Columbia MBA Essays for 2023 Admission

 Columbia Business School has, as they do every year, modified their MBA application essay set for 2023 admission to the January term Class of 2024 and the August term Class of 2025. The good news is that got rid of a hard question, increased the length and slightly altered the wording for the why CBS question, but essentially went back to what they were asking for 2021 admission. Along with HBS, Stanford, and INSEAD, I think CBS is one of the best first applications to work on. In the case of CBS, Essay 1 requires more of a focus on goals than any other school, so doing it gives applicants all the content they need for any school's goals essays.  Also Essay 2, provides a perfect length for explaining why you want to attend a specific MBA program. Make that argument right for CBS and it will help you with other schools that require similar essay content.

 

Given Columbia's overall rank as well as the unique nature of both January (J-Term) and Early Decision for August (ED), it has been very common for me to work with clients who apply only to that school. In this sense, the only school with a similar level of sole school focus is INSEAD.  Columbia certainly rewards those who make it their first or sole choice as both J-Term and ED seem to be significantly easier to get admitted to than Regular Decision (RD).  Columbia is also one of the most reapplicant friendly schools both in terms of the reapplication process for those who reapply within one year of their initial application and in terms of acceptance rates.

 

You can find testimonials from my clients admitted for Columbia Business School here.  Since 2007, when I established my own consultancy, (I have been an MBA admissions consultant since 2001) I have been fortunate to work with 79 clients admitted to Columbia Business School for ED, RD, J-Term, and Deferred Admission. For 2022 admission, I had a record year of 12 clients admitted for ED (10) and RD (2).

For my post on re-application to Columbia, see here. For my analysis of recommendations , please see here. For my analysis of Columbia Business School application interviews, please see here.

 

The Unique Admissions Process at Columbia Business School

Before discussing the essays, I have provided a discussion on the application process itself. If you already understand it, you can skip ahead to the essay section.

The admissions process at Columbia Business is so unique, that before discussing the essays for 2023 entry, I will discuss who J-Term (January Entry) is for and differences between Early Decision and Regular Decision for August Entry.

 

Rolling Admission

The first thing to keep in mind about admission to both J-Term and August Term (ED and RD) is that Columbia uses a rolling admissions system unlike the fixed deadline system used by most other schools.  While there are final deadlines, since applicants' files are reviewed and decisions are being made as they apply (hence the rolling nature of the process), by the time that that the final deadlines for August Term have arrived most seats are already filled.  Rolling admissions works just like buying assigned seats for an airplane, movie, concert, etc.  When they are gone, they are gone. Columbia's rolling admissions system is a differentiator from other top US MBA programs because only Columbia uses this system. Rolling admissions is commonly used by EMBA programs worldwide.

 

J-Term

The Accelerated MBA, J-Term, can be a great program for those who don't need an internship and don't need a Merit Fellowship.  J-term is not for career changers, it is those looking to enhance their position within their present career trajectory and/or entrepreneurs. The program is designed for those students who do not want or need a full-time internship and don't require merit fellowships. The principal advantage of the 16-month program is its accelerated format, which allows members of the smaller January class to network quickly and effectively and return to the workplace sooner. You need to make the case in Essay 1 (Goals essay) and/or the Optional Essay that you meet the special criteria for this program and that an internship is not something critical for you. For those who don't need a summer internship, this is really a great program. Internships for J-Term? Based on what former clients tell me, it is common for J-Termers to do part-time internships in NYC while studying.  Actually, this is often true for those attending August as well.   These are not the same as summer internships but such part-time internships can surely serve the same function.

 

Here are some common issues that arise when considering J-term:

 

Is J-term easier to get into than August entry?  I have always thought so.  The lack of Merit Fellowships, an internship, and the nature of who the program is designed for, clearly indicate that it is going to attract fewer applicants, so my assumption is that it is surely easier.  Happy to proven wrong if CBS admissions provides data showing otherwise.  All I know for sure is that relatively late application to J-term has not prevented my clients from being admitted. Late application to RD is a real problem simply from a seat availability perspective. In one way, J-term is clearly easier: Unlike an August entry RD and (and to a lesser extent ED) applicant, someone applying to Columbia J-term can really be assumed to prefer Columbia over all alternatives. This can make interviews a bit easier in the sense that August entry Columbia alumni interviewers are notorious for being particularly aggressive at determining whether the interviewee's first choice is really Columbia. Since J-term has no real US rival, this topic can be easily dispensed with in an interview.

 

Program Alternatives to J-term:   There are no US alternatives to J-term worth mentioning if someone wants a January 2021 start. Cornell, Cornell Tech, Kellogg and NYU Stern (Tech and Fashion & Luxury) offer one year MBAs, but none start their programs in January, Cornell Tech and NYU are specialized degrees, and both Cornell and Kellogg are accelerated programs in terms of the number of courses taken. Only J-term makes it possible to do two years of courses on such an expedited basis. In addition, the Kellogg program is extremely restrictive, since one has to have taken many core business courses or come from a consulting firm that has established a relationship  to apply to it. Cornell is also restrictive (Graduate degree or specialized professional certification is required), while Columbia has no such prior education restrictions.  There are a number of European programs with a January starts but really only INSEAD could be said to be at a similar rank, at least as perceived by my clients.  I have had clients who apply to J-term and  INSEAD  and, less often, IMD, as both have January entry. Still J-term is an incredibly different program in terms of length and content from either of these top non-US programs. LBS, which does not have a January start, would also be another alternative to CBS in the sense that it can be completed on an accelerated basis, but it has no January start. There are many other programs in the Europe that can be completed in around 16 months or less.

 

Can an August entry applicant reapply to J-term? Yes! You could be rejected from ED or RD for 2021 entry and reapply for J-term 2022 entry. If you entered in J-term 2022, you would graduate in the Class of 2023 with those who entered in ED/RD 2021. I have worked with  a number of reapplicants who were admitted to J-term after being dinged from the August entry for the same graduating class. In that situation, the key issues for the reapplicant essay are explaining why J-term is now a better choice and you are a better candidate.

 

 

 ED Versus RD

Applying for Early Decision (ED) is ideal for anyone who considers Columbia to be their first choice and is ready by the application deadline. Columbia takes ED very seriously, so I suggest you do as well. CBS ED really is unique among top MBA programs and the decision to commit to it should not be taken lightly. Every year many applicants to Columbia Business School have to deeply consider whether to apply to the ED or RD round. First, keep the official statement from Columbia regarding ED in mind:

 

• Candidates have decided that Columbia is their first choice and must sign the following statement of commitment within their applications: I am committed to attending Columbia Business School and will withdraw all applications and decline all offers from other schools upon admission to Columbia Business School.
• Applicants must submit a nonrefundable $6,000 tuition deposit within two weeks of admission.

 

In my experience, there are two types of applicants for ED. The first are people who really consider Columbia as their first choice and sometimes make or hope to make no other applications. For this type of applicant, choosing ED is easy. The second type of applicant likes Columbia, but it is not necessarily their first choice. This type of applicant applies to ED because it is perceived as easier to get admitted to than to Regular Decision (RD). This type of applicant treats the $6000 deposit as an insurance policy in the event that they are not admitted to HBS, Stanford, and/or Wharton (I don't know of any cases of applicants forfeiting $6000 to go to other top programs, but I suppose someone has done it). If they do get into HBS, Stanford, or Wharton and break their commitment to Columbia, they lose $6000. Can Columbia do anything aside from keeping the money? No. For those who have no problem breaking oaths and losing $6000, treating ED as possible insurance is a rational decision through clearly not an ethical one. As an admissions consultant, my sole concern is helping my clients reach their admissions objectives, so I don't pass judgment one way or another on this issue.

