career Course
• Authenticity of goals
• Competencies, leadership , dedication, challenges, and growth
• The right reason for pursuing an MBA
• Your compatibility with the culture in which the program is being offered

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

This sample is particularly focused on leadership traits. If your essay is about explaining your leadership quality experience, this sample is right up your alley. The best thing about the essay is that it is written in a simple, engaging, and humorous style. It defines a great experience in a very conversational style.

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

This essay was submitted to Harvard Business School. The best thing about this piece is that the writer has explained her learning and professional development journey in a very sequential and engaging manner, which is truly admirable. A useful thing to remember about the MBA essays included in this list is that you can merge them into a single printable and perfectly formatted file with Sodapdf or another PDF editor. Having all of them stored in a single PDF is going to be quite helpful when it’s time to write your piece. But guess what? There are more examples to explore below, so let’s keep going…

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

Suppose you are ambitious in a skill or profession that has nothing to do with the MBA program, yet you need the degree for certain reasons. How would you showcase that irrelevant skill in your MBA application essay? This sample essay will show how you how. A guitarist who got selected for the MBA program wrote this one. The applicant has intelligently defined his passion for guitar as a way of developing discipline, determination, leadership, and success. He explained how his passion affected his academics and how the guitar helped him cope with the challenges.

Sample 7: An engineer’s essay for MBA application

If you come from a technical or engineering background and have the ambition to pursue an MBA degree to boost your engineering career, this sample essay will help pave the way for you. This essay was submitted by a mechanical engineer to Harvard Business School. The writer explained how his engineering experience motivated him to pursue an MBA and how the program is important to his long-term goals.

Sample 8: Harvard Business School MBA essay

This essay was written by a candidate who got accepted to Harvard Business School. Check it out to know what the prestigious academic institution looks for in your essay.

Sample 9: Wharton Business School MBA essay

This essay has been honored as one of the best MBA essays ever received by the Wharton Business School in Pennsylvania. Check out the structure, organization, and flow, and adapt the same to your essay.

Sample 10: Columbia Business School MBA essay

The Columbia Business School’s admission committee shared this MBA essay. They explained why the applicant who wrote this was instantly accepted to the program and why they appreciated its content.

Sample 11: Stanford Graduate School of Business MBA essay

This essay was written by a candidate who got accepted to Stanford Business School for an MBA. If you are aiming to get your MBA at Stanford, this sample will give you a deep understanding of what convinces the esteemed school’s admission committee to accept applicants into their fold.

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

If Oxford Business School is your target destiny for earning your MBA, then check out this outstanding application essay. The person who wrote it managed to grab the admission committee member’s attention.

Sample 14: London Business School MBA essay

This essay was written by a candidate who got accepted to the London Business School. The school’s admission consultant shared this sample as a reference to other MBA aspirants. This piece will specifically help you understand the tone, writing style, formatting, and overall flow of the MBA application essay that meets the school’s standards.

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

This successful MBA application essay was submitted to the MIT Sloan Executive MBA Program. EMBA essay requires you to show strong potential, impact, leadership, and the ultimate need for the program. Read this essay if EMBA is on your horizon.

Sample 17: MBA video essay

Many business schools are turning to video-based essays for MBA applications. A video-based essay is a better option to express yourself directly to the admission committee. A successful candidate for the Kellogg School of Management submitted this sample. Listen to the video and appreciate how beautifully the applicant has explained his journey from beginning to end. Want to learn more about video MBA essays? Here is a complete guide.

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

This essay was submitted by a successful candidate for the MIT Sloan School of Management MBA program. See how this applicant smartly answered the essay questions.

Sample 20:  Michigan Ross School of Business MBA program

The Michigan Ross Business School asks a diverse range of questions from candidates to analyze their competencies from multiple perspectives. If Michigan Ross is where you intend to get your MBA, this essay submitted by a candidate who got admitted to the school’s MBA program will help keep you on track.

What Should be Included in the MBA Application Essay?

• Your background: What shaped you into what you are now? Including ethnicity, obstacles, and struggles.
• Self-reflection: Your values, characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses.
• Your goals : How do you envision your future?
• Aspirations: Why MBA is important to you and how this program will help you in shaping your future?
• Justification: If you have low academic grades, explain the reasons you did not do well and what you learned from it.
• Experience and achievements: What have you achieved so far?

These are the significant components of an MBA essay. Just adjust the sequence, play with words, and come up with a persuasive yet realistic picture of yourself.

What Makes a Great MBA Application Essay?

