mba values essay

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MBA Personal Statement Sample Essays & Tips

Your academic record, GMAT scores, and GPA are important factors in the MBA application process. But, more than that, business schools ultimately care about who you are and whether you would be a good fit for their program. This is where your application essays come in. The goal here is to complete the picture that your scores and stats began sketching. Take your time when writing these essays. They will form the image the admissions committee will see before they meet you at your interview. Write, edit, and edit again. Be sure there are no spelling or grammatical errors in your essay. You want your portrait to be clean and clear. Once you are satisfied with your essay, ask a trusted friend, mentor, or admissions pro to read it. A fresh pair of eyes can often see things that you can’t.

7 tips for creating the best MBA essays

Here are some important things to remember when writing your MBA essays.

• Show who you are in a background essay Use this opportunity to reveal your values and personality, the obstacles you’ve overcome, and the seminal experiences that have shaped you into the person you are today. No two people have the same history. Use stories and examples to make your background bright and stand out to demonstrate what makes you special. Discuss how your history has brought you to this point. What is there in your background that compels you to pursue an MBA at this time?
• Show your direction in the goals essay Use this opportunity to show that you have clear direction and purpose based on experience and planning. Business school is not another opportunity to “find yourself.” Even if you have had one career path and will use your MBA to launch another career, this essay must describe the reasons behind your career-change, your new goals, and how the program will help you achieve them.
• Use your optional essay to explain negatives in your stats If your GPA was lower than you would have liked early in your undergraduate education, use your essay to show how you learned from this experience. Everyone makes mistakes. How you deal with your mistakes shows a lot to the admissions committee – determination, discipline, success, resilience, and breadth of experience are qualities that will serve you well in your MBA studies and later in life. Be sure that you explain your negatives and don’t try to justify them. Show that you understand the mistake you made, learned from it and changed as a result of processing the experience. That response shows maturity. Justifying – instead of learning or changing – is a sign of immaturity. MBA programs want mature adults. Almost all of them have made mistakes.
• Say what you mean, and mean what you say Admissions committees read thousands of essays during each admissions round. A concise, well thought-out essay will have them reading yours to the end.  You need examples and stories to support your statements and make your essay interesting and readable. Each of these needs to be to the point. These professionals are trained to spot an essay that is full of fluff and without substance.Avoid rambling and the use of keywords that you think the reader wants to see. A non-substantive essay will lead the reader to conclude that you, too, are without substance.
• Find your passion This relates to tip #4 above. You want to grab the reader right away and create an essay that will keep their attention to the very end – and leave them wanting to meet you and get to know you even better. In other words, offer you a coveted interview! Find a theme, and weave it throughout your essay. If you can identify a passion that you had from an early age and follow it through the different stages of your life, you will have an interesting, readable essay. Connect your passion to your childhood and you professional and extracurricular experiences and accomplishments. Demonstrate how your passion will influence your future career and serve the community at the school you want to attend.
• Focus on your professional experience and achievements Not everyone has a passion that they have carried with them throughout their life. However, since you are planning on attending an MBA program, you must have had professional and personal achievements. Highlight your professional skills and successes, as well as personal accomplishments. Show how these experiences and achievements have brought you to this point, and how they have influenced your long-term plans and reasons for pursuing an MBA.
• Highlight your experience in your EMBA essay An applicant to an Executive MBA program is an executive or manager currently in the workforce, usually with at least eight years of business experience. As an EMBA student you will be expected to excel in your coursework while continuing to hold down your full-time job. You must demonstrate significant leadership, impact, potential, and the legitimate need for the degree to be accepted. Highlight your current responsibilities and recent achievements, as well as your skill sets. Discuss your goals and how an EMBA will help you reach them. Include how you will positively impact the community at the program you are applying to.

Read MBA Personal Statement Examples

Now that you have the tools to write your compelling essay, check out our sample MBA application essays to see what you will be able to accomplish.

GET ALL THE SAMPLE ESSAYS IN ONE CONVENIENT PDF!

BONUS: You'll also receive a free copy of our popular guide,  5 Fatal Flaws To Avoid in Your MBA Applications Essays.

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A STRONG BUSINESS SCHOOL APPLICATION ESSAY WILL MAKE YOU STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD

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20 Great MBA Application Essay Samples (With Links)

With elite business schools like Harvard and Stanford boasting acceptance rates as low as 10% and 6% respectively, every aspect of your application counts. While GPA and GMAT scores matter, your essay can be a game-changer. Recognizing its weight, we’ve gathered top-notch MBA essay samples, endorsed by admission committees from premier institutions. Dive in and let’s craft that standout application!

What is an MBA Application Essay?

What admission committee look for in an mba essay.

If you want to learn more, here is the complete guide on how admission committees process MBA applications.

20 Great MBA Applications Essays Samples

Now you have known that what makes a great MBA admission essay, the next step is to write one for yourself. Before writing, check out this list of expert-vetted MBA application essays that secured admissions to top-rated business schools in the world. Admission consultants have shared these samples and they can be helpful if you read and analyze them carefully. If you’re completely unsure about how to get started, there are also custom essay writing services that can help you structure your essay with the help of professional editors.

Sample 1: Leadership-focused MBA application essay

Sample 2: self-focused mba application essay .

If you are asked to write about your strengths, weaknesses, aims, and goals in your application essay, this sample will help you. The applicant who wrote this got accepted to the INSEAD business school. It doesn’t merely describe her strengths and weaknesses, but it presents a complete picture of herself as a person. It highlighted the events and incidents that shaped her personality.

Sample 3: Life-hardships-focused MBA application essay

If you want to explain your life’s hardships and the events that turned you into an ambitious person, this sample is for you. In this application essay, the candidate has defined three phases of his life and how he survived through each adversity. He beautifully explained why the MBA program is important to his future.

Sample 4: Continuous growth and learning-focused MBA application essay

Sample 5: best mba application essay for low scorers.

Have a low GPA? What would you write about academics in an MBA essay to convince the admission committee? Do not overthink! MBA essay is not all about high achievements and sterling background. It is also an opportunity to atone for your past mistakes. This MBA essay was written by a student who obtained very low academic grades, yet got admitted to her desired business school. Her turning point? A powerful application essay.

Sample 6: A guitarist’s application essay for the MBA program

Sample 7: an engineer’s essay for mba application, sample 8: harvard business school mba essay, sample 9: wharton business school mba essay, sample 10: columbia business school mba essay.

The Columbia Business School’s admission committee shared this MBA essay. They explained why the applicant who wrote this was instantly accepted to the program and why they appreciated its content.

Sample 11: Stanford Graduate School of Business MBA essay

This essay was written by a candidate who got accepted to Stanford Business School for an MBA. If you are aiming to get your MBA at Stanford, this sample will give you a deep understanding of what convinces the esteemed school’s admission committee to accept applicants into their fold.

Sample 12: University of California Business School MBA essay

This sample was taken from a pool of successful MBA application essays submitted to the University of California business school. Read it carefully and analyze its structure, words, and substance before you compose your own fantastic MBA essay.

Sample 13: University of OXFORD business school MBA essay

Sample 14: london business school mba essay.

This essay was written by a candidate who got accepted to the London Business School. The school’s admission consultant shared this sample as a reference to other MBA aspirants. This piece will specifically help you understand the tone, writing style, formatting, and overall flow of the MBA application essay that meets the school’s standards.

Sample 15: A goal-oriented MBA application essay

Sometimes the MBA admission portal may demand an essay specifically focused on your future goals. In such a case, you must be very sure about yourself and must convey your goals and future directions based on your experiences and planning. Check out this sample to get an idea of how a successful candidate writes about personal goals.

Sample 16: Executive MBA essay

Sample 17: mba video essay.

Many business schools are turning to video-based essays for MBA applications. A video-based essay is a better option to express yourself directly to the admission committee. A successful candidate for the Kellogg School of Management submitted this sample. Listen to the video and appreciate how beautifully the applicant has explained his journey from beginning to end. Want to learn more about video MBA essays? Here is a complete guide.

Sample 18: Short-answer-based MBA application essay

Some business schools require candidates to respond to short questions to get insights into their personalities and suitability for the MBA program. More or less, most of the questions revolve around the same theme. The key to success is to grasp the intention of the admission committee behind the questions and to stick to your identity . These successful answers submitted to the Tepper School of Business will help you in formulating your answers.

Sample 19: MIT Sloan School of Management

Sample 20:  michigan ross school of business mba program, what should be included in the mba application essay.

These are the significant components of an MBA essay. Just adjust the sequence, play with words, and come up with a persuasive yet realistic picture of yourself.

What Makes a Great MBA Application Essay?

Do you want more tips? Here is a complete guide to writing a compelling MBA application essay.

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How to Write a Powerful MBA Essay—With Examples

The MBA essay is critical to your business school application. Read our guide to writing the perfect MBA essay, with successful admit examples.

Posted July 4, 2024

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Table of Contents

What is the mba essay.

The MBA admissions essay.

Those words alone are enough to make most MBA candidates run screaming. Writing in general is hard enough. Writing about why you want an MBA? Your short-term goals and career aspirations? What matters to you most, and why? Forget it.

Of course, you still have to write these essays.

The MBA essay is perhaps the most important part of the business school application. Every other part of the application — your GPA, your test scores, your letters of recommendation — is quantified, cut and dried, or out of your control. The essay is your chance to show up as a fully realized MBA candidate, with hopes, dreams, and vulnerabilities. Admissions committees are not simply assessing your candidacy as a future leader — they're looking to admit human beings. That's where the MBA applicant essays come in.

That being the case, rather than being intimidated by it, treat the MBA essay writing process like the opportunity that it is — the chance for you to highlight your unique, iridescent self; the only moment in the MBA admissions process (prior to the interview) when you can speak directly to admissions officers; the time when you'll show them who you really are. It's not easy to write something that will do that, of course, but with the tips and tricks in this guide, and some help from one of Leland's vetted, world-class admissions coaches, we know you can do it. Give the essay the time, attention, and respect it deserves, and you'll be on your way to an offer of admission at your dream school.

Without further ado, let's dive in!

Ultimate MBA Essay Guide

See the MBA essay prompts, top tips from experts, and real examples from admits with this comprehensive guide.

How Long Will My MBA Essay Take?

First things first: let's talk about timing.

The MBA application is a behemoth; between exams, resumes, gathering your official transcripts, letters of recommendation, and the applications themselves, there's a lot to juggle. That being the case, we suggest you give yourself ample time to draft, write, and revise your essays. The last thing you want is to be rushed to the finish line.

So, give yourself at least three months to write your MBA admission essays. That should allow you enough time to draft, write, and edit. For more information on timing your entire business school application, click here for  A Comprehensive MBA Application Timeline--With Chart .

Now, on to the critical question:

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What Makes a Great MBA Essay?

At the highest level, the answer is the one that is truest to you. The whole point of an MBA application essay is to shine through as an authentic, vibrant human being, so the best essays are the ones that cut through the clutter, and allow you to do that.

Which begs the question — how do you cut through the clutter and shine through as a vibrant human being? Here are four critical tips to follow as you begin thinking about your essays.

1. Answer the Question

This one sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised how many applicants launch into their story, get carried away, and forget to answer the question. Follow the prompt, and answer the question the admissions committee has asked you. Those prompts can actually be very useful when writing MBA essays — it's a great deal harder to write when you have no guidance or guardrails. With these essays, you have a very specific question you need to answer. So answer it!

2. Be Specific

Another mistake some MBA applicants make is to stay at a high level in their essays, keeping their writing abstract and therefore inaccessible to the admissions committee. If at any point, an admissions officer could replace your name with the name of another applicant, then your essay isn't getting deep enough. It's not enough, for instance, to say that you suffered adversity in high school, or that you really, really want a Wharton MBA. You need to explain, in detail, the adversity you faced, and give concrete and unique reasons why you think Wharton is the right program for you. The best essays offer hyper-specific examples and anecdotes, with details and anecdotes that no other candidate could bring to the table. To get those anecdotes, we recommend using the STAR template, as explained below:

• Situation : What was the situation you were facing? Where were you? How old were you? If you were in a professional role during this anecdote, what was the role, and how long had you been in it? If you were volunteering, at what organization? How long had you been volunteering there? Why did you start? Offer all the relevant information that the admissions readers will need to understand your story.
• Task : What was the task at hand? What went wrong? In your professional role, what was the challenge you faced? In that volunteering experience, what were the hurdles you had to overcome? You can't have a good story without conflict or tension, so after you set up the anecdote, explain what that conflict or tension was (and remember, be specific!).
• Action : What was the action you took to resolve the problem? What did you have to do to fix that issue at work? How did you clear that hurdle in your volunteer experience? Again, be specific about how you came through on the other side of that conflict/tension — and while you're doing it, highlight your leadership capabilities as much as possible! Remember that top MBA programs are looking for future leaders who can assess a situation and decisively take action. (We'll say a bit more about this below, in the Personal Statement section.
• Result : What was the result of your action? If you were facing a growth problem at work, were you able to increase sales? If so, by what percentage? If you were advocating for diversity and inclusion at your local charity, what new programs did you implement to help with that effort, and what was the enrollment like in those new programs? Detail what happened in your anecdote with as much specificity as possible — and quantify, quantify, quantify!

If you want to learn more about how to master the STAR Method, read our article How to Nail “Tell Me About a Time…” Interview Questions .

3. Get Vulnerable

Most MBA admissions essay prompts are written with the goal of getting to know as much about you as possible in the shortest number of words. To do that, you're going to have to share real things from your life — to get personal, intimate, and vulnerable. Do not shy away from this. If you're starting to get emotional during the reflection, drafting, and writing process, good — that means you're on the right track. Keep going.

Pro tip: If it’s making you cry, it will make them cry.

Another good rule of thumb is to put something real and true on the table. Admissions officers have to read thousands of applications from thoroughly qualified individuals, some of whom might come from similar roles to yours, with letters of recommendation from equally impressive supervisors. In order to cut through that noise, you'll have to share something honest.

If you're doing it right, this can feel risky. At some point, you’ll likely think to yourself: “Can I say that?” The answer is: “Yes.” Of course, there is a line, you don’t want to be crass or offensive but always err on the side of being open and authentic.

The very worst thing you can do is be overly cautious and write something you think will please the admissions committee. These poor people have to read thousands of essays. If yours is just like everyone else’s, they’ll fall asleep. Don’t let that happen. Wake them up by putting yourself —your true, bright, vibrant, quirky self—on the page.

4. Don't Exaggerate

Finally, do not exaggerate, over-inflate, or lie. This goes without saying, but admissions committees are looking for honest candidates. The surest way to get rejected is to lie about something. (Business schools do a background check on you before you're properly admitted, so they will find out.) Don't be the person who over-inflates on their essays and then has their offer letter rescinded.

The Types of MBA Essays

All right — since we've covered high-level approaches to the MBA essays, it's time to dig into the various types.

There are three general categories of MBA essays you'll see across the board.

1. Personal Statement

These questions ask you to offer up something sincere about yourself. They'll often touch on such things as your values and your character. In these, you'll want to be as authentic as possible, while also highlighting attributes like leadership, intellectual vitality, and teamwork that business schools are looking for.

Here are a few examples of previous personal statement essays:

• 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? (HBS)
• What matters most to you, and why? (Stanford GSB)

2. Why an MBA/Why This School

In these, schools first want to hear about how an MBA will fit into your career, both short and long term. Top MBA programs are looking for candidates who will: first of all, be gainfully employed upon graduating, second of all, have an illustrious career that will make their institution look good and encourage future generations of applicants to apply, and third, be consistent and generous donors. That being the case, they want to know about your career trajectory, and how an MBA will fit into it.

Pro tip: Here, you want to be ambitious and inspiring in laying out your future career, but not naïve. Walk the line between shooting for the stars and sounding dreamlike and uninformed.

In this set of questions, you'll also encounter questions geared at figuring out why you would want to attend a specific school. MBA programs want to know that you're serious about attending their school — yield, or the percentage of admitted candidates who accept their offers of admission, is an important metric for them — but they also want to envision how you'll contribute to their admitted class. What will you uniquely bring to the table, the things that you'll do that the other candidates wouldn’t be able to offer?

We've heard former deans of business schools say that, in choosing a class, they're curating a world-class dinner party, and that each person invited to the dinner party has to bring something different. What will you bring to the dinner party?

Another Pro tip: To demonstrate that you've done your research, and to help the admissions committee envision you in their program, indicate which classes you might take when earning your MBA and why, which professors you might hope to study with, and in which clubs you might participate.

Here are a few examples of "why MBA / why this school" essays we've seen before:

• How is a Columbia MBA going to help you? (Columbia)
• What do you hope to gain professionally from the Wharton MBA? (Wharton)
• Why Stanford? Describe your aspirations and how your Stanford GSB experience will help you realize them. (Stanford GSB)

3. Behavioral/Other

Finally, most other essays will be behavioral in the sense that they’ll ask you about experiences, traits, strengths, weaknesses, and achievements. There's a wide variety of topics here, but all the guidelines from above apply, with the final note to always prioritize authenticity (as mentioned in the Personal Statement section) and leadership ability (remember, business schools are choosing future leaders).

Here are a few examples of behavioral/other essays from the past:

• Describe the biggest commitment you have ever made. (Yale SOM)
• Tell us about your favorite book, movie, or song and why it resonates with you. (Columbia)
• Think about times you’ve created a positive impact, whether in professional, extracurricular, academic, or other settings. What was your impact? What made it significant to you or to others? (Stanford GSB)

Top MBA Program Essay Prompts (Updated 2024)

To help you get started, we've compiled the required prompts from a few top MBA programs below:

1. Harvard Business School (HBS)

• 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. (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? (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. (250 words)

For more information, visit A Guide to the HBS Essay .

2. Stanford Graduate School of Business

• What matters to you most, and why? (650 words)
• Why Stanford? (400 words)

Read: What Matters Most When Writing the GSB Essays.

• How do you plan to use the Wharton MBA program to help you achieve your future professional goals? You might consider your past experience, short and long-term goals, and resources available at Wharton. (500 words)
• Taking into consideration your background – personal, professional, and/or academic – how do you plan to make specific, meaningful contributions to the Wharton community? (400 words)

For Wharton-specific advice, visit A Guide to the Wharton Essays .

