essay on mba as a career

• Our Clients
• Tips & Advice
• Client Login
• Request Consultation

How to Get the Adcom Excited About Your MBA Career Goals Essay Plus an Example

In last week’s article, we provided some tips to ensure the short-term goals you share in your MBA career goals essay will resonate with the admissions committee. We shared that your post-MBA goals should be specific, realistic, and logical. This is all true, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. While a strong short-term MBA career goal will demonstrate to the admissions committee that you understand the type of companies that hire out of their program, it won’t get them excited about having you as part of their incoming class. This is where the long-term component of your MBA career goals essay comes in. By long-term MBA career goals, we mean your end game – where you see yourself at the pinnacle of your career. 

Don’t think small or hold back here, it’s ok to be ambitious. Top MBA programs aren’t looking for people who are afraid or unable to dream big. Exactly the opposite – they want to educate the next generation of leaders who will leave an indelible mark on the world. Intimidated? We get it! However, with some deep reflection, research and soul searching, we know your dream job is out there (or maybe it isn’t yet and your plan is to create it – that’s fine too!).

So that’s the big picture. Here are some guiding principles to use as you think about your long-term MBA career goals. At the end of this article, we’re also sharing a strong MBA career goals essay example from a past client that really puts our advice into practice.

1) Your Future Should Connect to Your Past

A great place to start when brainstorming your long-term career goals is with your past. Think about situations – whether early in life, in college, or throughout your career – where you’ve felt truly fulfilled or energized. What was it about these situations that made you feel this way? Is there a common thread between them?

As an example, perhaps in college you built a new campus organization from the ground up and loved the sense of ownership you had during the experience. Fast forward to your current job, perhaps the most exciting project you’ve been involved with was helping your company enter a new market or launch a new product. The connection I see between these two things is an entrepreneurial spirit, which is something that could absolutely factor into your ultimate career goal.

Beyond a linkage to your underlying passions or motivations, your long-term goal should have a more tactical connection to your past. It’s hard to make the case that you want to pursue a certain path if you haven’t had even a touch of exposure to it in the past. For instance, if your pre-MBA career is in investment banking, it would be hard to justify a long-term goal as the founder of a nonprofit (unless another part of your background is heavily social impact focused).

Said simply, there has to be a solid ‘why’ driving your long-term goal that the adcom will understand within the confines of your application and specifically within your MBA career goals essay.

2) You Don’t Have to Reinvent the Wheel

A common concern I work through with clients is how to differentiate themselves if their long-term career goals are ‘typical’. For instance, someone who followed the investment banking / private equity pre-MBA career path and wants to remain in the private equity space throughout their career.

Rest assured that targeting a finance career (or consulting, etc.) is ok! Remember that large portions of the graduates from top MBA programs go these ‘typical’ routes (see statistics at the far right of this table ) and a notable amount of them remain there for the long haul. Clearly the adcom is amenable to these goals.

I do, however, encourage my clients to make these types of goals ‘their own’.  Each of these careers has numerous areas of specialization, whether that be an industry focus, investing philosophy, etc. By identifying one about which you are passionate, rooted in past work or personal experience, makes the goal more unique and interesting.

If not an industry specialty, perhaps you are passionate about a certain leadership philosophy (like Ray Dalio, a Harvard Business School graduate, and his ‘idea meritocracy’) or a cause that could be tied in with your future career ambitions. The key, if you are targeting one of the more common post-MBA careers (and even if you aren’t, quite frankly), is to put your personal spin on the goal and tie it in with the values and passions that make you who you are.       

3) Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day – Your Career Goals Shouldn’t Be Either

As I said earlier, arriving at authentic, well developed long-term MBA career goals is hard – and that’s exactly why it matters to the admissions committees at top MBA programs. I find that many applicants rush to a conclusion about ‘what they want to be when they grow up’ without enough self-reflection and end up with a goal that is run of the mill and uninspiring.

Take the time to research where MBAs that have gone into your field of interest have ended up 10 to 20 years after graduation. Read about business leaders you admire and the path they followed to get where they are. Last and most important, network with alums of your target programs that have gone into your field of interest.  These things will get your wheels turning and help you develop a compelling narrative for your application, while inspiring you to set and achieve lofty goals.  

An MBA Career Goals Essay Example

To help put theory into practice, below is a career goals essay example from one of our past clients that does a particularly good job of incorporating the advice we’ve shared in this and last week’s article.

Prompt (Columbia Business School) : Through your resume and recommendations, we have a clear sense of your professional path to date. What are your career goals over the next 3-5 years and what, in your imagination, would be your long-term dream job? (500 words)

As a first-generation immigrant to the US, I was raised on the principle of investing in the future. My parents gave up their life in <country> to invest in better education and career opportunities in the US for me and my sister. When I moved to New York and struggled to learn English in 6th grade, I spent two months of my allowance on several pocket-size notebooks and pens that I carried around to jot down unfamiliar words that I would later look up in the dictionary. This habit earned me a few jeers on the playground, but I knew the long-term pay-off – mastering the English language – would be worth it.

This long-term lens continues to shape my career. At <Company>, I have stepped up to become the biomass industry lead analyst because I believe in the potential of the industry to be one of the long-term environmental solutions for carbon emission. I was particularly excited to lead a meeting in 2019 with a multi-billion dollar <Client> to share my biomass industry analysis, helping drive their investment in sustainable energy infrastructure. However, given the scope of credit rating analysis, I often find myself disappointed that I have no stake in the investment decision outcome. I want to be in a position to directly invest in companies that have a positive long-term impact. As such, I want to become an investment manager focusing in ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) investing, which targets responsible investing opportunities.

In the next 3 – 5 years after CBS, I plan to work as a research associate for an asset manager or investment fund that has an ESG focus, such as Neuberger Berman or PIMCO. I hope to convert my summer internship into a full-time position at one of these funds, as did <Name> (’20). My goal as a research associate is to leverage my investing skills and application of ESG concepts garnered from my Columbia MBA, the Value Investing program and the Three Cairns Climate Fellowship in particular, to lead teams in crafting investment portfolios that meet the long-term investment objectives of ESG investors. From managing the entire investment process, I’ll understand every aspect that is factored into an investment decision, strengthening my analytical acumen and ultimately growing my network and reputation in the ESG investing community that will help me achieve my dream goal.

My dream job is to be the founder and CEO of a global ESG-focused investment fund that manages the entire ESG investment process in-house – from formulating the top-down ESG selection process to executing on the investment decisions – as most funds either offer ESG as one of many investment options or largely depend on third party analytics as an input to their ESG investment decisions. This tailored in-house investment approach would offer much-needed transparency, enabling investors and stakeholders to monitor the impact that their investments are making. From my personal experience, I fully understand what it means to “invest in the next generation”, and I firmly believe that ESG is a powerful way for investors to focus beyond monetary return.

Need help applying this advice to your own situation? We would love to help. Click here to schedule an initial consultation. 

Katie is a passionate mentor and coach, helping her clients craft a unique, compelling story by leveraging her experience as a corporate executive, alumni interviewer, and campus recruiter. Before completing her MBA at Kellogg, Katie spent five years in banking where she learned practical finance skills as well as how to operate in a demanding, high pressure environment. She pursued an MBA in order to transition to an industry role where she could utilize her finance knowledge to drive change within an organization. Post-MBA, she worked in finance and strategy for a leading CPG firm, progressing to an executive role leading the finance function for a $2B business segment. Her experience managing diverse teams led to a passion for developing others. In addition to her day-to-day responsibilities, she led her firm’s MBA recruiting efforts and served as an alumni admissions interviewer for Kellogg.