• Be school-specific. Explain why you are passionate about the MBA program of the school to which you’re applying.
• Avoid edition. Write simply and engagingly. Let the reader read a meaningful story about you.
• Make it 100% typo-free. Grammatical errors and typos will ruin your essay. Apply standard essay format and structure guidelines , scan your piece several times for errors, get it reviewed by an expert, and present a very professional piece to the admission committee.
• Be original. Do not copy-paste from any source. Strictly follow plagiarism guidelines.
• Write an overwhelming introduction to urge the reader to keep reading and conclude your essay with a strong declaration.
• Be authentic. Write what you are, not what the committee wants to read.
• Be concise, as many schools impose a limit on the essay word count .

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

The application essay is a core part of the admission process in the increasingly competitive MBA program. If you do not want to miss the chance of getting selected, you need to know what will make your essay stand out . The expert-vetted list of MBA application essay samples we cited here worked for the top business schools. Learn them by heart, and who knows, it may work for you too. Put your other activities aside, read and analyze the list carefully, and start writing your MBA essay to land in your dream business school.

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The four types of MBA Admissions Essays

Embracing your forward-looking memoir.

If you are one of the candidates applying for the Round 2 deadlines, which at the time I recorded the video below are just over a month away, you are looking at writing a dozen, maybe even more, MBA essays.

If you put a dozen essays together, it will be like a small book! You could call it your forward-looking memoir because it will have chapters about your past, your present, and also your future.

Does the idea of writing a book intimidate you? Yeah, me too.

But there’s lots of good news when it comes to writing the collection of your MBA essays.

The goal is to win admission, not a Pulitzer!

First, you are not aiming to win a Pulitzer. While producing very well written essays is a must when you are applying to the most selective MBA programs, you don’t have to quite rise to the level of writing that lands you on the NYT’s bestseller list.

Second, there is a good amount of overlap between the essay questions of different MBA programs. And that spells good news for you because it means you will be able to reuse some of the content from one application to another.

But to take advantage of this opportunity to repurpose some of you writing, you need to understand the purpose of the MBA essays and the types of essays you will encounter.

Building a Strategic Framework for Success

If you begin your MBA essay writing with a strategic framework you will be much more likely to produce stronger essays and be more efficient in the process.

So today, I’m going to help you understand the four types of essays that you will meet in the MBA application process. Knowing this will enable you to stay organized but even more importantly, it will alleviate the dreaded “What do I write about?” that stumbles so many candidates.

And then over the next weeks, I will continue to do deeper dives into each kind of MBA essay so make sure to subscribe to this channel and especially the Sunday AdCom Insights newsletter where these updates are always shared first. The link to sign up for the Sunday AdCom Insights is in the video description below.

In creating this framework, I’m using what I’ve seen has worked REALLY well for so many MBA candidates that I’ve helped over the years. In Round 1 this year, every single MBA candidate who chose to use my comprehensive support got at least one interview from their top school choices. And some got interviews from ALL their schools, even when those schools were Harvard and Stanford.

And this is what we will do today. I want to help you look at your MBA essays through the lens of results and see how my framework is a stepping stone to get there.

Think of it as if you're wearing a pair of magical eyewear, opening up a view into the strategy and steps the most successful MBA candidates take so you, too, can work towards your goals with the sharp focus that brings the best results.

Unveiling the Four Types of MBA Essays

OK, let’s dive in. And let’s look at two of the most important essays out there – from Harvard Business School and the Wharton School.

Here’s what HBS asks in their only essay and what Wharton asks in their essay 1.

HBS asks: “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?”

Wharton on the other hand asks: “How do you plan to use the Wharton MBA program to help you achieve your future professional goals?”

At the heart of the HBS essay are some big questions. Who am I? What made me the person I am today, the one seeking admission to one of the most selective programs in the world?

The Wharton essay on the other hand, much more narrowly asks about what your plans for your MBA are. What goals have you set for yourself and what would you need to achieve them?

The Wharton essay is a pretty classic career vision essay .

HBS is what I call a philosophical essay. One that requires you to consider how you view the world and your place in it.

Now, let’s take a look at two more examples.

The second Wharton essay asks you: “Taking into consideration your background – personal, professional, and/or academic – how do you plan to make specific, meaningful contributions to the Wharton community?”

In essence, Wharton is asking you what your IMPACT has been. It encourages you to examine your background, which really means your track record, personal and professional and link your past actions to your future ones.

OK, one more example and then we will talk a bit more about how all this fits together into a useful framework you can use.