4. Columbia Business School

• 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, in your imagination, would be your long-term dream job? (500 words)
• Essay 2: The Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership (PPIL) is a co-curricular program designed to provide students with the skills and strategies needed to develop as inclusive leaders. Through various resources and programming, students explore and reflect on the following five inclusive leadership skills: Mitigating Bias and Prejudice; Managing Intercultural Dialogue; Addressing Systemic Inequity; Understanding Identity and Perspective Taking; and Creating an Inclusive Environment. Describe a time or situation when you had the need to utilize one of these five skills, and tell us the actions you took and the outcome. (250 words)
• Essay 3: We believe Columbia Business School is a special place with a collaborative learning environment in which students feel a sense of belonging, agency, and partnership--academically, culturally, and professionally. How would you co-create your optimal MBA experience at CBS? Please be specific. (250 words)

If you’re looking for more tips on the CBS essays, read our Guide to the Columbia Business School Essays .

5. Chicago Booth

• How will a Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career goals? (250-word minimum)
• An MBA is as much about personal growth as it is about professional development. In addition to sharing your experience and goals in terms of career, we’d like to learn more about you outside of the office. Use this opportunity to tell us something about who you are… (250-word minimum)

*Pro tip: Some essay questions such as these will say “no maximum.” While it’s certainly a good thing that you’re allowed to write more, keep in mind to never write too much. Our rule of thumb for things like this is to never go over 200 words past the “minimum” count.

Read more at A Guide to the Booth Essays .

6. Northwestern Kellogg

• Intentionality is a key aspect of what makes our graduates successful Kellogg leaders. Help us understand your journey by articulating your motivations for pursuing an MBA, the specific goals you aim to achieve, and why you believe now is the right moment. Moreover, share why you feel Kellogg is best suited to serve as a catalyst for your career aspirations and what you will contribute to our community of lifelong learners during your time here. (450 words)
• Kellogg leaders are primed to tackle challenges everywhere, from the boardroom to their neighborhoods. Describe a specific professional experience where you had to make a difficult decision. Reflecting on this experience, identify the values that guided your decision-making process and how it impacted your leadership style. (450 words)

For more on Kellogg’s essays, read How to Nail Your Kellogg MBA Application Essays .

7. MIT Sloan

MIT Sloan doesn’t use traditional essay prompts; instead, applicants are required to submit a cover letter, video, and short answer questions, as well as the other traditional application materials.

Cover Letter

MIT Sloan seeks students whose personal characteristics demonstrate that they will make the most of the incredible opportunities at MIT, both academic and non-academic. We are on a quest to find those whose presence will enhance the experience of other students. We seek thoughtful leaders with exceptional intellectual abilities and the drive and determination to put their stamp on the world. We welcome people who are independent, authentic, and fearlessly creative — true doers. We want people who can redefine solutions to conventional problems, and strive to preempt unconventional dilemmas with cutting-edge ideas. We demand integrity, respect, and passion.

Taking the above into consideration, please submit a cover letter seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA program. Your letter should conform to standard business correspondence, include one or more professional examples that illustrate why you meet the desired criteria above, and be addressed to the Admissions Committee (300 words or fewer, excluding address and salutation)

Video Question 1

Introduce yourself to your future classmates. Here’s your chance to put a face with a name, let your personality shine through, be conversational, be yourself. We can’t wait to meet you!

Videos should adhere to the following guidelines:

• No more than 1 minute (60 second) in length
• Single take (no editing)
• Speaking directly to the camera
• Do not include background music or subtitles

Note: While we ask you to introduce yourself to your future classmates in this video, the video will not be shared beyond the admissions committee and is for use in the application process only.

Video Question 2

All MBA applicants will be prompted to respond to a randomly generated, open-ended question. The question is designed to help us get to know you better; to see how you express yourself and to assess fit with the MIT Sloan culture. It does not require prior preparation.

Video Essay 2 is part of your required application materials and will appear as a page within the application, once the other parts of your application are completed. Applicants are given 5 seconds to prepare for a 60-second response.

Short Answer Question

How has the world you come from shaped who you are today? For example, your family, culture, community, all help to shape aspects of your life experiences and perspective. Please use this opportunity to share more about your background. (250 words)

For top-notch advice on the MIT Sloan question prompts, read our articles Expert Guide to the MIT Sloan Short Answer Question and MIT Sloan Video Statement: Overview, Advice, & Common Mistakes .

How to Start Writing Your MBA Essay

So you've read about the types of essays, and seen some of the prompts from top MBA programs. Now it's time to actually start diving into the essay.

The very first thing to do, before putting pen to paper, is to look inward .

Why do you want an MBA? What role will this degree play in your professional growth? How do you imagine it will shape your life? What do you want out of your career? What is the most important thing in the world to you?

Yes, these are life’s deep-end questions, but you’ll need to tackle them in these essays, so before you start all of your writing, take the time to think through them. Go for a run, swim some laps, bake a cake—however you get into the flow — and start a dialogue with yourself. Put down your work, turn your phone off, and give your mind permission to go to the places it usually avoids. That’s a good place to start. That’s where the answers are.

Pro tip: The first sentence is the hardest one to write. When you're starting out, it can be intimidating and anxiety-producing. The trick is to simply put anything down — and don't look back. Keep putting one sentence after the other. You can edit later: let whatever comes to you out onto the page. If you’re struggling with self-critique, dim your computer screen until you can’t even see the words you’re typing. Then keep going.

Additional Tips & Tricks

Once you've started your essay, it's a matter of persistence: keep writing, then keep drafting and editing until you have something you're really proud of.

To help you write a successful MBA essay, here are a few more tips and tricks:

Take Breaks

When you hit the wall — and you will hit the wall — stop and take a breather. This is your brain telling you it needs to do something else. Walk your dog. Take a lap around your room. Eat some cheese. Your body needs sleep every night to function; your mind is the same way. That next leap of inspiration will come exactly at the moment when you’re least expecting it.

Read it Out Loud

When you finally have a draft, print it and read it out loud to yourself. Your ear will catch things your eyes miss. Reading out loud is the best way to pick up on spelling errors, clunky transitions, and paragraphs that still need ironing out. It’s also a good way to envision how the admissions committee will experience your essay.

Don’t be precious with your essay. Send it to anyone willing to read it. Solicit as much feedback as you can. If you don’t like what people have to say, you don’t have to incorporate it, but you need an impartial third party to give notes on what they’re seeing, thinking, and feeling. (You’re too close to things to do it for yourself.) This is where a Leland coach comes very much in handy!

Complete Everything Early

This is more of a timing consideration, but you do not want to trip at the finish line because your internet went down the night before the deadline, or your credit card was denied when paying your application fee (it's happened before). Don't let that be you!

Here is another article to get you started, written by an expert essay coach: 7 MBA Essay Tips to Make You Stand Out in 2022 .

Example MBA Essays

Finally, here are two essays to help inspire you. The first, a personal statement essay, was submitted by an admit to Berkeley Haas' Executive MBA program; the second, a career goals / why MBA essay, was submitted by an admit to Chicago Booth's deferred MBA program.

Haas Admit:

A person’s identity is shaped by many different aspects, including family, culture, personal interests, and surrounding environments. Please share a facet of your identity or story that is essential to who you are. (300 words) My upbringing in India, filled with countless myths and legends, had a profound influence on me. The most formative tale was about a sage who prays for years to the goddess of knowledge, but in vain. In the end, the goddess didn’t appear for the sage because he was turning his prayer beads the wrong way! As a child, this story upset me: the sage worked so hard and had the right intentions. As an adult, though, I’ve come to realize that the goddess of knowledge was right: you can’t succeed unless you do things the right way.

Seven years ago, two friends and I started a company, XXXX: a digital health platform that would allow patients to store medical records online and consult doctors remotely. We had early success—we brought on 2,000 patients at XXXX, a gynecology clinic in XXXX—but ultimately we didn’t have the resources to properly scale, and had to shut the company down. Among the many lessons I learned, the most valuable was that ideas and hard work are common; businesses succeed or fail based on execution—on doing things the right way. Two years ago, I relearned this lesson in the most painful way possible: when my marriage ended. My wife and I loved each other, but we weren’t there for each other when it mattered most. Our feelings weren’t enough—we had to back them up with the right actions.

It’s disheartening when you have good intentions but still fall short. When this happens, though, you have to keep trying—because eventually you will do things the right way. I carry the story of the sage with me always, not as a harsh lesson, but as a motivating goal: one that keeps me striving towards doing things the right way.

Booth Admit:

How will the Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career goals? (250 word minimum)

I want to start a geothermal company that will help lead the energy transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy—by targeting existing oil wells as sites for geothermal plants. Oil fields are close to electric grids and have high nearby subsurface temperatures, making them ideal sites for geothermal plants. By building geothermal infrastructure nearby, my company will produce cleaner, cheaper energy, making it more profitable for operators to switch from oil to geothermal. As oil companies decommission their wells, I’ll negotiate for their land rights, so I can use their existing wells for new geothermal vents. I want my company to prove the case for economically viable, carbon-neutral energy production.

After getting an MBA, I want to start a geothermal company which will help me lead the energy transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy. I plan to target developed oil fields in Texas, where, in many places, producing wells are flowing enough hot fluid to generate clean energy. Using this geothermal heat, the carbon footprint of oil and gas extraction will decrease as fewer fossil fuels are utilized to power surrounding infrastructure. As the wells approach their economic life, I will negotiate the lease from various operators, saving them millions in plug and abandonment costs, and retrofit the wells for direct geothermal energy production via closed-loop binary fluid systems, bringing emissions to zero. To accomplish this goal, I need to shore up my knowledge of energy economics and entrepreneurial finance, develop a strong sense of leadership, and build a network of like-minded individuals that will help me lead the transition and I believe I can get those things at Chicago Booth.

My immediate career goal is to develop my first co-production site in Shelby County, Texas at the Blanton well site, which produces abnormally heated fluid from the flanks of an active salt dome. Before investing in capital expenditures, developing a strong sense of energy economics and broader markets is necessary to verify financial feasibility. The University of Chicago, through the Graduate-Student-At-Large: Business program, is already allowing me to accomplish this goal with my enrollment in “Microeconomics” with Professor Andrew McClellan. His instruction helped me understand the impact taxes and subsidies have on market equilibrium, an important aspect of renewable energy as green energy tax incentives continue to change on a yearly basis. As my company continues to grow, having a strong finance and accounting foundation is imperative to building and sustaining a healthy company. Electives such as “Accounting for Entrepreneurship: From Start-Up through IPO” will provide the skills I need to be successful by following the life-cycle of a business that originates as a start-up and covers topics such as building an initial accounting infrastructure. I understand that the execution of the business is as important as developing the idea and proof of concept, and Booth is the best place for me to develop financial fluency.

Leading the energy transition will require a strong sense of leadership. Not only will I need to lead those I get to work with over my career, but to lead the energy transition, and reverse the impact fossil fuels have had thus far, I must have the emotional intelligence to inspire others to join me in my journey. The “Interpersonal Dynamics” course at Booth will allow me to develop my communication skills and better understand the emotions and perceptions of my colleagues. These skills, synthesized with leadership development acquired in “Leadership Practicum” will prepare me to act as a relational leader, who understands the needs of others. As a relational leader, I hope to foster an environment which promotes happiness and maximizes efficiency, not only to make our efforts in changing the world more successful, but to excite other people to join our cause.

To find the greatest chance of success in leading the energy transition, I will need a network of like-minded individuals who can provide a diversity of thought. Chicago Booth provides the opportunity to develop that network through different community experiences. The Energy Club’s “Energy Forward” conference, which designates time to topics in oil and gas and renewable energy will allow me to hear from industry leaders, build meaningful relationships with peers, and contribute my sector experience to the public forum as I learn from those around me. Opportunities through the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Group such as “SeedCon” will help me connect with successful entrepreneurs and early-stage investors whose ideas and funding might change the course of my venture’s trajectory. Even in the GSALB program, I have had the opportunity to connect with other students in various sectors, including the energy industry. I hope to continue to strengthen those connections and continue building new ones with matriculation into the full time program.

Connect with an Expert for all your MBA Essay Questions

We know that a lot goes into the process of MBA essay writing. Research, planning, and execution all are major stages that take a lot of time. If you’re looking to fast-track your essay writing process while still blowing away the admission committee, try looking at some of our all-star MBA admissions consultants . We have a wide array of experts ready to give you as much help with MBA essays as you need, just check out some of our top-rated coaches below!

FAQs for Writing Your MBA Essay

What is the most important aspect of an MBA essay that admissions committees are looking for?

• The most crucial aspect of an MBA essay is authenticity. Admissions committees want to see the real you, so be honest and genuine in your responses. Highlight your unique experiences, values, and aspirations to stand out.

How long should my MBA essay be?

• The length of your MBA essay will depend on the specific prompts and guidelines provided by each school. Generally, essays range from 500 to 1,000 words. Always adhere to the word limit specified in the prompt. In the event that there’s no limit, we recommend floating within 200-300 words of whatever posted word count there is.

Can I use the same essay for multiple MBA applications?

• You can use similar content, but it’s essential to edit each essay to be about the specific school and prompt. Schools are looking for personalized responses that demonstrate your understanding of their program and how it aligns with your goals.

How do I figure out what to write about?

• Select experiences that showcase your leadership, problem-solving skills, and personal growth. Focus on stories that highlight your unique qualities and align with the values and culture of the MBA program you're applying to.

What should I avoid doing in my essay?

• Avoid clichés, generic statements, and exaggerations. Be specific and detailed in your responses. Also, steer clear of overly technical jargon that might be hard for the admissions committee to understand unless it’s directly relevant to your story.

Who can I ask for feedback on my essay?

• Seeking feedback from trusted friends, family, or mentors can be very helpful. In addition, consider working with one of our admissions coaches who can provide professional insights and help refine your essay to make it more compelling.

What should I do if I don’t have a traditional business background?

• If you don’t have a traditional business background, focus on transferable skills and experiences that highlight your leadership, analytical abilities, and teamwork. Demonstrate how your unique perspective will contribute to the MBA program and your future career.

How do I handle multiple essay prompts for the same school?

• Approach each prompt separately and ensure that each essay provides new insights about you. Avoid repeating the same information across essays. Instead, use each essay to highlight different aspects of your experiences, skills, and aspirations.

Here are several other articles that you may find helpful as you put together your MBA application:

• The Most Frequently Asked Questions on MBA Applications
• How to Answer the "Why an MBA?" Essay Question
• My Top Piece of Advice for MBA Applicants
• How I Nailed My MBA Interview and Gained Admission to Top 10 Business Schools
• 4 Expert Tips on Paying for Business School

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Tips and tricks that will help you craft the best application essays possible and get admitted into Kellogg.

How to Write an MBA Application Essay That Stands Out

Personal MBA Coach regularly publishes detailed tips on how to approach most of the top MBA application questions (download our e-book on how to approach the M7 essays ). Of course, our clients received details and customized advice through our comprehensive packages , but some key essay writing and editing basics hold true regardless of the essay question or school. To share these with you, our team, including former M7 admissions directors and Ivy-League-educated editors compiled this guide to successful MBA essay writing .

Effective MBA admissions essays can be different from any other type of prose. Knowing how to approach them can significantly boost your chances of MBA admissions success. Before going into specific MBA essay writing tips, let’s look at the most common types of MBA essays. Understanding the type of essay (and its ultimate purpose) will help you determine which personal and professional examples are most relevant, what tone you should choose, and how you can use the question to demonstrate your candidacy in the best light (and ultimately get into your dream school).

What are the Different Types of MBA Essays?

Goals essay.

The purpose of this type of MBA application essay is to discuss your post-MBA career goals and prove that you need an MBA to achieve them. In a goals essay, depending on the word limit, you may share some career highlights as well as your specific short-term and long-term goals. For instance, one of the Wharton MBA admissions essays invites MBA candidates to lay out their professional aspirations. When drafting this type of essay, make sure to be specific and focused. While no one expects you to commit to these goals post-MBA, you should demonstrate to the admissions committee that you have thought about your career goals and determined that an MBA is the ideal steppingstone on your path to achieve them.

Personal Story Essay

Varying in word count, this type of MBA application essay tends to be more personal. The main goal of a self-reflection essay is to get to know the real you. These essays can range from the 900-word, open-ended Harvard Business School MBA application essay to the 100-word questions Michigan Ross asks. Personal MBA Coach’s expert tip here is to stay true to yourself and consider your Personal Story. Do not write what you think the admissions committee wants to read. Write about your passions, values, failures—nothing is off limits. At the same time, you want to keep a positive mindset. If you are discussing your failure or something tragic that happened to you, make sure to present it as a story of growth. This is not a creative-writing contest—remember that you are writing your MBA application essay, and the main goal of this essay should be to convince the admissions committee that you will add a unique perspective in the classroom and on campus.

Contribution Essay

Leadership Essay

While evidence of leadership should be included in many different essay types, some MBA essays directly ask candidates about their leadership experience. Kellogg ’s first MBA essay is a classic example of this: “ Kellogg Leaders are primed to tackle today’s pressing concerns everywhere, from the boardroom to their neighborhoods. Tell us about a time in your life where you’ve needed a combination of skills to solve a problem or overcome a challenge. Which skills did you use? ” While it is great to show how you have led your peers, do not forget about humility. It is expected that your leadership style is still a work in progress. In fact, in some leadership essays, you will want to tell the reader how you wish to fine-tune your leadership style during your MBA.

Video Essay

Video essays are becoming increasingly popular among business schools’ admissions committees. For instance,  Berkeley Haas  introduced a video essay this year. Other schools, including  MIT Sloan , have required a video essay for many years. Some schools, such as  Chicago Booth , require a video essay for applicants offered an interview. The video essay is a completely different format, and unlike all the essay types above, this is the one where you should not overedit. A few bullet points in preparation are great; however, writing out the whole script will make you appear less natural. Video essays are rather more personal, so you want to come across as approachable and show that you would be great to have in the classroom. Appearing too rigid and rehearsed will hinder your chances. Also, unless given directions otherwise, keep the style simple. Simply talking into the camera will look much more professional than a heavily edited video with lots of unnecessary special effects.

How to Approach the MBA Admissions Essay Writing Process?

Now, let’s talk about the basics of the essay writing process. We advise our candidates to follow a 5-step process as they develop their application essays, leaving adequate time for each stage.

1. Brainstorm

Brainstorm each essay question one at a time. Now that early decision deadlines have passed, you are free to begin with the essay that seems easiest or comes most naturally to you, as your writing will improve throughout the process. In developing potential topics, consider your relevant strengths, experiences, and accomplishments: Choose those that bring the most to the table.

Before you begin to develop prose, outline the key points you hope to cover in a sequence that flows logically. Pay special attention to the length you will allot to each section of the essay.

Once you have a solid outline, begin to put together your first draft. At this stage, it is ok if your writing is not perfect. Most first drafts will be a bit longer than the final product, but make sure you have the substantive points in place and that they flow together well.

