Essay tips for the new HBS essays from our HBS alum...
Tell us about three of your accomplishments. (600 words)
Tell us about three of your accomplishments. (600 words)
- This continues to be the centerpiece essay - best advice I got for this essay was to first write it as though it were three separate accomplishment essays (in as many words as you need) and then edit it down to approximately 200 words each - it becomes much less daunting this way
- A lot of applicants will have a central theme woven into the three accomplishments - this is great if there is a legitimate theme that applies to the three accomplishments, but it's better to have no theme than to force one into your essay
- This one is obvious, but try to showcase accomplishments that highlight different aspects of your experiences - the template most suggest and use is one professional, personal and community - but these could easily be two professional accomplishments, if in fact, they are different enough from each other
- If you have to get one essay reviewed by someone else (another alum, or us!), get this one. It's your best chance at knocking the socks off the AdCom reader and you don't want to miss it.
- This is so much better than the "what have you learned from a mistake?" question! The most strong applicants have invariably been through a number of high-stakes setbacks in their lives, so this is a great question to ask of everyone
- Setbacks don't have to be mistakes or failures - a setback could be not getting selected for an opportunity that you wanted, or not being recognized for something as you expected - it is, in most cases, a deviation from your expectations of an outcome
- Describe how you dealt with the setback - show your mental strength and how you recovered from it.
- This can often be the most painful essay to read and edit - why? Because 80% of candidates try to mask achievements or strengths as setbacks - PLEASE DON'T DO THIS. Remember: it's not as important that you lost in the major leagues as much as that you played in them!
- Keep the answer as simple as the question
- Briefly cover where you are now, and why it makes sense for you to get an MBA for where you are going (goals)
- The "Why HBS" piece is less important than the "why MBA" - don't litter the essay with name drops and internet research on classes at HBS - use these prudently only where it aligns with your goals
- My favorite question, because applicants usually have something they want to discuss through their application that they usually try to stick in through the other questions :-)
- The open nature of this does make it difficult - there are two routes to consider:
- Use a question that other business schools ask - What means the most to you and why? What will you bring to the HBS Community? What are you most passionate about and why? You get the idea.
- Be creative and come up with your own question - use this...
- When you know you have an experience that you want to discuss that you haven't covered in another question
- When you have some explaining to do - something that looks weird on your resume / application
- Avoid being overly specific on this question - "e.g., why did you decide to run three marathons in 2010?" or "why did you go to africa to help the poor" - I'm exaggerating, but you know what I mean.