MBA Career Goals – Crafting a Compelling Short-Term Vision

Older mba applicant here are some tips so that your age doesn’t hold you back, no comments, post a comment cancel reply.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Kick-Off Call Game Planning

Customized application strategy, career goal exploration & refinement.

With optional career chat with a post-MBA professional

Personal Brand & Story Development

Strengths & weaknesses analysis, resume strategy & review.

With Access to a Full Library of Successful Examples

School Research & Selection

Recommender strategy & review, essay strategy & review, application form review, test run with former m7 adcom, submit applications, video enabled mock interview & debrief, hear back from schools.

We are proud to be recognized by Poets & Quants as one of the top MBA admissions consulting firms in 2023!

• Let’s Talk!

Writing a compelling MBA Career Goals Essay

W riting a compelling MBA Career Goals Essay requires you to do more than just list the companies and titles you plan to add to your resume following the completion of your studies.

Your essay needs to demonstrate that you are passionate about the career you envision while convincing the MBA admissions committee that a larger sense of purpose directs your career goals.

Furthermore, admissions officers will judge your career action plan to determine if the dots connect between your skills and experiences and future aspirations.

In this article, we provide you with insights and tools you need to build a powerful MBA Career Goals Essay.

First, we’ll talk about why admissions committees ask you to write an essay about your career goals and share the characteristics of an outstanding answer. We will also help you to avoid the common mistakes applicants make when writing a Career Goals Essay.

We’ll even provide you with a set of building blocks for crafting a unique and powerful essay of your own.

In the final section of this article, we analyze a sample Career Goals Essay to illustrate the principles we taught you in action.

Why Do MBA Admissions Officers Ask About Your Goals?

The MBA Career Goals essay question regularly appears in one form or another on just about every MBA application. Many applicants wonder why MBA admissions officers are so interested in what they plan to do after graduating from business school. Others feel these types of questions are downright unfair. Isn’t business school a chance to figure out what you want to be when you grow up? And what’s the point of making plans when everyone knows those plans are going to change?

The reason admissions officers ask the Career Goals Essay question year after year is because the mission of a top MBA program is to train future leaders who will go on to make an impact on the world. In a sense, when you apply for an MBA, you’re also applying for the job you will take upon graduation, the job you will progress to five years after graduating, and even the executive job you dream about taking 10-15 years after that.

An acceptance letter to a top-tier MBA program is not a blue ribbon for past achievements. Admissions committees want to know what you aspire to become and want to achieve as a future leader. As it turns out, a strong Career Goals Essay is one of the best tools in your application to get the Admissions Committee excited about your potential and to communicate where and how you plan to make an impact on the world after completing your MBA education.

Business schools ask about your career goals in a variety of ways :

• “What are your short-term and long-term career goals?”
• “What are your professional objectives?”
• “Elaborate on your future career plans and your motivation for pursuing an MBA.”
• “What do you want to do—REALLY?”

When answering these kinds of essay questions, top marks are earned by having clearly defined post-MBA career plans that go well beyond climbing the corporate ladder and making lots of money. Admission officers want to know that you have a passion for the career you imagine and that your career goals are fueled by a sense of purpose.

What Makes For a Strong MBA Career Goals Essay?

Defining your career goals is central to your Application Strategy because a powerful Career Goals Essay will tell the admissions officers how you plan to become a leader of consequence once you graduate. The coherence of your Career Goals Essay serves as elegant proof of your potential.

You’ll also need to persuade admissions officers that your career aspirations are realistic. In other words, they must be convinced that you possess many of the skills, talents, and experiences that you will need to achieve your ambitions. Many candidates undermine their chances for acceptance by proposing a set of lofty career goals that don’t appear achievable when viewed in the context of their past experiences and strengths. Grand ambitions are fine, but you must be able to convince admissions officers that the dots connect from your past accomplishments to your future aims.

Next, remember that admissions officers believe that their job is to find and accept future business leaders who will make a positive difference in the world. The goal of this essay is not to outline your plans for climbing the corporate ladder. Think about how you can devote energy and your career to helping others in some way. This doesn’t mean you have to go to work for a not-for-profit – no matter what field you are interested in, you can identify ways that your career will make a positive difference in the world.

Even when the essay question doesn’t include words like vision and aspiration or doesn’t ask you why your career goals are meaningful, you should let admissions officers know your deeper motivations and that you have a sense of purpose.

Finally, the caveat to all of this advice is that admission officers read thousands of these essays and can tell the difference between aspirations with integrity and those that are simply engineered for effect. To put it bluntly, admissions board members have world-class B.S. detectors, so make sure your career goals pass the sniff test.

Your career goals, if properly developed and defined, can set you apart from other candidates competing for a spot at that school, and that’s precisely what you want them to do. Before you begin brainstorming, you will need to do extensive career planning work to assemble the content building blocks for your Career Goals Essay.

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.

What Makes for a Weak MBA Career Goals Essay?

Let’s discuss some of the weaknesses in applicants’ MBA Career Goals Essays so you can avoid making mistakes in your essay that might hurt your chances of being admitted to a top business school:

Unfocused career vision

No sense of purpose: passion, meaning, and significance, lack of evidence that the candidate understands his or her future industry.

• Dots don’t connect between prior skills/experiences and post-MBA career goals

Unconvincing motivations for pursuing an MBA

We’ll expand on these common pitfalls.

When it comes to essay and interview questions about your career goals, the “I will figure out my goals once I’m in business school” answer isn’t sufficient. If you haven’t determined what your career goals are, then how can an admissions officer be sure an MBA is your best next step? More importantly, how can you?

The bottom line is that your candidacy will not compare favorably with the applicants who know where they want to go and can explain clearly how an MBA will help get them there. Admissions officers know that once you’re in business school, you’ll have more work to do than there are hours in the day; there’s not much time available for self-reflection and career planning. In fact, within weeks of arriving on campus for your first year, you’ll be polishing your resume up and submitting it to recruiters for summer internships. If you don’t have a vision for your career, you may not benefit from the MBA experience in the same way as other candidates who do have a defined and focused career vision.

MBA programs were founded on the belief that business leaders can and do play an influential role in contributing to society’s prosperity. Schools are looking for future leaders who aren’t just in it for themselves. Admissions officers are proud that their job is to find and accept future business leaders who will make a positive difference in the world. If your career goals are a thinly veiled plan for making loads of money, then your candidacy is in trouble.

Once your long-term career goals are in focus, you should further educate yourself on the industry in which you plan to work. Admissions officers are understandably skeptical when an applicant claims to want to work in a particular field like venture capital, sustainable energy, or social enterprise but doesn’t seem to know much, if anything, about those industries.

Dots don’t connect between prior skills / experiences and post-MBA career goals

Many candidates undermine their chances for acceptance by proposing a set of lofty career goals that don’t appear realistic when viewed in the context of their past experiences and strengths. An admissions officer will examine your resume through the lens of future corporate recruiters. Suppose your Career Goals Essay says that you want to work in strategy consulting post-MBA. In that case, admissions officers will evaluate whether your current resume, combined with the skills and knowledge you would acquire in their program, would appeal to a recruiter at a strategy consulting firm. If the dots don’t connect for the MBA admissions committee, your application will be less competitive.