4. Edit and Edit Again

Editing is the most time-consuming part of the essay writing process, particularly if you have written too much in the initial draft. Be critical of what needs to be there and what does not, and make sure you remove extraneous or superfluous material. Fine-tune your writing to make sure that the structure, verbs, and vocabulary all serve to make your thinking clear. Avoid repetition and be concise.

And finally, proofread. If you are not great at spelling or grammar or even generally at writing, ask someone who is good at those things to read your essay. A fresh set of eyes is priceless for catching mistakes. Personal MBA Coach uses proofreaders for each MBA application for this reason.

5 Tips for Writing a Successful MBA Admissions Essay

1) answer the essay question.

This seems like a no-brainer, but many candidates write beautiful essays that do not answer the essay question. Instead of writing what you want to show off, answer the question (or make sure that what you want to show off answers the question!). While we do advise thinking a bit outside of the box and considering the why behind an essay prompt ( what are they really trying to get at? ) first and foremost you must answer the question.

That is one reason recycling essay copy from one school to the other is often not a great idea: While it works sometimes for schools whose essay questions are nearly identical, most often it obscures the whole objective of answering the question. Good MBA essay editing should address this, refocusing the material. So, go through your copy and make sure the answer is in there. If you are using the essay you wrote for another school, make sure you tailor it to fit and answer the pertinent essay prompt.

2) Write Authentically

Do not write what you think admissions committee members want to read. There is no one perfect candidate profile. Instead, your uniqueness will be one of your greatest selling points. Your essays should paint a clear picture of who you are, what motivates you, and what you are passionate about—genuinely. Do not feel compelled to show how you fit the mold that seemingly makes up the “ideal” candidate. If you have no desire to run a non-profit, that is ok. If you are not motivated by improving the environment, do not pretend you are. Readers will see right through this, and you could end up doing more harm than good.

3) Look at the Application Comprehensively

Essays are just one part of the overall MBA application. In addition to submitting a resume (unsure how to write an MBA resume? Check out these tips ), you fill out a detailed application whose value you should use in every detail. Many schools require short essays and short answer questions and video essays as well. In addition, you have letters of recommendation . Those also should be used to your advantage to include material you may not have other opportunity or space to talk about. This means there are other places to list and highlight items such as extracurricular activities.

There is no need—or space—to try to fit this all into your essays: Focus on a few chosen facets of your passions or accomplishments to answer the essay questions and use other material in other places.

4) Keep Your Language and Writing Style  Approachable

You should assume that terms you regularly discuss at the office—what is commonly referred to as industry jargon—are foreign to others, including admissions committee members, and they do not want to have to wade through it, trying to understand, as if it were a foreign language.

Harvard Business School has gone so far as to specifically ask candidates to not use jargon, both in the MBA application essay and the short answer questions. The best MBA essay editing will eliminate jargony language entirely and translate to readily understandable English, which helps convey what you are talking about and who you are. Particularly when it comes to showing off an accomplishment or how you added value in a business scenario, you want to make sure that technical language does not get in the way and impede your ability to clearly communicate what you did. On some occasions, it may be beneficial to ask a loved one to read your essay, though it is not always the best choice—check out this blog for a comprehensive breakdown of when it is a good idea to involve your friends and family in your MBA journey.

5) Limit Flowery Prose  and Simplify Your Style

Similarly, we often read complex flowery prose. By flowery we mean prose that is overly ornate, rambling, and verbose. While showing off your writing style may be the point when applying to a writer’s program, when applying to business school you should write well but in a practical and straightforward manner. Most schools want direct, substantial, detailed answers to the questions—not rambling prose. You should write in a style that is accessible to everyone, from your grandmother to a professor of microfinance, should be able to understand your essays.

In sum, your essays should convey why you are someone others would want to study with, learn from, and eventually be inspired by. That type of person is human and down to earth. Your essays should show this.

Finally, be concise. Write to the word count. If you are having difficulty making a choice between two options, you can vet that choice, but once you have chosen your topic, during the outline process eliminate material that is not needed. It is very hard to cut 200 words from a 500-word essay and not change the overall intended impact and meaning. Trimming 30 words is one thing—though it is very time-consuming, it can be done artfully without losing much—but you cannot cut an essay in half and not lose substance that should be included.

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20 Essential Tips on How to Write A Killer MBA Essay

Types of mba essays.

There are a few different types of MBA essay questions you will answer as part of your MBA application. The type of essay can be determined through the keywords used in the essay question. Each type of essay will have its own length requirements, depending on the business school.

This type of essay asks you to detail your personal and professional goals and how attending business school will help you achieve them. An essay question that asks about your aspirations or what you hope to gain from an MBA program is classified as a goal essay.

For example, Wharton is one of many schools that ask for a goal essay from applicants using the question: “What do you hope to gain professionally from the Wharton MBA?” Columbia , NYU Stern , Darden , Dartmouth Tuck , and McCombs are some of the many other schools that ask about your goals.

Self-Reflection

A self-reflection essay is an opportunity for you to showcase the values and characteristics that make up your personal identity. It also requires you to discuss how you handled a failure at some point in your life or how you would approach an ethical dilemma.

Yale School of Management is one business school that uses self-reflection questions in its MBA essays . They want to know what the biggest commitment you have ever made is, including why you chose it and how you went about making it. 

Answering this question will require you to do some deep reflection in order to answer it thoroughly. 

Contribution

The objective of this type of essay is to show an admissions committee how you will add value and contribute to their MBA program. 

Booth School of Business poses this question: “An MBA is as much about personal growth as it is about professional development. In addition to sharing your experience and goals in terms of career, we’d like to learn more about you outside of the office. Use this opportunity to tell us something about who you are.” 

Booth clearly wants you to elaborate on who you are, what you value, and how you live those values in your everyday life.

Some business schools want to know about the impact you will have on their program and pose a question that asks you to describe a time when you demonstrated leadership. This will involve discussing why you took on the leadership role in your chosen situation and your leadership impact.

Darden School of Business poses essay questions designed to gauge your leadership capabilities and the impact you’ll have on the program. As Dean of Admissions Dawna Clarke states, they are interested in “cultivating high impact leaders.” 

It’s no surprise that one of their essay questions from a recent application cycle was, “Darden strives to identify and cultivate responsible leaders who follow their purpose. Please provide an example of a situation in which you have made a meaningful impact.”

Instead of writing a traditional essay, some business schools ask you to submit a video essay. The types of questions asked for a video essay can range from a short introduction to longer, multi-component questions.

Kellogg is one business school that uses video essays . They will ask you three questions. First up is an introduction, and the second is about your career goals and how Kellogg will help get you there. 

The third question varies annually and is generally more randomized, so you and all the other applicants won’t necessarily respond to the same question. 

‍Top 20 Tips on How to Write a Great Business School Essay

Successfully writing business school essays is tricky. Many factors go into constructing a successful one. However, the top tips we’ve provided below outline how to write an MBA application essay that stands out from the crowd. 

1. Brainstorm

Focus on each essay question individually. Start with the essay that feels easiest or most natural to you. Your writing will improve as you go. Choose topics that highlight your strengths, experiences, and achievements to make the strongest impact.

2. Make an Outline

Before you start writing, outline the main points you want to cover in a logical order. Consider how much space each section of your essay should take up.

3. Create a Draft

Once you have a good outline, start your first draft. It's okay if it's not perfect yet. First drafts are usually longer but focus on getting your main points down and ensuring they connect well.

4. Pay Attention to Your Essay Structure

Blair Mannix , Wharton's Admissions Director, says successful essays have three parts: the setup (who you are and what you've learned), the pivot point (what you want to learn and how it will help your career), and the future (how the MBA program will help you achieve your goals). 

For essays on contributing to the MBA community, be personal, tell a story, and connect your experiences to the community.

5. Consider the Tone You Use While Writing Your Essay

Be genuine in your essay. Admissions committees can tell if you're insincere or just writing what you think they want to hear. Laurel Grodman from Yale School of Management says your essay should reflect your voice and highlight something meaningful in your life. 

Write about what truly matters to you. Incorporate your personality, such as your creativity or humor, to help the committee get to know you better.

6. The Best MBA Essays Are School-Specific 

When writing a business school essay, focus on why you want to attend that school. Show you've done your research by mentioning the curriculum, extracurricular activities, and research centers you're interested in. This makes your essay more compelling by explaining what you'll gain from the program and how it will help you succeed.

7. Pick an Event or Situation That Matters to You

When you select your topic to write about in your MBA essay, you need to make sure it is something that had a significant impact on your life and resonates with you personally. This will help ensure your authenticity shows through.

8. Explain Why You’re a Right Fit For the School

Just mentioning that you're the ideal candidate isn't enough. This won't persuade the admissions committee to accept you. Instead, you should provide specific examples and evidence showing why you're a great fit. Discuss your achievements, experiences, and skills that align with the program's goals. 

9. Include Passion Into Your Writing

Admissions officers want to know what excites you and if you'll bring that same enthusiasm to the classroom. Share your passions and interests, and explain how they drive you. Show how your excitement for learning and goals will make you an active and engaged student.

10. Highlight Your Diversity 

Business schools value having students from diverse backgrounds. When writing your application, share experiences demonstrating how your unique perspective can enrich the school's community. Explain how your background, interests, or experiences can contribute to a vibrant and inclusive learning environment.

11. Address Inconsistencies

If you have gaps in employment or a low GPA, be upfront about them. Explain how you've grown or learned from these experiences, emphasizing your positive steps to overcome challenges. This demonstrates resilience and maturity to the admissions committee, showing them you can handle obstacles effectively.

The Importance of Storytelling in MBA Essays

Business school admissions officers want to see how you approach traits like leadership and commitment in your MBA application essay. Yet, if you describe an experience and don’t reflect upon it, you will not highlight your mindset, dedication, and motivation. 

The best writers outline the traits that business schools want to see by telling personal stories and anecdotes. But how can you do that? It’s simple — show how your experiences impacted you. Don’t just tell us about it. 

Indeed, to use the idea of commitment as an example, Yale’s admissions committee “cares less about the commitment you choose and more about the behaviors surrounding the commitment.” They want to “come away learning something new about you as a person that helps us understand your values and motivations.”

Illustrating how your experiences affect your values and motivations is difficult; this process requires a lot of introspection and self-reflection. The trick is to use plenty of real-life examples and explain how they embody your values. 

One way to successfully do this is to use the STAR technique . The STAR technique is split into four distinct steps: 

• Situation - Describe the situation and when it took place.
• Task - Explain the task and what was the goal.
• Action - Provide details about the action you took to attain this.
• Result - Conclude with the result of your action.

Using the four steps outlined above, you can create concise, compelling answers to your essay prompts. Let’s use one of the Berkeley Haas essay prompts as an example for an MBA essay outline:

What makes you feel alive when you are doing it, and why? (300 words maximum) . 

We can split this prompt into two sections: 

• Describe an activity, hobby, or anything that makes you “feel alive” when you do it. 
• Explain why you find so much enjoyment in this one thing. 

Storytelling is key here, and the STAR technique can help you break down exactly what you want to say. Remember, it is important to reflect upon your experiences and, in this case, show why you enjoy something. 

If you manage to do this in your essays and show how you achieved results along the way, you will submit a strong MBA application essay. 

Plagiarizing Your MBA Essay 

Plagiarism is a big deal. 

Even if a student doesn’t intend to plagiarize someone’s work, colleges can and will detect it. If colleges detect plagiarism, they will likely reject the application outright; UCLA’s Anderson School of Management rejected 52 MBA hopefuls for application plagiarism. 

Applicants can easily and accidentally plagiarize someone else’s work by following MBA essay examples too closely. Essay examples are useful, as they can inspire you and give you an idea of how you can reflect upon your experiences. However, someone has written that example about their own experience in their own words, and you can’t copy it. 

If you are worried about plagiarism, the simple fix is to be original. After all, admissions committees want to hear about your experiences, motivations, and opinions. 

Authenticity is also an extremely important part of writing well; you will come across as more genuine writing about your genuine thoughts and experiences. If you want to check your work, you can use reliable and low-cost plagiarism checker tools like PrePostSEO and Copyscape .  

MBA Essay Examples

US News wrote an article on what makes for a successful MBA essay. They provided the following MBA entrance essay sample essays written by applicants recently admitted into highly reputable business schools.

This sample was written for Fox School of Business at Temple University .

This essay was well-received by the admissions committee because it was written clearly and concisely, free of grammatical errors, and told a story. The candidate showed their personality and explained why a Fox MBA would help them achieve their career goals. 

This particular candidate was honest in their essay about their weaknesses and professional growth, which is generally well-received by admissions committees. The candidate detailed the initiative they had taken in learning about the MBA program at Fox and why they decided to apply.

This next successful essay sample was written for the Yale School of Management.

Similar to the previous example, this essay told a compelling story through a clear narrative. This particular essay began with an anecdote that demonstrated the candidate’s work ethic, initiative, leadership, and resourcefulness.

This show-don’t-tell essay displayed what was important to the applicant and offered the admission committee insight into their personality and values. It also provided as much detail as was possible, given the 500-word limit.

Don’t Rely Too Much on MBA Essay Examples 

While MBA essay examples are valuable tools to see what got applicants into business school, they all have one problem: They are not yours. Other peoples’ essay examples don’t focus on your achievements, values, motivations, or experiences. 

In their essays, originality and authenticity are two critical themes that business schools look for because your life is unique. Remember, MBA essay writing is all about getting to know you , and your essays should truly reflect who you are as a person. 

MBA essay examples are useful. They can provide you inspiration, an idea of what can work, and outline how to discuss your own experiences. However, you need to draw a line in the sand and write your own essay at some point. 

People are admitted to particular schools for a wide variety of reasons. While their essays are one of those reasons, what works for one person might not work for you. Try not to overthink it — write about your experiences, background, and, most importantly, opinion. 

Mistakes to Avoid While Writing Your MBA Essay

In addition to following the steps for writing a great MBA essay outlined above, there are also some common mistakes you’ll want to avoid while writing your essay. These mistakes are listed below, along with solutions to fix them.

1. Submitting an Overly Complex Essay

Admissions committees want to know you as a person, not just your industry jargon. Avoid complicated essays that frustrate readers. Instead, use your own words and write as if you're talking professionally to a coworker. This makes your essay clearer and more personal, helping you connect better with the reader.

2. Not Reading the Essay Question Closely or Misunderstanding the Question

To answer MBA essay questions correctly, understand the question fully. Misreading it can result in an off-target essay and a rejected application.

To fix this, find the keywords in the question to understand what the admissions committee wants to know. Words like "contribute," "gain," and "lead" indicate what to focus on. If confused, seek clarification.

3. Restating Your Resume or Letters of Recommendation

Admissions committees want your MBA essay to tell a unique story, not repeat your resume or recommendations. Choose a topic that isn’t covered elsewhere in your business school resume and letters of recommendation . If needed, focus on a specific project, detailing the challenges, solutions, outcomes, and lessons learned. 

4. Starting Your MBA Essay Close to the Deadline 

Starting close to the deadline means you'll rush and make mistakes. To avoid this, start planning your essay as soon as the questions are available. Create an outline for each essay and start early to give yourself enough time to write and revise without stress.

5. Giving Half-Baked Reasons for Attending Business School  

Business school admissions committees use your essays to gauge your interest in their program. If you're vague about your career plans and reasons for choosing their school , take time to outline them clearly. Show clear, well-defined goals and explain why you want to attend their program. 

6. Going Over the Word Limit

Going over the word limit shows you can't follow directions, work within limits, or organize your thoughts. These skills are crucial for understanding requirements, staying focused, solving problems creatively, and communicating clearly.

7. Not Reviewing Your Essay For Grammar Mistakes

A sloppy application suggests a careless attitude, raising concerns about your attention to detail and seriousness. A well-organized application shows diligence and respect for the admissions committee's time.

8. Being too General

An essay full of generalizations suggests you lack specific insights or personal depth. Admissions committees value unique perspectives and concrete examples that show your thoughtful engagement with the topic.

9. Talking About High School

Admissions committees prioritize recent, relevant professional achievements over high school roles like newspapaer editor or varsity team captain. Focus on highlighting recent experiences that showcase your readiness for their program.

1. How Long Should My MBA Application Essay Be?

The length of your MBA essay will depend on the specific school; some schools allow up to 500 words, while others want a very short and to-the-point response of 150 words. 

The length set out by the MBA program you’re applying to is an important consideration, and it is not a good idea to go over the word limit. Admissions committees want to see that you can follow instructions and are capable of writing succinctly. It will not reflect well on you to go over the allowed word count.

2. Is the MBA Essay Less Important Than My GPA and GMAT Score?

No, your MBA essay is at least equally as important as your GPA and GMAT score . While your GPA and GMAT scores are good indicators of your academic abilities, the MBA essay is the admission committee’s first opportunity to get to know you personally. 

This is also the first impression you will make on the committee, so it’s imperative that you write a strong and compelling essay. Most business schools use a holistic approach to assessing applications, and your response to the essay question can determine whether you are a good fit for their program.

3. Is There an MBA Essay Guide for Reapplicants?

Many schools will require or suggest that reapplicants submit an additional essay. 

This will vary by school, and it is important to check with each school’s website for the exact details of what’s expected of reapplicants. If it’s optional, it is a good idea to submit one because it allows you to explain how you’ve grown personally and professionally since your previous application. 

4. Can I Use the Same Business School Essay if I’m Reapplying?

It’s unlikely you’ll be successful using the same essay since your response could have been the reason you were rejected the first time around. 

It’s best to consult with an MBA admissions expert or mentor to find out where you went wrong and what you can do to make your reapplication essay strong and stand out in the best way possible.

5. How Do I Edit My MBA Essay Draft to Make It Better?

First of all, make sure there are no errors with your spelling, grammar, and syntax. Business schools want students with superb communication skills, and having basic errors in your MBA essay does not demonstrate that you have strong communication skills. 

Then, you should go through the common mistakes outlined above and make sure those are not present in your essay; if they are, fix them. Seeking a second opinion from a friend, mentor, colleague, or MBA essay editing expert will also help locate errors or improvement areas.

6. How Can I Ensure My Business School Essay Stands Out?

Whether you are faced with the Wharton MBA essays , Harvard Business School essay , or Booth MBA essays , to name a few, there are a few things you can do to make your essay stand out. 

The event or experience you choose to write about should be something you are able to write about in a compelling narrative. It should also be something you can write about with passion, which will allow the admission committee to see your genuine and authentic voice. 