 

Merit Fellowships:  If you are admitted to ED, you will not find out whether you get a merit scholarship until late March or April, but RD admits find out by the time their first deposit is due.  Hence ED admits will be paying a deposit without knowing whether CBS will provide any financial support for around 5-7 months.  For example, in 2022, I had ten clients admitted to ED and they were not notified about funding until late March in a few cases, but mostly not until April. Meanwhile one of the two clients admitted during RD received their merit scholarship details when they were admitted.

 

Timing an ED application. I  don't consider there to be a really significant difference between an early application in ED and an application right before the deadline.  The real difference are between ED and RD and within RD itself.

 

I do recommend applying before the January Merit Fellowship deadline for RD.  While you can consider the Merit deadline to be kind of a "Round Two Deadline," I recommend you apply as soon as you are ready to do so. That said, RD takes applications until April, so applications are still viable for some applicants until quite late in the admissions cycle. In general, applying late in RD is best for those with highly unusual backgrounds, stellar backgrounds, and no need for merit scholarships (For example, those sponsored by their companies) and/or a love of gambling.  In other words, if you are not exceptional, applying late in RD to Columbia is a very high-risk activity.

 

How to leverage RD to your advantage when applying to other MBA programs in the First Round.  If you are applying in the first round, an ideal time to apply to Columbia is after you have completed all the applications that were due in September.  Assuming you are relatively freed up while you are waiting for your R1 invites, apply to Columbia. This means you will be considered early in RD and that is an advantage because there will be more seats available.

 

How to leverage RD to your advantage when applying to other MBA programs in the Second Round.  Since most R2 applications are due in January, applying to Columbia in November or December will still give you a relative advantage over those applicants that apply right before the Merit Deadline.  Again, the earlier, the better your chance for an available seat.

 

 

The Essay Questions and the Immediate Post-MBA Goals Statement

The questions are taken from the website.

Immediate Post-MBA Goals Statement: 

What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 characters maximum)

Examples of possible responses:
“Work in business development for a media company.”
“Join a strategy consulting firm.”
“Launch a data-management start-up.”

 

Remember this is 50 characters, not words! This would be about 5-10 words. The question itself, fortunately, includes the above examples to make it clear what Columbia is looking for here. Given the length, you can't possibly expect to explain what you want to do short-term.  That is what Essay 1 is for. In fact, it is best to simply write this little statement after you have a good working version of Essay 1.  CBS is looking for a short, but a very clear statement of what you intend to do after your MBA. If you have difficulty explaining your immediate post-MBA plans in the space given, I think that is likely an indication that your plans are too complex, vague, or otherwise not well thought out. What you state here should be backed up by what you discuss in Essay 1 and 2 (or the reapplicant essay for reapplicants).

If you can be clever or catchy in formulating this response that is fine, but it is a completely secondary consideration to simply stating something that is very clear and that is completely consistent with what you write in Essay 1 and 2. Being clever is not critical here, being clear is.

 

 

Essay #1: 

Through your resume and recommendation, we have a clear sense of your professional path to date. What are your career goals over the next three to five years and what is your long-term dream job? (500 words)

Since I have found it necessary to make this clear to clients:  THIS ESSAY IS COMPLETELY FUTURE FOCUSED. That is why they say they "have a clear sense of your professional path to date."  Any statements you make about your past experience should be analytical rather than descriptive and for the sole purpose of explaining what you want to do in the future and why. If they wanted a detailed past history, they would not have worded the question the way they do. 

A bad CBS Essay 1 will typically consist of extended discussion of past experience, lack of explanation of post-MBA goals, and inability to distinguish between long-term goals as typically required by other schools and a long-term dream job.  Here is what you can do to avoid that:

 

Using your 500 words

I think a good essay will consist of the following components

-A first paragraph that begins to the answer directly and explains whatever aspects of background and/or personal motivation that are necessary to help the reader understand your answers to the two questions CBS is asking here.

- A clear short-term 3-5 year plan.

- A clear dream job, not just a long-term goal or vision but an actual imagined highly aspirational role.

- Since Essay 2 is focused on why CBS, you should not write about that here. However you may need to explain why you need an MBA in general to achieve your goals.

 

 

"What are your career goals over the next 3-5 years"

 

CBS wants to know exactly what you want to do after your MBA and why.  You need to have a clear plan.  Explain not only what you want to do, but why you want to do it. Some questions you want to answer here:

How does the post MBA role you will have relate to your longer term career objectives? 

How does it relate to your past experience? What kind of firms do you want to work for? 

What is the intended role?

Don't hedge more than is absolutely necessary because you want provide a clear believable, achievable story. 

 

 

You want want to explain why need an MBA now to get into that role but only briefly as you have an entire essay for explaining why CBS.  The point of mentioning MBA here would be if it is not obvious why an MBA is needed to achieve this goal or if you cannot get the topic into Essay 2. 

 

 

This is a reality based question so provide a well-researched reality based answer.  See https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/recruiters/employmentreport to figure out where CBS graduates go.  If you are mentioning a role, industry, or company that does not recruit at CBS and your post-MBA goals are not entrepreneurial or in a family business, you have a problem. Make CBS adcom believe in your short-term plan.  This is not a good school for confused people, it is one for those who know what they want and have an initial plan for how to achieve it. 

 

 

what, in your imagination, would be your long-term dream job?

 

IT IS A DREAM! Tell them a story about the future, not just mentioning a role but painting a picture.  CBS is inviting you to showcase your ambition and future potential.  What is your vision?  What kind of impact do you want make in your life?  Assume you succeed and don't just become another middle management type.

 

Consider illustrious CBS alumni:  See https://www.businessbecause.com/news/notable-alumni/7134/columbia-business-school-notable-alumni and https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-columbia-business-school-alumni-and-students/reference.  How will you reach their level?

 

Think about the future. Imagine not on how the world is now, but on how it might be in10, 20, 30 years from now. Describe  that future and how you see yourself in it.  The future you present might be 10 years from now or 20 or 30 or more years.  The point is to showcase your ambition and vision.

 

 

 

GOALS AND WHY MBA ANALYSIS FOR THOSE WHO NEED IT

If you are having problems clearly articulating your goals either in Essay 1 or in the 50 character statement,  I think Gap, SWOT, and ROI analysis are great ways for understanding what your goals are, why you want a degree, and how you will use it. The following table will help you with both Essay 1 and Essay 2. 

 

 

The following image may not work for all browsers. If so, see here.

(A Google Docs version of this matrix can be found at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WobczFFLHBzQRxUeuwBRNmGQ3q-RKP_94iGHuLlXXEs/edit?usp=sharing)

 

 

Step 1. Begin by analyzing your "Present Career." What roles and responsibilities have you had in clubs, part-time jobs, internships, volunteer activities, etc.? What was/is your functional role(s)? What was/are your responsibilities?
Next, analyze your present strengths and weaknesses for succeeding in your present career. In particular, some of your greatest strengths may have been demonstrated outside of work, so make sure you are accounting for them.
Strengths: What are you good at? Where do you add value? What are you praised for? What are you proud of?
Weakness: What are you bad at? What are you criticized for? What do you try to avoid due to your own limitations? What do you fear?
Next, analyze your situation in right now. What opportunities exist for your growth and success? What threats could limit your career growth?

