Write an MBA Application Essay That Gets You Shortlisted

"Don't overthink, overcraft and overwrite." This is the statement that Harvard Business School (HBS) makes immediately beneath the Class of 2019's single MBA essay question. Yet the first MBA application essay you write is going to be, without any doubt, the most difficult (note that the word 'grueling' has not been inserted here). Do not be alarmed if you devote as many as 40 to 80 hours preparing the essay section of your four to eight business school applications - dedicating this much time can provide a tremendous boost to your odds in winning a place in your dream MBA program.  

Be the requirement a single MBA application essay (as in HBS’s case), or as many as four, help is readily available – beginning, in this very instance, right here.

For advice direct from the mouths of the experts, and the opportunity to ask questions you have top of mind, why not sign up for QS’s webinar on the subject of the business school application essay that takes places on Wednesday, October 12? In the meantime, below are some foolproof MBA essay application tips that should get the ideas flowing and set you on course for being pen (keyboard) ready. 

As a starting point, it's good to know that business schools are, by and large, looking for two things in the MBA admissions process; your post-MBA career goals, and how you fit into their ethos and culture both professionally and personally. From the moment you decide that going to business school is for you, carry these two themes with you in your day to day. With the expectation that you answer these two topics by interweaving your credentials as a leader, team player, problem solver (and so on), MBA admissions directors also yearn for a candidate that stands out but who is, most importantly, themselves. A recurring word used by admissions directors in the TopMBA.com's admissions Q&A series is 'authenticity.'

With your business school application deadline set at a comfortable date in the future, start jotting down inspiring quotes, write out thoughts on lectures you listened to, a book you read, projects you worked on (consider the successes, but also the challenges) and build a list of themes and ideas that will make your MBA application essay distinctive. These will be the details that flesh out and give life to the bullet points on your CV (and more). The earlier you begin preparing, the better and greater the plethora of ideas you can draw from, and the more relaxed you'll be when pen is finally put to paper (or fingers to keyboard).