MBA Essay Examples, Openers & Essay Writing Strategies

LBS MBA Essay: What makes you unique? (200 words)

Background Information:  The applicant, a designer for an App development startup, has an interesting passion – to counsel those suffering from PTSD in the veteran community. 

With the legacy of a military family, the applicant is deeply aware of the strong exterior and the silent suffering veterans endure to manage the demon. He built an App with haptic feedback to monitor biomarkers of high stress for veterans suffering from PTSD.

Theme: Mental Health, Policy Change

Q) What are your post-MBA goals and how will your prior experience and the London Business School programme contribute towards these? (500 words)

Profile: Mr. M 

Profile (Background): Mr. M grew up in Brazil, studied engineering, and worked in management consulting across Latin America. He led strategy projects in energy, infrastructure, and technology, helping large firms navigate complex transformations. 

Q) What are your post-MBA goals and how will your prior experience and the London Business School programme contribute towards these? (500 words)

Q) What are your post-MBA goals and how will your prior experience and the London Business School programme contribute towards these? (500 words)

Profile: Miss. A 

Profile (Background): Miss A started her career as a software engineer and later transitioned into product roles at a global technology company. Her work sits at the intersection of innovation, user experience, and social good, particularly in underserved markets. 

Q) What are your post-MBA goals and how will your prior experience and the London Business School programme contribute towards these? (500 words)

Profile: Miss. AD

Profile (Background): Miss AD’s strength is in communicating across cross-functional leadership teams in the telecom and IT infrastructure sectors in Canada. With a background in management and a career in engaging with technology leadership, she has gained the buy-side perspective of customers and how they value technology products. 

Q) What are your post-MBA goals and how will your prior experience and the London Business School programme contribute towards these? (500 words)

Profile: Mr. J

Q) What are your post-MBA goals and how will your prior experience and the London Business School programme contribute towards these? (500 words)

Profile: Miss. C 

Profile (Background): Miss C’s strength has been in deal origination and portfolio company management in PE. With earlier roles in M&A and an academic background in Accounting, Business Administration, and French, Miss C has been specializing in deals originating from Europe, even though she works with a boutique US-based PE firm. 

Essay: Why Stanford?

Profile: Mr. M 

Profile (Background): Mr. M grew up in Brazil, studied engineering, and worked in management consulting across Latin America. He led strategy projects in energy, infrastructure, and technology, helping large firms navigate complex transformations. 

Before Stanford, he also co-founded a non-profit to promote social inclusion in his community. He’s analytical, globally minded, and passionate about creating economic growth while delivering social impact.

Essay 1 (Required): a) What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 words)

b) What are your career goals for the first three to five years after completing your MBA, and how will those build towards your long-term professional goals? (150 words)

Profile: Miss. A 

Essay 1 (Required): a) What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 words)

b) What are your career goals for the first three to five years after completing your MBA, and how will those build towards your long-term professional goals? (150 words)

Profile: Miss. AD

Essay 1 (Required): a) What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 words)

b) What are your career goals for the first three to five years after completing your MBA, and how will those build towards your long-term professional goals? (150 words)

Profile: Mr. J

Essay 1 (Required): a) What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 words)

b) What are your career goals for the first three to five years after completing your MBA, and how will those build towards your long-term professional goals? (150 words)

Profile (Background): As a Colombian native, Miss C has extensive consulting experience in Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe.

Essay 1 (Required): a) What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 words)

b) What are your career goals for the first three to five years after completing your MBA, and how will those build towards your long-term professional goals? (150 words)

Profile: Miss. C 

Essay 1 (Required): a) What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 words)

b) What are your career goals for the first three to five years after completing your MBA, and how will those build towards your long-term professional goals? (150 words)

Profile: Mr. M 

Profile (Background): Mr. M grew up in Brazil, studied engineering, and worked in management consulting across Latin America. He led strategy projects in energy, infrastructure, and technology, helping large firms navigate complex transformations. 

MIT Sloan MBA Cover Letter Prompt >>

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

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

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

Chicago Booth Essay 1# How will the Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career goals? (250-word minimum)

Profile: Mr. K 

Profile (Background): A Business Development/Marketing lead of a non-profit who worked in 5 international cities, grew from an intern to taking care of the organization’s entire Business Development in five years.

Target Industry: Consumer Packaged Goods

Target Function: Marketing

Target Geography: United States 

Chicago Booth Essay 1# How will the Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career goals? (250-word minimum)

Profile: Miss. A 

Profile (Background): A Reservoir Engineer in the Oil and Gas industry wants to transition into a consulting role. 

Target Industry: Energy

Target Function: Consulting

Target Geography: United States 

Chicago Booth MBA Essay 1# How will the Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career goals? (250-word minimum)

Profile: Mr. A

Profile (Background): An applicant who innovated with low-cost energy fuel cells wants to reinvent traditional entrepreneurship models

Essay Approach: “Why Chicago Booth MBA?”

Chicago Booth MBA Essay 1# How will the Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career goals? (250-word minimum)

Profile: Mr. V

Profile (Background): Mr. V, the creator of a tracker for conserving marine life, now seeks a holistic learning experience to bring multiple stakeholders from 100+ countries to his conservation efforts.

Essay Approach: “Why Chicago Booth MBA?”

Chicago Booth MBA Essay 1# How will the Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career goals? (250-word minimum)

Profile: Mr. J

Profile (Background): Mr. J wants to leverage the finance heritage of Chicago Booth and the VC community in the US to bring sustainability to African farms.

Essay Approach: “Why Chicago Booth MBA?”

Chicago Booth MBA Essay 1# How will the Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career goals? (250-word minimum)

Profile: Miss. C 

Profile (Background): Miss C, with strength in deal origination and portfolio company management in Europe in the healthcare and IT industries wants to build her network in the US and Asia and facilitate deals in the Energy industry

Essay Approach: “Why Booth MBA?”

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