 

 

Step 2. Now, do the same thing in Step 1 for your "Post-MBA" future after you have earned your graduate degree. If you cannot complete this step you need to do more research and need to think more about it. I frequently help clients with this issue through a process of brainstorming.

 

Step 3. If you could complete step 2, then you should see the "Gap" between your present and your future. What skills, knowledge, and other resources do you need to close the gap between your present and future responsibilities, strengths, and opportunities?  THIS IS WILL HELP YOU ANSWER ESSSAY 2

 

 

 

Step 4. After completing Step 3, you now need to determine how an MBA will add value to you. It is possible that an increased salary as a result of job change will be sufficient "ROI" for the degree to justify itself, but you should show how a degree will allow you to reach your career goals. How will the degree enhance your skills and opportunities and help you overcome your weaknesses and external threats? If you can complete Step 4, then you should be ready to explain what your goals are, why you want a degree, and the relationship between your past and future career, as well as your strengths and weaknesses.

 

The above table will also help you answer such common interview questions as: Where do you want to work after you finish your degree? Why do you want an MBA? What are you strengths? What are your weaknesses? What are your goals?

 

Be informed about your goals. Columbia Admissions needs to believe you know what you are talking about. If you are changing careers, no one expects you to be an expert, but you should come across as having a clear plan based on real research into your future. If you are planning on staying in your present industry, you should be well informed not only about the companies you have worked for but about the industry as a whole. If you are not already doing so, read industry related publications and network.

 

Those applicants who are changing fields should most certainly read industry related publications in their intended field. Additionally, I suggest conducting informational interviews with at least one peer level and one senior level person in that field. Conduct a peer level interview to get a good idea of what it would be like to actually work in that industry. Conduct a senior level interview to get the perspective of someone who can see the big picture and all the little details as well. Don't know anyone in your intended field? Network! One great way to start is through LinkedIn. Another is by making use of your undergraduate alumni network and/or career center. No matter whether you are changing fields or not, learn what is hot now and try to figure out what will be hot by the time you graduate. Now, of course, this is just a plan and chances are that what is hot in your industry or field now may very well be cold in the future.

 

 

The point is to come across to Columbia Adcom as someone who is not only well informed but has CUTTING-EDGE knowledge. Look at ideas@work,  and Chazen Global Insights. Some other great general sources for learning what is hot: Harvard Working Knowledge, Harvard Business Review, University of Chicago GSB's Working Papers, The University of Chicago's Capital Ideas, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Knowledge @ Wharton, and MIT Sloan Management Review.  Other sources: Read magazines, websites, and books  and listen/watch podcasts/lectures that relate to your intended field.

 

If at the end of the above process you feel as though you are uncertain about whether you need an MBA, please see Do You Really Need an MBA?

 

 

ESSAY 2:

We believe Columbia Business School is a special place. CBS proudly fosters a collaborative learning environment through curricular experiences like our clusters and learning teams, co-curricular initiatives like the Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership, which aims to equip students with the skills and strategies necessary to lead in an inclusive and ethical manner, and career mentorship opportunities like our Executives-in-Residence program.

Why do you feel Columbia Business School is a good fit for you academically, culturally, and professionally? (300 words)

 

Keep in mind that this question is focused on why Columbia Business School is the right MBA program for you. That is to say what does its curriculum, community, and network offer you that will help you reach the professional objectives you have mentioned in Essay 1? And beyond, professional objectives who does CBS fit you as a person from an academic and cultural perspective.   For a more general discussion about the whole issue of academic fit, see here. If you are unclear about why you need from an MBA program, see the GAP, SWOT, and ROI table above.

 

Balance and integrate Goals and Why Columbia?

A good version of Essay 2 will connect goals with Columbia. If you use the table above, Step 3 relates directly to the content of this essay. That is to say, the objective is not merely to explain why  Columbia fits you, but why it aligns with the goals discussed in Essay 1.  Your objective is to write an essay that shows Columbia why it is the best possible place for you to achieve your career goals. If your goals are not showing themselves to be particularly well supported by Columbia, you may need to either change your goals or decide to apply elsewhere.

 

Beyond  Goals

Beyond direct goals reasons for why Columbia is right for you, consider what aspects of its curriculum or community support your personal and professional interests. This might be a club or activity that you want to engage in. For more about CBS clubs, see here.

 

The resources available at CBS and Columbia University are vast, so figure out specifically what you want from the school as you will need to discuss that. The program is flexible, so identify your needs from Columbia as specifically as possible. After all, you want to show them you love and need them For learning about what is hot at Columbia, I suggest taking a look at their  Ideas and Insights Homepage.  You will likely want to write about taking a Master Class. I also recommend learning about the Cluster system as it core part of the CBS experience.  Japanese applicants should most certainly visit https://www.jbacolumbia.com/.  All applicants should attend online chats and reach out to alumni and current students if they have not done so.  Since visiting will most likely not really be an option for 2020-2021, the school will be expecting all applicants to engage online.  Do it!

 

 

 

Explaining your learning needs: 

 

 

WHAT NOT TO DO

An example of circular (tautological) reasoning:  "I want to take Capital Markets & Investments because I am interested in learning about capital market investing."

This kind of circular reasoning is so common. Usually it takes place within a paragraph consisting of many such sentences. They actually convey nothing about the applicant.  They are just abstract needs and will have limited impact on your reader.  The admissions reader wants to learn about you, not about their own program.

 

 

WHAT TO DO

An example of an explanation for why:  "While I have been exposed to finance through my work at MegaBank of Joy, I presently lack the kind of comprehensive understanding of capital market investing that I will need to succeed as an investment analyst and I know I can gain at Columbia."  A more complete explanation would include additional details about the kind of issues that the applicant is interested in learning about and/or specific ways the applicant intended to apply what he or she would learn at Columbia.  By focusing on very specific learning needs and explaining those needs in relationship to one's goals and/or past experience, the admissions reader will be learning about you.

 

While in recent years, the school emphasized its New York City location in Essay 2, it no longer does. You need only discuss that if it is especially useful for making the best possible argument for why CBS fits you. In general, such arguments are often dumb cliches and since they are not what the question is focused, don't waste words on the topic.

 

ESSAY 3

Tell us about your favorite book, movie, or song and why it resonates with you? (250 words)

 

This old gem of an MBA essay question is one that been around for a good long time.    UC Berkeley Haas was using a song-only version of this one for quite a while. You can find some great songs in my 2016 analysis of that essay set. I'm glad CBS decided to keep using it again this year.

 

 

 

 Adam's Four Rules for Answering this Question:

 

 

RULE 1: ANY QUESTION IS REALLY ABOUT YOU.

While this question certainly requires writing about something else, whatever book, movie, or song you discuss and why you discuss them is a reflection on you.  Bad answers to this question take the form of extended summary/analysis of the book/movie/song  that fail to focus on the WHY THIS RESONATES WITH YOU part of the question.  The point is to show that connection. Focus on your own values and/or experience to make this an effective answer. Hence writing a 250 word answer on why The Lord of the Rings is your favorite novel will be totally ineffective if you all you are doing is explaining how much Tolkien's writing style and the world he creates satisfies you, but don't explain why it connects to you and why that is important.

