{"id":19003,"date":"2013-06-13T09:20:06","date_gmt":"2013-06-13T16:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=19003"},"modified":"2013-06-13T13:07:49","modified_gmt":"2013-06-13T20:07:49","slug":"harvard-business-school-2014-mba-application-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/harvard-business-school-2014-mba-application-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Harvard Business School 2014 MBA Application Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Harvard<\/a>Harvard Business School MBA Admissions Director Dee Leopold is once again shaking up the admission world. With the 2013-14 Harvard MBA application<\/a> she is simultaneously demanding less and much more of applicants: Fewer essays. Fewer words. Fewer characters. More thought. More brevity. And as much substance as you can cram into the responses limited not to to a few hundred words, but to a few hundred characters.<\/p>\n

If any of you think creating a compelling HBS app will be easy, think again.<\/p>\n

Required Portions<\/strong><\/p>\n

The required portions represent what Harvard wants to know about you. The HBS admissions committee is quite clear and specific about what it wants to know. And how much it wants to know. Please realize that your resume and the boxes are now the heart of your application<\/p>\n

Before you begin completing the application, first review Harvard\u2019s three criteria for admission<\/a>. Write your descriptions and response so that you show these qualities:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Habit of leadership<\/a>.
\n\u2022 Capacity for Intellectual Growth
\n\u2022 Engaged community citizenship.<\/p>\n

Because of the brevity required \u2013 most of the longer answers have a 500-character<\/em> limit -- you must be succinct:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Focus on business and leadership achievements, not technical feats.
\n\u2022 Don\u2019t merely describe your responsibilities; highlight your accomplishments\u2013 where you have made a difference, where you have gone above and beyond the expected, the typical, and the ordinary.
\n\u2022 Quantify as much as possible.
\n\u2022 Write tight<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Optional Essay: (No word limit)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re applying to Harvard Business School. We can see your resume, school transcripts, extra-curricular activities, awards, post-MBA career goals, test scores and what your recommenders have to say about you. What else would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy?\u201d<\/p>\n

Now what else \u2013 really and truly -- do you want HBS to know about you? The HBS admissions committee has told you what it wants to know. That\u2019s in the required sections of the application. What do you<\/em> want the HBS readers to know?<\/p>\n

The answer to that question is not something I can give or even suggest to you in a blog post aimed at the many. (For individual advice, please see Accepted\u2019s MBA Admissions Consulting<\/a>.) It should be different for each of you. Again, refer to the HBS criteria, as you contemplate possible topics, but the options are infinite. A few possibilities:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Context for events described in the required elements.
\n\u2022 Motivations for the decisions or commitments you have made.
\n\u2022 Challenges you have faced.
\n\u2022 Something you would like to do at HBS.
\n\u2022 More depth on an activity or commitment that is particularly important to you.<\/p>\n

Please don\u2019t limit yourself to these suggestions. I am offering them to stimulate your creativity, not to shut it down.<\/p>\n

Some of you may wonder if you should write this essay given that it is optional. If you don\u2019t have anything to say, say nothing. Nonetheless, I can\u2019t believe that accomplished, remarkable people have nothing valuable to add to the required portions of Harvard\u2019s application. Persuasive, impressive essays simply give Harvard more reasons to accept you, and you should want them to have those reasons. On the other hand, if you slap together something hastily or rehash or copy-and-paste another school\u2019s essay, then you run the risk of actually reducing the quality of your application. Bottom line: Make it worth reading. Write a thoughtful essay that reflects you and complements the required components.<\/p>\n

Since I\u2019ve been in MBA admissions consulting (almost 20 years now), HBS<\/a> has valued concision. And, in today\u2019s tweet- and sound-bite-driven world, it is requiring even shorter responses, at least in the required portion of the application. Don\u2019t take the absence of a word limit on the optional essay as a license for verbosity. Say what you have to say succinctly. Make every word count. If you must pull a number out of me, don\u2019t go over 800 words. And if you can say what you need to say in less than 800 words, do so.<\/p>\n

A few caveats and warnings on the essay. It is not:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Stanford\u2019s \u201cwhat matters most to you and why?\u201d
\n\u2022 The kitchen sink in which you throw everything.
\n\u2022 An autobiography.<\/p>\n

Interview Reflections<\/strong><\/p>\n