Your strengths should be woven in with the story you’re telling. These things will make your essay stand out to the admission committee and help them remember you.

Unlock Your Future with the Perfect Business School Essay

Knowing how to write a great MBA essay can be a challenging component of the business school application process. 

But, if you know where to start, make an outline for each essay, and get expert assistance, the process becomes significantly more manageable. Following these steps will help you write a killer MBA essay.

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Expert MBA Essay Tips and How to Write a Great MBA Essay

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• MBA Application Tips , MBA Essay Tips
• April 27, 2024

Writing an MBA essay can be a pivotal step in your journey towards earning a coveted spot in a top business school. It’s a chance to let your personality shine, communicate your goals, and explain why a particular institution is the perfect fit for you.

In this comprehensive article, we delve into the importance of MBA essays, the various types you might encounter, expert MBA essay tips, and provide a roadmap for crafting impeccable B-School essays. Whether you’re pondering “Why MBA and Why Now?” or tackling the intricate “Why this Business School?” question, we’ve got you covered. Dive into the world of MBA essays, where your aspirations and abilities find their voice.

The Importance of MBA Essays 

MBA essays are a perfect opportunity to showcase your strengths and explain any weak points in your application. A well-written essay can provide context to a low GMAT score or GPA, but strong numbers will never make up for a weak essay.

Renice Jones, Ex. Assistant Director of Recruitment and Admissions at Schulich MBA program rightly said:

“Candidates who are below average can use the other components of the application, such as the essays, to exhibit why they may be a great fit for Schulich.”

MBA essays also become very important if you are from an over-represented pool of candidates, such as an Indian male IT/software engineer. Like you, many candidates will have similar work profiles and experiences. You cannot change your work experience but can make sure that you portray your spikes to the admission committee through your essays.

Stanford MBA admissions committee gives this advice to its applicants every year,

“There is no typical Stanford MBA student, no ideal for applicants to chase. Our advice is to just focus on you and ensure that your application is a true reflection of yourself.”

MBA Essays – A way to showcase your personality 

A compelling MBA essay helps the Adcoms get a peek inside your personality. Chad Losee, HBS Managing Director of MBA Admissions and Financial aid, pointed out that their primary goal in the essay is to get to know you better. The decisions you have made, your motivations, or any formative experiences. However, you must not shy away from your personality in the process.

The MBA admissions team at Yale School of Management held a webinar , where they talked about what they are interested in knowing through its essay.

How to impress the MBA admissions committee in the admissions events. Here are a few tips in this article .

Yale SoM MBA essays are generally open-ended, like – “Describe the biggest commitment you have ever made.” For this essay question, the admissions committee is interested in knowing how you approach commitments and the behavior that supports them. It can be a personal or a professional story, as long as it is something distinctive to your life and helps them know more about your personality. 

It is the story that you put together about your passion, experience, goals, and how business school fits into that mix that sets you apart from other candidates.

Types of MBA Essays 

Although the MBA admissions essay questions differ across schools, they tend to evaluate you based on who you are, what you have done, and what value you can add. 

Thus, there are a certain set of questions that help the Adcoms evaluate your candidacy. The length of an essay can range from anywhere between 200 – 1500 words, depending on the business school. But, remember each question is crafted in such a way that helps the Adcoms to know you better and evaluate your fit with the B-school.

We have helped many students craft their MBA essays and created a list of 6 most common essay questions that you can expect on your MBA application: 

Here are the 6 most common essay questions that you can expect on your MBA application:

• Why MBA and Why Now? 
• Why this Business School?

Leadership essay 

• Video essay 
• Open-ended essay 
• Community/Contribution essay 

Why MBA and Why Now?  

This essay is the most common question, which requires you to logically craft a link between your past experiences, your future aspirations, and how pursuing an MBA fits in. This essay aims to understand your motivation to pursue an MBA. In hindsight, this type of essay question can also incorporate your goals. 

However, you can even get a question that is just focused on what your short and long-term goals are? For example, Tuck MBA question on why MBA and how your prior experience and MBA from Tuck fits in. 

Why this Business School? 

This essay aims to see how your goals fit into applying to XYZ business school. In this essay, you need to state how pursuing an MBA from that particular B-school will enable you to achieve your short and long-term goals. 

The admissions committee wants to know if you have done your research on the business school.

For example, Kellogg is known as one of the best business schools for Marketing. So, if you aspire to become a successful marketer, schools like Kellogg can be a good fit for you. 

Leadership qualities are ones that every top business school looks for in a candidate. This essay aims to know about instances where you have shown leadership.

Remember, you don’t have to be a manager or lead a team to showcase leadership qualities. Cases in which you have changed opinions, shown integrity, take crucial decisions, displayed structured thinking, etc. can also demonstrate leadership skills. 

For example, essay questions that ask you to provide instances where you have shown leadership and challenges related to ethics you have faced (HEC Paris).

ISB also has a question on similar lines –examples of the most important personal quality that will lead you to become a successful leader. 

Video Essay 

The video essay evaluates your language skills, confidence, and capability to think on your feet. It is an opportunity for you to create a good first impression on the admissions committee. 

Moreover, video essays give a chance to the Admissions committee to put a face on the application received. 

Kellogg and MIT Sloan are a few business schools that ask candidates to submit video essays. MIT Sloan asks you for a 60-sec video where you need to introduce yourself to your future classmates. Kellogg’s video essay consists of three questions – An introduction about yourself, the path you are interested in pursuing, and the challenges you have faced.  

Open-ended essay (Value-based/personality)

This type of essay question evaluates your values and personality. For example, describe your biggest commitment (Yale), values that have guided your life and work (Kellogg), or showcase your personal characteristics by providing instances (INSEAD).

Community contribution

Contribution to the community is an integral part of many top business schools. The aim is to reflect upon your unique background and think about the values you can add to the community. For example, the Cornell essay analyzes your desire to impact communities and organizations positively. They want to understand how you will make a meaningful impact on Cornell’s MBA community. 

Crafting a compelling B-School essay can be the key to unlocking the door to your dream MBA program. Here are some expert tips to help you write an unforgettable essay that stands out from the crowd:

1. Showcase Proactivity: Business schools seek leaders who are proactive and innovative. Emphasize your ability to take initiative and drive change.

2. Embrace Uniqueness: Highlight what sets you apart from others rather than focusing solely on achievements. Showcase your individuality and what makes you truly unique.

3. Tailor Each Essay: Provide specific reasons why you’re a great fit for each school. Avoid generic statements and demonstrate your understanding of the program’s unique offerings.

4. Inject Passion: Let your enthusiasm shine through in your writing. Admissions officers want to see what excites you and how you’ll bring that energy to the classroom.

5. Break the Mold: Challenge conventional perceptions with unexpected essays that reveal different facets of your personality and experiences.

6. Embrace Your Journey: If you’ve taken an unconventional path to business school, embrace it. Admissions officers appreciate candidates who have taken risks and overcome challenges.

7. Address Identity and Background: Discuss your gender, ethnicity, or minority status only if it has influenced your perspectives or experiences significantly.

8. Use Real-Life Examples: Enrich your essays with specific anecdotes and vivid details that illustrate your qualities and achievements.

9. Show Your Humanity: Don’t be afraid to show vulnerability or humor. Admissions officers appreciate authenticity and want to connect with the real person behind the application.

10. Be Authentic: Write about what truly matters to you, not what you think the admissions committee wants to hear. Your essays should paint a clear picture of who you are, what drives you, and what you’re passionate about.

Kris Mercuri, Director of Admissions, Recruiting and Outreach at the Yale School of Management  states , your essay is an “opportunity to speak in your own voice about something meaningful and distinctive in your life.” Don’t waste this opportunity by writing about something inauthentic that you think will make you look better, but is actually a pretense.

11. Structure Matters: Follow a clear structure for your essays, including the setup, the pivot point, and the future. This helps you present your story cohesively and effectively.

12. Answer the Prompt: Ensure your essays directly address the questions asked. Don’t get sidetracked by showcasing all your achievements; focus on what’s relevant to the prompt.

13. Be Succinct: With word limits becoming stricter, keep your essays concise and impactful. Highlight essential points and let your voice shine through without overwhelming the reader with unnecessary details.

14. Focus on the Business School: Tailor your essays to each business school, demonstrating your understanding of the program and how you’ll contribute to its community and culture.

How to write a great MBA essay

The admissions committee reads thousands of essays every year. For your essay to stand out, you must put a comprehensive picture of who you are and how you fit into the B-school program.  Your essays need to be interesting and unique if you want to grab Adcom’s attention. 

Here is a stepwise process that you should follow to write an essay that Adcom would want to read: 

Step 1 – Start Early 

One of the mistakes that candidates make is to start writing their essays near the application deadline. Writing compelling MBA essays needs deep introspection. You need to take a step back and look into various instances in your life, such as:

• Your past experiences that led to where you are today.
• Your future aspirations
• The turning points and defining moments in your life
• Your accomplishments – past, present, future
• The decisions that helped in shaping your core values
• Your learnings from failure
• Your perspective and experiences that shaped your passion 

Jotting down such instances requires you to sit down, clear your mind, and think about everything that has led you to become who you are and what you want to be. Thus, it would be best to give yourself enough time to introspect. Your mind will respond better when you don’t have a deadline to meet. 

It’s recommended that you start your essays at least 5-6 months before the deadline. This way you’ll get enough time to self-reflect and inculcate the process of thoughtful introspection in your routine. 

 Identify incidents around some common skills that Adcoms look for – Academic Excellence, result-oriented, Leadership, Team management, and Learning. 

Step 2: Know your Whys 

You must get familiar with the most common essay questions:

• Why MBA? 
• Why is it the best time to do an MBA? 
• Why XYZ MBA Program?

Although not all business schools ask you these questions, they are bound to come up in the interview if not in your essays. Moreover, answering these questions can help you get clarity and focus on how to position yourself. You must create a logical link between these three questions by connecting your goals and aspirations. 

Tips on answering the ‘Why’ MBA essay questions

Here are a few tips on how you can go about finding the answer to these questions:

• Why MBA? Look into your future aspirations and how pursuing an MBA fits into them. You should establish a clear, logical, and career-oriented reason for pursuing an MBA. 
• Why MBA Now? Look into your past experiences and provide context as to how pursuing an MBA now fits into your plans. You need to make sure that Adcoms understand that it is the right time for you to pursue an MBA.
• Why XYZ MBA Program? Evaluate how aligned the business school is with your career goals. For example, if you are looking for leadership development during the course, check if that B-school offers such a program. You also need to align your values with the school. Go to the selected business school website and see if their values align with yours. For example, ISB values openness, passion for excellence, collaboration, initiative, and innovation. So, if these values are in-line with your values, ISB is a good fit for you. 

Step 3: Decode the essay prompt 

Once you self-reflect and get familiar with the standard essay questions, it’s time to decode the essay prompt. Each B-school has a unique essay question through which Adcoms evaluate a specific set of things. Understand what the Adcoms are looking to know from that particular question. For example, essay prompts such as, “Describe what you learned from your most spectacular failure?” Here, the Adcom wants to know how you overcame your biggest failure and learned something meaningful from that experience.

Step 4: Create a draft and respect the word count 

After understanding what is required in a particular essay question, create a draft within the word limit. Chad Losee from HBS points out that essays should be about the right length. Use your judgment and be clear and concise in your writing. Moreover, you need to make sure that your essay adds new information. What more is there to you apart from your resume, LOR, and numbers? 

Here are a few tips for writing an essay: 

• Provide instances wherever necessary. Write instances in the form of stories. We suggest using a SAR format – Situation, Action, and Result. Start your story by providing a context, and mention the action you took and the results of your actions. 
• Make sure the essay is in a flow. Have your story structured so that it conveys the overall message. 
• Make sure that your essay has correct/genuine content. It should be concise, cohesive, clear, and convincing. 
• Your Essays should be in line with your overall MBA application.
• Do not be afraid to show your vulnerability. Adcoms are more interested in knowing how you tackle them. 
• Invite inputs from others. 

Step 5: Review and Submit 

You must review your application before submitting it. Readout your essay aloud and ask yourself, could this essay also describe someone else? If yes, it’s probably not personal enough to add to your overall application. 

It helps to get a fresh perspective on your essay. Ask your friend, family, or colleague to read it. Their inputs can be valuable as they know who you are and provide characteristic traits that you might have missed. Moreover, they can also help you understand how others perceive you and if it is consistent with what you have written.

10 Common Mistakes to Avoid While Writing MBA Essays 

Here is a quick overview of mistakes that you should avoid while writing essays:

• Going over the word count. 
• Lack of the 5C’s – Correct content, cohesive, concise, clear, and convincing. 
• Too many instances.
• Not providing something new. Repetitive content. 
• Lack of introspection. 
• Candidates tend to copy/paste the same answer that they used in a different B-school application. 
• Not proofreading.
• Not addressing each part of the question. 
• Lack of flow.
• Lack of reason for why MBA, Why now, and Why XYZ B-school?

We hope that this article provides you with insights into how to write your MBA essay. We can help you write amazing essays.

Our MBA admission consultants have been part of the actual MBA admission team and interview panel at top global B-schools. Therefore, we know what the MBA admissions team actually looks for in a candidate and can guide you accordingly. 

How we’ll help you write amazing essays  

Our MBA admission consulting services are structured considering the above points. Broadly, our services cover the following: 

• Narrative building by a lead consultant, who is a top B-school alum and has got extensive admission consulting experience 
• Identifying your leadership personality trait 
• Identifying and Shortlisting incidents from your personal and professional life having a significant impact and leadership traits 
• Aligning your post MBA career goals with these skills and leadership traits that you have displayed in the above incidents 
• Customizing the narrative by school mentors, who are alumni of the B-schools you are applying to 
• Customizing the narrative by an industry mentor, who is a top B-school alum from your industry/function 
• Essay editing – multiple iterations 
• Essay review by school mentors 
• Resume and Letter of Recommendation guidance 
• Interview prep 

If you follow the above method, you can crack any B-school essay. For more information on our plans and pricing, please visit our  plans and pricing page . For a free profile evaluation, please write to us at  [email protected]  or fill out the  form . 

MBA Essay – FAQs 

MBA essays are your chance to showcase your worth to your target business school. They are an excellent means to distinguish your application and let the admissions committee know the real you.  

Yes. Essays are the only place in your application where you can reveal your aspiration, why an MBA makes sense as the next step in your career path, and address any drawbacks in your application. They help the Admission committee know the person behind those facts and figures in your application. Thus, an MBA essay is a crucial part of your application. 

The length of your MBA essay depends on the program, but generally, essays are anywhere between 200-1200 words. The important thing to remember is that you should not go over the word limit and if the limit is not set by the program, make sure your essay is cohesive, concise, and clear. 

To start an MBA essay, make sure that you self-reflect and do some introspection about your life and career. Think about your past experiences and how they have shaped you. Get yourself familiar with the common essay questions like why MBA and why now. It is important that you identify incidents around some common skills that Adcoms look for – Academic Excellence, result-oriented, Leadership, Team management, and Learning. 

Do you want to get into your dream business school?

Take the first step towards your MBA dream and schedule a free 1 on 1 application strategy call with us.

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2024-2025 Kellogg MBA Essay Tips

Once again this year, the Kellogg School of Management has revised its MBA essay questions. While the new prompts are certainly on-brand for this M7 program , they are more dense and multidimensional than in past years. What this means for applicants is they will need to pay extra close attention to every piece of the question and first ensure they understand what is being asked. Then the hard work of addressing each part of the prompt in a cohesive response begins.

To help, we’ve broken down and analyzed each of the Kellogg MBA essay questions. By the end of this article, you’ll know exactly how to get started.

What Kellogg Is Looking For

Despite the changes, what Kellogg looks for in its students remains constant. Kellogg shares that they value individuals who:

• Approach business problems with a mix of hard and soft skills.
• Seek to adapt to the evolving business world with open curiosity and innovation.
• Believe in strong, empathetic collaboration as a way to strengthen work, perspectives and outcomes.
• Embrace the power of diversity in your teams and networks.

This list of desired perspectives and behaviors show that Kellogg is looking for people who care as much about how they work as the work they do itself. Think about how much you embrace empathy, curiosity, and diversity in your work and how these qualities have influenced you in different projects and settings. Some of them may be aspirational. Perhaps you haven’t fully embraced them yet, but you hope to through an MBA at Kellogg. This is a good starting point from which to approach Kellogg’s essays.

Kellogg MBA Essay Question 1

1. Intentionality is a key aspect of what makes our graduates successful Kellogg leaders. Help us understand your journey by articulating your motivations for pursuing an MBA, the specific goals you aim to achieve, and why you believe now is the right moment. Moreover, share why you feel Kellogg is best suited to serve as a catalyst for your career aspirations and what you will contribute to our community of lifelong learners during your time here. (450 words)

Kellogg’s first essay asks you to answer five different questions:

• What do you want to achieve?
• Why do you need an MBA to achieve it?

Why Kellogg?

• What will you contribute to Kellogg?

To address all five questions effectively in only 450 words means that there is no room for flowery words or extraneous information that does not directly address one of the questions. As the essay states, intentionality is key. The Admissions Committee wants to know that you have clarity on the why, when, how, and what of an MBA.

Let’s break down each question:

What Do You Want To Achieve?

Here the Admissions Committee is looking to understand your short and long-term career goals . In addition to stating what they are, you should provide enough context from your background and work experience to explain why your long-term career goal is motivating to you. Your short-term goal should be a steppingstone to your long-term goal. Both goals should be realistic and achievable given your background and a Kellogg MBA.

Why Do You Want An MBA?

In answering this question, most people fall under one or more of the categories below:

• People looking to switch their career : Those who are looking to make a hard pivot in their career (i.e. engineers, educators, scientists, health professionals, writers, government workers) will need to discuss why an MBA is necessary for them to transition into business. The answer is more obvious here so there is no need to overexplain.
• People who want to learn the theory behind their practice : Those who have been working in business but never formally studied business (i.e. family business operators, humanities majors in college) will need to discuss how gaining a formal business education will help them fill gaps in their skillsets to achieve their career goals.
• People looking to better develop and differentiate themselves as leaders : Perhaps you have reached a point in your career where, to be promoted and competitive for better career opportunities, you need to develop your leadership skills and expand your network in a particular industry. You will need to discuss what specific leadership traits you want to develop and why. Later, in discussing “Why Kellogg”, you will want to explain specific aspects of Kellogg’s resources and people that will help you develop into the leader you aspire to be.

