For this MBA essay, you have to list your short-term and long-term goals. You might also have to do a thorough research on your target Business School to answer these questions.
Why MBA - Harvard Business School?
Establish a clear strategy before you approach any set of MBA essays. For HBS, this is especially important because you can choose amongst several questions in order to illustrate your candidacy. It’s a great idea to brainstorm to uncover your strongest stories so that you can best demonstrate important leadership, management, academic and personal qualities. Harvard is interested in knowing how you work as a person, how you think, and what kind of leader you are. Community involvement and a broad international perspective are certainly valued, as you can see by the topics. Most importantly, specific and concise examples are the best way to demonstrate who you are. Without specifics, a claim to be a leader is empty. Also make sure to answer the question completely, but do not add extra information if it is not relevant.
You have to be decisive and strategic with your essays, interview and follow-up essay. Learn how to handle the Harvard MBA Admission process with HBS Essay Guide
Download F1GMAT's Harvard MBA Essay Guide 2016-17
Why MBA - Wharton Business School?
Wharton consistently seeks balanced and community minded applicants that can demonstrate innovative thinking, a record of accomplishment, and very solid career goals. The essays this year are consistent with the admissions goals, though very different from the previous years’ essays. The required essay asks for career objectives, and telling a cohesive story is key to success with this set of Wharton questions. When contemplating the optional essays, it will be important to choose topics that will allow you to demonstrate both achievements at work and your extracurricular or personal activities. In addition, refer back to your application strategy and strengths and weaknesses to determine which personal qualities you can highlight in these essays.
Wharton MBA AdCom wants candidates who will
1) Get involved with the Community
2) Lead by Example
3) Take Risks
4) Inspire Others
Download F1GMAT's Wharton MBA Essay Guide 2016-17
Why MBA - NYU Stern?
Fit is critical in the application process, and this is the place to demonstrate your fit with Stern. It will be important to discuss your passion for Stern and your interest in attending NYU’s MBA program in this essay. Certainly personal experience of the campus through visits or student touch points would be ideal, but even if you are halfway around the world you can illustrate the many ways in which you learned about the Stern experience.
Download NYU Stern MBA Essay Guide 2016-17
Why MBA - MIT Sloan?
If you had to describe the MIT Sloan MBA program in one word, that word would be innovation. Sloan is a place where practical business concerns intersect with vision and inspiration, often of the tech variety. As the website states: “Like MIT itself, MIT Sloan is a place for visionary pragmatists and for people with the determination to change the world with the passion to make it happen.”
MIT wants to know how you work, think and act, especially when you face setbacks. They also want to know how persuasive you are when it comes to convincing your team about an idea.
Download MIT Sloan MBA Essay Guide 2016-17
Why MBA - Kellogg School of Management?
One thing that you have to focus while writing your application for Kellogg School of management is your ability to demonstrate your fit with the Kellogg community. The Kellogg community highly values leadership and teamwork. Demonstrate your diversity in experience and your unique background. Having done your research on Kellogg’s academics and resources will help you answer the question about your motivation to pursue a graduate degree at Kellogg. Choose specific classes, professors and programs that fit into your career goals. Think about clubs and conferences that are unique to Kellogg and will advance your career.
Kellogg values diversity, teamwork, leadership, and sense of community. Your essays should clearly demonstrate these traits.
Download Kellogg MBA Essay Guide 2016-17
Why MBA - Stanford Business School?
Stanford wants to know what you specifically need that will be uniquely satisfied by the program at GSB, and research will help you determine the specifics of the academic program, community and students will be essential to demonstrating your knowledge and fit with the program. Your accomplishments and achievements are key to who you are today, however it’s far more important to explain your influences, values and motivations. Stanford asks for candid self-examination in essay.
Stanford MBA AdCom wants to know who you are and what motivates you towards achieving your goals. You have to explain your influences, lessons learned and motivation through the essays.
Download F1GMAT's Stanford MBA Essay Guide 2016-17
Why MBA - Chicago Booth?
Why Chicago and Why Now are explicitly asked this year. Think about the specific classes and programs at Chicago that appeal to you. Are you looking for flexible program? International experiences? How will these aspects of the program fit with your future career goals? If you are reapplying, make sure you have done the work to evaluate your candidacy and have made changes this time around. Reflecting upon why you want to go to Chicago and the MBA process will certainly be part of that work. This is your opportunity to show the AdComm why Chicago is a great fit for your and your refined career goals.
