If you have watched movies closely, you will observe a few common traits in the protagonists: they never do anything against common human values- truth, justice, and love. Even if the protagonist is an anti-hero, he will have a soft spot for the vulnerable.
The classic example is Jack Nicholson’s role as Melvin Udall in As Good as It Gets (1997). He is homophobic, doesn’t care about fellow human beings, but as the movie gets into the second act, he shows all the classic traits of the protagonists – caring, kind to the dog, and finally kindness towards fellow human being. We care about heroes who show their human side.
With MBA Application Essays, we don’t have the time or word limit to keep the suspense till Act 2, but you can create a narrative (Read Storytelling Tips from our essay guide) that naturally brings your human side to the forefront.
The Goal
An MBA essay will fail to connect with the reviewer if you don’t define your goal in the first paragraph. It can be achieving deadlines under extreme circumstances, learning new skills, or achieving a noble goal. Unfortunately, noble goals are hard to find in a routine project, be it Finance, IT, Marketing or Consulting. Only candidates working in non-profit have an inherent advantage.
Unforeseen Circumstances
A trick screenwriters use to turn the opinion in favor of the traditional protagonist is the unforeseen circumstance. We sympathize with the protagonist who has lost his uncle (Spiderman), Mother (Guardians of the Galaxy), Love (Forrest Gump), or Mind (Silver Linings Playbook). All right, you don’t have to fake your grandpa’s death or share the bad break-up story with the Admission team, or hint mental instability. Unforeseen circumstances in a corporate environment is common: downsizing, losing account, change in leadership, communication breakdown, lack of technical expertise, economic meltdown, low demand in your market, or other relatable unforeseen circumstances that really happened, and made your goals even more challenging.
Put a Human Face
Our goals mean nothing to the Admission team if you don’t put a human face to the consequence. What will happen if you don’t achieve your goal? How many in your team will be ....
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About the Author
I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.
For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.
My work covers the full MBA application deliverable: career planning and profile evaluation, application essay editing, recommendation letter editing, mock interviews and interview preparation, scholarship and fellowship essay editing, and cover letter editing for funding applications. Full bio with credentials and admit history is here.
I am the author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, the best-selling essay guide covering M7 MBA programs. I have written and updated the guide annually since 2013, which makes the 2026 edition the thirteenth.
The reason I still write and edit essays every cycle: a good MBA essay carries a real applicant's voice. Writing essays for F1GMAT's Books and Editing essays weekly is how I stay calibrated to what current admissions committees respond to.
Contact me for school selection, career planning, essay strategy, narrative development, essay editing, interview preparation, scholarship essay editing, or guidance documents for recommendation letters.