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Harvard Business School

Learning from the Best: Harvard MBA Growth Essay Sample

Growth-Oriented Essay: Curiosity can be seen in many ways. Please share an example of how you have demonstrated curiosity and how that has influenced your growth. (up to 250 words)

Background Information: The applicant – a Remote Engineer in the Oil and Gas industry, reflects on a value that has helped her learn from the best regardless of her geographical limitations.

Curiosity: Peers

The American Dream: Harvard MBA Curiosity & Growth Essay Sample

Growth-Oriented Essay: Curiosity can be seen in many ways. Please share an example of how you have demonstrated curiosity and how that has influenced your growth. (up to 250 words)

Background Information: The applicant, an Entrepreneur from India, shares his American dream by reflecting on his entrepreneurial experiences in India and contrasting them with the support offered by the American VC ecosystem.

Curiosity: Culture

Crypto As a Tool for Good: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay Sample

Growth-Oriented Essay: Curiosity can be seen in many ways. Please share an example of how you have demonstrated curiosity and how that has influenced your growth. (up to 250 words)

Background Information: The applicant captures a vulnerable moment of a beneficiary to compare his journey and shares a curiosity and growth exploration where cryptocurrency became a tool for good.

Curiosity: Funding

Growth through Collaboration - Harvard MBA Growth-Oriented Essay Sample

Growth-Oriented Essay: Curiosity can be seen in many ways. Please share an example of how you have demonstrated curiosity and how that has influenced your growth. (up to 250 words)

Background Information: The applicant, a Machine Learning (ML) entrepreneur specializing in healthcare diagnostics, shares how his curiosity to learn other ML algorithms’ evolution in diagnosing Alzheimer’s, cancer, and heart disease transformed his platform into a global community. 

Curiosity: Machine Learning

Mental Health Awareness - Harvard MBA Leadership-Focused Essay Sample

• Leadership-Focused Essay: What experiences have shaped who you are, how you invest in others, and what kind of leader you want to become? (up to 250 words)

Background Information: The applicant, ambivalent to the mental health epidemic, facilitates one of the largest mental health awareness campaigns after tragedy hits home.

Leadership Traits: Openness, Communication

Addiction and Financial Setback - Harvard MBA Leadership-Focused Essay Sample

• Leadership-Focused Essay: What experiences have shaped how you invest in others and how you lead? (up to 250 words)

Background Information: Through the changing economic and family dynamics of her father's mining business, the applicant finds her voice in a unique way, initially to find an audience for her underappreciated voice, and later as one of the youngest subject-matter experts in mining and commodities.  

Leadership Traits: Resilience, Authenticity  

2nd Generation Entrepreneur & Legacy - Harvard MBA Leadership-Focused Essay Sample

• Leadership-Focused Essay: What experiences have shaped how you invest in others and how you lead? (up to 250 words)

Background Information: An applicant shares the burden of legacy as the son of an entrepreneur and how he has accumulated his father's leadership principles in his venture.

Leadership Traits: Customer-Centric, Authenticity  

Creativity in Scarcity - Harvard MBA Growth-Oriented Essay Sample

Growth-Oriented Essay: Curiosity can be seen in many ways. Please share an example of how you have demonstrated curiosity and how that has influenced your growth. (up to 250 words)

Background Information: The applicant, an education major, recognizes that 70% of all students in Kenya don’t have a computer. The growth narrative is around the curiosity to overcome scarcity, which drives him to pivot from one solution to another. 

Curiosity: Behavior

Creative or Finance Career - Harvard MBA Business-Minded Essay Sample

• Business-Minded Essay: Please reflect on how your choices have influenced your career path and aspirations. (up to 300 words)

Background Information:  An applicant who has grown in her PE career is facing a dilemma: whether to continue in her finance career or pivot into her creative career, where she has over 50,000 loyal YouTube subscribers, and her videos have captured over 10 million views. 

Theme: Passion, Talent

Harvard MBA Events - September 2025

In September 2025, Harvard Business School (HBS) will host a total of 20 MBA events, comprising 7 virtual sessions and 13 in-person sessions across its campus and abroad.

In-Person Events

The in-person events largely center on experiencing the HBS learning environment firsthand. Multiple Experience the HBS Case Method: Class Visits will take place on September 11, 12, 15, 18, 19, 22, 25, 26, and 29, where prospective students can sit in on a class session.