 

 

 

RULE 2:  TRY TO COME UP WITH SOMETHING INTERESTING

The book, movie, or song need not be famous to be interesting. In fact, mention the obviously famous and frequently mentioned,  is BORING AND CLICHE.  For example, I would tend to stay away from the films Wall Street and The Big Short if you are a finance person because that is too boring and obvious.  The key point is that whoever you select, you make it clear why this resonates with you. For songs/books/movies that are not English, there is no real difference between them and those that are.  The point is all about your interpretation. For example, your song selection does not need to have lyrics and does not need to have lyrics in English. Even if the song has lyrics, my suggestion would be only briefly explain the meaning of those lyrics because  you should really using most of your word count to explain why the song resonates with you.

 

I think the advantage of a song without lyrics, say a jazz instrumental or a classical composition (Western, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, whatever), is that it allows for easily focusing on what the song means to you. For example, I might use a song by India's master violinist L. Subramaniam to discuss how the way the music resonates with me from a spiritual dimension. I might discuss 2-3 qualities about myself that are reflected in his music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTdNA5oyFgE&feature=related

 

Clearly with compositional works, you have great freedom to attach any meaning you want it to it.

 

 

RULE 3: CLEARLY EXPLAIN WHY

The why aspect of this question is the most critical part of the question. Anytime you are given a question where you are asked to give something  meaning, the first thing to do is think about what you want to express through the song. For example, if your objective was demonstrate your commitment to peace and social justice, you might pick Bob Dylan’s Blowin' In The Wind:

How many roads most a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Yes, how many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, how many times can a man turn his head
Pretending he just doesn't see?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Yes, how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

 

 

In this case, you might explain when Dylan’s first caught your attention. What it means to you and how it relates to actions you have taken in your own life.  This is just one possible way of answering this question. I am using this song because I assume it is too old to actually be one that clients would select.  Fine for Gen-Xers like me, though way too Boomer if you ask me.

 

RULE 4: WHY DO THEY NEED TO KNOW?

The very nature of this question is that it could be answered in so many ways.  The point is to focus on something about yourself that you really want Columbia admissions to know about you.  Don't discuss something already covered in the other essays. They want to learn about some aspect of you as a person.  What aspect of yourself will really help Columbia understand you as person?  Help them learn what sets you apart as an individual through this essay. While work topics might fit here, personal topics tend to work better.

My admitted clients frequently use this essay to do one or more of the following:

1. Highlight a specific experience about themselves that is transformative.
2. Focus on a specific characteristic about themselves that they consider most important for CBS to know about.
3. Highlight a major lesson learned.
4. Highlight a unique selling point.
5. Tell a growth story. Growth can occur though failure, success, or just experience.

Optional Essay:
Is there any further information that you wish to provide the Admissions Committee? If so, use this space to provide an explanation of any areas of concern in your academic record or your personal history. This does not need to be a formal essay. You may submit bullet points. (Maximum 500 Words)

 

 

As with other school's optional questions, do not put an obvious essay for another school here. If you read the above, it should be clear enough that this is the place to explain anything negative or potentially negative in your background. If you have no explanation for something negative, don't bother writing about it. For example, if your GPA is 2.9 and you have no good explanation for why it is 2.9, don't bother writing something that looks like a lame excuse. This is more likely to hurt than help you. In the same vein, don't waste the committee's time telling them that your GMAT is a much better indicator than your GPA (the opposite is also true). They have heard it before and they will look at both scores and can draw their own conclusions without you stating the obvious. That said, if you have a good explanation for a bad GPA, you should most certainly write about it.In addition to GMAT/GRE, TOEFL, and GPA problems, other possible topics include issues related to recommendations, serious gaps in your resume, concerns related to a near total lack of extracurricular activities, and major issues in your personal/professional life that you really think the admissions office needs to know about.You can certainly write on something positive here if you think its omission will be negative for you, but before you do, ask yourself these questions:
1. If they did not ask it, do they really need to know it?
2. Will the topic I want to discuss significantly improve my overall essay set?
3. Is the topic one that would not be covered from looking at other parts of my application?
4. Is the essay likely to be read as being a specific answer for Columbia and not an obvious essay for another school?
If you can answer "Yes!" to all four questions, it might be a good topic to write about.

 

Columbia Loves to Be Loved

One thing that is consistent about Columbia Business School is that they want to know that their school is your first choice. If you have an alumni interview you can be expected to be asked about that very directly. See here for my advice on Columbia interviews. Best of luck for gaining admission to the Columbia Business School Class of 2024 or 2025!

HBS Class of 2025 MBA Admissions Essay and Application

 In this post, I will be analyzing the essay question and key components of the HBS Application for the Class of 2025.  In addition to discussing overall HBS application strategy and the required essay, I will discuss key parts of the application form, resume, and transcript. I also provide some advice for HBS reapplicants and  for Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Kennedy School Joint Degree Applicants and the new MS/MBA.  For my posts on recommendations, please see my Key Posts section on recommendations. For my post on HBS interviews, please see my series of three posts that begins here. While the new application is not out until June,  I am posting this on May 16, 2022.  Should any significant changes to the app form occur, I will alter this post when the application opens online.  The deadlines will be September 7, 2022 and January 4, 2023.

 

My comprehensive service clients have been admitted to HBS for the Classes of 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018,  2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2005. My clients' results and testimonials can be found here. In addition to providing comprehensive application consulting on HBS, I regularly help additional candidates with HBS interview preparation.  Since I started my own counseling service in 2007, I have worked with 76  successful applicants from Canada, Europe, India, the Middle East, Japan, South Korea, other parts of Asia, and the United States on HBS application. I think that this range of experience has helped me understand the many possible ways of making an effective application to HBS. l I can tell you is that HBS takes a truly diverse range of people. Some had high GPAs and great GMAT or GRE scores, others had GPAs and scores well below the 80% range for HBS, but what they all had in common were strong personal and professional backgrounds that came out in their essays.

 

 

THE ESSAY

"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?

We think you know what guidance we're going to give here. Don't overthink, overcraft and overwrite. Just answer the question in clear language that those of us who don't know your world can understand.

 

Based on the above, you should be asking yourself: Given the question, what do HBS admissions need to know in order to offer me an interview and then admit me?  My answer would be to take a deep dive into HBS' criteria for admission and consider how they can apply to you. You will need to take two deep dives. One into HBS and another into yourself.  HBS introduced this more open style of question for the Class of 2016.

 

Regarding length, new for this year, there is NOW A LENGTH LIMIT oF 900 WORDS:

• The prompt will remain the same as in previous years: “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?”
• We are, however, adding a 900 word limit to the essay. Why, you might ask? Well, we have heard from some applicants that, without a word limit, sometimes questions (and stress) arise about the “right” word length. We hope that including a limit provides applicants with a little more direction and eliminates the stress about how much is too much to write.
• Do you need to submit 900 words? No, certainly not. Successful applicants may share what they wish to in 500 or 700 words, for example, or go up to 900.

 

If you are trying to understand the diverse range of essays that gets someone admitted to HBS, I do recommend  The Unofficial Harvard Business School Essay Book.  In fact, one of my clients admitted to the Class of 2016 contributed his or her essay to the first edition to it, which made me really happy.  I can't tell you which one. I do highly recommend reading this book because it will give you a really good idea about the range of possible answers and dispel any myths about needing to submit something that is professionally written. I would also recommend the old book that contained HBS admits essays. That collection is still a good read for understanding how to put together an MBA essay though the specific questions are no longer being asked by HBS. Such books are really great guides for someone looking to see successful MBA essays.

 

THE BOTTOM LINE: WHAT MAKES YOU STAND OUT?