Your career goals directly relate to your motivations for pursuing an MBA. Therefore, defining those career goals is critical to explaining why you want an MBA. Unconvincing motivations for pursuing an MBA can be another big weakness in your candidacy. If the only answer you can come up with for “why you want an MBA” is “I’m working at a private equity firm, and everyone here goes for an MBA,” then you need to do more thinking about your motivations and reasons for applying to business school. If you haven’t built a solid case for this huge investment of time and money, then admissions committees would be justified in wondering what kind of business leader you’re going to be in the future.

Now that you understand the characteristics of a successful MBA Career Goals Essay and some pitfalls to avoid, we will share some content building blocks to help you design and write a winning essay.

Content Building Blocks for the MBA Career Goals Essay

Now we’ll tie the preceding insights together into a set of building blocks and provide you with a Career Goals Essay example, so you feel fully prepared to write a convincing essay of your own.

The four content building blocks for an excellent Career Goals Essay are:

• Career Purpose
• Career Meaning
• Your Long-Term Career Goal, and;
• Your Career Action Plan

Your first step is to develop a statement of career purpose . The building block question is, “What is the purpose of your career — who will it serve, and how will it benefit others?” A statement of career purpose doesn’t exist on an organization chart. It’s not the job; it’s what you hope to achieve in the world in a larger sense.

The next content building block is career meaning . Ask yourself, “Why is the career I envision meaningful to me?” Admissions officers believe that great ambitions are achieved when an individual’s goals are fueled by their interests and passions. Even if the application doesn’t ask the question directly, you should tell the admissions committee why these career goals matter to you.

Once your career’s purpose and meaning are defined, you can progress to building a succinct statement of your long-term career goals . Your long-term career goal may indeed be found on an organization chart — you should include the job you want and the kind of organization you want to be leading in 15 years – CEO, founder, managing director of a non-profit, etc. What is your dream job ?

“What’s the path to your dream job?” — The final building block is your career action plan – it includes the jobs and organizations you plan to work for along the way toward your long-term career goal. For each position on your path, you can briefly explain how the role fits into your overall plan and moves you a step closer to your long-term career goal by providing additional skills, essential knowledge, and a more robust network.

To wrap up this lesson, let’s take a look at a Career Goals Essay sample so you can see these principles and our content building blocks in action.

MBA Career Goals Essay Sample

Our example applicant “Adam” is an investment banker who wants to return to the private equity world post-MBA.

As you’ll see, by using the content building blocks, he goes beyond answering the “what question” – as in WHAT are your career goals – and answers the “why question” – setting himself up to write a Career Goals Essay that will score top marks.

Adam was born in Ukraine, and his career goal is to help people in that part of the world by spurring economic development. He plans to share how troubled he was by the hardships he saw while on a recent visit to Kyiv, during which his career goals came into focus.

Adam makes his career goals more unique than simply saying he wants to start a private equity fund – the fund he wants to create will invest in the former Soviet Union, providing much-needed economic development in the region. Adam plans to work for an established fund in the CIS region before eventually starting his own fund. His dream job is to serve as an economic advisor to governments in that part of the world.

Having completed his building blocks exercise, Adam has the content he needs to satisfy the career goals question criteria. His answer will be comprehensive and memorable and will set him apart from other candidates who also have their sights set on a future in private equity.

Below you will find an excerpt of the essay that resulted when these content building blocks were assembled. Review the sample essay carefully, and then you will be ready to get to work outlining, drafting, and rewriting your own essay until you and your advisors feel you have an outstanding Career Goals Essay for your application.

(CAREER PURPOSE) By the end of the trip, my career goals were clearly in focus. I want to play a leadership role in economic development in the CIS, first as a private equity investor, and eventually, an economic advisor to the government in Ukraine.

(CAREER ACTION PLAN) Directly out of business school, I want to move to Russia and work with an established private equity group such as Baring Vostok (“BV”). I’ve worked for almost two years in private equity in the US, and working for a firm in Moscow like BV for five to seven years would give me regional private equity experience and ties to capital in Russia and the CIS.

(LONG-TERM CAREER GOAL) Long-term, I want to start my own fund in the former Soviet Union, ideally based in Kyiv. I believe there’s plenty of opportunities. My Uncle’s manufacturing company in Kyiv is actually a good example; he needs growth capital, but his business’s risk profile is wrong for a bank and better suited for a private equity fund.

Final Thoughts

Sharing your excitement about your future career path with admissions officers via your MBA Career Goals Essay is an essential step toward earning an acceptance letter from a top MBA program. The coherence and clarity of your essay can convey your desire to be a leader of consequence once you finish your MBA studies.

Ultimately, the goal of an MBA Career Goals Essay is to convince admissions officers that you will go on to use your MBA education to make a positive difference in the world. The lessons we’ve shared in this article can help you to write a high-quality essay. The effort you devote to writing an excellent MBA Career Goals essay will almost certainly help increase your chances of being accepted by one of the world’s top business schools.

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

© 2024 Prep School Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.

• Online Course

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.

Digital marketing course: Join my full AI Marketing course, with over 6h and 30 minutes of video lessons and 5 bonuses and learn the skills necessary to thrive as a marketer in the digital era.

Rafal Reyzer

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

Recently viewed courses

Recently viewed.

Find Your Dream School

This site uses various technologies, as described in our Privacy Policy, for personalization, measuring website use/performance, and targeted advertising, which may include storing and sharing information about your site visit with third parties. By continuing to use this website you consent to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use .

   COVID-19 Update: To help students through this crisis, The Princeton Review will continue our "Enroll with Confidence" refund policies. For full details, please click here.

20 Must-Read MBA Essay Tips

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

How to Write an Unforgettable B-School Essay

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

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

2. Put yourself on ego-alert.

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

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

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

Read More: Find Your Business School

4. Bring passion to your writing.

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

5. Break the mold.

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

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

Admissions officers appreciate risk-takers.

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

But only if it has affected your outlook or experiences.

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

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

9. Demonstrate a sense of humor or vulnerability.

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

BONUS: Don't Make These MBA Essay Mistakes

1. write about your high school glory days. .

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

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

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

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

3. Fill essays with industry jargon.

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

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

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

5. Exceed the recommended word limits.

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

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

A sloppy application suggests a sloppy attitude.

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

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

8. Make excuses.

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

9. Be impersonal in the personal statement.

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

Read More: How to Ace Your MBA Interview

10. Make too many generalizations.

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

11. Write in a vacuum.

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

Practice for the GMAT

Take a GMAT practice test with us under the same conditions as the real thing. You'll get a personalized score report highlighting your strengths and areas of improvement.

START A FREE PRACTICE TEST

• Business School  

Find MBA Programs Matched to Your Interests

Explore our featured business schools to find those that are looking for students like you.

Top Online MBA Programs

On a mission to increase your salary? Our Top 50 Online MBA ranking is based on academics, career outcomes, tech platforms, and more.

Best Career Prospects

Find out which schools have the best track records for getting students jobs—and the highest starting salaries.

Top Schools for Entrepreneurship

Ready to build your own business from the ground up? Check out these 50 graduate programs.

Free MCAT Practice Test

Thank you! Look for the MCAT Review Guide in your inbox.