Chicago Booth AdCom is trying to evaluate your leadership qualities, team building skills, maturity in handling challenges, fit, academic rigor, creativity and motivation for an MBA.
Download F1GMAT's Chicago Booth MBA Essay Guide
Why MBA - Haas School of Business?
Since the career goal question comes towards the end of the application, the AdCom wants to learn more about your personal story. Be consistent with your story and make sure that the career goals at the end is not a big surprise for the admissions committee. Your personality and experience should blend well with your career goals.
Download F1GMAT's Haas MBA Essay Guide
In what role do you see yourself working immediately after graduation? Why? How will your past and present experiences help you achieve this? How will the London Business School MBA Programme contribute to this goal?
For the first part of the question- what role do you see yourself working immediately after graduation?(After graduation what?)
In the near future, I see myself working as a management consultant in one of the firms like Johnson & Johnson, Mckinsey or BCG. I want to introduce processes that can potentially improve the productivity of the company. I also want to be involved with the strategy formulation of the company.
Why?
I want to ensure that the solutions and best practices that we provide to our clients would add value to their business.
How will your past and present experiences help you achieve this?
Example:
I believe that the experience that I would gain by working on a flexible course in London business school would provide me with the necessary skills to solve the myriads of real business issues that a company face. Also, being an Information Technology (IT) consultant for five years, I have instilled in me a structural approach to problem solving. I can improve my business-solving skills with my experience and the training that London Business School (LBS) would provide.
How will the London Business School MBA Programme contribute to this goal? (Why MBA from our business school?)
Note:
1) Refer the business school website and other forums to find out what members in the business community is saying about the Business school. Google would be your best friend.
2) Every business school has a unique selling proposition. It can be a list of
distinguished speakers, networking clubs or a unique learning environment.
3) Align the unique selling proposition of the business school with the short term and long term goals that you have in such a way that the USP of the business school would be sufficient in achieving your goals.
Q) In what role do you see yourself working immediately after graduation? Why? How will your past and present experiences help you achieve this? How will the London Business School MBA Programme contribute to this goal?
Sample MBA Essay Guidelines(Sample MBA Essay below the guidelines): This classic career goals question focuses more on your short-term goals than the typical school might. Make sure you can clearly demonstrate how your past and present career and personal experiences support your goals, and why you have settled on your particular aspirations. In addition, you will need to demonstrate why London Business School is the right MBA program for you and why you are planning to pursue an MBA at this point in your career and your life.
In just 750 words to answer 5 distinct questions you will need to demonstrate your commitment and rationale for your decisions throughout the essay. Think about the narrative thread of your life and career and how LBS is going to fit in, then expand into the future you want to make a reality through this education. There should be a clear link between your immediate post-MBA goals and your short- and long-term goals, and all of them will flow from your current and past experiences. Your narrative thread should make it clear why you are pursuing an MBA, why now and how LBS will help you achieve your goals.
If you are planning to switch careers and do not have the track record to demonstrate you are serious about your goals, it will be helpful to show your commitment through research you have done, extracurricular activities you have been involved with, or relevant accomplishments in your current position. When researching the LBS difference for this essay, you might find some help in the form of the student blogs on the London website.
Sample MBA Essay - Why MBA From our Business School
How will you achieve your short term and long term goals by being part of our MBA programme?
(Alignment of Business school USP and your goals)
I believe an LBS MBA can provide me with the knowledge and tools necessary to open my business. I understand clearly that this career goal require skills such as business insight, management capabilities and networking skills. An MBA from LBS is a perfect choice since it will equip me with the skills and knowledge necessary to make a professional business plan, finance new ventures, assess the value of a company, and create a self-sustainable business. During my MBA course, I hope to discuss my business plan with my classmates. The innovative ideas and business insights that a diverse and talented group could generate would be of tremendous value for me. Furthermore, LBS has a unique educational philosophy that stresses on leadership and practical learning. A flexible exit scheme and relevant set of electives have ensured that the course remain action-oriented. The concentration on entrepreneurial management is what excites me the most, as this would be in alignment with my long-term goal of starting my own business.
