Sample MBA Essays and School Specific Tips

Tuck MBA Essay: Tell us who you are. How have your values and experiences shaped your identity and character? How will your background contribute to the diverse Tuck culture and community?

Background Information: An applicant caught in the battle of his analytical and creative brain finds a match at Teach for America, where he is entrusted to apply his editing skills to keep Grade 1 to Grade 3 students engaged in online study sessions. 

Theme: Creativity

Tuck MBA Essay: Tell us who you are. How have your values and experiences shaped your identity and character? How will your background contribute to the diverse Tuck culture and community?

Background Information: An entrepreneur musician shares the power of music in improving the mood of distressed children, her mentorship, and the agency she started to help upcoming artists. 

Theme: Music, Education, Job Security

Background Information: The applicant notices one person in his team consistently underperforming. His humane intervention to address the personal challenges helped the teammate rise to a star performer. 

Theme: Inclusion, Mentorship

Theme (Explained): Often, mentorship when a peer or a sub-ordinate underperforms need context-setting about the problem.

Background Information: The applicant – a white male applicant working with a diverse team from China, South Africa, and India for a technology giant, confronts a peer who makes unflattering comments about his international peers on a visit to the US.

Theme: Inclusion, Courage, Xenophobia

Tuck MBA Essay: Describe a time you meaningfully contributed to someone else’s sense of inclusion in your professional or personal community. (300 words) 

Background Information: The applicant proactively offered guidance and mentorship to a junior analyst who was struggling to interpret contracts in an M&A deal

Theme: Inclusion, Mentorship

Tuck MBA Essay: Describe a time you meaningfully contributed to someone else’s sense of inclusion in your professional or personal community. (300 words)

Background Information: In the applicant in charge of leading a team of 20+ associates for an insurance giant witnessed an error in judgment from one of the 5 team leads. Reversing a decision to let go of the person is the ‘risky’ sense of inclusion narrative.

Theme: Inclusion, Ethics, Courage

Chicago Booth MBA Essay# An MBA is as much about personal growth as it is about professional development. In addition to sharing your experience and goals in terms of career, we’d like to learn more about you outside of the office.

Chicago Booth MBA Essay# An MBA is as much about personal growth as it is about professional development. In addition to sharing your experience and goals in terms of career, we’d like to learn more about you outside of the office. Use this opportunity to tell us something about who you are… (Minimum 250 words, no maximum)?

Background Information: A primary care physician who was shaken by a personal tragedy in rural Iowa starts a non-profit, leveraging connections from her alma mater to fund her venture.

Tuck MBA Essay: Describe a time you meaningfully contributed to someone else’s sense of inclusion in your professional or personal community. (290 words)

Background Information: A leading YouTube creator in the ‘editing for educational video’ niche narrates a peer’s bout with depression after he faced a stagnation in viewership. The applicant’s encouraging mindset with video collaboration helped the peer feel a sense of inclusion among the creator community.

Theme: Inclusion

Chicago Booth MBA Essay# An MBA is as much about personal growth as it is about professional development. In addition to sharing your experience and goals in terms of career, we’d like to learn more about you outside of the office. Use this opportunity to tell us something about who you are… (Minimum 250 words, no maximum)?

Background Information: A technologist narrates the leadership traits he acquired from his entrepreneur father.