I already know my score.

Enrollment Advisor

1-800-2REVIEW (800-273-8439) ext. 1

1-877-LEARN-30

Mon-Fri 9AM-10PM ET

Sat-Sun 9AM-8PM ET

Student Support

1-800-2REVIEW (800-273-8439) ext. 2

Mon-Fri 9AM-9PM ET

Sat-Sun 8:30AM-5PM ET

Partnerships

• Teach or Tutor for Us

College Readiness

International

Advertising

Affiliate/Other

• Enrollment Terms & Conditions
• Accessibility
• Cigna Medical Transparency in Coverage

Register Book

Local Offices: Mon-Fri 9AM-6PM

• SAT Subject Tests

Academic Subjects

• Social Studies

Find the Right College

• College Rankings
• College Advice
• Applying to College
• Financial Aid

School & District Partnerships

• Professional Development
• Advice Articles
• Private Tutoring
• Mobile Apps
• Local Offices
• International Offices
• Work for Us
• Affiliate Program
• Partner with Us
• Advertise with Us
• International Partnerships
• Our Guarantees
• Accessibility – Canada

Privacy Policy | CA Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information | Your Opt-Out Rights | Terms of Use | Site Map

©2024 TPR Education IP Holdings, LLC. All Rights Reserved. The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University

TPR Education, LLC (doing business as “The Princeton Review”) is controlled by Primavera Holdings Limited, a firm owned by Chinese nationals with a principal place of business in Hong Kong, China.

• Exam Prep >
• Prepare for Business School >
• Business School & Careers >
• Explore Programs >
• Connect with Schools >
• How to Apply >
• Help Center >

Every journey needs a plan. Use our Career Guide to get where you want to be. 

Creating an account on mba.com will give you resources to take control of your graduate business degree journey and guide you through the steps needed to get into the best program for you.

• About the Exam
• Register for the Exam
• Plan for Exam Day
• Prep for the Exam
• About the Executive Assessment
• Register for the Executive Assessment
• Plan for Assessment Day
• Prepare for the Assessment
• NMAT by GMAC
• Shop GMAT Focus Official Prep
• About GMAT Focus Official Prep
• Prep Strategies
• Personalized Prep Plan
• GMAT Focus Mini Quiz
• Executive Assessment Exam Prep
• NMAT by GMAC Exam Prep

Prepare For Business School

• Business Fundamentals
• Skills Insight

Business School & Careers

• Why Business School
• Student Experience
• Business Internships
• B-School Go
• Quiz: Are You Leadership Material?
• MBA Return on Investment (ROI) Calculator
• Estimate Your Salary
• Success Stories
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Women in Business

Explore Programs

• Top Business School Programs
• Quiz: Which Post Graduate Program is Right for You?
• Quiz: Find the Best Program for Your Personality
• Business School Rankings
• Business Master's Programs
• MBA Programs
• Study Destinations
• Find Programs Near Me
• Find MBA Programs
• Find Master's Programs
• Find Executive Programs
• Find Online Programs

Connect with Schools

• About GradSelect
• Create a GradSelect Profile
• Prep Yourself for B-School
• Quiz: Can You Network Like An MBA?
• Events Calendar
• School Events
• GMAC Tours Events
• In-Person Events
• Online Events

How to Apply

• Apply to Programs
• The Value of Assessments
• Admissions Essays
• Letters of Recommendation
• Admissions Interviews
• Scholarships and Financing
• Quiz: What's Your Ideal Learning Style?

Help Center

• Create Account
• How To Apply

MBA Essays: Everything You Need to Know

Scott Edinburgh - Personal MBA Coach

Scott Edinburgh is an mba.com Featured Contributor and the founder of Personal MBA Coach , a boutique MBA admissions consulting and tutoring firm.

Nearly all MBA hopefuls are familiar with the term “MBA essay”, but what exactly does this mean and why is the MBA essay so important? To help guide MBA hopefuls, Personal MBA Coach would like to answer some common questions about the MBA essays and share details on the most common MBA essay types.

Why do I need an MBA essay?

Beyond the obvious answer that nearly all schools require you to write one in order to be admitted, the MBA essay is your chance to show MBA admissions committee members who you are BEYOND the facts and figures. These essays are your opportunities to show what makes you unique, share your goals and discuss how you will add to the dynamic community at your target business school. 

Do I need different MBA essays for each program I apply to?

Unfortunately, YES! While there are some overlapping themes across the most common MBA essay types (more on this below), each business school has its own unique essays. Unless you are applying through an organization such as The Consortium (which has some specific requirements), you must complete a separate application for each MBA program and answer each school’s specific essay questions.

To make this daunting task more manageable, Personal MBA Coach helps clients identify common elements across essay types. Ultimately, however, you should develop a separate essay for each school you are applying to.

What should I write about in my MBA essay?

First and foremost, you should answer the question. It is surprising how often candidates write beautiful essays that do not actually answer the question. Instead of writing what you think admissions committee members want to hear, answer the question.

What are the most common MBA essay questions?

While there are countless different essay questions across MBA programs, the three most common types of essays questions are Goals Essays, Why an MBA? Essays, and Personal Story Essays. (Often one essay question will ask clients to discuss both their goals and why they want an MBA.)

Below, Personal MBA Coach shares our tips for answering each of these key essay types:

Goals Essay

When answering a question about your MBA goals , it is crucial that you are decisive . While no one will hold you to what you write in your MBA applications, you should have a specific post-MBA plan. For most schools, you will want a short-term and a long-term career goal. This goal should be logical for you. This means it should flow naturally from your passions and experience. If it doesn’t, it is crucial that you explain why this goal makes sense for you.

Finally, this goal should be attainable. You are not going to be the CFO of Pepsi two years after graduating from business school (sorry!). Do your research in terms of what position might be reasonable in your target industry.

Why an MBA? Essay

To answer a question about why you want an MBA or why you want to study at X school, you want to show that you have carefully thought through how an MBA (at your target program) will prepare you to achieve your career goals. To do so, Personal MBA Coach suggests being very specific in detailing the opportunities you plan to take advantage of on campus.

Discuss classes you are particularly interested in or perhaps professors you are looking to study with, etc. Do not include a laundry list. Instead, carefully think through how each offering will allow you to fill in your skill and/or experience gaps. Be sure to show an understanding of your target school’s culture and avoid writing vague statements and copying content from other MBA application essays.

Personal Story Essay

With a personal story essay, your objective is to show the reader how your story is unique and how you will add value and diversity to classroom discussions and on campus activities. This can be one of the hardest essays to write. To get started, Personal MBA Coach advises that you make a list of everything you have done in your life and take the time to write it all down. Then, think carefully about the decisions you have made, activities you enjoy and, most importantly, why you made those choices. Finally, look for a theme! What single idea connects these items? This is the hard part, so give it time.

How do you conclude an MBA essay?

Do not overthink the conclusion. In fact, with short word limits, Personal MBA Coach often advises clients to write just one concluding sentence or remove the conclusion altogether. Conclusions can be fluffy, generic or repetitive. You do not need (or want) to waste words here. If you have told your story well and you have addressed the question clearly and concisely, do not worry about the conclusion!

How far in advance should I start my MBA essays?