In one of its essays, Columbia Business School asks you: “Why do you feel Columbia Business School is a good fit for you academically, culturally, and professionally?”

If you had to guess what type of essay this is, what would you say?

If you are nodding your head and saying “well, this is an essay about fit, Petia”, you would be right! It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?

And these are exactly the four categories of MBA admssions essays that you will encounter.

The Four Flavors of MBA Essay Questions

You will see essay questions about your career vision , essays about school fit, essays about impact, and essays that I call philosophical or existential.

Now, do all essays neatly fit into just one category? No! There is always some level of overlap between them.

A goals essay will always require some amount of demonstrating school fit as you discuss how that particular program with all its features and resources will help you realize your professional vision.

So in one of the next pieces, coming soon, we will dive even deeper into the similarities and differences between the types of MBA essays and how to use this framework to smartly and efficiently approach finding the building blocks for each essay and the actual writing of your MBA essays.

[This is an article you don’t want to miss: Take Your MBA Essays to Unexpected Places ]

Onwards and upwards,

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MBA Essay – How to Write, Expert Tips & Mistakes to Avoid

Admit expert.

• MBA Application Tips , MBA Essay Tips
• October 28, 2023

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, 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 an impeccable b-school 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?

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. 

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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. 

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How to Write and Format an MBA Essay

Create a strong essay for your MBA application

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What Is an MBA Essay?

The term MBA essay is often used interchangeably with MBA application essay or MBA admissions essay. This type of essay is submitted as part of the MBA admissions process and is usually used to provide support for other application components like transcripts, recommendation letters, standardized test scores, and resumes.

Why You Need to Write an Essay

Admissions committees sort through a lot of applications in each round of the admissions process. Unfortunately, there are only so many places that can be filled in a single MBA class so a vast majority of the candidates who apply will be turned away. This is especially true of top MBA programs that receive thousands of applicants each school year.

Many of the applicants who apply to business school are qualified MBA candidates —they have the grades, the test scores, and the work experience needed to contribute to and succeed in an MBA program. Admissions committees need something beyond a GPA or test scores to differentiate applicants and determine who is a good fit for the program and who is not. This is where the MBA essay comes into play. Your MBA essay tells the admissions committee who you are and helps to set you apart from other applicants.

Why You Don't Need to Write an Essay

Not every business school requires an MBA essay as part of the admissions process. For some schools, the essay is optional or not required at all. If the business school does not request an essay, then you don’t need to write one. If the business school says the essay is optional, then you should DEFINITELY write one. Don't let the opportunity to differentiate yourself from other applicants pass you by.

MBA Essay Length

Some business schools put strict requirements on the length of MBA application essays. For example, they may ask applicants to write a one-page essay, a two-page essay, or a 1,000-word essay. If there is a desired word count for your essay, it is very important to adhere to it. If you are supposed to write a one-page essay, don't turn in a two-page essay or an essay that is only a half-page long. Follow instructions.

If there is not a stated word count or page count requirement, you have a little more flexibility when it comes to length, but you should still limit the length of your essay. Short essays are typically better than a long essay. Aim for a short, five-paragraph essay . If you can't say everything you want to say in a short essay, you should at least stay below three pages. Remember, admissions committees read thousands of essays - they don't have time to read memoirs. A short essay demonstrates that you can express yourself clearly and concisely.

Basic Formatting Tips

There are some basic formatting tips that you should follow for every MBA essay. For example, it is important to set the margins so that you have some white space around the text. A one-inch margin on each side and on the top and bottom is typically good practice. Using a font that is easy to read is also important. Obviously, a silly font like Comic Sans should be avoided. Fonts like Times New Roman or Georgia are typically easy to read, but some of the letters so have funny tails and embellishments that are unnecessary. A no-frills font like Arial or Calibri is usually your best option.

Formatting a Five Paragraph Essay

Many essays - whether they are application essays or not - utilize a five-paragraph format. This means that the content of the essay is split into five separate paragraphs:

• One introductory paragraph
• Three body paragraphs
• One concluding paragraph 

Each paragraph should be about three to seven sentences long. If possible try to create a uniform size for the paragraphs. For example, you don't want to start with a three-sentence introductory paragraph and then follow up with an eight-sentence paragraph, a two sentence paragraph and then a four-sentence paragraph. It is also important to use strong transition words that help the reader move from sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph. Cohesion is key if you want to write a strong, clear essay.