The discussion of the categories below is all for the purpose of getting to the story or stories that will really showcase what makes you stand out as an applicant. Everyone has their own unique life story and the point is to get your reader interested in your story.  When I am working with an applicant, especially in the initial stages of writing I am  focused on this question because I know that great applications are based on great self-marketing campaigns and the heart of such campaigns is applicant differentiation. Good differentiation will be based on good stories. Think about about the hard and interesting moments in life.   What has challenged you in your life?  How have you suffered and grown stronger? What has made you rethink your decisions or view or career?  Why do excel at what you do?  Who or what motivates you?  These are just some of the questions you need to consider.

 

Four Ways HBS Evaluates Applicants
My objective when working with each of my clients is to help them identify the best content in their essays, resume, interview and other application components to show fit for each school they apply to. My approach is to understand the audience that is being communicated to because the only objective of your application is to communicate effectively to your audience, the admissions committee. We can summarize what  HBS is looking for in terms of three stated values-Habit of Leadership, Analytical Aptitude and Appetite, and Engaged Community Citizenship- plus Diversity. These four core ways, which I discuss in detail below,  that HBS evaluates applicants need to be communicated in your application and one or more of them should be used in your essay. The following summarizes what HBS is looking for in terms of three stated values (Habit of Leadership, Analytical Aptitude and Appetite, and Engaged Community Citizenship) plus Diversity and the possible places where you can demonstrate these in your initial application (Interview and post-interview not considered below):

 

These four core ways that HBS evaluates applicants need to be communicated in your application and one or more of them should be used in your essay.

In addition to those four elements, other possible common topics for inclusion here would be:

-Your wider post-MBA career vision that you could not explain in the 500 character answer on the Employment page. Some applicants will not touch on this topic in their essays, while others will discuss it at length.  One thing I thing I help clients figure out is to what extent they need to elaborate on their post-MBA objectives and longer term vision in this essay.  If you are strongly mission/values focused, most likely you will be discussing this in the essay.

-Why you want an MBA in general? Again, some will address this, others will not. Since there is no place in the application to indicate this otherwise, it would reasonable to explain your rationale for doing an MBA, whether you state this in general and/or terms of HBS in particular is your choice, but my bias is certainly for being HBS specific though typically brief.

-Why HBS?  I don't think one has to necessarily write in detail about why you want to go to HBS, but providing your overall rationale for why you want to go HBS now is certainly reasonable.  If your career vision is something you are writing about and there are particular aspects of HBS that really relate to it, feel free to mention them.

For a discussion of career vision, why an MBA? or how to explain why you want to attend a particular program, see my analysis of Stanford Essay B.

 

Now I will discuss those four ways in detail in order to elaborate how you might utilize them in your essay:

 

Habit of Leadership
The mission of HBS is to educate leaders.  All my clients admitted to HBS had a diversity of educational, extracurricular, and professional backgrounds, but were united by one thing: In one or more aspects of their lives, they demonstrated this habit of leadership. HBS takes a very broad view of what they are looking for:

 

Leadership may be expressed in many forms, from college extracurricular activities to academic or business achievements, from personal accomplishments to community commitments. We appreciate leadership on any scale, from organizing a classroom to directing a combat squad, from running an independent business to spearheading initiatives at work. In essence, we are looking for evidence of your potential.

 

HBS does not explicitly ask you to show your potential for leadership in your essay,  but it may very well be something you decide to write about, ask one or both of your recommenders to write about, and certainly show in your resume and application form.   Leadership is no easy thing. Nor is it always obvious. If you leadership is fully obvious from your resume and then perhaps your essay need not discuss it, but the worst possible thing is to conceive of leadership as simple formal responsibility or a title because this conveys nothing about the person in that position. While some applicants will have held formal leadership positions, many will not. Formal leadership positions are great to write about if they involve the applicant actually having a significant impact, making a difficult decision, being a visionary, showing creativity, or otherwise going beyond their formal responsibility, but the same is true for those showing leadership without having a formal title. If you are having difficulty really understanding leadership, one great place to read about leadership, and business in general, is Harvard Business School Working Knowledge.

 

Some clients I have worked with have never really considered themselves as leaders. I think it is critical that if you are applying to HBS that you have  an idea about what kind of leader you are.  While there are number of ways to describe leadership, I particularly like this formulation of leadership types that INSEAD Professor Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries has used in one of his Harvard Business Review blog posts (Disclosure I am a graduate of the INSEAD Executive Masters program that he established):

• The strategist: leadership as a game of chess. These people are good at dealing with developments in the organization’s environment. They provide vision, strategic direction and outside-the-box thinking to create new organizational forms and generate future growth.
• The change-catalyst: leadership as a turnaround activity. These executives love messy situations. They are masters at re-engineering and creating new organizational ‘‘blueprints.’’
• The transactor: leadership as deal making. These executives are great dealmakers. Skilled at identifying and tackling new opportunities, they thrive on negotiations.
• The builder: leadership as an entrepreneurial activity. These executives dream of creating something and have the talent and determination to make their dream come true.
• The innovator: leadership as creative idea generation. These people are focused on the new. They possess a great capacity to solve extremely difficult problems.
• The processor: leadership as an exercise in efficiency. These executives like organizations to be smoothly running, well-oiled machines. They are very effective at setting up the structures and systems needed to support an organization’s objectives.
• The coach: leadership as a form of people development. These executives know how to get the best out of people, thus creating high performance cultures.
• The communicator: leadership as stage management. These executives are great influencers, and have a considerable impact on their surroundings.

 

I have previously suggested that applicants who are having difficulty really understanding leadership find out what kind of leader they are by taking this quiz based on Lewin's classic framework.  While leadership  is more complicated than Lewin's framework, the quiz is a great way to get you started thinking about yourself, a key part of answering any leadership essay question effectively. However, I think the 8 archetypes above provide a much better guide for those who both have extensive leadership experience and those who think they lack it.  Think of these 8 archetypes as aspirational images of certain kinds of leader. You may fit into more than one category. You may find you don't feel like you are really good at any of the above in comparison to the descriptions above, but that is OK because you are trying to identify your potential even if it seems based on relatively little "objective evidence." If leadership is not obvious from your resume or likely to be a topic your recommenders will focus on, you should certainly consider how you show your leadership potential. I have never worked with anyone who could not demonstrate potential in at least one of the categories above.

Some types of leadership experiences that make for effective content in essays, recommendations, and interviews:

-A time you convinced someone or some group.

-A time you led others.

-A time you demonstrated courage.

-A time you made a difficult decision.

-A time you were innovative.

-A time you formulated and executed a strategy or tactics.

-A time you turned around a situation, overcame an obstacle.

-A time  you reformed something.

-A time you changed something.

-A time you effectively negotiated with someone.

-A time created something.

-A time you managed or organized something.

-A time you mentored or coached someone.

-A time you represented an organization in public.

 

-A time you managed up, down, or across an organization.

 

Some of these are simply derived from the archetypes above, but  all reflect what I have seen in my clients' essays over the years.

 

Engaged Community Citizenship

 

 

While “Engaged Community Citizenship” might take the form of leadership, it is quite distinct:
So much of our MBA experience - including the case method, section life, and student-organized events - requires the active collaboration of the entire HBS community. That's why we look for students who exhibit the highest ethical standards and respect for others, and can make positive contributions to the MBA Program. The right candidates must be eager to share their experiences, support their colleagues, and teach as well as learn from their peers.