As soon as possible! It is never too early to start thinking about your MBA essays. In fact, Personal MBA Coach works with many clients 6 month – 3 years in advance through our Early Planning package, helping future applicants make the appropriate career and extracurricular decisions to ensure they have enough experience to write strong MBA essays.

That said, with diligence, some Personal MBA Coach clients are able to develop a compelling MBA essay within a month. (Keep in mind, this is a very compressed timeline and takes dedication to achieve!). Plus, you always want to leave time for proofreading and should avoid submitting your essays at the last minute. 

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

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

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

How to write powerful MBA essays that actually work

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

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

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

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

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

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

Basically, anything but boring.

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

What is the purpose of writing an MBA essay?

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

That’s how an essay should be.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here are 6 steps to writing an impressive MBA essay.

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

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

How to write powerful MBA essays

1. start early.

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

It’s the same with writing.

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

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

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

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

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

Act 1 is the set-up.

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

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

Act 2 is the conflict

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

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

Act 3 is the resolution

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2. Understand the MBA essay prompts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3. Demonstrate your fit with the MBA program

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

Because MBAs are expensive, and confirmation bias is real.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4. Stick to the word count

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read: How important is the word count for MBA essays

5. Add a little X factor to it

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

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

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

Here are some examples of what you can look at.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read why sample MBA essays don’t work .

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

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

Top 5 mistakes to avoid while writing MBA essays

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

Unfortunately, the following 5 mistakes are all too common:

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

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

6. Get someone to look over your essay

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

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

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

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

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

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

That sort of a thing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mini-MBA | Start here | Success stories | Reality check | Knowledgebase | Scholarships | Services Serious about higher ed? Follow us:                

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

• Admission Essay
• Statement of Purpose Editing
• Personal Statement Editing
• Recommendation Letter
• Motivation Letter
• Cover Letter
• Supplemental Essay
• Letter of Continued Interest
• Scholarship Essay
• Role Model Essay
• Our Editors
• College Admission Essay Examples
• College Cover Letter Examples
• College Personal Statement Examples
• Graduate Personal Statement Examples
• Graduate Statement of Purpose Examples
• MBA Essay Examples
• MBA Personal Statement Examples
• MBA Resume Examples
• MBA Recommendation Letter Examples
• Medical School Personal Statement Examples
• Medical School Recommendation Letter Examples
• Pricing Plans
• Public Health
• Dissertation
• Research Paper
• Thesis Editing
• Academic Editing
• Motivation letter
• Letter of Recommendation
• Personal Statement
• Statement of Purpose

Career Goals Essay: Writing, Formatting And Editing Guide

EssayEdge > Blog > Career Goals Essay: Writing, Formatting And Editing Guide

A career goals MBA essay is the tool that can make all student’s dreams come true or rather spoil everything. That’s why applicants are worried about how to write a perfect admission paper. Especially for this purpose, we prepared a detailed guide on writing a winning MBA essay. If you need to learn more about good career goals essay MBA application tips, keep reading to find all necessary information. 

Table of Contents:

What is a Career Goals MBA Essay?

A career goals essay MBA is an admission paper required to communicate the motivation and reasons to apply for graduate business school in terms of your future career. Its main goal is to persuade the admission committee that you understand the value of scholarships and have a clear vision of your career path.

Why Do MBA Essays Require the Description of Your Career Goals?

There are several reasons why the committee asks you to describe your career goal MBA essay in terms of your motivation to apply for the graduate program. Let’s look through the main ones.

1. To find out how the MBA program will be useful for your future career.

Your MBA essay career goals should highlight the importance of a chosen MBA program for the future. The committee members want to see your desire to apply for a scholarship to get a benefit from the gained skills and knowledge post MBA.

2. To ensure that you are motivated to apply for a specific grad program.

The applicant should communicate the passion and strong motivation for MBA admission because it is vital for achieving a career goal. Thus, you need to mention your dream career and emphasize why you want to pursue it. Assure them that it is impossible to make your plan a reality without specific education.

3. To see that you have clear after-MBA plans.

The student should share an effective career action plan to succeed during the MBA application. Whether it is an MBA in finance career goals essay or admission paper for any other field, you need to be specific while describing your career goals.

Main Components of MBA Career Goal Essay

Before writing a career goals essay, you need to divide it into several sections. A clear understanding of each component is helpful for writing an MBA admission essay that works. After analyzing all these points, make a logical connection between them.

You may also use our career and personal goals for MBA essay examples in a long-term perspective . They will be useful in setting up a winning career strategy.

Step by Step Guide to Write Career Goals Essay

Here is a guide on writing a winning MBA career goals essay. Follow these simple steps, and the admission process wouldn’t be so tough as it seemed before.

Step 1. Identify your career ambitions.

First of all, analyze your career intentions and identify the central goal to achieve in the future. You need to make an eye-catching introductory statement to grab the attention of the admission committee.

Step 2. Divide your goals into several stages of your career.

Next, write down all the career goals. To write a successful career goals MBA essay, you should split all the targets into several categories. The main career periods include:

• Adaptation stage;
• Stage of a formation;
• Maturity stage;
• Late career stage.

Set up goals for each category, and do not forget to mention what will help you achieve them. Finally, make connections between your career plan and the MBA program.

Step 3. Consider the structure of your MBA essay on career goals.

Of course, the content makes the value of your MBA essay. But, additionally, pay attention to the writing style. Whether it is an essay MBA career goal general manager or any other field admission paper, ensure that your essay consists of three main parts: introduction, main body, and conclusion.

The typical format for a sample career goals MBA essay is a five-paragraph structure. Still, everything depends on your experience and career action plan. If you have a rich background and ambitious goals for the future, all these will require additional paragraphs.

Step 4. Make sure that your formatting corresponds to the basic requirements.

One more important step is to format an MBA essay on career goals according to basic academic paper requirements. But we will talk about them a little bit later.

Step 5. Proofread your MBA essay.

Proofreading is the last but not the least recommendation. When you are finished writing the last sentence of your essay, do not rush to submit it. Instead, calm down and take time to read and check what you’ve written. No doubt, possible grammar mistakes, typos, or vague sentences are not the things that can help you stand out from the rest.

Need help? Check out EssayEdge editing services:

MBA Essay Formatting Tips

As is mentioned above, formatting does matter. Main points you should consider before sending your career goal essay sample for MBA to the admissions committee include:

• Use standard fonts and readable font size;
• One-inch margins can help to make white spaces;
• Delete all unnecessary spaces between the words or sentences;
• Ensure that your text is divided into finished paragraphs;
• Delete extra spaces between paragraphs.

In the MBA career goals essay sample below, you will see how to structure your admission paper according to the basic requirements.

Writing Tips for MBA Career Goals Essay for Specific Fields

Of course, your career goals will depend on the specific field to which the chosen graduate program refers. Thus, we will discuss what features to consider based on the MBA finance career goals essay.

First of all, the finance programs vary depending on the professional experience levels. Thus, it affects the MBA career goals you need to mention. For instance, the most educational programs require at least 1-2 years of experience. So, if you lack experience, your admission will probably be declined.

Secondly, you need to make your goals relevant to the graduate program. Do not be vague in defying your experience or skills. The best example career goal essay for MBA is this one, which clearly defines the appropriate professional intentions.

Thirdly, the specificity of goals for a financial analyst or the MBA essay career goals for entrepreneurship is important for two reasons:

• It makes the essay credible: when you clearly define your goals, it shows your serious approach and ability to prepare a step-by-step and detailed career path plan.
• Differentiation: your motivation and experience are unique, and these things make you unique. The only necessary thing is to communicate them effectively.

