Today, HBS announced a major change to their MBA application. Instead of a single open-ended essay they have used for almost a decade, they are now asking more targeted questions about applicants' goals and experiences.
Business-Minded Essay: Please reflect on how your experiences have influenced your career choices and aspirations and the impact you will have on the businesses, organizations, and communities you plan to serve. (up to 300 words)
Leadership-Focused Essay: What experiences have shaped who you are, how you invest in others, and what kind of leader you want to become? (up to 250 words)
Growth-Oriented Essay: Curiosity can be seen in many ways. Please share an example of how you have demonstrated curiosity and how that has influenced your growth. (up to 250 words)
2024/25 essay question analysis
Business-Minded Essay
This short essay is asking for a LOT - your background, your choices, and your goals. Given the tight word limit, we recommend applicants start with 50-75 words detailing 1-2 experiences that they want to use to explain the choices they subsequently discuss. Then, pivot the remainder of the essay towards explaining one career choice, and one aspiration that you experience has shaped. Avoid summarizing your resume (you will quickly run out of space). Ideally, you want the reader to understand your motivation for pursuing your chosen goal or path after reading this essay.
Leadership-Focused Essay
We believe this essay is intended to re-emphasize HBS' commitment to shaping the leaders of tomorrow. Consequently, applicants should reflect on 1-2 experiences that have shaped their leadership style, and focus the essay on those examples. In doing so, we suggest using examples to illustrate the kind of leader applicants aim to be, rather than just narrating it. Doing so will help separate you from the multitude of other applicants who may have similar leadership experiences.
Growth-Oriented Essay
While this question is fairly straightforward, it will be important for applicants to ensure their curiosity is expressed in a way that makes them a more compelling candidate for HBS. Learning something new/unique is admirable, but does not always translate to making someone appear to be a stronger candidate. Instead, applicants should consider ways that their curiosity has created value within teams, projects, companies, and communities around them. That will make it easier for HBS to extrapolate how applicants will add value to HBS and beyond!
Deadline time: 12:00pm ET
· Round 1: Application deadline: Sept. 4, 2024, Decision date: Dec. 10, 2024
· Round 2: Application deadline: Jan. 6, 2025, Decision date: Mar. 26, 2025
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