The introductory paragraph should start with a hook - something that captures the reader's interest. Think about the books you like to read. How do they start? What grabbed you on the first page? Your essay isn't fiction, but the same principle applies here. Your introductory paragraph should also feature some sort of thesis statement , so the topic of your essay is clear.

The body paragraphs should contain details, facts, and evidence that support the theme or thesis statement introduced in the first paragraph. These paragraphs are important because they make up the meat of your essay. Don't skimp on information but be judicious - make every sentence, and even every word, count. If you write something that doesn't support that main theme or point of your essay, take it out. 

The concluding paragraph of your MBA essay should be just that - a conclusion. Wrap up what you are saying and reiterate your main points. Do not present new evidence or points in this section. 

Printing and Emailing Your Essay

If you are printing out your essay and submitting it as part of a paper-based application, you should print the essay out on plain white paper. Do not use colored paper, patterned paper, etc. You should also avoid colored ink, glitter, or any other embellishments designed to make your essay stand out. 

If you are emailing your essay, follow all of the instructions. If the business school requested it to be emailed with other application components, you should do that. Do not email the essay separately unless you are instructed to do so - it could get in someone's inbox. Finally, be sure to use the correct file format. For example, if the business school requested a DOC, that is what you should send. 

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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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How to write a winning mba application essay.

Obtaining your Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) can open doors to greater career opportunities, increase your salary, and teach you valuable skills. But before you begin your journey to success, you have to write a compelling application essay to get your foot in the door.

It can be overwhelming to try and jam-pack your MBA application essay with every single one of your academic and professional accomplishments and experiences. There are many important components that you must include in your essay in order to stand out from the crowd. An essay with or without these elements can either make or break your chances at being admitted into your top graduate school of choice. We’ve put together a guide to help you write an exemplary MBA personal statement.

1. Explain your long and short-term goals

MBA admissions committees look for candidates that are serious about their future. They want to see why you’re interested in the MBA program and how it will help you achieve your goals. When you write your personal statement, make sure the reader will walk away understanding how you plan to use your degree, and the impact you will make with it upon completion. 

In order to showcase your eagerness and commitment, explain in detail your long and short-term goals. Be passionate as you describe your vision all while demonstrating how your goals have evolved over time. This will give the committee a better understanding of who you are, what you want, and how you will succeed in grad school .

When discussing your short-term goals, be sure to bridge the gap between where you are now and where you want to be upon graduating. Highlight the skills, knowledge, and network you want to gain that will help you transition into the next stage of your professional life. 

As for your long-term goals, focus on your ultimate career objectives. Is there a specific area in business that you want to work in? Are you trying to transition to a different career path? Do you want to teach business-related subjects at the university level? Make sure your goals are realistic, measurable, and align with your personal interests. Having clear, SMART , goals shows the admissions committee that you are ready for their program and the workforce.

Explain your long and short-term goals.jpg

2. Do your research

One grave mistake to avoid in your MBA personal statement is discussing the wrong program. Discussing the wrong program or being too vague can signal to the admissions committee that you haven't done your research or that you may not be genuinely committed to their institution. To avoid this, make sure to tailor your essay to the unique strengths and offerings of the MBA program you're targeting.

The more specific you are, the better. Go beyond referencing the name of the school and discuss the program and what you want to gain from it in greater detail. Specify the courses that pique your interests and how they align with your goals and skills you want to gain. Describe a research project you want to undertake and identify a professor whose past work aligns with your envisioned project. You can even mention an organization you want to participate in and how you plan on getting involved on-campus.

Once you’ve established the specific qualities of the school and program that intrigues you, describe how they will benefit you. For example, if you’re considering an MBA in Technology , explain how the advanced technical and skills you will receive will help you in your future management position. Your essay should clearly demonstrate your genuine interest and alignment with the specific MBA program you are applying to. 

Do your research.png

3. Reflect on your experiences

Your MBA application essay should tell a compelling story about who you are, what you’ve accomplished, and where you want to go. Prior to composing your essay, pause to reflect on your academic, professional, and personal experiences. Contemplate how these encounters have influenced both your personal growth and aspirations.

Provide real-life examples of how you have overcome challenges, learned important lessons, and discovered your passion for business, as these experiences can help vividly illustrate your personal and professional growth. Remember that the experiences you include in your essay are not limited to the ones you’ve had in your classroom. The admissions committee is also interested in your extracurricular activities, community involvement, work experience, and leadership roles.

One approach to stand out from the competitive crowd is to think of the personal statement as a story rather than an essay that lists off your accomplishments. Craft a captivating story that paints a clear picture in your readers’ mind. Was there a moment in your childhood where you discovered your passion for business? Did you have a profound learning moment with a professor or supervisor that taught you the value of mentorship and how it can shape your professional journey? 