(USP of the Business School)
I choose LBS because its employment record shows a high percentage of students getting opportunity in business consulting and general management that perfectly bolster my short-term goal of pursuing a career in management consultancy. The work of consulting is rewarding, since it will call on critical skills, developed both in my course work and through my work experience, to complete consulting involvements that have senior executive visibility. These intensive involvements will deepen my understanding of the key elements that a company requires in order to succeed. Solving strategic problems in a team-based environment can significantly polish my teamwork and leadership experience that is invaluable for a startup company.
(Conclusion)
I believe that an LBS MBA, when combined with my experience, will provide the right skills and knowledge to pursue my short and long-term goals in management consulting, entrepreneurship and new venture creation
If you want to know whether your essays satisfy the Critical success factors : Grammar, Spelling, Style, Tone, Uniqueness, Pace, Completeness and Coherence, submit your essays.
About the Author
I am Atul Jose - the Founding Consultant at F1GMAT.
Over the past 15 years, I have helped MBA applicants gain admissions to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, MIT, Chicago Booth, Kellogg, Columbia, Haas, Yale, NYU Stern, Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, IE, IESE, HEC Paris, McCombs, Tepper, and schools in the top 30 global MBA ranking.
I offer end-to-end Admissions Consulting and editing services – Career Planning, Application Essay Editing & Review, Recommendation Letter Editing, Interview Prep, assistance in finding funds and Scholarship Essay & Cover letter editing. See my Full Bio.
I am also the Author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, covering 16+ top MBA programs with 240+ Sample Essays that I have updated every year since 2013 (11+ years. Phew!!)
I am an Admissions consultant who writes and edits Essays every year. And it is not easy to write good essays.
Contact me for any questions about MBA or Master's application. I would be happy to answer them all
Winning MBA Essay Guide - A Complete Guide for M7 and Top 15 MBA Application Essays
F1GMAT's Winning MBA Essay guide will teach you how to transform your essay into a life journey with trials and tribulations that will move the admission team.
+ Over 245 Sample Essays (Read Previews of F1GMAT's Winning MBA Essay Guide Sample Essays here)
+ Top 15 MBA Programs (Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Columbia, Booth, MIT, Kellogg, Yale, Haas, Darden, INSEAD, LBS, NYU Stern, Tuck, Duke Fuqua, Ross)
+ The Art of Storytelling
+ Leadership Narratives
+ Review Tips
+ Persuasion Strategies
+ The Secret to "unleashing" your unique voice
+ How to prepare and present for the Video Essay
+ How to write about your Strengths
+ How to write about your Weaknesses
+ Leadership Narratives
+ Review Tips
+ Persuasion Strategies
+ The Secret to "unleashing" your unique voice
+ How to prepare and present for the Video Essay
+ How to write about your Strengths
+ How to write about your Weaknesses
Want to try the individual school Essay Guides before upgrading to the Winning MBA Essay Guide? Try below.
F1GMAT's Essay Guides
Harvard MBA Essay Guide (20 Sample Essays)
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)Example #1: Persistence Narrative
Background Information: The applicant – a design and music talent, shares her journey through several setbacks. She attributes curiosity to her growth.
Curiosity: Philosophy
Curiosity (Explained): Curiosity as a philosophy is tough to translate into a narrative unless you are from the creative industry or your contributions had an influence on a solution or an initiative.
MBA Essay Strategy: I wanted to capture the humanity of the applicant and her influence in music instead of just highlighting how she overcame multiple roadblocks to gain attention as a designer.
Theme: Persistence
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Life Starts at NO (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #2: International Community Building
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.
MBA Essay Strategy: I wanted to show the applicant’s contributions in diagnostic from 2020 to 2024 by citing two events. Such examples build credibility instead of engagements that were recent. The evolution of the platform from an AI development community to a community for discussing the application of AI in diagnostics is captured through a ‘curiosity’ angle.
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Growth through Collaboration (AI in Healthcare) (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #3: Culture
Background Information: The applicant, an Entrepreneur from India narrates his first entrepreneurial experience – facilitating exchange of stamps in the late 1990s.
Theme: Culture
MBA Essay Strategy: Instead of addressing the biases in the investor community that could turn preachy, I wanted to focus on the applicant and his entrepreneurial journey by citing two entrepreneurial experiences – a platform(club) for stamp collection and his Grocery delivery App.
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – The American Dream (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #4: Addiction
Background Information: The applicant – a beneficiary of the foster home system, captures the sacrifice his adopted grandparents made to save him from a path of addiction. Paying it back through early intervention among teenagers and community engagement is the curiosity narrative.