Here the Admissions Committee wants to understand what makes you ready for an MBA. Your “ readiness ” should be demonstrated in two ways:

• That you have learned enough to meaningfully contribute to a class of MBA students
• You have identified gaps in your knowledge and skillsets that you can address in business school. Not having either of these could result in the Admissions Committee determining that this is not the right time for you.

Here is where all your diligent research on Kellogg – through attending Admissions events , visiting campus, and talking to alumni and students – comes in handy. If you haven’t done this level of research (and only looked through Kellogg’s website), you may want to reconsider writing this essay until you have.

Kellogg is looking for specific and personalized reasons for why its values, culture, and resources (classes, professors, clubs, conferences, trips, alumni) will help you achieve your goals and develop into the person you want to be. In this essay, feel free to reference insights from your interactions and conversations with alumni, students, and Admissions members.

What Will You Contribute To The Kellogg Community?

Like “Why Kellogg?” it’s important that your answer is as specific and personalized as possible. Imagine yourself at Kellogg and paint a picture of how you will participate and contribute. Think about what expertise and insights you will bring to classroom discussions. What clubs and experiences will you join and likely lead? What initiatives might you start? How you will support your fellow students? How will you affect Kellogg for the better in a way that is truly your own?

Since the question specifies “during your time here,” be sure to focus your discussion on activities during your time at Kellogg rather than what you will contribute as part of the alumni community.

Kellogg MBA Essay Question 2

2. Kellogg leaders are primed to tackle challenges everywhere, from the boardroom to their neighborhoods. Describe a specific professional experience where you had to make a difficult decision. Reflecting on this experience, identify the values that guided your decision-making process and how it impacted your leadership style. (450 words)

The first step to approaching this essay is considering what experience you want to write about. Think carefully about this one. You may be tempted to pick an experience that portrays you in the best light, but we encourage you to not let this be your top consideration. Instead, focus on choosing an experience that you truly learned and grew from – even if that means you didn’t make the best decision.  The Admissions Committee is looking for genuine responses, not what you think they want to hear. As such, it is more important that the experience taught you an important leadership lesson than it is that you were the hero.

Some questions to help you decide on what story to choose:

• What is the professional experience that most impacted your leadership style?
• What was a difficult decision that had to be made during that experience?
• What was at stake (i.e. what did you have to lose?)
• How did you weigh your options?
• What did the experience teach you about leadership and what you would like to improve on as a leader?

We encourage them to pick an experience where you have meaningful things to say about each of these questions. Be sure that the decision that had to be made was actually difficult – as in you had to really think about it because there was something meaningful at stake. Not only would choosing an experience where the right decision was obvious not make for an interesting story, but it will feel forced and unauthentic to the reader.

The Outcome Does Not Have To Be Perfect

If you find that the best story to tell is one where you made a decision where the outcome wasn’t ideal, keep in mind that that is okay. As long as you can articulate your thought process, what you learned, what you would do differently, and how the incident impacted you, your essay will be successful even if the outcome wasn’t. The Admissions Committee will appreciate learning more about who you truly are.

Answer Every Part Of The Question

If you are using the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result/Learning) framework, you should be spending much of your discussion on the Action and Learning. The ‘Situation’ and ‘Task’ together should give enough context for the reader to understand why the decision was difficult and what was at stake. The ‘Action’ should cover how you weighed your options (including who you may have consulted for advice), the values that guided your decision, and what you decided to do. Finally, the ‘Result/Learning’ should cover what you learned from the outcome, what you would’ve done differently (if anything) and how the experience has impacted your leadership style.

See Also: MBA Application Deadlines and Essays for 2024-2025

Understanding the Kellogg MBA essay prompts and what Kellogg is really looking for will help you put your best foot forward during the admissions process. Best of luck on your journey! If we can be of assistance, reach out to  request an initial consultation .  

I am most engaged when leveraging my coaching skills to help individuals discover their purpose and potential.

I believe that long-term happiness and success is achieved when we discover and find peace with who we are. Through the process of recognizing our gifts, values, and passions, we can make better decisions, find intrinsic motivation to reach our goals, design our lives, and lead others.

A JD-MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, I have over 10 years of industry experience in consulting, healthcare, and nonprofit. I empathize with the struggles of my clients because I’ve been there myself, having pivoted multiple times before finding a career that is aligned with my values and unique gifts. I help individuals launch and grow careers that are aligned to their purpose and values, continue education and learning in ways that will help reach their goals, and find a path to long-term fulfillment.

Columbia MBA Essay Questions, Tips & Advice for 2024-2025

Round 1 vs. round 2 mba applications, no comments, post a comment cancel reply.

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Crafting a Brilliant MBA Personal Statement

Hung-Le - VietAccepted

Hung-Le is an mba.com Featured Contributor and founder of VietAccepted.

When I work with my Vietnamese clients at VietAccepted for their MBA essays, I have repeatedly emphasized the importance of using the essays to help the candidates stand out from the pack. This is even more important for Southeast Asian candidates because the local culture encourages some to stay humble and not boast about themselves. In this post, I hope to give you some tips to help you personalize your essays and make them memorable.

First, understand the values of the programs. The admissions committee (adcom) looks for candidates who can reflect the school DNAs and by researching the website or conversing with current students or alumni, you can get a sense of the core values of your desired schools. For example, while Kellogg might focus more on teamwork, Chicago Booth loves those who are intellectually curious. Therefore, in your essays to Booth, do not forget to add elements or evidence that demonstrate your analytical skills and prove to the adcom that you are an inquisitive person who loves to challenge the status quo.

For instance, here is a quote from the MIT Admissions Team that can help you better understand what MIT Sloan is looking for when evaluating applicants:

“Like MIT itself, MIT Sloan is a place for visionary pragmatists and for people with the determination to change the world and with the passion to make it happen.”

Think of a time when you took initiative or devised innovative solutions to drive impact to the organization. Instead of using examples in which you were assigned to do something, use stories in which you have proactively taken initiatives or stepped forward to overcome obstacles from other team members to address a long-standing problem.

Second, be more specific. This sounds like a cliché, but Asian candidates tend to write in a more generic and broader way. However, this is a serious pitfall as you will not be able to stand out from others and after reading the stories, my bet is that the admissions committee will not be able to remember anything about you. For example, instead of writing “I led my team in addressing the problem and getting things done,” you should write, “I worked directly with a 5-8 person ‘rapid results team,’ coaching them on how to think about operational improvement, motivating them to sprint towards it, and leading them through the analysis required to capture it” (excerpt from Harvard Business School admitted essay).

Another important point here is to refrain from using grand and unsupported claims in your personal statement. Saying “I am a team-driven person” or “I am a responsible leader” do not add any value to your profile if it is not supported by concrete evidence. Instead, it’s better to craft a compelling story about when you supported a struggling team member to complete a project, or a time when you held yourself accountable for a failing project. Share your lessons with the admissions committee, how you applied those lessons in later projects, or how these experiences influenced your outlook.

Finally, do not forget to add your personal story. Ultimately, administrative members are people, which means they are moved by emotions. You are advised to conduct a thorough review of your stories and experiences to identify elements that could help your essays become more engaging to the readers.

Top MBA programs have increasingly focused on understanding yourself and your life experiences. Here are some examples:

• Harvard Business School: As we review your application, what else would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Harvard Business School MBA program?
• Stanford GSB: What matters most to you, and why?
• Yale SOM: Describe the biggest commitment you have ever made.
• Kellogg Northwestern: Values are what guide you in your life and work. What values are important to you, and how have they influenced you?

Clearly, these essays require the candidates to deeply reflect upon their experiences and write from their heart and soul. My advice is that you should think about your morals, values, and lessons that have shaped your life and your drive. Do not hesitate to write about your failures because sometimes, being vulnerable helps. However, what matters more is that you should never make any excuse for your failures – it’s better to own the mistake and what you learned from it that improved your ownership or your maturity.

I have consistently applied this strategy to nearly all the essays for my clients. Even when the school asks some generic questions about your short-term and long-term goals, I would start the essay with a hook that defines their career visions. This helps my clients stand apart from other candidates, and some even get into top 10 or top 15 programs with scholarships despite their humble GMAT scores.

Hung-Le is an mba.com Featured Contributor and founder of  VietAccepted .

VietAccepted is a leading test prep center (GMAT, IELTS) and MBA admission consulting for Vietnamese candidates. Its past clients went to many schools in M7, S10 and T15 programs in the US, INSEAD, Oxford, Cambridge, LBS, etc.

50 MBA Essays That Got Applicants Admitted To Harvard & Stanford

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What Matters? and What More? is a collection of 50 application essays written by successful MBA candidates to Harvard Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business

I sat alone one Saturday night in a boardroom in Eastern Oregon, miles from home, my laptop lighting the room. I was painstakingly reviewing a complex spreadsheet of household energy consumption data, cell by cell. ‘Why am I doing this to myself? For remote transmission lines?’…I felt dejected. I’d felt that way before, during my summer at JP Morgan, standing alone in the printing room at 3 a.m., binding decks for a paper mill merger that wouldn’t affect my life in the least.

That’s how an analyst at an MBB firm started his MBA application essay to Stanford Graduate School of Business. His point: In a well-crafted essay, he confronts the challenge of finding meaning in his work and a place where he can make a meaningful difference. That is what really matters most to him, and his answer to Stanford’s iconic MBA application essay helped get him defy the formidable odds of acceptance and gain an admit to the school.

Getting into the prestigious MBA programs at either Stanford Graduate School of Business or Harvard Business School are among the most difficult journeys any young professional can make.

NEARLY 17,000 CANDIDATES APPLIED TO HARVARD & STANFORD LAST YEAR. 1,500 GOT IN

This collection of 50 successful HBS and GSB essays, with smart commentary, can be downloaded for $60

They are two of the most selective schools, routinely rejecting nine or more out of every ten applicants. Last year alone, 16,628 candidates applied to both schools; just 1,520 gained an acceptance, a mere 9.1% admit rate.

Business school admissions are holistic, meaning that while standardized test scores and undergraduate transcripts are a critical part of the admissions process, they aren’t the whole story. In fact, the stories that applicants tell the schools in the form of essays can be a critical component of a successful application.

So what kinds of stories are successful applicants to Harvard and Stanford telling their admission officers? For the first time ever, a newly published collection of 50 of these essays from current MBA students at these two schools has been published. In ten cases, applicants share the essays they wrote in applying to both schools so you can see whether they merely did a cut-and-paste job or approached the task anew. The 188-page book, What Matters? and What More?, gains its title from the two iconic essay prompts at Harvard and Stanford.

THOUGHTFUL CRITIQUES OF THE ESSAYS

Stanford can easily boast having the most difficult question posed to MBA applicants in any given year: In 650 words or less, candidates must tell the school what matters most to them and why. Harvard gives applicants ample room to hang themselves, providing no word limit at all, “What more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy?”

One makes this unusual collection of essays powerful are the thoughtful critiques by the founders of two MBA admissions consulting firms, Jeremy Shinewald of mbaMission and Liza Weale of Gatehouse Admissions. They write overviews of each essay in the book and then tear apart portions by paragraphs to either underline a point or address a weakness. The book became available to download for $60 a pop.

As I note in a foreword to the collection, published in partnership with Poets&Quants, the essay portion of an application is where a person can give voice to who they are, what they have achieved so far, and what they imagine their future to be. Yet crafting a powerful and introspective essay can be incredibly daunting as you stare at a blank computer screen.

APPLICANTS OPEN UP WITH INTIMATE STORIES THAT SHOW VULNERABILITY

One successful applicant to Harvard Business School begins his essay by conveying a deeply personal story: The time his father was told that he had three months to live, with his only hope being a double lung transplant. had to undergo a lung transplant. His opening line: “Despite all we had been through in recent years, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I asked my mother one summer evening in Singapore, ‘What role did I play during those tough times?’”

For this candidate to Stanford Graduate School of Business, the essay provided a chance to creatively engage admission readers about what matters most to him–equality-by cleverly using zip codes as a hook.

60605, 60606, 60607.

These zip codes are just one digit apart, but the difference that digit makes in someone’s life is unfathomable. I realized this on my first day as a high school senior. Leafing through my out-of- date, stained, calculus textbook, I kept picturing the new books that my friend from a neighboring (more affluent) district had. As college acceptances came in, I saw educational inequality’s more lasting effects—my friends from affluent districts that better funded education were headed to prestigious universities, while most of my classmates were only accepted by the local junior college. I was unsettled that this divergence wasn’t the students’ doing, but rather institutionalized by the state’s education system. Since this experience, I realized that the fight for education equality will be won through equal opportunity. Overcoming inequality, to ensure that everyone has a fair shake at success, is what matters most to me.

HOW AN APPLICANT TO BOTH SCHOOLS ALTERED HIS ESSAYS

Yet another candidate, who applied to both Harvard and Stanford, writes about being at but not fully present at his friend’s wedding.

The morning after serving as my friend’s best man, I was waiting for my Uber to the airport and—as usual—scrolling through my phone,” he wrote. “I had taken seemingly hundreds of photos of the event, posting in real time to social media, but had not really looked through them. With growing unease, I noticed people and things that had not registered with me the night before and realized I had been so preoccupied with capturing the occasion on my phone that I had essentially missed the whole thing. I never learned the name of the woman beside me at the reception. I could not recall the wedding cake flavor. I never introduced myself to my friend’s grandfather from Edmonton. I was so mortified that before checking into my flight, I turned my phone off and stuffed it into my carry-on.

The Stanford version of his essay is more compact. In truth, it’s more succinctly written and more satisfying because it is to the point. By stripping away all but the most critical pieces of his narrative, the candidate focuses his essay entirely on his central point: the battle of man versus technology.

Even if you’re not applying to business school, the essays are entertaining and fun to read. Sure, precious few are New Yorker worthy. In fact, many are fairly straightforward tales, simply told. What the successful essays clearly show is that there is no cookie-cutter formula or paint-by-the-numbers approach. Some start bluntly and straightforwardly, without a compelling or even interesting opening. Some meander through different themes. Some betray real personality and passion. Others are frankly boring. If a pattern of any kind could be discerned, it is how genuine the essays read.

The greatest benefit of reading them? For obsessive applicants to two of the very best business schools, they’ll take a lot of pressure off of you because they are quite imperfect.

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2024-2025 Kellogg MBA Essay Tips and Example Essay

Jun 14, 2024

• Who is Kellogg looking for?
• How should I answer the Kellogg essay questions?
• Make Your Story Shine
• Kellogg Deadlines

UPDATE : This article was originally posted on August 7, 2018. It has been updated with new information and tips below.

With its Global Hub, Kellogg of Management at Northwestern University has reinforced itself as a haven for collaboratively-minded leaders. With its unique MBAi and MMM programs, the school also stands out for those focused on tech and design innovation, respectively. Furthermore, Kellogg is one of the few top business schools in the US to offer a 1-year MBA program. 

However, getting a spot at Kellogg also requires serious smarts, as the school continues to add incredibly appealing majors and pathways, including options on Social Impact and Energy & Sustainability to name a few, getting into Kellogg is more challenging than ever. 

That’s why we’ve prepared this guide to help you use your Kellogg admissions essays to stand out. We’ve rounded up our best tips and links to Kellogg MBA sample essays to ensure you give your Kellogg application your best shot. 

1. Who is Kellogg looking for?

Source: @kelloggschool on Instagram

Each year, Kellogg selects around 500 students to take part in its two-year program. Though there is no one “perfect” type of Kellogg student, the university does favor high test scores (the mean GMAT for the Class of 2025 was 731 and the average GRE score was 163 Quant, 163 Verbal ). 

Additionally, Kellogg is committed to admitting a diverse class, as the composition of the Class of 2025 reflects. 48% of the incoming class are female, 39% are international, 42% are U.S. students of color, and 9% identified as LGBTQ+. 

However, at Kellogg, showing fit with the school goes far beyond having the right GMAT or GRE score. That’s why Kellogg also looks for a set of “soft” skills in its applicants. 

In our experience, Kellogg also responds well to applicants with a demonstrated history of giving back.  

So, if this sounds like a community in which you’d be right at home, you’ll have to think of the ways in which you align with the main characteristics of Kellogg’s students. This means forming your business school brand and then focusing on the aspects of that brand that align with changing the status quo, collaborative leadership, and giving back to society. 

2. How should I answer the Kellogg essay questions?

2.1. essay 1 tips.

Intentionality is a key aspect of what makes our graduates successful Kellogg leaders. Help us understand your journey by articulating your motivations for pursuing an MBA, the specific goals you aim to achieve, and why you believe now is the right moment. Moreover, share why you feel Kellogg is best suited to serve as a catalyst for your career aspirations and what you will contribute to our community of lifelong learners during your time here.  (450 words)

This question is new this year and is a traditional goals essay, a common type of essay required of applicants at many elite business schools. 

In this essay, you have a big task. In around 500 words , you need to discuss:

• Context for your goals
• Your specific-post MBA goals and why you are pursuing them at this moment
• Why you believe an MBA is necessary to reach these goals
• How a Kellogg MBA will help you reach these goals

Each of these elements must be included and must build off of each other. 

First of all, many candidates think they do not need to specifically state their goals, or that it’s better to leave “their options open.” If you are applying to elite business schools, however, you must have and present absolute clarity about your goals. 

TOP TIP : If you’re having trouble figuring out what your post-MBA goals are, we’ve prepared this post to help you decipher this essential part of the application process! 

However, goals without context can be a little confusing to decipher or understand (or they can just seem a bit lackluster). For this reason, we suggest starting your essay with context. 

For example, a client last year initially started his essay by saying: 

“I want to become a Business Development Director at a Brazilian company.”

While interesting, it’s better to give a little bit of context to help these goals come to life. Check out the final version of the same essay’s introduction:

“In the 1970s, the phrase “think global, act local” came into use, suggesting that to have global impact, one must be active locally. With this mindset, I focused my career on Brazilian multinational companies to start creating global change at home. While at Company 1, I led a diverse global team, which showed me that clear communication is essential. I later accepted a finance position at a real estate company where I learned how new technologies can impact traditional local industries and that leaders must adapt to these trends to maintain competitiveness. Most recently, I joined Company 2 to participate in its daring globalization plan. At Company 2, I have learned how challenging it is to formulate effective global strategies to thrive in diverse markets. I have also developed management skills since becoming Financial Coordinator, learning how important establishing a culture of collaboration is to providing stability for organizations.

I now seek to take the next step to becoming a “global” leader by becoming Business Development Director at a Brazilian company pursuing globalization, giving me the experience to assume my long-term goal of CEO of one such company.”

Second, you should clearly demonstrate why you need an MBA. 