Hence, specificity makes your MBA essay for finance differ from a career goals MBA essay management consulting or admission paper for any other field.

Career Goals MBA Essay Analysis

Here is one of the MBA essay examples career goals that will work for successful admission. Look through it to define what makes it stand out from the rest.

Career Goals MBA Essay Example

“My long-term dream job is to launch an AI integrated qualitative consumer research platform. To realize it, hard-skill sets in AI data process and analysis, as well as effective communication and management skills to lead an Engineering Team, are required. In the short term, I will have a product management role in the AI/deep learning area at a major tech giant such as Google and Amazon to successfully obtain these necessary skills. 

In the modern world, consumers’ needs and wants are changing more and more quickly. In contrast to phenomenal improvement in the speed of quantitative consumer data analysis, which is enabled by the digitalization of consumer data, there still exists a huge time lag between consumer interviews and delivery of analysis when it comes to qualitative consumer research, a primary method of digging into consumers’ needs.

Through my experience in more than 20 projects at Bellomy, I have developed an in-depth understanding of marketing research methodology focused on discovering consumers’ needs. However, the mentioned long-term goal requires several technical characteristics such as a deep understanding of the process of software product development and hard skills in AI data processing and analysis. With this in mind, in the short term, I will seek a product manager role in the AI/deep learning area at a tech giant such as Google and Amazon where I can most practically obtain these necessary qualities and skill sets.

During my MBA, I will develop skills that are currently lacking in me to be a successful PM, and become a PM in the AI/deep learning field at a tech giant such as Google. Once targeted skills are obtained there, I will challenge to launch an innovative AI-driven qualitative consumer research platform.”

Let’s focus on its main strengths, which make this essay effective .

• The author clearly defines a central career aim at the beginning of the essay: “My long-term dream job is to launch an AI integrated qualitative consumer research platform.” Also, he continues with his vision of what position is required at the beginning stage to gain necessary experience: “In the short term, I will be a product management role in AI/deep learning area at a major tech giant such as Google and Amazon to successfully obtain these necessary skills.”
• One more benefit of this essay refers to the argumentation provided in the second paragraph to support his motivation to achieve the ambitious career objective.
• Then, the applicant highlights that he has relevant skills and experience to reach the goal: “Through my experience in more than 50 projects at Bellomy, I have developed an in-depth understanding of marketing research methodology focused on discovering consumers’ needs.”
• Furthermore, the author underlines what he needs to achieve a goal: “However, the mentioned long-term goal requires several technical characteristics such as a deep understanding of the process of software product development and hard skills in AI data processing and analysis.”
• Finally, there is a connection between career goals and the MBA program: “During my MBA, I will develop skills that are currently lacking in me to be a successful PM, and become a PM in AI/deep learning field at a tech giant such as Google.”

All listed factors mentioned in the career goals MBA essay sample are crucial for writing a relevant admission paper that will help apply for the desired scholarship.

Final Thoughts

To conclude, the applicant should follow several requirements to write a perfect MBA essay and get accepted to a dream university:

• Be precise in defying your goals;
• Add only relevant information;
• Make connections between your experience, career goals, and scholarship;
• Divide the essay into at least five paragraphs;
• Make an eye-catching introduction;
• Proofread everything before submitting.

With these recommendations, you can calm down and look forward to exciting responses. Anyway, we keep our fingers crossed for you!

Your MBA essay should be outstanding to be noticed by an admission board. Improving your paper is a complex process consisting of writing, formatting, and editing. Trusting the last stage of writing to our application essay editors service is okay. Let professionals do their job and put your efforts into something you can do better.

Popular Posts

June 2, 2022 How To Start a Scholarship Essay: Catch Reader’s Attention Fast

May 16, 2022 My Role Model Essay: A Few Ways to Elaborate on The Subject

May 3, 2022 How To Start a Personal Statement? | Writing Tips and Samples

Related Posts

April 25, 2023 5 Colleges that Will Provide Students with a Great Return on Investment

March 1, 2023 Questions to Ask In a College Interview

January 30, 2023 How to Write a Hook For a College Essay + [Examples]

©2024 Student Media LLC. All rights reserved.

EssayEdge: Essay Editing & Proofreading Service.

Our mission is to prepare you for academic and career success.

•   Log In  
•   Sign Up  
• Forgot password

Unable to log in? Please clear your browser's cache and then refresh this page and try again

Reset password Please enter your email address to request a password reset.

Check your email We’ve just sent a password reset link to your email.

This information is used to create your account

Write a why MBA essay that makes the admissions angels sing

• April 26, 2021

Successful MBA essays showcase brilliant future goals, detailed future positions that inspire, and intimate and tangible school fit. Here’s how to achieve that in your own why MBA essay and MBA admissions process.

What is MBA school fit?

Fit is a really important thing. Have you ever worn shoes that were just a half-size too small? Or a suitcoat that wasn’t quite right and pulled in the shoulders?

Oh yes. Now imagine being in an MBA program that just doesn’t quite fit —the culture doesn’t align with your values, or the career placement, approach towards teaching and pedagogy, or the student clubs are a swing and a miss for the experience you want to have. That would suck.

School fit is mutual: you’ve got to fit the school, and it’s got to fit you! Showing school fit is your key to an amazing MBA personal statement and career goal essay.

When you’re creating your business school application, you need to

• choose programs that will support you with your personal and professional goals, and
• show these schools that you’d be a stellar addition to the program and your future classmates.

Let’s talk about what “school fit” really means.

Prefer video? Watch this:

The word “fit” causes a lot of heartburn for MBA applicants because when schools say, “showing fit with our program is important,” candidates often mistake it to mean “showing you’re good enough .”

And remember, we’re not playing the good enough game here. You ARE good enough to get into business school .

But even if you put “good enough” aside, the concept of fit seems vague and unactionable.

So let me demystify it for you.

The admissions committee has a very short and precise list of questions about you that they’re contemplating as they evaluate whether their program is a fit for you.

1. Are you going to business school for the right reasons?

2. have you done your research, 3. will you leave the place better than you found it, 4. is this school your top choice.

That’s it. Plain and simple. Notice that these four questions are all about YOU.

Notice also how practical and commonsensical they are. They’re questions you need to ask YOURSELF first before you can even decide to apply to a school in the first place.

In other words, here’s the question to keep in mind:

“How do I SHOW school X that THEY’RE a fit for ME in my business school admission essay?”

Whereas  storytelling  is an art form, exhibiting MBA program fit is more like a science.

Let me iterate just once more: “fit” is really not the same thing as “qualified to attend our program.” That is a separate calculation.

Table of Contents

Calculating your mba odds and determining your school fit are two totally different things.

The first place most people’s minds go when they think about school fit is GMAT, GMAT GMAT. But the GMAT and GRE don’t play a role in school fit.

Each school WILL evaluate your GMAT or GRE score, your GPA, your resume (i.e. your accomplishments and career progression) and those will determine whether you’re qualified  to attend the school.