Theme: Addiction
MBA Essay Strategy: My strategy is to capture a gratitude narrative in the first one-third of the essay to demonstrate motivation for starting the venture and dedicate the latter part of the essay to the unique solution
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Drug Addiction and Gaming (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #5: Scarcity
Background Information: The applicant, an education major, recognizes that 70% of all students in Kenya don’t have a computer. The curiosity that drives him to pivot from one solution to another is the growth narrative.
Theme: Innovation
MBA Essay Strategy: Often, innovation is captured with a ‘hero’ narrative where the applicant is the sole originator of an idea. I wanted to break that cliché and include a person from whom the applicant learned to use a concept called ‘scaffolding.’
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Scarcity (Growth-Oriented HBS Essay Example)Example #6: FinTech
Background Information: The applicant captures a vulnerable moment of a beneficiary to compare his journey of side hustle before a technology giant noticed his talent. Although cryptocurrency is not a flavor for the year, capture niches where innovation is still happening.
Theme: Education, Child Welfare
MBA Essay Strategy: Empathizing with a techno solution is tough without a strong backstory around the beneficiary. For the essay, I wanted to clearly establish the beneficiary – Rami, before the applicant narrates the similarities to his journey and finally shares the solution that emerged from his curiosity.
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – FinTech as a Tool for Good (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #7: Learning from the best
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.
Theme: Learning
MBA Essay Strategy: The effectiveness of the case-study method depends on the assumption that peers in a Harvard MBA class will help elevate your learning experience. For the essay, I have highlighted the applicant’s recognition of this value proposition with three examples.
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Learning from the Best (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #8: Military & Search for IMPACT
Background Information: The most common narrative for US military applicants is to quote 9/11 and the reaction your immediate family had while watching the events unfold. The horrifying moment is captured as a motivation to join the Military. On digging deeper, most applicants would share that their motivations were diverse.
Theme: Career Choice
MBA Essay Strategy: I wanted to quickly highlight that the applicant had the choice of entering any industry. One achievement to demonstrate his curiosity that I shared in the first half is the invention of a game. Since the game is mentioned in the resume and verifiable through search, I didn’t quote the name. By clearly highlighting the person’s curiosity and career options, the family legacy is used as a factor in joining the military.
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Career Choice after a Military Career (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)
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)Example #9: Small Business Values
Background Information: The applicant - a second-generation Asian American, is familiar with the values of fiscal conservatism, building relationships, and understanding the daily struggles of the community through his family’s department store.
Theme: Customer-Centric
MBA Essay Strategy: The applicant’s role in developing an App for the store is highlighted in the essay at a crucial part of the narrative so that the essay is not all about his father. I have also humanized the journey – by sharing how upset the father was when the revenues fell by 40%. The essay is about the transformation in the applicant’s value from a person chasing productivity and optimization technique to someone who is truly thinking about the customers.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Small Business Values (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #10: Breaking Away from Family Business
Background Information: A unique challenge that applicants whose parents are public figures or CXOs of businesses or entrepreneurs are the pressure to live up to the parent’s standards or milestones. For the leadership narrative, the burden of legacy is established before the narrative addresses his leadership principles.
Theme: Authenticity
MBA Essay Strategy: For the essay, I want to capture an entrepreneur’s journey to rise above his entrepreneur father’s image. But I didn’t want to make the entire essay about this complex dynamics. The narrative is around the applicant’s focus on customers and surrounding with teams who keeps him grounded.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Breaking Away from Family Business(Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #11: Creativity and Communication
Background Information: When the overall percentage of users with internet access is 62% in South Africa and the inequality accentuated by the rural and urban divide, the applicant endured the lack of digital infrastructure, and spending close to 22% of the family income on gaining relevant information on schools, global exams, and financial assistance.
Theme: Creativity, Communication
MBA Essay Strategy: The strategy is to share why the applicant values no distraction in a child’s home for optimum education experience. Then I highlight the many roadblocks the applicant’s non-profit faced in receiving fee waiver for their cooperative run ISP.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Non-Profit (Telecom) (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #12: Mental Health
Background Information: The applicant like most didn’t pay much attention to the mental health epidemic until tragedy hit home.