 

HBS and other MBA programs are looking for students who will make a contribution. This really makes sense because of the collaborative nature of MBA education. While professors play an important role in the classroom, students learn from each other on a continuous basis both inside and outside of class. An MBA education is very much one based on relationship building. One of the chief functions of an MBA admissions committee is to select people who will be good classmates. The director and the rest of the committee have done their job properly if they have selected students who can work well together, learn from each other, and if these students become alumni who value the relationships they initially formed at business school. Given that two of the major takeaways from an HBS education are the relationships that a student forms during the program and access to the alumni network, HBS is looking for candidates who will fully engage with others.  It is important to show engagement with others in your HBS essay, in your interview, in your post-interview essay, in your application, and/or in your resume.  You should also make it a point to get your recommenders to discuss how you add value to the team, to whatever “community” (A workplace is a community) they worked with you in.

 

 

Engagement in a community may take many different forms.  Over the years, I have found the following types of activities to be very effective for MBA applications:
-Volunteer or social activities at work or school, whether it is actually organizing them or participating in them.
-Volunteer or social activities outside of work or school, whether it is actually organizing them or participating in them.
-A volunteer activity related to your post-MBA goals
-A volunteer activity that allowed for the development of leadership and/or teamwork experience
-A volunteer activity that put you in contact with people who are quite different from you in terms of race, gender, religion, nationality, income level, educational background, and/or some other factor
-An international volunteer or social activity
-Active involvement in an alumni organization
-Active participation in a sports team, debate team, or some other kind of team
-Active political involvement (Not just voting or knowledge of politics, but actual activities)
-Participation in an orchestra, band or other musical groups
-Participation in drama or dance or other types of group performance
-Organizing trips or other activities for a group of friends
-Serving as the leader, organizer, or active member of a team-based educational activity such as a seminar, project, or overseas trip
The above are just some possibilities.

 

 

Some people will no doubt worry that they lack extracurricular activities to demonstrate such community citizenship, but in my experience, there is always some way to demonstrate this. Part of my job is to help my clients identify such activities and communicate about them effectively. If you have demonstrated extensive community citizenship in your resume, you may very well not need to write about in the HBS essay, but you might still find that explaining your motivation for such activities is something you want to convey to HBS.  For those with limited objective resume content in this area, if there is an effective way to get some positive aspect of your community citizenship into the essay, do so.

 

 

Analytical Aptitude and Appetite
Harvard Business School is a demanding, fast-paced, and highly-verbal environment. We look for individuals who enjoy lively discussion and debate. Our case and field-based methods of learning depend upon the active participation of prepared students who can assess, analyze, and act upon complex information within often-ambiguous contexts. The MBA Admissions Board will review your prior academic performance, the results of the GMAT or GRE, and, if applicable, TOEFL iBT and/or IELTS, and the nature of your work experience. There is no particular previous course of study required to apply; you must, however, demonstrate the ability to master analytical and quantitative concepts.

 

 

HBS is a highly competitive and challenging academic environment. It is not for anyone.  “Analytical Aptitude And Appetite,” what can more generally be thought of as academic potential, will be very easy for some candidates to demonstrate without ever writing an essay on the topic. You must demonstrate your analytical intelligence somewhere in your application. Yes, a solid GPA and GMAT are enough for that purpose, but if you think your academic record and GMAT are weak, I do suggest demonstrating your high analytical aptitude and appetite in your essay. Also, whether you address your analytical abilities in your essay, for most applicants, it would also be very useful to have one or more recommenders discussing this.

 

Some effective ways to demonstrate analytical aptitude and appetite in essays include the following:
-Solving a complex problem at work, school, or elsewhere
-Discussing the successful completion of complex analytical tasks
-Breaking down a complex problem that you solved and communicating it a very brief and clear way
- Demonstrating great personal insight into one's weaknesses, failures, and/or mistakes
-Showing the ability to learn from weaknesses, failures, and/or mistakes
-Showing the ability to learn and master something highly complex
-Demonstrating a high level of creativity
Those with truly outstanding academic background and test scores need to likely focus less attention on this area. If you think you have weaknesses in this area, consider how to use the essay and Additional Information section to mitigate them.

 

 

Diversity

A truly diverse student body — in background, nationality, interests and ambitions — is the foundation of the HBS experience.

Indeed, these differences are critical to the HBS learning model, which thrives on the many perspectives and life experiences our students bring to their classes from all over the world. From academic assignments to casual conversations, the unique qualities of individual lives enrich the education of the entire community.

 

This overall intention to create a highly diverse class significantly impacts HBS admissions' decisions. The critical thing is that you demonstrate why you are unique and how you will add to the diversity of the class.  In your essay, you need to show what makes you stand out. Especially if you think your academic, personal, professional, and/or extracurricular experiences are not inherently unique, it is very important that your essay demonstrates what makes you stand out.
Some ways of demonstrating diversity that my clients have used successfully include the following:
-Being the first person or kind of person to do something
-Being the youngest person to do do something
-Making an original contribution to something
-Having an unusual family, academic, personal, or professional background
-Unusual skills or talents
-Extensive international experience
-Receiving prestigious awards or scholarships

-Even post-MBA goals might be used for this purpose if your goals help to make you stand out.
Keep in mind that diversity is a matter of interpretation and presentation and it is each applicant's responsibility to best demonstrate how they will add value to their classmates. One of my jobs as a consultant is to always help my clients identify ways that make them distinct even if they think they are not special. I operate on the assumption that everyone is unique.

 

 

 

WRITING

So far I have discussed on topic selection.  I think it is useful to think about what makes for a good essay and in particular, I think about stories. When it comes to telling stories, I think it is most important to think about your audience.  You are not writing these essays for yourself, you are writing them to convince your audience. How to convince them?

 

The following grid connects the parts of an essay (the first column) to three core aspects of writing an effective essay. The table should help you see the relationship between the components of a story and what I would consider to be three major questions to ask about any story.

 

Essay Outline	What was your role?	What does it mean?	Why will this essay sell them on you?
Situation: When? Where? Who? What? How?	Effective answers to when, where, who, what, and how should all relate directly to your role in the situation. You are the hero or heroine of your story.	Your reader should have a clear understanding of the situation. They are not reading a mystery story, a poem, or some other form of writing where withholding information will be valued.	The situation needs to be one that the reader will believe, consider to be important, and hopefully be impressed by.
Action Steps: What actions did you take?Action Step 1: Action Step 2: Action Step 3:	Stories break down into steps. For each step, make sure you are clear about what you did.	Each action step should be meaningful and demonstrate your potential. This is the core of the story and it is important the rationale for your actions be stated as clearly as possible. Effective essays involve both description and interpretation.	If you are actions are clear and their value is clear in terms of your leadership, analytical, engaged community citizenship, or unique background, you will be on a firm basis for selling your story to admissions.
Result	Results should be stated as clearly as possible. Your relationship to the results should be clear.	Explain the significance of results clearly.	Make your results meaningful so that they will be impressive.

 

The grid above is based on the following assumptions, which I consider to be basic for writing effective essays:

 

Your reader must understand you.   Provide a clear interpretation of what you have done. Write in simple language, even about complex things. Assume your reader has a basic business background, but don't assume any expertise. Cause-effect relationships should not be merely implied where possible. Showing your actual action steps is critical. A full explanation might be impossible because of word count, but if you tell things in sequence, it usually provides that explanation.

 

Your reader must believe you.  If your reader is not convinced by your story, you are dead.  I am all in favor of telling the best version of a story that you can, provided it is also believable. Bad self-marketing is frequently based on lies that can be seen through. I have met many admissions officers and while not all of them were brilliant, all the good ones had finely tuned "bullshit detectors." If your essays have a seemingly tenuous relationship with reality, you are likely to be setting yourself up for a ding.

