When it comes time to apply to business school, many MBA applicants search high and low for sample MBA essays written by successful applicants, in the hope that they can unlock a hidden essay writing formula that will assure admission to their dream schools. <\/p>\n
Enterprising MBAs have even created businesses that publish their classmates\u2019 acceptance-winning words (yes, I\u2019m talking to you, Harvard Business School). But the thing that books like 65 Successful Harvard Business School Application Essays won\u2019t tell you is that the reason these essays \u201csucceeded\u201d is because they were an integral part of a complete story of a unique MBA candidate who the admission committee decided \u201cfit\u201d at their business school.<\/p>\n
The truth of the matter is that there is no secret formula for successful MBA essays. The problem with collections of sample MBA application essays is that they can mislead you into thinking that if you can just replicate one of those essays, you\u2019ve got your golden ticket. Sorry, Charlie, no such luck.<\/p>\n
In fact, sample MBA essays, while being of questionable value in and of themselves, can actually harm your chance of admission for a number of reasons:<\/p>\n
#1 \u2013 They stunt your creativity and ability to express yourself.<\/strong><\/p>\n If you are trying to mimic someone else\u2019s essays \u2013 the content, the style, or the approach \u2013 your story and your voice are likely to get lost in the process. For example, if the sample essay you are trying to emulate focused on the writer\u2019s work experience and your strengths are best featured on the baseball diamond, then your essay will probably strike out. What if the writer has a very poetic style and you are more matter-of-fact? If so, the voice that the admission committee hears won\u2019t be your own. #2 \u2013 Sample MBA essays make you feel bad about yourself \u2013 and that\u2019s not a good place from which to start the writing process. #3 \u2013 Admissions officers can tell when you\u2019ve borrowed inspiration or words from sample MBA essays.<\/strong><\/p>\n The pesky thing about admissions committees is that they\u2019re actually filled with really smart people who know how this game is played and what resources are available to the players. Over the course of their careers, they\u2019ve read books with sample MBA essays and they can spot themes and clich\u00e9d stories that are clearly inspired by sample essay collections. More importantly, they can sense when you\u2019re telling someone else\u2019s story and\/or when the story doesn\u2019t ring true to the other elements of your MBA application. The last thing you would ever want to do is give an admissions officer reason to doubt your authenticity, so don\u2019t risk even the appearance that you \u201csampled\u201d from some of the published works that are out there.<\/p>\n We wrote this article because we want you to be wary of sample MBA essays and to understand the risks involved in reading them, let alone \u201cborrowing\u201d from them. At MBA Prep School, we work with clients who we believe in and help them tell their story, not someone else\u2019s. Remember that the MBA application process is not a storytelling contest and, even if it were, the winners would be chosen based on authenticity, originality, and integrity of the stories they tell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When it comes time to apply to business school, many MBA applicants search high and low for sample MBA essays written by successful applicants, in the hope that they can…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"1","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1240,775,243],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba","category-mbaprepschool","category-admission-consultants","category-blog","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/113"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25864\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nAdmissions committees want to be impressed \u2013 but they want to be impressed by you. So feature the traits and tell the stories that depict \u201cyou\u201d at your best.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>
\nThe essays that get published as samples are often truly eye-catching, dramatic, and sensational \u2013 stories of exceptional accomplishment, rare feats, or extreme obstacles. It may seem, in comparison, that none of your stories stack up. The good news is that the whole package is what matters, not a single defining moment in a candidate\u2019s life.
\nThe last thing you need is to doubt your own abilities or have a crisis of confidence when you\u2019re trying to put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard). Trust in your own experiences and tell stories about what you \u2013 and only you \u2013 will bring to the MBA program. <\/p>\n