That picture you choose to paint should showcase a holistic view of your well-rounded personality, uniqueness, values, and potential contributions to the MBA program. One of the most important things to remember is to be your genuine self.

Reflect on your experiences.jpg

4. Emphasize your skills

Think about the kinds of skills that businesses and employers look for and discuss them in your statement. Leadership, teamwork, analytical, and technical skills are the types of these skills and qualities that the MBA admissions committee wants to see in a candidate. Demonstrating your alignment with the expectations of the business world not only enhances your application but also highlights your readiness for the challenges of an MBA program.

In your essay, identify the hard and soft skills you have and how you want to put them to use. Interweave your skills within the story you want to tell. Explain how you developed your leadership skills throughout your career or describe a time you used problem solving during a tough situation at a previous job. Highlight the skills that are relevant to your goals and provide concrete examples wherever you can. Thinking about the future landscape of the business career field you're headed into can also help you define the skills you’ll need to have.

If you believe that you lack certain skills and wish to gain them through your Master’s education, no problem. Be sure to express your enthusiasm to learn and gain the expertise needed to help you achieve your goals and how the MBA program will help you do that. Addressing your weaknesses and focusing on how you plan to overcome them can be a great way to show your honest self and demonstrate your resilience and commitment to professional growth.

Emphasize your skills.jpg

Obtain your MBA online at NJIT

Your MBA application essay is a tool to distinguish yourself as a competitive candidate and an opportunity to exhibit your passions, expertise, and personal story. Using these tips can help you craft a unique essay. The application is the first step you must take to reach your academic goals, so make sure your essay is a winning one. 

At NJIT, you’ll be able to reach your academic and career goals with the flexibility of an online education. You’ll be able to tailor your MBA with a specialization of your interest , including management information systems, finance, marketing, and more. NJIT also offers an online Mini-MBA graduate certificate so you can get a taste of what an MBA program is like before committing to a master’s program. Apply today to embark on your business administration journey.

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The Key to Writing Your Best MBA Goals Essay

Understanding what you want to get out of business school plays a larger role in your MBA essay than you may think.

Top MBA programs are looking for applicants who have a clear idea of how a business degree will help shape their future. This is why the MBA goals essay is such an important piece of your business school application.

But how do you write a goals essay if you’re unsure of your post-MBA goals? What if you are changing careers  and know you want to obtain the skills that an MBA program provides , but aren’t sure which career direction you want to pursue after your degree? Should you spend time looking into post-MBA options? Should you try out different jobs or shadow people in different careers, so that you can submit your MBA essay with a secure MBA goal? Or is it better to write your MBA essay with undefined goals?

The role of post-MBA goals in your MBA essay

Your post-MBA goals should guide you in the application process, and at the very least help you decide where to apply. Not only is it worthwhile spending time finalizing a post-MBA direction, it’s required. You need to know why you want to spend a large amount of your time and money before you apply. Not knowing what your post MBA-goals are could turn your MBA investment into a huge debt with no job to pay it off. Think of your goals as a weathervane—if it’s broken, it spins uselessly in the wind, but when working properly, it points you in the right direction.

Still wondering if business school is right for you? Ask yourself these five questions .

Steps to take before writing your MBA essay

When thinking about how to write an MBA essay, you also need to think about how to identify and define your personal MBA goals. Perhaps you already have a good idea of why you want to attend b-school and what it can help you achieve. If not, here are four steps that will help you understand and articulate your post-MBA goals, so you can write an impressive MBA essay:

Determine your likes and dislikes

Think about what you like and dislike about your current and past jobs. Compile a list of what you’d like more of and what you’d like less of. A simple exercise like this will ensure that you’re not just going through the motions, but that your MBA goals will actually bring you satisfaction in your career and life.

Talk to people in careers you want

Talk to people in jobs that appeal to you. Organize informal interviews or email a list of questions to people you know who have positions that you find attractive. While a post-MBA job or career path may seem appealing on paper, you want to ensure you have a full understanding of the positives, negatives, and opportunities that truly exist .

Consider a career counselor

Think about hiring a career counselor. With the right guidance, you can gain a better understanding of what opportunities exist for MBA graduates, and hone your MBA goals so that you can write a more competitive MBA goals essay. This short-term investment will pay off when you are able to get into the b-school you want and land your dream job after graduation.