An MBA is not a catch-all degree that serves a purpose for all career paths. As such, you need to demonstrate that the goals you have set for yourself require the additional training an MBA can provide. 

Be thoughtful about this particular section. If you don’t need to improve in any meaningful way, you might be presenting the argument the admissions committee needs for why you can’t actually benefit from an MBA. 

Furthermore, if you show fluffy or unsupported reasons you need to hone your skills, you’ll also likely see your application tossed aside in favor of an applicant who was able to clearly demonstrate how they plan to leverage their time at business school. 

Third, add how Kellogg can specifically help you grow in the areas you’ve identified. Mentioning that you want to go to Kellogg because of its ranking will not cut it here. 

Instead, show that you understand the unique offerings Kellogg’s curriculum provides (I highly suggest you mention the pathway or major you’re interested in) and have done significant, thoughtful research into how the opportunities both inside and outside of the classroom can help you grow. If you have space, it’s also highly recommended that you mention how you can contribute to the community. 

End with a winning conclusion statement that reinforces your personal brand and ties the whole essay together. 

Need more guidance? 

Our MBA Resource Center has dozens of Kellogg MBA essays that worked to get our clients admitted to help you plan out a winning Kellogg essay. Our library also includes guides for all top global MBA programs, detailed essay brainstorms, interview tips and mocks, CV templates, and recommendation letter guides. 

Click to join ! 

2.2. Essay 2 Tips

Kellogg leaders are primed to tackle challenges everywhere, from the boardroom to their neighborhoods. Describe a specific professional experience where you had to make a difficult decision. Reflecting on this experience, identify the values that guided your decision-making process and how it impacted your leadership style. (450 words)

Though very similar to last year, this question is slightly different in wording this year. 

Though you may be tempted to cram in as many examples of leadership as you can in this question, Kellogg clearly asks you for a single experience, though they do not dictate that you must draw this example from your professional experience. 

As such, considering Kellogg’s focus on problem-solving, brainstorm a list of examples in which you faced a clear challenge and were able to overcome it using leadership. 

That means you must focus on examples where your leadership skills were key in solving the problem you faced. As such, an example where your expert programming skills were what helped you face down the challenge won’t work well here. 

Instead, think of examples rich in leadership skills like coaching others to deliver their parts of the project, active listening to ensure a solution was reached, or even resolving conflict. If you’re stumped, you can check out this list of leadership skills for inspiration. 

You may also want to check out how Kellogg defines a Kellogg leader while brainstorming your stories. 

Additionally, when narrowing down your options to a final choice, make sure you choose an example where you had to make a difficult decision of some sort . If you can’t easily and clearly define the decision, what made it challenging, and how you overcame it using specific leadership skills, and the values that guided you along the way, keep brainstorming!

Finally, make sure your story has a clear outcome or resolution. This shows that your leadership skills are effective! 

Start with a hook introduction that sets the stage and makes your reader want to keep reading to find out what happens. 

Then, show the difficult decision you were facing. When writing this essay, do not skim over the conflict part of your story . Though we work hard to avoid conflict in real life, a bit of conflict in your story here demonstrates the efficacy of your leadership skills.  Finally, we truly feel you should stick to the STAR framework to ensure you deliver a winning answer. 

Continue by showing what you did (this is the part in which you’re actively demonstrating your capacity to lead). During this section, focus on showing how you accomplished what you did and why you felt the actions you took were appropriate for the challenge. You also want to explicitly call out the values that guided your decision and specifically how they guided you. Just saying something like, “I was guided by empathy” won’t cut it here. 

End your essay by showing the result you were able to achieve (we suggest you focus on examples with positive outcomes) and what you learned about leadership in the process. 

Top Tip : It’s important to name values in the essay. You can mention them either throughout the essay or at the end. 

If you have space, you may also include a conclusion sentence that relates to how you will apply this lesson at Kellogg. 

2.3. 1Y Essay Tips (Applicants to 1 Year MBA Only)

Why is the Kellogg One-Year Program the right fit to help you reach your post-MBA career goals? And what unique academic, personal or professional experience do you bring into this specific program? (250 words)

For this question, we suggest a straightforward statement that includes why the 1-year format is better to help you reach your goals and how the specific elements of the program will support your growth. 

Most importantly, make sure your goals are stated clearly. Goals like “use the MBA to advance in my career” will not cut it here, so make sure you include the details and motivations you need to ensure you demonstrate why you’re ready for a shorter format MBA. Since you’re already mentioning your goals in Essay 1, a brief recap is ok here. 

Finally, you want to make sure to highlight one or two unique experiences that you have not mentioned elsewhere that you can contribute to the program. Anything works here, as long as it’s relevant and can be concretely tied to some aspect of the Kellogg 1 Year Program. 

2.4. JD/MBA Essay Tips

Why is the JD-MBA Program the right fit to help you reach your post-MBA career goals? And what unique academic, personal or professional experience do you bring into this specific program? (250 words)

For this question, we suggest a straightforward statement that includes why this dual degree is the best option to help you reach your goals and how the specific elements of the program will support your growth. 

Most importantly, make sure your goals are stated clearly. Goals like “use the MBA to advance in my career” or “I’ve always been interested in law” will not cut it here, so make sure you include the details and motivations you need to ensure you demonstrate why you’re ready for the rigors of this program. Since you’re already mentioning your goals in Essay 1, a brief recap is ok here. 

Finally, you want to make sure to highlight one or two unique experiences that you have not mentioned elsewhere that you can contribute to the program. Anything works here, as long as it’s relevant and can be concretely tied to some aspect of the Kellogg JD/MBA Program. 

Writing a 250-word essay can be challenging, but we’ve prepared an in-depth post to help you maximize every word. 

2.5. MBAi Essay Tips

Why is the Kellogg McCormick MBAi Program the right fit to help you reach your post-MBA career goals? And what unique academic, personal or professional experience do you bring into this specific program? (450 words)

For this question, we suggest a straightforward statement that includes why a tech-focused progam is best to help you reach your goals and how the specific elements of the program will support your growth. 

Most importantly, make sure your goals are stated clearly. Goals like “use the MBA to advance in my career” will not cut it here, so make sure you include the details and motivations you need to ensure you demonstrate why you’re ready for this specialized MBA. Since you’re already mentioning your goals in Essay 1, a brief recap is ok here. 

Finally, you want to make sure to highlight one or two unique experiences that you did not mention elsewhere that you can contribute to the program. Anything works here, as long as it’s relevant and can be concretely tied to some aspect of the Kellogg MBAi Program. 

2.6. MMM Essay Tips

Why is the MMM Program the right fit to help you reach your post-MBA career goals? And what unique academic, personal or professional experience do you bring into this specific program? (250 words)

For this question, we suggest a straightforward statement that includes why this unique dual degree option is the best way to reach your goals and how the specific elements of the program will support your growth. 

Most importantly, make sure your goals are stated clearly. Goals like “use the MBA to advance in my career” will not cut it here, so make sure you include the details and motivations you need to ensure you demonstrate why you’re ready for this uniquely tailored MBA. Since you’re already mentioning your goals in Essay 1, a brief recap is ok here. 

Finally, you want to make sure to highlight one or two unique experiences that you did not mention elsewhere that you can share with the program. Anything works here, as long as it’s relevant and can be concretely tied to some aspect of the Kellogg MMM Program. 

2.7. Reapplicant Essay Tips

How have you grown or changed personally and professionally since you previously applied and what steps have you taken to become the strongest candidate you can be? (250 words)

Here, make sure you clearly demonstrate how you have improved since your previous application. We have written extensively on the topic of reapplying to business school here . 

2.8. Optional Essay Tips

We know that life is full of extenuating circumstances. Whether you want to explain gaps in work experience, your choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance or something else, you can use this section to briefly tell us anything we need to know about your application. (280 words)

First of all, don’t be tempted by the “no word count” element of this question. This is not a place for you to retell your life story or sum up your interest in Kellogg or need for an MBA. Make sure you focus only on weak spots and also discuss what steps you have taken or took to rectify the weaknesses. This essay should be short, sweet, and included only if strictly necessary! 

TOP TIP : Not sure if you need to write an optional essay? Check out our post on the topic here . 

Looking for Kellogg MBA essay examples? 

3. We Make Your Story Shine

One of the most common mistakes we see in MBA essays is that candidates fail to tell compelling stories . This is important because if your stories are not compelling, they will not be persuasive. At the same time, they must be backed by strong examples that establish a track record of success and prove to the admissions committees why you belong at their school. 

Striking this balance between content and creativity can be tough, however, as succeeding means not only choosing the right stories but ensuring they are told in an optimal manner. 

This is why our iterative developmental feedback process here at Ellin Lolis Consulting helps you mold your message through the application of our storytelling expertise until it reflects exactly what makes your profile stand out and show fit with your target program. 

Not only can you take advantage of our iterative feedback process through multiple edits – you can also benefit from it after a single review! If your budget is tight, our editors will be happy to help polish your text as much as possible and leave “bonus comments” so you can keep working on it on your own!

No matter how long we work with you, we will always ensure your essays shine . Sign up to work with our team of storytelling experts and get accepted.

4. Kellogg Deadlines

The deadlines for the 2024-2025 season are below. You can access the Kellogg application here . 

Kellogg Round 1 Deadlines

Application Deadline : September 11, 2024

Interview Notification : Ongoing

Decisions Released : December 11, 2024

Kellogg Round 2 Deadlines

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Mba essay guide 2024 | how to write a winning application essay.

Register to download the free BusinessBecause MBA Essay Guide 2024 | How To Write A Winning Application Essay

How do you write an MBA essay that lands you a place at business school? Find out in the BusinessBecause MBA Essay Guide 2024

Tue Oct 17 2023

In the BusinessBecause MBA Essay Guide 2024: How To Write A Winning Application Essay , find out why the MBA essay is important and what to include in your writing. Also, we’ve included MBA essay questions from top business schools such as Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business, Harvard Business School, and Stanford Graduate School of Business—providing insight into the different types of essay questions that you might face.

We also share tried-and-tested MBA sample answers from admits of MBA admissions consultancies, including application essays for Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton. 

Key facts about the MBA essay: 2-4 essay-type questions  are usually asked on MBA applications   10-20 is the average number of essay drafts MBA applicants write on average before submitting their applications to top MBA programs   6 images are required as part of NYU Stern’s ‘Pick Six’ visual essay component

Top MBA essay writing tips:   - Research the values and USPs of your target business school - Always bring your essay back to your goals - Identify and communicate your personal brand

Download the MBA Essay Guide 2024 for more tips and useful information from experts such as Lindsay Lloyd, executive director of MBA admissions at NYU Stern School of Business and J.R. McGrath, executive director of masters admissions at Tepper School of Business.

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7 Common MBA Essay Questions and How to Tackle Them

There are a handful of business school essay questions that seem to capture the heart and imagination of many an MBA program.

It seems that, across the board, admissions committees feel these queries offer the best insight into the minds of their applicants. You are likely to see a version of one or more of these common MBA essay questions on your b-school application . These tips will help you craft the perfect answer.

1. Describe your specific career aspirations and your reason for pursuing an MBA.

This may be the most important essay question you tackle. You must convince the admissions committee that you deserve one of their few, cherished spots. Reference your background, skills, and career aspirations, demonstrating how this degree is a bridge to the next step in your professional life. Be sure to speak to how this particular program will help you realize your potential.

It's okay to present modest goals. Deepening your expertise and broadening your perspective are solid reasons for pursuing this degree. If you aspire to lofty goals, like becoming a CEO or starting your own company, be careful to detail a sensible (read: realistic), pragmatic plan.

Read More: Find Your Business School

2. What are your principal interests outside of work or school? What leisure and/or community activities do you particularly enjoy?

There's more to b-school than the library. The best programs buzz with the energy of a student body that is talented and creative and bursting with personality. These students are not just about case studies and careers. Describe how you will be a unique addition to the business school community.

B-school is also a very social experience. Much of the work is done in groups. Weekends are full of social gatherings or immersion experiences, and the networking you do here will impact the rest of your career. Communicate that people, not just your job, are an important part of your life.

3. Who do you most admire?

The admissions committee wants to know the qualities, attributes and strengths you value in others and hope to embrace. Drive, discipline and vision are fine examples but try and look beyond these conventional characteristics. Tell a story and provide specific examples. If you choose someone famous (which is fine), remember that you risk being one of many in the pile. Instead, consider a current boss, business associate, or friend. Know that your choice of person is less important than what you say about him or her.

4. Describe a situation in which you led a team. What challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them?

The committee isn't looking to see how you saved the team through your heroic efforts (so put yourself on ego alert). They want to see how you helped foster an environment in which everyone contributes, illustrating that the sum is greater than its parts. B-schools like leaders, but they like leaders who can help everyone get along and arrive at a collaborative solution.

You should shift gears for this question. Almost the entire application process thus far has asked you to showcase "me-me-me." Now the focus of your story needs to be on the "we" and how you made the "we" happen.

5. Our business school is a diverse environment. How will your experiences contribute to this?

This essay gets at two concerns for the admissions committee: (1) how will you enrich the student body at this school and (2) what is your attitude toward others' diverse backgrounds?

Diversity comes in many shapes. If a grandparent or relative is an immigrant to this country, you can discuss the impact of his or her values on your life. Perhaps you are the first individual in your family to attend college or graduate school. Maybe you are involved in a meaningful or unusual extracurricular activity. Whatever you choose to write, it's vital that you discuss how it contributes to your unique perspective.

6. Describe a personal achievement that has had a significant impact on your life.

Don't pull your hair out just because you haven't founded a successful start-up or swum across the English Channel. Smaller accomplishments with a lot of personal significance are just fine if they demonstrate character, sacrifice, humility, dedication, or perseverance. A good essay describes how you reached a personal objective and what that meant to you. Maybe you didn't lead a sports team to a victory. Maybe the victory was that you made it onto the team .

Read More: 20 Must-Read MBA Essay Tips

7. Discuss a non-academic personal failure. What did you learn from the experience?

Many applicants make the mistake of answering this question with a failure that is really a positive. Or they never really answer the question, fearful that any admission of failure will throw their whole candidacy into jeopardy. Don't get crafty. You should answer with a genuine mistake that the committee will recognize as authentic.

Write about a failure that had some high stakes for you. Demonstrate what you learned from your mistake and how it helped you mature. This is a chance to show b-schools your ability to be honest, show accountability, and face your failures head-on.

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Kellogg Essay Examples

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Kellogg Essay Samples

Kellogg’s MBA essays reflect a holistic approach. Kellogg is looking for both strong academic potential as well as leadership and a track record of involvement. Depth or breadth are valued. The Kellogg essays are essential to showcasing fit.

SBC has four former Kellogg Admissions Officers and multiple Kellogg MBA graduates who deeply know the nuances of applying to Kellogg successfully. If you’d like to speak with one of our Principals about your candidacy, please request a free analysis here.

Successful Examples of Kellogg Essays

Here’s a snapshot of the caliber of expertise on our SBC team .

HBS Admissions Board at Harvard Business School HBS MBA

HBS Admissions Board at Harvard Business School Kellogg MBA

Director HBS Admissions at Harvard Business School MBA, the Wharton School

HBS Admissions Board at Harvard Business School

Director HBS Admissions at Harvard Business School HBS MBA

Admissions Officer at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB) MBA, Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB)

Asst Director MBA Admissions at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB) Director MBA Admissions at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business

MBA, Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB) Minority Admissions, the GSB Diversity Programs, the GSB

Associate Director MBA Admissions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania

Associate Director MBA Admissions and Marketing at the Wharton MBA’s Lauder Institute

Director, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania Professional Writer

Assistant Director MBA Admissions at Columbia Business School (CBS) NYU Admissions

Assistant Director MBA Admissions at Columbia Business School (CBS) M.S.Ed, Higher Education, U of Pennsylvania

Associate Director MBA Admissions at Columbia Business School (CBS)

Ashley is a former MBA Admissions Board Member for Harvard Business School (HBS), where she interviewed and evaluated thousands of business school applicants for over a six year tenure.  Ashley  holds an MBA from HBS. During her HBS years,  Ashley  was the Sports Editor for the Harbus and a member of the B-School Blades Ice Hockey Team. After HBS, she worked in Marketing at the Gillette Company on Male and Female shaving ...

Kerry is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS). During her 5+ year tenure at HBS, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a wide range of backgrounds across the globe. She also led marketing and outreach efforts focused on increasing diversity and inclusion, ran the Summer Venture in Management Program (SVMP), and launched the 2+2 Program during her time in Admissions. Kerry holds a B.A. from Bates College and  ...

A former associate director of admissions at Harvard Business School, Pauline served on the HBS MBA Admissions Board full-time for four years. She evaluated and interviewed HBS applicants, both on-campus and globally.  Pauline's career has included sales and marketing management roles with Coca-Cola, Gillette, Procter & Gamble, and IBM.  For over 10 years, Pauline has expertly guided MBA applicants, and her clients h ...

Geri is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS).  In her 7 year tenure in HBS Admissions, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a diverse set of academic, geographic, and employment backgrounds.  Geri also traveled globally representing the school at outreach events in order to raise awareness for women and international students.  In additio ...

Laura comes from the MBA Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS) and is an HBS MBA alumnus. In her HBS Admissions role, she evaluated and interviewed hundreds of business school candidates, including internationals, women, military and other applicant pools, for five years.  Prior to her time as a student at HBS, Laura began her career in advertising and marketing in Chicago at Leo Burnett where she worked on th ...

Andrea served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Harvard Business School (HBS) for over five years.  In this role, she provided strategic direction for student yield-management activities and also served as a full member of the admissions committee. In 2007, Andrea launched the new 2+2 Program at Harvard Business School – a program targeted at college junior applicants to Harvard Business School.  Andrea has also served as a Career Coach for Harvard Business School for both cu ...

Jennifer served as Admissions Officer at the Stanford (GSB) for five years. She holds an MBA from Stanford (GSB) and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Jennifer has over 15 years experience in guiding applicants through the increasingly competitive admissions process into top MBA programs. Having read thousands and thousands of essays and applications while at Stanford (GSB) Admiss ...

Erin served in key roles in MBA Admissions--as Director at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and Assistant Director at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB). Erin served on the admissions committee at each school and has read thousands of applications in her career. At Haas, she served for seven years in roles that encompassed evaluation, outreach, and diversity and inclusion. During her tenure in Admissions at GSB, she was responsible for candidate evaluation, applicant outreach, ...

Susie comes from the Admissions Office of the Stanford Graduate School of Business where she reviewed and evaluated hundreds of prospective students’ applications.  She holds an MBA from Stanford’s GSB and a BA from Stanford in Economics. Prior to advising MBA applicants, Susie held a variety of roles over a 15-year period in capital markets, finance, and real estate, including as partner in one of the nation’s most innovative finance and real estate investment organizations. In that r ...