 

Your reader must be engaged.  If a reader does not become interested in what they reading, there is a problem.  The problem may be that the essay is simply generic or it might be the way a story is being told is boring or it maybe a lack of passion in the writing.  Whatever the case, it needs fixing.  One of my roles as a consultant is to coach my clients on writing essays that will be engaging.

You must sell your reader on your high potential for admission. Great essays don’t just need to be believable and interesting, they have to be convincing. You are trying to get admissions to take a specific action after they read your file: admit you or invite you for an interview. Thus, essays must convince them to take action, they have to see why you should be admitted.  I help my understand how to do this and give very specific advice on how to do so.

 

Your reader should be interpreting your essay the way you intend.  In writing, there is always room for misinterpretation.  If you have not effectively interpreted yourself, there is always the possibility that your reader will draw opposite conclusions from what you intended.  I help my clients make sure that they understand and correct for all such negative interpretations.

 

 

And finally...

My final point is that HBS is looking for people who want to be leaders, not mere managers. They are looking for people who will use their "one precious and wild life" to achieve great things, not those who will be satisfied at being mediocrities.  If you can't show the potential for that now, when will you?

 

HBS REAPPLICANTS: Reapplication as a topic in the Essay

If you are a reapplying to HBS, I usually recommend addressing that issue either in the essay or, if you only need a brief amount of  words, in the Additional Information section (see below).  However, I don't think it is necessary to address changes in goals or otherwise if you are applying two or more years since your last application because enough time has gone by and HBS does not ask for a reaplication essay. If you are reapplicant, please see here.

 

One should show growth since the last application. Whatever form(s) this growth takes, you might need a brief amount of word count or significant word count.  Common topics:

1. Changes in career goals since the previous application. Feel free to alter your goals, just explain why.

2. Why you are a better candidate now. This could be everything from a career change to increased GMAT scores to improved English ability to taking courses to overcome an academic weakness to a valuable extracurricular activity.

3. Why you have a better understanding of how you will use an MBA education from HBS.  This could be based on learning more about the school and talking with current students and alumni and then show how the program will really help you.

 

 

 

If you only use the Additional Information section (See below) to discuss reapplication  I know 500 characters (not words!) is not much, so use the 500 characters here to highlight positive changes that you especially want HBS to take into consideration when evaluating you. On the other hand, I think it is perfectly fine to address reapplication in the main essay, which is a change from last year (Class of 2018) when the question made the topic of reapplication hard to fit into the essay.

 

 

For more about reapplication, please see the Reapplication section of my Key Posts page.

 

 

 

JOINT DEGREE APPLICANTS

Joint program applicants for the Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Kennedy School must provide an additional essay: How do you expect the joint degree experience to benefit you on both a professional and a personal level? (400 words)

OR

Essay Question: The MS/MBA program is focused on design, innovation, and entrepreneurship within a technical/engineering context. Describe your past experiences in these areas and your reasons for pursuing a program with this focus.

(Recommended: 500 words)

 

While I am providing advice on this topic, I should say from the outset that my experience is limited to Harvard Kennedy School as I don't handle Medical School, Dental School, or JD admissions.

 

HKS Joint Degree: How do you expect the joint degree experience to benefit you on both a professional and a personal level? (400 words)

My clients admitted to HKS have include both those admitted to the Joint HBS/HKS program and  Wharton/HKS Dual Degree program. I have also worked with applicants who were applying only to HKS and for MBA.

 

The key challenge of writing this essay is to not duplicate what you write in the HBS essay.  You might refer to doing the Joint Degree in the main HBS essay, but really don't do more than that. Use this essay to explain the synergy that will be gained from doing both degrees. The professional part seems obvious enough (What skills will you gain? What network will you gain? How will it help you with your career objectives?) but the personal part sometimes confounds my clients. I tell them to think about it terms of the perspectives they will gain and from the opportunity to be enriched by a much range of ideas but also by the fact that those who do the HKS Joint Degree are their own tribe and establish close relationships in a very different classroom atmosphere than is offered by HBS. I encourage my clients who apply for this degree to talk with alumni and current students from the program in order to gain these kind of personal insights.

 

 

It is important that you well align the content of your Joint Degree Essay, HBS essay, and HKS essays for your own sanity but do keep in mind that your admission to these programs is separate and each program has own its admissions. At least for HKS, I don't believe that applying for the Joint Degree has any significant impact on whether one is admitted to HBS, at least I have never seen anything indicating this.  Which is to say that I don't think applying for the Joint Degree improves or decreases ones chance of admission.

 

SEAS Joint Degree: The MS/MBA program is focused on design, innovation, and entrepreneurship within a technical/engineering context. Describe your past experiences in these areas and your reasons for pursuing a program with this focus.

Keep in mind that your overall personal background should be in the main HBS MBA essay and not here. Make sure you effectively align the MBA essay, the SEAS essay, and the 500 character goals statement so that they support and don't overly duplicate each other, though some overlap (see below) is inevitable. The SEAS essay consists of two parts:

1. Discuss past experiences with design innovation, and/or entrepreneurship within a technical engineering content. If you don't have any past professional, academic, or other experience in any of these areas, the program is not for you.  Assume that you should be spending at least half if not more of the essay providing an analysis of those experiences. Your resume and application form should back-up what you write about in the essay. My suggestion would be to highlight 2-4 specific ways your past experience demonstrates your fit for the program.
2. Discuss reasons for pursing the program. The reasons would relate directly to your post-MBA objectives, so there should be some inherent overlap between this essay and what you write in the 500 character goals statement (see below regarding that). You should certainly justify why the program is right for you based on what you can read about on the program website.   I would also suggest reading a Q&A with the program's co-chair. When explaining why you want to attend a program, do not just make a series of dumb lists of classes or tell the program about itself, but explains what you want form the program.   You need not mention the names of particular courses as long as it would be clear to your reader that your learning needs align well with curriculum.  If you have a particular interest in a more specialized course or studying with a particular professor, it might be worth mentioning it as long as it is an explanation of why you want to study the subject and not based on circular reasoning;
    An example of circular (tautological) reasoning:  "I want to take Integrated Design  because I am interested in learning about integrated design."This kind of circular reasoning is so common. Usually, it takes place within a paragraph consisting of many such sentences. They actually convey nothing about the applicant.  They are just abstract needs and will have limited impact on your reader.  The admissions reader wants to learn about you, not about their own program.

    An example of an explanation for why:  "While I have been exposed to some user design issues,  I presently lack the kind of comprehensive understanding of design issues that are critical to my future goals...."  A complete explanation would include additional details about the kind of issues that the applicant is interested in learning about and/or specific ways the applicant intended to apply what he or she would learn at Harvard to those goals.  By focusing on very specific learning needs and explaining those needs in relationship to one's goals and/or past experience, the admissions reader will be learning about you.

 

RESUME
"Instructions: Please provide a current resume or CV.  Ideally, this would be about 1-2 pages in length and include dates and locations of your employment."

The resume has always been an important part of any HBS application.  You can find a resume template I have linked to on my blog here.  That resume template can also simply serve as a checklist for what to include.  While many schools prefer a one-page resume, HBS really does not care.  Depending on a client's background, I will recommend 1 or 2 pages.  I think it best to think of a resume as a record of accomplishment. If you have sufficient accomplishments, 2 pages is fine.  Some applicants try to a use an MBA student's recruitment resume format as the basis for their own resume, but I generally don't consider this a good idea as such resumes serve a very different purpose.  An MBA resume should really designed to focus on you overall, that is your academic, professional, and personal accomplishments and key facts. A recruiting resume is meant for a different kind of audience, recruiters, and typically focuses on a much more narrow range of information.