Establish connections at companies that interest you

Once you have a better idea of your direction, take a look at the career listings for the bigger employers in the field or fields that interest you. Check out profiles of some of the recent MBAs these companies have hired and see if you can arrange to speak to someone in the roles that appeal to you. Talking with people that were once in your position (and who work at a company of interest) is a great way to grow your network and establish connections that can give you the advantage come interview time. However, it’s also a way to learn more about different positions and better define your MBA goals for yourself and your MBA essay.

MBA goals can be flexible

Not having clear goals will leave admissions officers wondering why you’re putting in the time, effort, and money to obtain an MBA. An MBA essay with clearly defined goals, may also concern b-schools that you won’t be able to find an internship, or eventually a full-time job because you don’t know what you want to do. But don’t worry—admissions officers also recognize that your goals may change over the course of your MBA program and that what you say in your MBA essay is somewhat preliminary. It’s okay to be flexible, but not clueless.

Want more advice on MBA programs and applications and an opportunity to meet with admissions directors? Join top b-schools at The MBA Tour's events across the globe .

2 MBA Admissions Essays That Worked

These outstanding MBA personal statements resulted in admissions offers.

2 MBA Essays That Worked

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MBA admissions officials say they prefer personal statements that convey personality and demonstrate grit.

There is no secret formula to writing a compelling personal statement for an MBA application, university admissions officials say.

The key, they say, is to write a statement that feels authentic and makes your case.

Bruce DelMonico, assistant dean for admissions at the Yale University School of Management , is wary of personal statements that tell dramatic stories and stretch the truth. He says he is not looking for students to have exotic experiences, but for evidence of resilience, introspection and initiative.

Yale's business school recruits students identified as unselfish leaders – those who strive to improve the circumstances of others and help themselves rather than those who exploit others for personal gain, DelMonico says.

"We are looking to bring in students who will be inclusive leaders and who will bring people together," DelMonico says.

William Rieth, former senior director with the Fox School of Business at Temple University , says applicants sometimes struggle to write a memorable personal statement, but being memorable is vital.

"Students need to remember their audience," he says. "Schools are reading thousands of essays."

He says a solid personal statement requires a "compelling story" and an honest writing voice. "It should reflect your personality and sound like you."

How to Write an MBA Application Essay: A Few Tips

MBA admissions experts say a business school application essay should offer a convincing argument about why a candidate belongs in an MBA program at that particular school.

Wayne Hutchison, managing director for the MBA program at Michigan State University’s Eli Broad College of Business , urges prospective MBA students to explain their reasons for applying to B-school and to describe whatever incidents spurred their interest in graduate business education.

"In addition, applicants should discuss the skills and abilities they have that will translate to academic and professional success," Hutchison wrote in an email, noting that failing to include this information can lead admissions officers to question an MBA hopeful's competitiveness.

Aaron Burch, who earned his MBA degree from the University of Texas—Austin's McCombs School of Business , says MBA essays should address the following questions:

• "What do you want to accomplish career-wise that either requires an MBA or will be accelerated by an MBA?"
• "Why is this the exact point in your career where an MBA would be most impactful?"
• "What about this particular school is especially important for your career plans?"
• "How will you contribute?"

Burch, owner of DiscoverContainers.com – a website that provides information about shipping container houses – suggests that MBA students convey that they are at a point in their careers where they can "pivot without being pigeonholed" while having meaningful accomplishments, including "real responsibility."

It's also essential for MBA candidates to showcase what they have to offer a B-school, Burch wrote in an email. "You want to demonstrate that you're not just a taker and you want to add to the prestige and reputation of the school, add to the experience your future classmates will have, etc."

MBA alumni say it's crucial for prospective MBA students to describe how they intend to use an MBA .

"Admissions officers will want to understand your vision behind why an MBA might help you, so it's incumbent upon you to articulate the plan you have for yourself, and how their institution is going to help your journey," MBA degree recipient Taylor Constantine – the partner channel lead with Rain, a financial services company – wrote in an email.

Margo Bell, senior assistant director of admissions with Pepperdine University's Graziadio Business School in California, notes that MBA essays are influential factors in the MBA admissions process. Application essays help B-school admissions committees gauge the compatibility of a prospective student with the culture and values of the institution.

"As applicants begin to write their MBA applicant essays, it’s important for prospective students to share who they are as an individual," Bell wrote in an email. "The essay allows MBA admission officers to get a better understanding of who you are, what you wish to accomplish and why you deserve to be accepted."