Dione holds an MBA degree from Stanford Business School (GSB) and a BA degree from Stanford University, where she double majored in Economics and Communication with concentrations in journalism and sociology. Dione has served as an Admissions reader and member of the Minority Admissions Advisory Committee at Stanford.   Dione is an accomplished and respected advocate and thought leader on education and diversity. She is ...

Anthony served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he dedicated over 10 years of expertise. During his time as a Wharton Admissions Officer, he read and reviewed thousands of applications and helped bring in a class of 800+ students a year.   Anthony has traveled both domestically and internationally to recruit a ...

Meghan served as the Associate Director of Admissions and Marketing at the Wharton MBA’s Lauder Institute, a joint degree program combining the Wharton MBA with an MA in International Studies. In her role on the Wharton MBA admissions committee, Meghan advised domestic and international applicants; conducted interviews and information sessions domestically and overseas in Asia, Central and South America, and Europe; and evaluated applicants for admission to the program. Meghan also managed ...

Amy comes from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where she was Associate Director. Amy devoted 12 years at the Wharton School, working closely with MBA students and supporting the admissions team.  During her tenure at Wharton, Amy served as a trusted adviser to prospective applicants as well as admitted and matriculated students.  She conducted admissions chats with applicants early in the admissions ...

Ally brings six years of admissions experience to the SBC team, most recently as an Assistant Director of Admission for the full-time MBA program at Columbia Business School (CBS).  During her time at Columbia, Ally was responsible for reviewing applications, planning recruitment events, and interviewing candidates for both the full-time MBA program and the Executive MBA program. She traveled both internationally and dome ...

Erin has over seven years of experience working across major institutions, including University of Pennsylvania, Columbia Business School, and NYU's Stern School of Business. At Columbia Business School, Erin was an Assistant Director of Admissions where she evaluated applications for both the full time and executive MBA programs, sat on the admissions and merit scholarship committees and advised applicants on which program might be the best fit for them based on their work experience and pro ...

Emma comes from the MBA Admissions Office at Columbia Business School (CBS), where she was Associate Director.  Emma conducted dozens of interviews each cycle for the MBA and EMBA programs, as well as coordinating the alumni ambassador interview program. She read and evaluated hundreds of applications each cycle, delivered information sessions to audiences across the globe, and advised countless waitlisted applicants.

Pizza should be a delicious comfort food. But following our acquisition of ABC Bakes, a manufacturer of pizza crusts, it had become nothing but a source of stress. I had the challenging responsibility of leading the new management team in developing a budget and operating plan for the following year.

The successful development of a budget and operating plan requires a truly cross-functional effort, with contributions from accounting, finance, sales, marketing and operations. However, this management team was new to the company and had never worked together. These individuals were all several decades my senior, and while all of them were talented, accomplished operators, few had been exposed to the rigor of private equity ownership. My key challenge would be the successful cohesion of this cross-functional team to execute against an eight-week timeline, culminating in a budget presentation to my CEO.

First, I organized a kick-off meeting to bring the team together. This meeting was a forum to discuss each team’s responsibilities – and how each function would both depend on and be accountable to others. Informed by the learnings from this meeting, I followed up with a detailed timeline listing deadlines for each group, including when they owed others certain information. I also scheduled a weekly check-in meeting to discuss each group’s progress towards completing the budget.

A challenge I did not anticipate were the clashing incentives inherent in the project. As the investor, I wanted to push the team to commit to an aspirational budget that maximized financial performance. Management understandably preferred a less risky approach given their compensation was tied to meeting the budget. While meeting with the CEO of ABC I expressed that if we didn’t push ourselves, we wouldn’t reach the levels of performance we all desired. The CEO countered that if we set unattainable goals, management would become dejected and unmotivated when they inevitably didn’t meet those goals. Coming out of this meeting, we both better appreciated the other’s perspective, and settled on a budget where we both felt a bit uncomfortable – a good compromise.

In the end, I created a collaborative project dynamic that relied on frequent communication and interdependent teamwork. This successfully led to a measured, but ambitious budget, that was developed in both a timely and effective manner. Significant value was created both operationally and financially, as the company, guided by this budget and operating plan, achieved a 17% increase in revenue and a 49% increase in earnings the following fiscal year. As a leader, I learned the value of open communication and necessary compromise – tools that I continue to apply with my other portfolio companies. These strategies have consistently driven improved teamwork and performance among our teams.

Compassion and empathy are guiding values both personally and professionally. I learned the value of these traits as a child, watching my father handle my uncle’s drug addiction and its impact on our family. Through all the pain he brought, my father cared for and loved him. This demonstrated to me that to understand and help my uncle, you had to approach him with a level of compassion that allowed him to show his best self. I also learned this didn’t just apply to friends and family – you had to show the same respect and understanding to the check-out clerk at the grocery store as you did your boss in the corner office.

I applied this lesson when I got to college and started working at the Bulk Mail Center. I worked alongside a blue-collar workforce, printing pamphlets and newsletters the university distributed. My colleagues had experienced extremely different circumstances than me – most had no more than a high school degree and many had criminal backgrounds. As I worked with them longer, taking time to better understand them as people, barriers broke down, and I was able to see them as caring and intelligent individuals. By approaching them with compassion, I was able to see their best selves and learn from them as a result.

As a PE Associate, I am exposed to many levels of a company’s organization and interact with diverse executives. I utilize an empathetic and compassionate perspective in this position, aiming to identify with employees at all levels and functions of an organization – whether I’m meeting with the COO or walking the factory floor with a production worker. By doing so, I’ve been able to gain a broader perspective on how value is created by every member within an organization. Recently a shift leader at a portfolio company, an immigrant from (Country) with limited English, demonstrated a newly implemented quality-control process to me– a learning I was able to suggest to another portfolio company with great success.

In my personal life, I have demonstrated these values through my work with (group), an education non-profit benefiting underprivileged children. I worked with (group) by fundraising at quarterly events supporting the organization’s mission and helping with an annual Christmas party and gift drive. Through a better education, we hope these children won’t be defined by their current circumstances, but will grow, thrive, and be empowered to become their best selves.

Compassion and empathy allow people to be respected and heard – this makes for better businesses, better communities and ultimately a better world. These will continue to be vital values both as I lead investments in companies and as I contribute to the community around me.

During my third year at TTT, Sam, the Senior on my government audit, was detained by a prior client, and I was left to lead the government audit. This audit was unique as our firm was required to hire two subcontractors—a Staff, Alicia, and a Senior, María—from a minority-owned firm to perform most of the testing, but TTT was responsible for directing the work. Both subcontractors reported to me and I was responsible for managing workflow and reviewing work.

This created a unique dynamic in that María had more years of experience than I did; moreover, she had two years of previous experience with our client. As I began the scoping, I quickly realized that not only would there be significantly more work “in scope” this year, but also the internal control testing needed to be completely redesigned.

The first thing I did was schedule a call with my TTT Senior Manager and Sam to discuss my concerns, both of whom agreed that I would need to redesign the testing. María, however, was indignant at the insinuation that she had executed prior year audits incorrectly. She also expressed concerns about the additional time that might be required to correct the identified issues.

To address her concerns and frustration, I met with María right away. I assured her that the audit in prior years had been flawless but the scoping provided by my firm was incorrect. I also walked her through the new control testing methodology. Ultimately, the redesign would require only a slight increase in billable hours in the current year but would significantly decrease the hours in future years, creating value to both the audit team and the client. I further explained to María that the previous internal control testing regimen did not provide sufficient audit evidence to verify compliance with government regulations, so making these updates early would save us all the inconvenience of having to perform additional testing later on.

This discussion was a turning point in my relationship with María. I acknowledged her strong operational understanding of the client and the audit procedures and she recognized my organizational and strategic abilities. Communication and camaraderie within the team improved ten-fold and the audit operated with great efficiency and speed.

My experience leading María taught me how important it is to maintain open communication and obtain buy-in from the team regarding new changes. I also learned to better leverage the strengths of different team members. Having María’s support made a world of difference as she used her strong relationship with the client to help troubleshoot the implementation of the new audit plan, identifying alternate ways to test the internal controls and contribute to our success.

Many of the values that are important to me today were instilled by my parents throughout my childhood. As entrepreneurs, my parents taught me the need for ingenuity and hard work to get a job done. They also taught me the importance of showing gratitude for the things that I have and empathy towards others.

My parents worked hard to succeed as entrepreneurs, my mom as a healthcare consultant and my dad as a farmer. I found that same self-starter spirit at an early age, always seeking ways to get creative and satisfy an unmet need. From selling candy on the playground in elementary school to starting a business in high school unlocking iPhones, my resourcefulness carried into college where I majored in entrepreneurial management. Throughout college, I started several new ventures that leveraged my skills and interests. For example, after learning from a family friend how expensive swimming lessons were at the local golf club, I earned my instructor’s license and taught private lessons at a much more affordable rate.

While I was fortunate to live comfortably from my parents’ hard work, I learned the meaning of gratitude when my childhood home burned down during a thunderstorm in the summer of 2005. Although the house was a complete loss, I only felt gratitude that none of my family members were hurt. Since then, I’ve known that material things are not important to me. The things that are most important to me are intangible, including my family’s health, time with loved ones, and the sense of security that comes with stable income and housing. To this day, I consider myself incredibly privileged to have the things that I do and try to express that gratitude every day.

Growing up, my parents ensured that I understood my privilege by involving me in numerous charitable causes, such as volunteering at local group homes and at food drives. I continue to seek ways to help those going through challenging times, including my work with the Animal Humane Society. Beyond these volunteer efforts, I take great care to incorporate empathy and compassion into my personal life. Someone once told me that “People won’t always remember exactly what you said, but what they will remember is how you made them feel,” and for that reason I try to show kindness and respect to everyone that I meet.

I want to continue championing these values in my career, and earning my MBA from Kellogg will equip me with the tools I need to lead and empower teams with empathy, compassion, and gratitude. As an active leader and team member, I hope to inspire my classmates to bring empathy, gratitude and compassion into their work.

I began to learn about the power of integrity when I first flipped through Davidson College admissions materials. While immersed in these pamphlets, it was challenging to go two pages without seeing a reference to the honor code and its impact on campus. This emphasis on integrity continued as my class came together for our honor code signing ceremony, as I took self-scheduled finals, and as I left my laptop unattended in the student union. It never ceased to amaze me that this focus on integrity could permeate every aspect of the Davidson experience. From my time at Davidson, the first thing I notice about new communities is whether they place this same emphasis on integrity. In the workplace, this idea comes to life through working under different project leadership. When leaders emphasize the importance of doing the right thing, even if it’s not easy and may not maximize our annual revenue, it trickles down to the daily behaviors of the team. As I ultimately want to lead a portfolio of team-based projects grounded in integrity, a Kellogg MBA would give me the necessary leadership skills to achieve this goal as well as a strong community supportive of this ideal.

The importance of trust became apparent much earlier; I realized that running the soccer ball down the entire length of the field by myself was not an effective strategy. I couldn’t score, and my teammates were understandably frustrated. However, if I passed, my strengths and the skills of my teammates could complement one another, and the team would be much more successful. While trust looks different amongst a team of consultants, the lesson is the same. If one team member tries to own a deliverable individually or independently present every time there’s a client meeting, the team eventually suffers due to a lack of trust. The team also fails to leverage its full range of skills and strengths. At Kellogg I will be working in multiple teams concurrently, each comprised of unique individuals with diverse backgrounds working towards different goals. The opportunity to contribute to and lead this range of teams will further hone my ability to build and facilitate groups that successfully operate in an environment of trust.

My conversations with (student) and (student 2) demonstrated that Kellogg fosters these same values. (Student) highlighted the trust between the administration and students that enables most aspects of Kellogg to be student-led. (Student 2), a Davidson and Kellogg alumna, spoke of her initial concern that a larger community couldn’t replicate Davidson’s focus on integrity. She grew to understand this concern was unfounded as peers treated academics and extracurriculars with focus on doing the right thing and supporting their classmates.

Trusting a 24-year-old engineer to manage a sales territory is a big risk, especially when the customers are demanding surgeons and the competition is far more experienced. Despite these considerations, I was promoted early to a territory manager and tasked with growing a new medical device business.

After finding initial success, I learned that a key product was being divested due to product consolidation. This threatened my business with Dr. Smith, but I was confident that I could leverage our relationship to retain the business. I assured leadership not to worry and even projected sales growth for that product in my annual business plan. Dr. Smith tried a comparable product I offered, but ultimately went to a competitor who inherited the divested product because it was the best decision for his patients and practice.

I learned from this experience to never assume that past success is an indicator for future success. I began to expect adversity and use feedback to constantly improve my customer service. Overcoming this challenge caused me to become introspective with my relationships and career goals. The professional growth and maturity I developed early in my career allowed me to establish myself as a credible and reliable vendor, which led to retaining other at-risk customers and winning new business.

Now, I crave an opportunity to grow as a leader and become a product manager in the medical device industry. A Kellogg MBA will empower me to follow my passion of creating value for healthcare providers by delivering innovative products and solutions. Kellogg offers experiential and design-centric learning opportunities through the MMM program and a collaborative environment, which I enjoyed when I visited campus in the spring. From our tour guides to the participants in the Marketing Strategy class I audited, the students and staff were engaging and helpful.

The Healthcare Enterprise Management pathway feels tailor-made to my career aspirations. Classes such as Healthcare Strategy and Biomedical Marketing will provide me with industry-specific foundational knowledge and electives such as Medical Product Early Stage Commercialization will teach me the technical skills necessary for my career track. I will utilize the broader Northwestern network by partnering with an interdisciplinary team in NuVention: Medical Innovation and gain entrepreneurial experience taking a medical device concept to market.

Kellogg’s vast extracurricular offerings will help me grow personally and as a leader. I look forward to competing in case competitions with the Marketing Club and coordinating events with industry sponsors as a leader in the Healthcare Club. As an avid skier, I am excited about bonding with classmates at the annual ski trip. Kellogg is the best MBA program for me and I look forward to sharing my passion with the Kellogg community.

“What does he even do every day? Why do you and I subsidize his income while we do all the work?” These were the questions that JJJ asked me about another teammate, ABC, seemingly on a daily basis. Last year, the sales territory I led merged with another territory and I was tasked to lead a team of five sales reps producing $10 million in sales. The celebration from the promotion was short-lived when I realized the challenges of managing a team of senior sales reps across an expansive geography.

Our medical device business is very entrepreneurial; we are paid a commission on every sale plus a bonus on growth. JJJ supported our largest account while ABC supported a few smaller accounts but spent a considerable amount of time cultivating those relationships and performing sales calls. As the team leader, I had an obligation to grow our territory each month while keeping our customers satisfied and I knew we couldn’t do that if the internal strife on our team continued.

To address the conflict, my strategy was to speak with both individuals and then host a team meeting to collaborate on creative, growth-centric adjustments to the compensation plan. JJJ and I had constructive conversations reminding each other that we are tasked with growing every account in our territory, not only the largest ones. ABC and I discussed the importance of communication and transparency; we talked about his role in supporting our largest accounts and communicating with the whole team on sales activities and ongoing deals. At our team meeting, I introduced a compensation plan where a portion of bonus commission would be awarded, based on merit, to the teammate who closed the most new business that quarter.

The modified compensation plan was a success and created value both internally and externally. Team morale was noticeably better; with the new growth-based incentive, we spent less time focusing on each other and more time focusing on our targets and driving new business. I knew the compensation model would have a lasting impact when two other territory leads contacted me about implementing it for their teams. As an added benefit, senior management was impressed that we worked through these problems without their intervention. Through this experience, I learned that in times of conflict, leadership is more about listening than prescribing. I continue to apply this philosophy when I coach my junior reps on overcoming objections and closing new business. We encounter unique business challenges daily that require empathy to navigate. As a growth-minded leader, I will bring my style of empathetic and creative problem-solving to Kellogg.

Feeling the weight of every eye in the room, I took a calming breath and began my presentation. I was outlining my team’s next initiative to a group of product managers, directors, and VPs from across the company, and it was the first high-stakes test of the public speaking strategies I’d been working on for several months. Public speaking had never been my specialty, but as I progressed in my career I had to present more frequently in front of larger, more senior audiences. I could tell I wasn’t projecting the same gravitas as my colleagues, and my manager agreed this was something I should address in order to advance.

I took a two-pronged approach to improving as a public speaker: I looked for outside help to learn new techniques, and I turned to introspection to understand what triggered my anxiety. I joined Toastmasters, attended improv classes and seminars, and started a journal to reflect on my development. I also volunteered to be a teacher with my director and the senior VP for our department. This allowed me to practice speaking in front of senior managers in a low-stakes, non-work environment.

My efforts created a positive feedback loop: I could tell I was improving, which made me more confident, and helped me improve faster. I built stronger relationships throughout the organization, which allowed me to feel more confident speaking in front of colleagues whose opinions I valued. As a result of my preparation, my big presentation was a success, and my manager commended me on my improvement. I’m proud of the headway I’ve made, and there will be many opportunities for me to continue gaining confidence and growing as a public speaker through Kellogg’s student-driven culture and focus on empowering students to lead.

I want to grow at Kellogg in new areas, too, and approach them with the same resourcefulness and tenacity. Discussing Global Lab with an alumna got me excited to learn about solving business problems in a real-world, international context. Speaking with students during my campus visit inspired me to build relationships through the Women’s Business Association’s peer mentorship program and cultivate community at Kellogg by organizing events like Ski Trip and the Charity Auction Ball. As an officer in the Tech Club, I’ll develop my leadership skills, and joining Net Impact will help me contribute off-campus by sharing what I’ve learned through the Inner City Mentoring Club, which has a similar mission to .

I’m excited to take advantage of all these opportunities during the 1Y program. While a year goes by quickly, 1Y alumni have told me that it’s just enough time to focus on personal growth while still maintaining my career trajectory.

Errors in economic consulting are sometimes worth millions; in antitrust litigation, defense attorneys entrust my team with finding these expensive errors. Often these cases are thousands of pages of industry reports, data methodologies, and client strategy documents—our job is to find where something was wrong. On one such case, I was tasked with managing a team of unfamiliar faces from outside my LA office. Motivating this new group throughout the routine of casework was a new challenge for me.

