Harvard Business School MBA Application Essay Tips, 2023-2024
Last year, Harvard Business School (HBS) added a word limit to its open-ended essay question for the first time. While 900 words is the maximum, some rare applicants might be able to tell their stories effectively in 750 words or less. You should use the number of words you need to tell your story, but no more.
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As we review your application, what more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Harvard Business School MBA program? (900 word limit)
The school’s open-ended prompt can be daunting for some, but the admissions committee is just interested in learning more about who you are and, even more, what drives you. In other words, what do you value, and what makes you tick?
This essay is obviously for business school, but this does not mean that you can only write about your work life or about something special you accomplished at your firm. (Just imagine how boring reading 10,000 essays like that would be! And how would anyone stand out?) Instead, spend some time thinking about how your values have emerged, evolved, and enabled you to become the person you are today. You can touch on the professional, of course — it is understandably a large part of your identity — but your goal is not to just string together as many professional stories as possible. After all, the admissions committee already has your resume and recommendations, which will give them a pretty good idea of where you’ve been and what you’ve done. For this part of the HBS application, you need to focus on conveying your character and personality so the admissions committee can understand how you have grown and developed and carved out your place in the world. If something from your work experience is central to this, then you should discuss it, but do not force the professional angle if it is not.
Similarly, you also do not need to outline your short- or long-term goals or explain why you want to be at HBS. After all, if the admissions committee wanted this information, they would ask for it explicitly in the essay question. If such details somehow fit your essay, then including them could make sense, but they are not mandatory. In fact, HBS has said that discussing goals and HBS resources often detracts from the story. We have helped many (many!) applicants get into HBS without discussing their goals, and nothing ruins a beautifully written essay faster than a cloying and poorly conceived phrase like “And I want to earn my MBA from HBS because….” Think carefully about whether your goals and your interest in the HBS program are part of a compelling picture of who you are as an individual before writing about either one at length.
In Stratus Admissions’ Guide to Getting into Harvard Business School, you will find information on a variety of the MBA program’s offerings, such as FIELD, Innovation Labs, the Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, and the HBS Health Care Conference. This free guide also includes class profile statistics.
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