To understand how competitive you are from the standpoint of these stats, be sure to look at  school acceptance rates and the average class stats vis-à-vis the class profile links above and the rankings:

• Economist MBA Rankings
• Forbes MBA Rankings
• US News MBA Rankings
• Poets & Quants MBA Rankings
• Bloomberg MBA Rankings

(Sidebar — does it also strike you as odd that there are more than 6 different MBA school rankings? Do we really need that many? Try to keep in mind that the purpose of rankings is to sell subscriptions to the publisher’s service, not to actually help you get into b-school. So take them with a huge mound of salt.)

Or even better than consulting the MBA rankings, go get your personalized MBAmo MBA Calculator report . Just enter your GMAT, grades, and a little other data. And in 60 seconds you’ll get a 20-page readout on your MBA candidacy and fit with your favorite schools.”

MBA admissions calculator, MBAmo.

Get your customized school odds and strategy report & kick off your MBA application sprint!

Calculate your odds

Your stats do matter, but  fit  is an entirely different calculation. A candidate who is barely qualified can still get in if their fit with the school is strong. I could share dozens of case studies from my own client roster to prove this. People who were 10 years older than average. People with weak GMATs or GPAs. People with no community service or short careers to date.

It’s not the best MBA candidates that gain business school admission, it’s the best fit candidates

By some calculations, 70% of applicants  qualify .

Fit, therefore, will play a huge role in determining whether you’re actually admitted from the huge pool of qualified hopeful students.

Just like bathing suits (or those shoes and suitcoats I mentioned earlier),  MBA program fit is mutual. You fit the program and it fits you.

You’d never buy a bathing suit that doesn’t fit you, so why buy a $200,000 MBA that doesn’t?

Not everyone belongs at every school.

Although any MBA education is going to propel your career forward, school cultures, your fellow students, and the campus experience vary so widely that you’re unlikely to be truly happy at more than a few programs. Figuring out which ones are really for you is a part of the process.

Every year exceptionally qualified candidates get rejected because they don’t show MBA program fit. The most important thing you can do for your MBA applications is demonstrate fit .

So let’s dig in and talk about the first component of MBA program fit.

Step 1: Show the admissions committees you’re going to business school for the right reasons

There is really only one reason people go to business school: because they want more..

In fact, this is the only reason people do anything. Because they want more… more money, more stuff, more knowledge, more freedom, more happiness, more love, more sex, more joy, more power, more whatever. We all want certain things in life. That’s part of what defines us.

If you’re considering business school, it’s because you want more from your career. You want to do more of the stuff you love and less of the stuff you find boring. You want to have more impact at a higher level. You want more leadership experience. You want more authority, expertise, and regard. You want your career to matter more — to you and to the world. (We’re not your everyday MBA Admission Coches, but this is why we focus on MBAs at Career Protocol. Because we LOVE people who want that stuff.)

If this is the only reason people go to business school, then how could you fail to show that you’re getting an MBA for the right reasons?

People make two big mistakes in this regard.

MBA Application Mistake #1: People don’t do the work to figure out who they really are and what they really want.

Stanford gives you a great opportunity to do this in their application essay. “What matters most to you and why?” they ask.

Inherent in that question is an invitation to reveal who you truly are and what you truly value – your personal traits and personal experience, what makes you you. Remember, everyone wants more — in that way we’re all the same. Further, all MBA applicants want to make a bigger difference, achieve more impact, and help more people (including themselves and their loved ones) have better lives.

We’re all the same in that way, too. So keep this in mind:

What makes you unique isn’t what you want or even what you value, it’s the choices you’ve made in service of those values.

When it comes to any given pool of MBA applicants, one facet of diversity that stands out among the thousands of essays the admission committees read is the choices made. Some people took jobs in banking, others took jobs in nonprofits. Some people chose to mentor their peers, others chose to invest time in developing themselves further. Some stayed close to friends and family, some charted new courses in new geographies.

Who you are today is the reflection of all the choices, big and small, that you’ve made in your life, and the best way to launch your MBA application process is to explore, own, and celebrate those choices . In doing so, you’ll not only uncover your best stories for your MBA essays (more on how to craft winning MBA essays and write your Life Story ), you may also discover in a new and inspiring way the course you want the rest of your life to take. And please don’t write like these terrible MBA sample essays .

How to AVOID mistake #1: Construct clear and well-motivated career goals when you talk about why you want to go to b-school.

There is no substitute for deep self-awareness as the foundation of your MBA application process. This is why our application services begin with the You Discovery Process™. Taking the time to explore and honor your life choices will get you a long way in this direction. If you want to home in even further on your motivations…

Ask yourself some hard, deep questions, and answer them as honestly as you possibly can.

Here are some useful avenues of exploration to help you build a compelling essay:

• What are the core values you strive to uphold in your daily life?
• List 2-3 times in your life when it was very hard to live up them, but you did it anyway. What did you learn?
• List 2-3 times you failed to live up to those values. How did you change after those experiences?
• If you could be known for only one thing in your career so far (a value, a choice, an accomplishment, whatever), what would it be?
• What one thing must you tell the admissions committee about who you are as a person to feel like you have helped them make a fair and good decision about you?

Here are some more tips to build a strong future career goals, a solid long-term objective, and strong reasons why you need an MBA for your essays based on those insights from our Career Guru, Aziz

If you want to chat through these questions — or any other part of your MBA applications with a seasoned savvy MBA Admissions consultant Professional Development Coach — apply for a free MBA strategy session.

Now let’s look at one more way applicants go wrong in answer the why they want an MBA essay question?

The misconception about goals is that you have to have a certain goal or a certain subset of goals in order to be an attractive candidate for a given school. And this is just patently untrue. There is literally an infinite array of MBA application career goals that you could have that both necessitate an MBA and that make you an attractive candidate for business school. And which goals or set of goals is right for you depends on you. It depends on your background, your experiences, your ambitions and your vision for the future. It depends on where you want to have an impact. It depends on the kind of work that you want to be doing post MBA based on the experience that you've had pre-MBA. You’ll submit a unique MBA application that is tailored to you and your personal experiences. I can't tell you how many times I've had my clients go and speak to their friends who are alumni, their alumni friends tell them “You need to destroy this entire essay and you need to talk about wanting to have goals in finance.” or “You can't say that you want to go into consulting, everybody says they want to go into consulting.” or “You have to have an entrepreneurial goal or the school isn't going to accept you.”. The problem with taking advice in general from alumni is that they have a data set of one. They have their own application process and what they believe made them successful in getting into business school. It's only natural to think that whatever worked for you is definitely what's going to work for everyone else. But this is crazy and it's wrong because for the most part, there's a very good chance that those alumni got into school, not because of their essays or their goals, but in spite of them.

This was definitely the case in my case. When I look back on all the horrible mistakes I made in my MBA essays, I can't even believe how lucky I was to be admitted because frankly, I was admitted not because of my essays, but in spite of them. So, taking advice from anyone who has a single data point is always a risky proposition. And where I see this most going wrong – with alumni in particular – is advising you to have a certain set of MBA application goals that they think the school is interested in or that they themselves met success with. But that has nothing to do with you or your specific ambitions or your unique MBA application. And I'm picking on alumni here, but if you go to the internet, you're going to find a lot of misinformation about what goals you should and should not have when you apply to business school.

Mistake #2: People have the wrong expectations for what an MBA program can provide.

Yes, any MBA will help you get more from your career by helping you develop better professional knowledge, some technical knowledge and a whole slew of soft skills: communication skills, interpersonal skills, leadership skills, managerial skills, team management skills, and an international perspective. Read more about why you should get an MBA in this article.