Initially I stressed the importance of the details, since minor errors in analysis could change the trajectory of the case; our diligent review was essential to success. Initially, the project hummed along, but a challenge soon emerged. One of my team members, “Bill,” was several years my senior with a higher title, and didn’t appreciate his reduced role on this project. Although the chain of command had been established, he subtlety attempted to circumvent me and seek tasks from my boss. Sensing his frustration, I decided to delicately confront Bill without turning the situation toxic. I didn’t reprimand him, but instead thanked him for his willingness to take a role beneath his normal responsibilities; I even confided to him that this was an important opportunity for me and asked if he had any managerial advice. After our conversation, he recommitted to the team and even became my second in command.

Our commitment eventually paid off: we found a costly blunder. The opposing economist had innocently confused “the San Francisco metropolitan area” with the city of limits of San Francisco and correcting this seemingly minor error in his model decreased the predicted damages by almost $30 million. With our successful outcome, the partner on the project called me into his office to thank me for my effort on this project. Although my team members had already dispersed back to their respective offices, I asked if he could call and thank Bill and the rest of the team as well. As someone who hasn’t always held the manager role, I appreciate the satisfaction that comes from simple acknowledgement of work done well.

This experience taught me that there is no single prescription for leadership. My style for managing self-motivated consultants shouldn’t mirror my style as captain of my co-ed soccer team. In this situation, my team didn’t need someone to tyrannize, but someone to galvanize them as the case progressed. I also learned that success sometimes comes at the expense of my own ego; I built the team’s trust by my willingness to take on even the simplest task to inch us toward completion. While my leadership style will evolve as my responsibilities grow, a key tenant of my leadership style will always be adaptability.

SBC’s star-studded consultant team is unparalleled. Our clients benefit from current intelligence that we receive from the former MBA Admissions Officers from Kellogg, Booth and every elite business program in the US and Europe.  These MBA Admissions Officers have chosen to work exclusively with SBC.

Just two of the many superstars on the SBC team: Meet Beth who held the position of Director of Admissions for Kellogg’s Full Time MBA program selecting candidates for the 2-year, 1-year, MMM and JD MBA programs.

Meet Kim , who was an Senior Associate Director of Admissions at Chicago Booth.

Tap into this inside knowledge for your MBA applications by requesting a consultation .

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Learn about our all-in service, meet the sbc consulting team.

(323) 934-3936 info@StacyBlackman.com

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Wharton Executive MBA Essay Tips 2024-2025

Key insights from EMBA and MBA admissions Expert Dr. Shelle, MBAAdmit.com .

The Wharton Executive MBA deadlines for the 2024-2025 admissions season are not far away. Unlike many other top EMBA programs, Wharton only has two EMBA application deadlines. The dates are in October 2024 and January 2025:

Application Deadline : Monday, October 14, 2024 Interview Invites : Monday, November 18, 2024 Decision Release : Thursday, December 19, 2024

Application Deadline : Tuesday, January 14, 2025 Interview Invites : Thursday, February 20, 2025 Decision Release : Thursday, March 27, 2025

Please note that Wharton offers its Executive MBA admissions interviews on an invitation-only basis, so try to prepare an application that will land you one of those coveted interviews!

Wharton is one of the most sought-after Executive MBA programs, given the school’s reputation for offering the gold standard in business training and its network of highly accomplished and influential alumni members.

This year, the Wharton Executive MBA (WEMBA) application has two required essays of 500 words and 400 words each. There is also a third optional essay where you can explain extenuating circumstances that might have caused some adverse effects, like lower-than-ideal grades or a gap in your work history.

With only 900 total words available in your two required WEMBA essays, maximizing the strategic relevance and quality of information you include is extremely important. The 900 words represent “prime real estate.” Such a small amount of essay content also means you should work with your recommendation writer to ensure they include detailed stories about your professional successes, simply because the recommendation offers an important additional way to get such information before the admissions committee. The recommendation has no word limit, so your rec writer has much more space to include those stories than you do (but don’t be tempted to have the recommender write a book!).

As for your essays, what are some great tips for presenting compelling, well-honed responses to the prompts? See some tips below.

Wharton Executive MBA Essays 2024-2025

Essay 1: What are your career objectives and how will the Wharton MBA Program for Executives contribute to your attainment of this objective?  (500-word limit)

Tips from Dr. Shelle and MBA Admit.com:

You should strive to convey to the admissions committee the importance of the work you are doing today and how that work impacts your company. Since you will attend the Wharton Executive MBA program while you continue to work full-time, you should also explain why the timing is right and how you can use what you learn in real time. Articulate your short-term and long-term goals clearly. Make sure your long-term goal helps you stand out.

You should also convey to the admissions committee how you have been preparing for your short-term and long-term career goals over time. What experiences, knowledge, and skills have you gained that lay a great foundation for your future? Conveying this effectively will also help you establish that you have much to contribute to the WEMBA environment and are ready to go to the next level in your career.

Finally, as a key component of this essay, you should explain in detail why Wharton is right for you. You don’t want to provide just general statements that you can cut and paste and send to many other business schools. Statements like, “You have a world-class faculty and talented students,” are okay as long as you go beyond that to show you have researched Wharton in particular and know what it offers. What are some courses that will meet your needs? Mention them. Also, reference other things that attract you, such as the core curriculum, teaching method, and range of students.

Five hundred words will go fast when trying to include so much information. You will need to “pack a punch” into what you write, expressing your ideas powerfully yet concisely to maximize the words available.

Essay 2:  Taking i nto consideration your background – personal, professional, and/or academic – how do you plan to make specific, meaningful contributions to the Wharton community? ( 400-word limit)

This essay prompt invites you to explain how different aspects of your background – personal, professional, and/or academic – will help you be an outstanding contributor to the Wharton EMBA program. You are free to interpret “personal” to include both your personal story/journey and extracurricular activities.

You should avoid making this essay unidimensional, focused only on professional things that make you a stand-out applicant. Rather, you should present a layered response that demonstrates you have multiple types of ways you can contribute. For example, if you are the head of an impactful nonprofit you run outside of work, how can you draw on that work to enrich the Wharton environment? If you helped build a company from the ground up, and it is now receiving Series D funding, how will that experience enable you to enrich learning? If you excelled in college and enhanced debates in class, how will that allow you to be a valued presence in the Wharton classroom? Ideally, use varied types of experiences to convince the admissions committee that you can be a unique and outstanding addition to their WEMBA cohort.

Optional Essay: If necessary, you may use this optional essay to explain any extenuating circumstances of which the Admissions Committee should be aware. ( 300-word limit)

Unlike the full-time MBA Wharton optional essay, the Executive MBA optional essay indicates you should only address extenuating circumstances. It does not invite you to add other information except that it helps to address extenuating circumstances.

For those candidates who need to use this essay, things you might want to explain can include a gap in your work history or undergraduate education, leaving a job after a short tenure, low grades, a low standardized test score, etc. This essay only allows 300 words, which is very short. That is your hint that you should get straight to the point, acknowledge the area of concern, and then provide information that might help the admissions committee give you some leeway as they consider the area of concern.

For candidates addressing a low GPA, we have provided in this separate blog some factors the admissions committee often finds reasonable for explaining a poor GPA:

New Video Short Release: "How To Overcome a Low GPA:

Extenuating circumstances, part 1 of 4".

New Release: "Is an Executive MBA Worth It? ROI: Skills"

Do you need assistance with your applications? Feel free to reach out to Dr. Shelle at [email protected].

Enjoy our popular executive mba webinars, "emba return on investment" webinar , presented in the gmat club youtube channel -- 8500+ views.

"Applying for an EMBA: 8 Mistakes to Avoid" Webinar , presented in the GMAT Club YouTube Channel -- 8000+ views!

About Dr. Shelle and MBA Admit.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/drshelle

MBA Admit.com was established in 2001 by Dr. Shelle Leanne, a graduate of Harvard and Oxford who has experience with Harvard admissions and served in Stanford University’s Office of the President. Dr. Shelle, who has over 30 years of admissions advising experience, works one-to-one with clients. She is an accomplished writer whose works have been translated into 25 languages worldwide, and she has previous work experience with McKinsey & Company and Morgan Stanley. Her clients rave about her services and impact. Each year, nearly 95% of her clients receive scholarships, totaling over $10 million last year.

More about Dr. Shelle here:

https://mbaadmit.com/about/about-dr-shel/

Dr. Shelle (Shelly Leanne) President, MBA Admit.com http:// www.mbaadmit.com Email: [email protected] ­ ­­

Published in Mobile , MBA , Current , Other , MBA Admit , Applications , Blog and Top Stories

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How to apply to a Full-Time MBA

Tell us your story

Our application process is designed to give us a sense of who you are, what drives you and why Kellogg is the right place for you. 

We recommend becoming familiar with what is required for each section of the application. You’ll find information and key resources below to help you prepare, navigate and successfully complete your application.

Preparing to apply

Eligibility.

A bachelor’s or equivalent degree from an accredited college or university by the time of matriculation is required to apply. Previous study in business or economics is not required, with the exception of the One-Year Program . Since much of the MBA curriculum utilizes quantitative skills, we encourage students to complete introductory courses in calculus and statistics prior to enrolling.

Evaluation and assessment

When we evaluate our applicants, a few qualities really stand out to us, including the ability to push past comfort zones and question the norm. These responses and instincts help us understand if an applicant is ready to seize all of the opportunities that come with joining Kellogg.

The committee assesses your:

• Application responses
• Transcripts
• Test scores
• Letters of recommendation
• Interview report

Video essays

For international candidates, the committee also assesses:

• TOEFL, IELTS or the Duolingo English Test

Professional experience

The committee also values professional experience, including military service. We look for breadth and depth of skills and experiences to serve as a foundation for the MBA classroom. We look for people who are not afraid to question the status quo, can motivate a team to drive impact, and are eager to dive in and collaborate with an engaged, ambitious community of peers.

Choosing the right program for you

There is no "one-size-fits-all" when it comes to business, so why should your MBA be any different? At Kellogg, we are proud to offer six distinct Full-Time MBA Programs — One-Year , Two-Year , MBAi , MMM , JD-MBA and MD-MBA — all uniquely designed to fit your personal and professional goals. If you haven’t already, we highly encourage you to research all program options to make sure you’ve found the right fit for your needs.

Each applicant is allowed to apply to one full-time Kellogg program per year . Once you submit your application, you have the option to select one alternate Full-Time Program of interest and/or the Kellogg Evening & Weekend MBA Program. If you select an alternate program, you'll be asked to provide a short paragraph explaining your interest in the another program.

TOOLS + RESOURCES

• Take our quiz and see which program is right for you

To apply to Kellogg, you’ll need an updated version of your resume or CV, transcripts from all educational institutions, test scores and two recommendation letters. If you know you plan to apply but do not want to begin your application yet, we recommend beginning to gather these materials.

Writing your application

The most important thing you can do during this process is to be your authentic self. We can’t stress enough that there are no “right” or “wrong” answers. Rather, we encourage you to tell your story as authentically and honestly as possible, because we truly want to get to know you and the experiences that helped shaped you as a person, student and employee.

These components of the application are a core part of showing us your experience and aptitude so we can get a better idea of your ability to tackle the challenging MBA curriculum.

You’ll be asked to provide a current resume or CV as part of the application. It should be similar to one you would use for a job application, but tailored to a more general audience as it will be reviewed by those with different backgrounds. You are not obligated to submit it in a specific format or length. Instead, try to ensure our team can look at your resume and application and easily understand your professional background and accomplishments.

In addition to submitting a copy of your resume/CV, the application has an employment section. This is to provide us with a more in-depth understanding of your career history, key transitions between jobs, and promotions. Make sure to double-check the accuracy of the information in this section.

Work experience

With the exception of our Kellogg Future Leaders Deferred Enrollment Program , we strongly recommend that you have at least two years of full-time work experience upon matriculation. We firmly believe work experience will enrich your academic experience and allow you to fully participate in classroom discussions and group projects.

Your education is a major part of how you got here today, and we want to make sure we understand all parts of it. We ask that you list all colleges, universities and study abroad programs you have attended or are currently attending. Please note:

• If the grades you received from a study abroad program are on your transcripts , you do not need to submit a separate transcript for that program
• If the grades from your study abroad program are not included in your transcript , you’ll need to submit a separate transcript for that program
• Transcripts from transfer programs are not required if grades are included on the transcript of the degree-granting institution
• Hard copies of official transcripts are only required upon matriculation
• Your transcripts must have a conferred date. If it does not, you will need to submit a copy of your diploma and you must have a conferred degree prior to your expected matriculation to Kellogg
• Applicants accepted to the JD-MBA Program must submit two sets of official transcripts — one to Kellogg and one to Northwestern Law
• If academic records and diplomas are not originally issued in English, you must submit both the original record and an authorized verbatim English translation

All records must show your name, the name of the institution, enrollment dates, courses taken, units of credit, marks or ratings in each subject, and rank in the total class or group (if available).

Kellogg requires you to submit a GMAT, GMAT Focus, or GRE score; no preference is given to one particular test so choose the option that works best for you. If you’re interested in seeing a typical score range, check out our latest Class Profile . Note that we do not have a minimum acceptable score.

Please request that official test scores are sent to Kellogg by using one of the following school codes:

• Our GMAT and GMAT Focus code is 6WZ-3J-89
• Our GRE code is 7921

Important facts

• You must submit a complete application prior to the expiration date of your GMAT/GMAT Focus/GRE score. GMAT/GMAT Focus/GRE scores are valid for five years.
• Only valid test scores will be considered
• Test scores are just one criterion our admissions team considers and not the only indicator for success in business school

International students

If English is not your first language, we encourage you to read more about the additional English language proficiency test .

We want to get to know you. The written and video essays are your chance to tell us your story and why Kellogg is the right next chapter for you. Take some time to think through the experiences that led you here and how they have shaped where you want to go.

Written essays

The following two essays are required of all applicants:

Question 1 (450 words)

Intentionality is a key aspect of what makes our graduates successful Kellogg leaders. Help us understand your journey by articulating your motivations for pursuing an MBA, the specific goals you aim to achieve, and why you believe now is the right moment. Moreover, share why you feel Kellogg is best suited to serve as a catalyst for your career aspirations and what you will contribute to our community of lifelong learners during your time here. 

Question 2 (450 words)

Kellogg leaders are primed to tackle challenges everywhere, from the boardroom to their neighborhoods. Describe a specific professional experience where you had to make a difficult decision. Reflecting on this experience, identify the values that guided your decision-making process and how it impacted your leadership style. 

Those applying to or listing a specialty program as their alternative choice will be prompted to complete an additional question. Re-applicants will receive a prompt about their growth since their last application: How have you grown or changed personally and professionally since you previously applied and what steps have you taken to become the strongest candidate you can be? (250 words)

We’ve read your essays, we’ve read your resume — now we want you to bring all that to life in a video. Show us the person behind all those carefully crafted words.

The video will be comprised of three questions, each designed to help you showcase your personality and share some of the experiences that brought you here today.

Some things to keep in mind as you prepare to complete this section:

• Video essays are due 96 hours after the application deadline.
• A video essay link will appear on your Application Status Page after you submit your application and payment.
• You will need an internet-connected computer with a webcam and microphone.
• The video should take about 20-25 minutes to complete, which includes time for setup.

After submitting your application and payment, you will be able to access the video essay through your Application Status Page.

Here are some additional tips:

• There are practice questions that you may complete as many times as you like to get comfortable with the format and technology. The practice questions and experience will simulate the actual video essay experience to help you prepare.
• We encourage you to practice so you are comfortable with the format once it is time to complete the official questions. You will not have an opportunity to re-do the answer to the official video essay questions.
• You will have 20 seconds to think about the question and up to one minute to give your response

Letters of recommendation provide insight into your experience and accomplishments as a leader through the eyes of someone else.

You’ll need to submit two letters of recommendation for your application to be considered complete. Ideally, one letter should come from a current supervisor or manager. The second should come from someone who can evaluate your professional performance and your managerial/leadership potential (e.g., former supervisor, previous employer, client).

Please choose your recommenders carefully as additional letters of support are neither required nor encouraged.

Recommender prompts:

• Kellogg has a diverse student body and values students who are inclusive and encouraging of those with differing perspectives and backgrounds. Please tell us about a time when you witnessed the candidate living these values. (300 words)
• How does the candidate’s performance compare to those of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? Please provide specific examples. (300 words)
• Describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the candidate. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant’s response. (250 words)

The application fee is $250. You will need to submit your payment via credit card within the application. Do not send payments directly to Kellogg.

Fee waivers are granted to:

• Active duty U.S. military applicants or U.S. military veterans who have been on active duty within three years of applying
• Candidates employed by Teach For America, Title 1 schools, AmeriCorps or the Peace Corps within the past three years
• Forte MBA Launch, JumpStart Network, Posse Scholar, Reaching Out MBA (ROMBA) and Riordan Program members, fellows and alumni. Those who request an application fee waiver at the time of submitting their applications will be prompted to provide supporting documentation for review

If you qualify for a fee waiver, send a formal request to mbaadmissions  before you submit your application. Provide supporting evidence of your current employment or military status. Military applicants should submit either a pay stub or a letter from a commanding officer to verify active duty status. For military veterans who have completed service within the last three years, please submit a copy of Form DD-214.

Candidates may not be considered for more than one program at a time. Please note that all application fees are non-refundable.

After you submit

The interview provides an opportunity for you to learn more about our community. It also allows the admissions committee to further evaluate your interpersonal and communication skills, career focus and motivations for pursuing a Kellogg MBA.

Virtual interviews

All interviews are virtual. You will receive an email regarding the status of your interview and scheduling instructions.

Interview waiver

Due to the high demand for interviews and the limited availability of interviewers, you may receive an interview waiver. If your interview is waived, the admissions committee may contact you if further information is needed to make a decision on your candidacy.

All interview requests are final

You may not change the time of your interview after it is scheduled. If you are unable to attend your interview, please contact the Office of Admissions at 847.491.3308 to cancel your request and the office will issue an interview waiver. Waivers do not have an impact on an applicant’s candidacy; we will reach out directly if further information is needed to render a decision.

You may submit employment changes, grades for recent classes, or new test scores to your application after submitting it. We encourage you to add this update directly to your application. To do this, please sign in to your application and then add your update in the supplemental information page. Please note that, due to admissions cycle timing, there is no guarantee that we will be able to consider updated information prior to rendering a decision.

You’ve invested time, energy and resources into completing your Kellogg application, so no doubt you’ll want confirmation that your application was received. And we want you to have that peace of mind, too! So, once you submit your application, you can log back in at any time to view the status and double-check that all sections were successfully completed.

You can check your application portal  for your decision.

Application dates and deadlines

Application questions? Talk with our admissions team.