Michal Strahilevitz, associate professor of marketing with St. Mary's College of California , advises MBA applicants to view the application essay as an opportunity to provide context for deficits in their admissions profile. "For example, if your undergraduate grades were not great because you worked full time to pay for school, write about it," Strahilevitz explained in an email.

What to Keep in Mind About MBA Essay Prompts

MBA admissions consultants note that business schools often have distinctive essay prompts, so it's important for applicants to tailor their essay to every school where they apply.

"Each school asks a specific question in the essay, and one of the most important things you can do as an applicant is to answer that question – not the question you wished we asked or the one you want to answer," DelMonico wrote in an email. "The various elements of the application fit together, and we’re looking to get very specific pieces of information from the essay. So please follow the essay instructions you’re given and don’t feel as though you need to or should make the essay broader in scope."

Barbara Coward, founder of the MBA 360° Admissions Consulting firm based in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area, notes that the first step in the essay writing process should be meticulously reading the question prompt. Think about the question for a few days while going about routine tasks so that ideas can "marinate."

Coward says that once prospective students have decided what they'd like to write about, they should let the words flow without filtering them because too much self-editing at the beginning of the creative process can interfere with productivity. Revisions and tweaks can come after an applicant has fully expressed his or her ideas.

Admissions experts note that MBA hopefuls who are struggling to figure out how to describe themselves may want to ask friends and family for advice. Prospective MBA students can also gain self-awareness by keeping a diary or creating a storyboard of their life.

Mistakes to Avoid in MBA Admission Essays

Taking too long to express the main idea or central thesis of an essay is a no-no, Coward says. Applicants should directly respond to a question and ensure that their essay is easily understood by an admissions officer. "Keep in mind that somebody is not reading a novel," she says. "They're going to be glancing through."

Excessively verbose essays don't make a good impression, Coward adds. Applicants should respect word limits and be concise, because doing otherwise creates extra work for admissions officers under time pressure, she explains.

Two other errors to avoid in MBA essays, Coward says, are being monotonous or melodramatic . It's important to have an introductory sentence that strikes the right tone, she adds. "You're not trying to create drama, but you don't want to put the person to sleep either," Coward says.

Examples of Outstanding MBA Essays

Here are two MBA essays that made the cut. The first is from the Fox School of Business and the second is from Yale. These essays are annotated with comments that explain why the essays charmed admissions committees.

Searching for a business school? Get our complete rankings of Best Business Schools .

Tags: graduate schools , business school , MBAs , students

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How to get into an MBA program: Our top tips

Key takeaways.

• Applying for an MBA program can be a long and difficult process.
• Focus your energy on optimizing the key application components to create a standout application.
• Know your application deadlines and plan in advance to complete each part of your MBA application on time.

Getting into a Master of Business Administration (MBA) program is certainly a challenge. The average acceptance rate for the top MBA programs in 2022 was 22.2 percent. But the odds are getting better over time. This acceptance rate used to be under one in five.

Even with improved odds, getting into an MBA program can seem daunting. However, with the right preparation, persistence and a little guidance from an expert, you can increase your likelihood of getting accepted.

What you’ll need to get into an MBA program

Each school has its own application process, and you’ll need different information for each one. However, there are a few common requirements for your MBA application.

Stand-out standardized test scores

MBA applications require test scores from the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) or Graduate Record Examination (GRE) to compare applicant ability.

The GMAT evaluates an applicant’s quantitative, analytical, writing, reading and verbal skills. Students should take this test several months before the application deadline to give themselves enough time to retake it if needed.

Applicants can prepare for the test through in-person or online prep courses. You can find a lot of free or low-cost resources online. The makers of the GMAT have provided several of their own resources to help test-takers prepare, including a mini quiz and a free eight-week study planner.

Business schools often accept scores in the 650 to 690 range but prefer 700 or higher.

While the GMAT is often the first choice for MBA students and schools, you can also consider the GRE. This standardized test measures academic readiness for graduate programs of many types. More than 1,000 business schools accept GRE scores.

The costs for the two different tests vary. You can take the GMAT at a test center for $275 or online for $300. Taking the GRE costs $220.

A strong undergraduate transcript

Undergraduate transcripts showcase the applicants’ academic ability. MBA admissions officers look at your cumulative GPA but also consider factors like the undergraduate institution’s academic reputation and the types of courses you’ve taken.

These factors help admissions officers compare and rank students by their GPAs.

Many top business schools do not set a minimum requirement for undergraduate GPAs, but you’ll have the best chance of being accepted to top MBA programs with a GPA above 3.5.

