MBA Application Essays: 4 Strategies to Write Winning MBA Essays

Writing the first draft of your MBA application essay can be a daunting task for many.

With only two weeks to apply to the B-School of my choice, I remember feeling overwhelmed several times at the quantum of work I had to put in when writing my MBA application essay.

The following scenes I am sure would seem familiar to many of you who have started working on your essays. 

Day 1 

Another minute ticked away.

Still blank. I glanced at the clock. 12.30 pm.

Almost lunchtime. I had been sitting in front of my laptop since 8 AM.

A page in Word 2007, expansive in its white blank glory sat staring back at me. 

I knew the stories I would include as part of my essays. I knew those like the back of my hand.

Yet I struggled to weave together one coherent sentence. 

“Please detail, your two most significant achievements. These could be either professional or personal but relevant to your application to the ISB. (300 words max)” 

I read the essay topic. Again.

Probably for the 50^th time, I asked myself, “How can I manage to write two stories in 300 words?”

150 words for each achievement.

The word limit was stringent.

The essay editor wouldn’t permit one character more.

I wrote a line and erased it. 

6.30 PM Still struggling.

Frustrated, I decided to call it a day 

Day 2 

I squandered away the better part of the day warming the seat of my chair without accomplishing much.

I thought my head was going to implode though. 

The Epiphany

I spent two full days unsure of how to even start writing my essays until I came across what I would term a ‘catalyst’.

Sunday Times, on its cover page, carried an article – Steve Jobs’ speech at Stanford’s commencement ceremony.

It was simple, elegant, and powerful. 

I loved it so much that I tore off that page and kept it by my side.

I analyzed the writing and the reasons why it was so effective.

‘Effective’ because it met its stated ‘objective’, that of engaging its readers.

There were no fancy words, no stringing of complex sentences into lengthy, tedious passages.

In summary, it had all the ingredients that made a good story – intrigue, conflict, initiative, and success. Most importantly, the elements were presented in a structure that flowed effortlessly.

Outlined below are some of the aspects from Jobs’ speech that you can borrow when writing your essays.

Additionally, I have included a few short samples of writing mistakes many applicants make and solutions to overcome those.

What’s in an opening sentence?

It sets the tone of your essay.

Limited word space means the opening sentence to be used akin to a news headline – pique your readers’ curiosity.

It’s the start of your elevator pitch and if done right, chances are that Adcom reviewers will read your essay till the end.

For instance, Steve Jobs’ opening sentence – 

“I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to college graduation.” 

This line was written to capture its audience’s attention and it does it well, with a dash of humor.

Structure it Right

Much has been written about the START (Situation, Task, Action, Result, Takeaway) approach.

Like all good frameworks, it lends a structure, removes ambiguity, and most importantly, curbs the human tendency to ramble on.

The way Steve Jobs narrates his experiences, you can see how he has, knowingly or unknowingly, used START to clearly outline – 

The context

“Woz and I started Apple in my parents’ garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4,000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually, we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30, I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.“

What he did

“During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, and another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the world’s first computer-animated feature film, Toy Story and is now the most successful animation studio in the world.“

The outcome

“In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance.“

What he learned from his experiences

“I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful-tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love.“

Succinctly Yours – The importance of being Concise and Precise

You have planned your narrative.

You have identified the situation, detailed your role, the actions you took, and captured the impact.

And now you are staring at a 700-word long essay instead of the intended 300 words.

Which parts stay and which parts go?

The tendency to sweat stuff on seemingly substantial (but in reality inconsequential) details is a real temptation.

When you strip away all the layers and distill each sentence to its core, you are doing your readers a big favor. Saving their time while succinctly putting forth your point.

An important tip to remember when deciding what to exclude and what to refine further would be to ask yourself “What’s the point of this sentence?”.

Adcoms have limited time to review thousands of applications.

Therefore, each line in your essay must share a common goal, that of logically progressing your narrative. At the same time, your readers must be able to easily grasp the importance of your actions and their impact.

Sample it!

Reproduced here is an example of a long-winded sentence – 

“Soon after my MBA, I want to update my current website and develop it as a place for students to connect with teachers across geographies, thereby bringing affordable pricing within reach of anyone using analytics to develop personalized services, and products, and help users get the best resources with minimum effort.“

The problem with the above sentence is that it has too much content juxtaposed together, making it unwieldy.

Consequently, comprehension takes a major hit.

For example, “thereby bringing affordable pricing within reach of anyone using analytics to develop personalized services”. 

Does it mean that the website will provide affordable rates for users who use analytics or does it mean that the website will use analytics to provide affordable rates for its users?

There are several ways to simplify the sentence.

One would be to break it into smaller sentences.