But no MBA is a magic wand . It is not a substitute for hard work, self-awareness, questioning, networking, relationship building, appetite for learning, willingness to fail, or an  understanding of how the world really works .

Here’s an example of what I mean:

Venture Capital is a tiny, competitive niche industry relative to many other business positions. Very few people get the chance to work in Venture Capital and those who do check many boxes. They have a demonstrated track record of entrepreneurial thinking and acting, they have elite relationship building and management skills, they have a highly advanced financial analysis skillset, and they ALREADY have at least the start of a strong network in the field. They frequently have already held technical roles or a position as a management consultant, investment banker, private equity analyst, or serial entrepreneur.

If someone like me — an English teacher with a little Human Resources exposure and a professional network based entirely in South Korea at the time I applied to bschool — claimed I wanted an MBA so I could get my first post-MBA job in Venture Capital in Silicon Valley, that would be magic wand thinking.

The MBA cannot grant any possible career wish.

That doesn’t mean you can’t have absolutely anything you want in your career. It just means that no degree is going to magically make it happen for you. And schools know this.

If the school admitted me believing it could magically make me a Venture Capitalist, I would have ended up a very unsatisfied customer indeed. Nobody wants that, and that’s why your application MUST reflect an accurate understanding of what the MBA offers vis-à-vis what you need to fulfill your goals .

How to avoid mistake #2: Have credible goals that are achievable with your specific background and knowledge (and a little bit of an MBA goose).

Create a tactical plan to get to where you want to go. What this really boils down to is

• Share an inspiring Long-Term Vision, and
• Have a credible Medium-Term Strategy to get what you want (i.e. a plan for your internship and immediate post-MBA job). Understand what it actually takes to get one of those jobs, and make sure your post-MBA goal makes sense given your business experience and current position.

Do you want to work at an e-learning company after school? E-learning companies do not tend to recruit en masse on MBA campuses. So how will you build your own network in that industry, leveraging your and school resources to create such opportunities? And then, of course, what skills, learnings, and experiences do you need from the school to prepare yourself for your target roles?

Check out our Comprehensive MBA Career Report for much more insight into which companies recruit at which MBA programs.

Pro Tip: If what you REALLY want isn’t achievable immediately post MBA, make it your second step or longer-term goal.

(Entrepreneurship falls into this category for 95% or more of applicants.)

Finally, and crucially, you have to understand what your dream schools actually facilitate in terms of recruitment . Where do alumni of your favorite MBA universities actually go to work?

Want to work in Silicon Valley? Stanford and Haas can help you out a lot by providing direct interaction with companies just down the street. Columbia Business School and London Business School will struggle more since they’re geographically so much farther away. How will you compensate for that with your own efforts, knowledge, and multi-disciplinary creative approach to recruiting?

Step 2: Show schools you’ve really done your research

School research is so important that we’ve actually got multiple articles explaining how to approach it.

When you’re constructing your career goal essay, be sure to research all aspects of the school: the learning environment, key classes and professors, the alumni network, the experiences of classmates and current students. Business schools aren’t just teaching business. They’re creating a two-year 360 degree experience in the type of environment that fosters learning both in an out of the classroom. Be sure you get to know it well.

Here are some ways to do that:

• Figure out which MBA programs are best for your goals
• Show your target schools the love
• Visit campus when you can
• Research the learning experience
• Ask good questions of current students

And since things aren’t so normal lately, here’s how to network with schools during a pandemic.

Step 3: Show them you’ll leave the place better than you found it.

Showing you’re going to have a positive impact on your MBA community and classmates goes beyond what you write in your personal statement. Your MBA resume should show a track record of contributions to the communities you’ve been a part of. Your story essays should reflect the values of inclusivity and service, character, empathy and kindness.

But I talk a lot more about showing school’s you’re going to be a contributor to the campus community in this article about showing showing MBA Program Committees You’re Worth Investing In

Step 4: Show them they’re your first choice.

SHOW (don’t tell) schools they’re your Number 1 choice.

This last one is tricky, and it’s basically the sum of everything we’ve discussed so far. As I mentioned at the start, you’re asking a school to invest in you — they have, let’s say, 575 seats in their program, and you’re asking them to give you one.

Schools have legitimate concerns about yield due to the pressure of rankings.

In other words, the higher the percentage of admitted students who matriculate , the better it is for their ranking. Harvard Business school is king here, then Stanford Graduate School of Business. The rest trail by a wide margin. So programs want some assurance that their choice to invest in you (i.e. give you one of their coveted seats) is a good one.

The best way to show them that their investment in you is safe is to invest in them first.

Important sidebar here: Don’t lie . Please don’t write “Wharton / Harvard Business School / Columbia Business School / Chicago Booth is my first choice school because blablablabla.” It will seem disingenuous even if it’s true , because schools know that you are almost certainly applying to multiple schools. Talk is cheap anyway. Remember, MBA admission is not about pandering.

This is part of why Harvard Business School doesn’t have a formal personal statement essay question. They don’t put a strong emphasis on school fit until the interview because they know they’re your first choice, so they don’t even bother asking. They will, on the other hand, note if you have visited campus, visited their website (multiple times and for how long), and engaged with their media.

So if you want to seal the deal on showing a school that you’re worth investing in…

Take as many actions as you can (big and small) to get to know your target schools and their communities.

Information about your web activity is being recorded at all times. The technology to track your behavior on websites isn’t even that new, and you can bet at least some schools are tracking your activities on their site. So get over there!!

Visit your favorite schools’ sites on a regular basis, click around, read stuff. It’s part of research, but it’s also part of your investment in the program. You’re investing your time, after all, in getting to know them.

Go to local events in your area hosted by target schools and their alumni community.

Go to the  Forte Forum ,  QS MBA World Tour , the  Poets&Quants Centre Court Event , and/or  the MBA tour  in your area and rub elbows with adcom members. Ask good questions and make sure your attendance is registered (i.e. sign the sign-in sheet).

Once again: When it’s possible to do so, go to campus. Even if you do it in the summer when students are away, make sure your presence is registered .

Finally, if the school includes a “Creative Essay” option — you know, the videos, PowerPoints or other multimedia  that takes a lot more work and commitment —  do it if you can tell your best story through that medium. Engaging with this alternative option shows your commitment and investment. Use one of these  10 cool tools to create it .

If you do all these things, your Why MBA essay should knock their socks off, blow their minds, and make the angels sing.

Or at least, it will give the very best chance at MBA admission at your favorite schools.

If you’d like a partner for your MBA journey and a team of MBA Admissions Coaches who’ll help you find your authentic voice and shine in your MBA applications in the most inspiring way, that’s what we’re here for.

Let’s have a conversation!

Talk to us..

Angela Guido

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

Recent Posts

• Is an MBA Worth It in 2024?
• MBA Salaries, Cost, “Bad” MBAs, Online MBAs, and Diversity in Business School
• Should You Go To Business School in 2024? Here’s Everything You Need to Know
• GMAT scores at Top Schools, How to Finish Your MBA Application Strong and What to Do Post-MBA Application
• MBA Adcom Spills the Tea on Your GMAT Score
• Facebook Messenger
• More Networks

• E-mail & Password
• Notification Settings
• Global Settings
• Applicant profile
• Update status
• My GMAT info
• --> My Education -->