A tailored resume

Your resume should focus on grabbing the attention of the MBA admissions counselor. A traditional resume highlights your job skills and experiences. With an MBA resume, you want to highlight your accomplishments and help the reader understand why they matter.

“I always ask this question: ‘So what?’ after reading each bullet on a resume,” says Barbara Coward, founder and principal of MBA 360° Admissions Consulting. “Make the reader care. Show the significance of your work. Also, establish an emotional connection with the reader. Tie all of your experiences and education together through a single narrative.”

The resume should tell the story of why you are a good fit for the program. To craft a stellar resume, familiarize yourself with the MBA program and what they look for in candidates. Highlight experiences and skills that show you fit the mold.

Well-written essays

Many business schools require between one and three personal essays from applicants.

MBA admissions officers use personal essays to get to know the candidates. A well-written essay may be the deciding factor among applicants with similar academic backgrounds. Admissions officers look for clear, concise and persuasive essays with no grammatical errors.

Students should expect essay prompts like:

• How will this MBA program help you meet your career goals?
• What will you contribute to the business school/MBA program?
• What makes you a good candidate for this MBA program?

There are a few keys to writing a good essay for your MBA application. One of the common mistakes applicants make is not answering the question, according to Coward Ensure that your essay actually addresses the prompt. She also advises that you focus on clarity over complexity.

“Make it easy for the reader to understand what you are saying,” says Coward. “Simple sentences and concise messaging make it easy for a reader to get to know you better. You’re not trying to impress. Your job is to educate the reader so they can make an informed decision.”

Letters of recommendation

MBA programs typically require one to three letters of recommendation from people who know the applicant in a professional capacity, such as an employer or college coach. Students should avoid asking for letters from family members or friends.

Letters of recommendation must emphasize professional accomplishments and desirable qualities and should explain why the applicant would be a good candidate for the program.

Interview skills

Many MBA programs require applicants to interview. This can be a sign that you’ve moved on to the next stage in the admissions process. You may interview with an admissions officer or an program alumnus alumnus. In all scenarios, the MBA interview is a chance to stand out and fill in any gaps in your application.

Preparing effectively for the interview can give you a leg up on other applicants. Here are a few things to remember as you prepare:

• Practice (but not too much). Research common interview questions and rehearse your answers. You may want to practice adding more details than you normally would if you don’t like to talk about yourself. However, don’t practice so much that it feels like you are reciting a script. Instead, memorize your main talking points for each answer and vary your delivery.
• Review your application materials. Look over your resume, personal essays and other application materials before the interview. The interviewer may ask you questions about what you wrote, so you’ll want to have a fresh memory. Make sure your written application and interview answers are consistent.
• Be yourself. You’re looking for a program that wants you, so let your personality and interests shine. Talk about how you want to use your MBA . Discuss your passions and interests and don’t try to be a different person. Showing your personality can help your application be unique.

What MBA admissions officers want to see

While you want to show your personality, it’s important to understand what MBA admissions officers are looking for. You don’t want to be fake, but you also want to show desirable qualities.

Emotional intelligence, ability to work with others, empathy, curiosity and kindness are some of the key traits that MBA admissions officers search for in MBA candidates, according to Coward.

“I say that the admissions process is like the TSA at the airport. You don’t want that alarm to go off when you walk through security,” she adds. “Show that you will be a positive contributor to the cohort and that you are a nice person, not a jerk.”

Look at your own experiences and resume and think about how you can highlight examples of these traits in your own life. You can also show that you have these key traits through your interview process.

When to start prepping

Many business schools have several rounds of deadlines for admissions throughout the year. Students typically apply during the fall, winter or spring and receive an admissions decision within two to three months.

You’ll want to give yourself plenty of time to prepare each of the components of your MBA application. Think about how long each part of the application may take you and build a timeline accordingly. You’ll also need to consider when you can take the GMAT or GRE in order to get the scores by the application deadline. As you prepare, try to give yourself extra time so you don’t feel overly stressed.

If you find yourself on a tight turnaround to complete an application, remain calm. It’s best to focus your energy on the components you find most difficult first. You can get those out of the way and complete the easier application components closer to the deadline.

The bottom line

Getting accepted into an MBA program is a competitive process, particularly at the most prestigious schools. As you embark on this effort, be sure to do your research. Track application deadlines and lay the groundwork for a compelling application. Plan on gaining relevant work experience, building relationships with potential references and preparing for the GMAT or GRE.

Once your application is locked in, explore MBA loans and other funding options to ensure you can cover the cost of attendance.