Another would be to find alternative words that consume less space.

For instance, “Soon after MBA” can be instead written as “Post MBA”. 

A simpler and shorter version would be 

“Post MBA, I want to transform my website into an analytics-driven global student engagement platform that offers personalized assistance.“

The original 49-word sentence was condensed to only 20 words without leaving out the most important elements.

I assume therefore I am

You could get carried away by the knowledge you have acquired working in your industry or company.

Unknowingly, you assume everyone else would instantly understand your work and your goals.

Remember, there are diverse industries, diverse functions, and diverse terminology to describe experiences.

Expand acronyms and explain those terms.

Demonstrate empathy for your readers.

Through your words, hold their hands and walk them through your world by making it easier for them to understand what you have done.

I have recreated a sample with technical jargon that leaves the reader with no clue about either its meaning or its significance 

“I completed a high-profile project using EMI interference and an automated sphygmomanometer to create sensor-based control for home and office automation.”

A better version would be 

“I completed a $20 million automation project that resulted in 60% energy savings for my client.”

Conclusion

Writing your first essay seems intimidating if you don’t start.

Let go of your fears and start writing.

Remember you are not the only one facing the fear pangs, we all do but essay writing is also a cathartic process when you complete the essays.

I hope you enjoyed reading the post and find it useful when you’re crafting your essays.   

Need help with your MBA admission essay? Work with MBAEssayNation and stride to the top of the admit lists

Need help with your MBA admissions essays? Work with MBAEssayNation and stride to the top of the admit lists

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One of the main things I decided to work with Deepthi is that she is an extremely straightforward person who doesn’t hesitate to share honest feedback about your admit chances or about the various parts of your application. This is something I didn’t anywhere else – most admission consultants will try to lure you by saying you have a strong chance or try to direct you to programs that aren’t a good fit for you, or as in my case, being an older MBA applicant, many admission consultants didn’t want to work with me because they didn’t think I had a shot at getting into the schools I was targeting. During our initial conversations, she told me clearly that as an older applicant to full time MBA programs, my chances of getting an admit might be less but what she could assure was that we’d submit the best applications to the schools I was targeting. And that’s exactly what happened. I got admits from all the schools I had applied to. I took Deepthi’s help for applying to Emory and NUS, and both the schools accepted me with Emory giving me a 50% tuition fee waiver as scholarship. Deepthi expertly turned my lengthy essay drafts into the most compelling essays, she just knows what stories will grab the attention of the AdCom. Without her help, I would have taken months to write my essays. Deepthi would just send me flawless essays within days – felt like magic! Besides the sharply written essays by Deepthi, she coached me splendidly for the video essays to both these schools. I remember for my video essays, I was struggling to identify the right stories and within minutes, Deepthi had already shortlisted and told me the ones I should focus on for my video essays, she’s just that superb with a brilliant eye for detail. I give 100% credit to Deepthi for the enormous success I gained with my business school admits.

“What makes Deepthi an amazing coach is her strong understanding of the process, attention to detail, empathy, ability to quickly identify the stories that will resonate with AdCom, and flexibility in approach. Thanks to her help, from my essays to my interview prep, I was offered an admission from ISB within a week of interviewing. Though I was initially hesitant because I felt that MBAEssayNation’s pricing was on the higher end of the spectrum, I soon realized the huge value I gained from working with Deepthi and MBAEssayNation was far more than the engagement fees I paid. In fact, I even tried working with another consultant because his pricing was lower, and it turned to be a huge waste of time and money. But my time working with Deepthi, I realized she’s the finest MBA consultant – extremely sharp and brilliant at what she does. Overall, Deepthi was my biggest advocate and believed in my application more than even I did. She always encouraged me throughout the process which is something hard to find in the industry. It never felt transactional. By the end, we had become good friends. I 100% give Deepthi my highest recommendation and can confidently say, I would not have been able to get admitted to ISB without her help.“

“Deepthi, Founder of MBAEssayNation understood my application really well. So, starting from how I started from my education to the essays, to the resumes, the entire life cycle was taken into consideration before she started coaching me on application. It was thanks to her coaching I didn’t have to worry about thinking or writing about anything extraneous on my application, because everything had been thought through well, had been researched, and had been debated before it was decided and became part of my application, be it my essays, resume or my interview responses. I am so grateful to Deepthi for helping me get admits to most of the schools I applied to from Kenan Flagler, Ivey School of Business, NUS, Vanderbilt, to Tepper School of Business. I was ecstatic about how seamless the process was thanks to Deepthi, she is an amazing mentor. I have finally decided to go to my most coveted school the Tepper School of Business and I highly recommend Deepthi and MBAEssayNation.“

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