I have a healthcare background (non-engineering). Many of my friends had attended top B-schools so I was encouraged by that and decided to target the top-5. In round 1 I focused on Harvard, Wharton, Kellogg and Tuck. It was tough juggling the GMAT, applications and work, so 4 schools made for a challenging time frame.

For Harvard, I went with a personal essay that recounted who I am, how I have evolved with respect to my interests, and why I want to do what I want to do. I also wove in my past experiences and how they had shaped my motivations over time. I had a logical flow underlying my choices until that point, so I kept it simple, introspective and in a narrative format. Submitted it and got the coveted interview call!

The essays for Wharton, Tuck, and Kellogg took much more time and effort. These were research oriented essays, as well as behavioral and contribution essays. I studied with the behavioral example but finally went with an essay with a lot of people elements. This took multiple iterations to showcase the interpersonal and leadership aspects. At one point I was running behind schedule due to work commitments and was tempted to push 1-2 applications to R2, but I stuck with the process and they came out well eventually. Talking to current students for the goals and contributions essays takes time as well, so it is important to plan ahead and preferably set up calls earlier in the summer. Also, you should communicate with your referees and ensure that they are on track so that there are no last-minute surprises.

The interviews were fairly standard. Wharton had a GD so I prepared for that. Tuck and Kellogg had mostly behavioral interviews with questions around Goals, Why school 'X', Contributions, Leadership. etc.

I worked with a consultant - Rajdeep Chimni at Admissions Gateway - after having spoken to recent admits and several international consultants. Rajdeep's forte is content -- structuring, honing and sharpening my essays and resume to create the strongest-possible application from my story and experiences. He is unfailingly honest with his inputs and put heart and soul into my applications - a big thank you to Rajdeep!

I gained admission to HBS, Kellogg, and Tuck in R1 with generous scholarships at each school -- ~$100K in financial aid at HBS, full tuition scholarship at Kellogg, and $40K as a merit scholarship at Tuck. I was fortunate to get my admits in R1 itself and wish all of you applying the very best!

congratulations! that's impressive.