Theme: Communication, Innovation
MBA Essay Strategy: A question we frequently get from applicants is whether they should cite tragedy in the family as a motivation for a venture or a non-profit initiative. As long as you don’t linger too much on the tragedy and offer a balanced narrative, there are no restrictions on leveraging unique stories from your life.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Mental Health (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #13: Trauma, Healing & Finding Authentic Self
Background Information: The applicant narrates the absurdity of war in the narrative about the duties in Kabul, and the trauma. Instead of wallowing in on the horror, the applicant takes what makes military applicants strong and guides unprivileged children build life and leadership skills.
Theme: Resilience
MBA Essay Strategy: Capturing PTSD in an essay, the healing process, and the cues that helped the applicant are too sacred to be shared in a Harvard MBA application essay. However, with the right motivation and narrative arcs, you can capture the essence of your journey without sharing the darkest secrets. That is what I did by merging two stories – the horrors of the war with a non-profit engagement.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Military & PTSD (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #14: Addiction, Setback and Leadership Mantra
Background Information: In this narrative, the applicant captures Peru’s Silver mining boom of 2006. The growth experienced in her father’s business shifted the family’s economic status to a new stratosphere. Through the changing economic and family dynamics, the applicant finds her voice in a unique way, initially to record her unheard voice but later as one of the youngest subject matter experts in mining and commodities.
Theme: Failure
MBA Essay Strategy: For the essay, the strategy is to show how life’s unpredictability is a blessing. By narrating two setback events, the essay demonstrates the applicant’s resilience and her acknowledgment of people who made a comeback possible.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Addiction, Setback and Leadership Mantra (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #15: War, Immigration and Starting Over Again
Background Information: Despite a raging war in Syria, the family of the applicant was unblemished by the chaos. The strategic government assets near the applicant’s house would have made the region an easy target, but it was not. The calmness of her journey is shattered in one event. From the privileges of a cocooned life, the applicant is forced to think about survival, her sister’s future, and her future in the US. The second half of the narrative captures the change that was forced on her.
Theme: Gratitude, Resilience
MBA Essay Strategy: I consciously chose not to start the essay with a dialogue or trauma. Two lines are allocated to set up the narrative before the trauma event.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – War, Immigration and Starting Over Again (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)Harvard MBA Business-Minded Essay: Please reflect on how your experiences have influenced your career choices and aspirations and the impact you will have on the businesses, organizations, and communities you plan to serve. (up to 300 words)
Example #16: Creative or Finance
Background Information: The applicant starts the narrative with the origin of her talents. The unbridled enthusiasm receives a reality check when in high school, the applicant’s father has a conversation with her about academics. While the applicant picked up her quant skills, she was reaching over 50,000 loyal fans, and her videos captured 1 million views.
Theme: Passion, Talent
MBA Essay Strategy: Capturing vulnerability is the toughest part for Harvard MBA applicants. For this essay example, I have captured the applicant’s uncertainty about career choice throughout the essay. Here the goal is to show vulnerability in the career choice essay while for leadership and growth essay, I could capture one example each from creative and PE industry respectively to balance the narrative. So don’t follow this example without a strategy.
Read: Harvard MBA Business-Minded Essay – Creative or Finance (Business-Minded HBS MBA Essay Example)- Stanford MBA Essay Guide (24 Sample Essays)
- Columbia MBA Essay Guide (21 Sample Essays)
- Wharton MBA Essay Guide (15 Sample Essays)
- INSEAD MBA Essay Guide (19 Sample Essays)
- Darden MBA Essay Guide (21 Sample Essays)
- Yale SOM MBA Essay Guide (15 Sample Essays)
- Tuck MBA Essay Guide (15 Sample Essays)
- Haas MBA Essay Guide (18 Sample Essays)
- NYU Stern MBA Essay Guide (15 Sample Essays + 6 Examples - Visual Essay)
- LBS MBA Essay Guide (6 Sample Essays)
- MIT Sloan MBA Essay Guide (6 Sample Cover Letters + 3 Sample Video Statement Scripts + 3 Sample Optional Essays)
- Kellogg MBA Essay Guide (11 Sample Essays)
- Chicago Booth MBA Essay Guide (12 Sample Essays)
- Ross MBA Essay Guide (31 Sample Essays)
- Duke Fuqua MBA Essay Guide (10 Sample Essays + Two 25 Random Things Samples)
- Cambridge MBA Essay Guide (12 Sample Essays)
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