 

When I first start working comprehensively with any client, whether they are applying to HBS or not, I always start with the resume for a couple of reasons:

1.  It is a great way for any applicant to summarize the most important information about them and  their accomplishments. It sometimes helps applicants actually remind themselves of what they have done.

2.  For me, it is a way I learn about a client so that I can better understand their background.

One key thing to remember about what you include on your resume:  Anything that is there, just like any component of the application, may become the basis for a HBS interview question. Therefore if you don't want to talk about it and don't need to write about it, leave it off the resume.

 

PERSONAL

The newest section of the HBS application, which was introduced last year includes two questions on your background.

-Racial / ethnic / cultural identity. {Please explain identity} No specific length limit

-Please use this section to share any additional information about your family background. (Optional) – 500 chars

While some of this information may have been communicated in your essay, to the extent that it is not or requires elaboration, please explain it with one or both of these questions.

Regarding the first question, explaining one's identity should be handled as directly as possible. For example, you might write here that you are a Mexican/Irish American and that, you frequently traveled to both countries to meet your parent's families.  Whether this will be discussed in the main essay is simply a question of how important that identify is to telling your story.

Regarding the second question, it is space for discussing issues in your family background that HBS should know about if they impacted your life. For example, if you come from a family with very limited economic resources it would be something that could be discussed here.  It may be used to provide greater detail than is covered in the main essay. Don't write on it here if you are simply duplicating information fully captured in the main. If you want to simply refer to its coverage in the main essay, that is fine.

 

EMPLOYMENT

 There is also an Employment Section of the application that provides space for you to discuss three positions in detail including providing  brief descriptions of your professional accomplishments and most significant challenge.  To some extent this information will overlap with the resume. This is nothing to worry about. That said the challenge question ("Most Significant Challenge" 250 characters) in particular is very possibly something you would not be covering in your resume.  Regarding the accomplishments, they ask for multiple ones, so it is best to provide two or three.  Don't treat it like some form you do at the last minute.

 

 

ACADEMIC TRANSCRIPTS

First, keep in mind that admissions officers read transcripts and are trained to know what they are reading. They don't just look at GPA  (If your school calculates it).  If there is something really bad on your transcript (a fail, a withdrawal, etc) or odd, you really do want to explain it in the 500 character (not word) Additional Section. If is just a C and you have no specific excuse, don't bother trying to explain it.  If your academic performance varied greatly from year to year (or semester to semester), was there a reason for it?  Is it one that you want to provide? For example, if you were taking a major leadership position in a student organization, running a start-up, working a lot to pay for school,  doing major research, experienced a major illness or misfortune,  or playing a varsity sport, you do have a topic worth discussing. Finally, If your transcript,  GMAT/GRE, or resume don't indicate that you have solid quantitative skills, you should explain why you do if you can. The proper place to provide that explanation is in the additional section or the essay.

 

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

"Instructions: List up to three extracurricular activities in order of importance to you (i.e., list the most important first). Please tell us about the things you do or have done while not at work or in class. Include other activities, like community service, here as well. Please limit this to three activities, but don't worry if you don't have a list of three. 

We use this section mostly to get a sense of the leadership roles and activities that attract you. If there are additional activities you wish to tell us about, please include them on your resume/CV."

 

Given HBS' instructions on this, I do highly recommend including your best extracurricular activities that showcase your leadership (primary) and community engagement (secondary) and/or unique experiences/interests (tertiary). If you have done nothing impressive extracurricular-wise after graduating and have 3 good activities from university, feel free to just use use this section for those activities. If you did nothing but study during college or university and really have no activities, hopefully you have three post-college things to include.  If you have any activities that are directly relevant to your professional goals or to your personal story and you really want to emphasize them, use this space accordingly. While I would surely emphasize the most impressive activities in terms of leadership or community engagement, if you need to focus on personal interests that were not group focused (running for example) because you simply don't anything better, put it here.  Activities that show you are well-rounded, civically engaged, artistic, athletic are all possibilities here.

 

Keep in mind that extracurricular activities can (and usually should)  also be fully accounted for on the resume and given the fact that you can submit a two-page resume, there is no reason that can't account for an activity.  Also, if you are not using the space for anything else, the 500 character additional information section could be used for elaborating on anything you consider really important, but could not include in this section or in the resume.

 

 

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
"Instructions: List any distinctions, honors, and awards (academic, military, extracurricular, professional, community) in order of importance to you (i.e., list the most important first). You may list up to three awards."

 

For some applicants this section is really easy to fill out because they have won a number of awards, distinctions, or honors and just need to prioritize them. Other candidates will freak out about this section because they never won anything that they think fits.  While, it is sometimes really the case that I will have perfectly great applicant who has nothing to report in this section, most applicants are actually likely to have something.  HBS is not asking you a narrow question here, so think broadly.  It is possible that this section will overlap with the resume, employment, essay, or extracurricular section of the application.

 

 

THE POST-MBA GOALS PAGE

"INTENDED POST-MBA CAREER GOALS

Industry Group

ConsultingConsumer Products / Retail / E-CommerceFinancial ServicesHealth Care / BiotechManufacturing / Industrial / EnergyMedia / Entertainment / TravelMilitaryNon-Profit / Government / EducationServicesTechnologyVenture Capital / Private Equity

Function

Accounting/ControlConsultingEngineeringFinance: Investment ManagementFinance: Investor RelationsFinance: LendingFinance: Mergers and AcquisitionsFinance: ResearchFinance: Sales and TradingFinance: Treasury/AnalysisFinance: Underwriting/AdvisingFinance: Wealth ManagementFundraising/DevelopmentGeneral ManagementHuman ResourcesInformation Services managementInvestment AdvisingLegal ServicesLogisticsManufacturing/OperationsMarketing: Brand/Product ManagementMarketing: CommunicationsMarketing: GeneralMarketing: ResearchMarketing: SalesMedical ServicesOtherProduct DevelopmentProfessional Advising-ReligionProject ManagementPublic RelationsPurchasingResearch and DevelopmentSoftware EngineeringStrategic PlanningTeaching

 

 

Briefly tell us more about your career aspirations:

(500 characters)

 

 

You need to have a plan. You most likely will spend more time thinking about what you are going to write here than writing it. I think it is fine to include the longer term here if it helps to explain the rationale for your short-term objectives. Keep in mind that your wider vision is a perfectly acceptable topic to discuss in the essay and not in this space. Also, since this question does not ask about HBS, you should not necessarily include any why HBS content here. If you are having difficulty with your career goals, see my analysis of Stanford Essay B for a method for thinking about goals.  I frequently work with my clients on their goals.

 

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
"Please share additional information here if you need to clarify any information provided in the other sections of your application. This is not meant to be used as an additional essay. Please limit your additional information to the space in this section.We know you'll be tempted, but please don't send us any additional materials (e.g., additional recommendations, work portfolios). To be fair to all applicants, extra materials won't be considered."

 

Use this space of 500 CHARACTERS (NOT WORDS!)  to explain anything that can be effectively explained in the space provided. 500 characters is about 100-125 words. This is a great place to explain your choice of recommenders, a problem in your past, or to add in information about something you really think HBS needs to know. It is completely fine to leave this space blank if you have nothing you need to add.  See above in this post for using the additional section if you are a reapplicant to HBS.

 

 

Best of luck to everyone applying to HBS.