Calling all Harvard MBA Applicants: (2019 Intake) Class of 2021!

I've been writing...and rewriting... and rewriting my essays for over a month now! The introspection required on the essays, especially from HBS/GSB/Haas, has made me constantly tweak my message.

Good news is I see every draft being more powerful than the last, and I'm looking forward to submitting

Now if only my second recommender could submit her form so I could rest a bit easier haha

I can feel you. Whatever I write, I never feel that it is sufficient. Each time I read my essay I feel something is amiss and that I should improve! Is this common? Did this happen with you too aeropower Bridgeur?

Yup! Extremely common and that's what's supposed to happen. When you're reasonably okay with it, have multiple other people (who know you well, and have good essay skills obviously) read it. It's very common for you to start disliking a draft just because you've seen it and re-done it so many times it appears boring.
For HBS essay I had 4-5 completely different drafts. And once I picked one, at least 7-8 iterations over 3 weeks. The good news is once you have your story/self-pitch down, other school essays can be done in 7-10 days each.

Very common -- and it's a good thing to continue honing and rewriting your message. If someone submits the first draft they ever write, that's not going to be a good thing.

The main thing is to just make sure you're telling them something they don't already know. They are looking for INSIGHT not found elsewhere in your app, and they really don't want just a laundry list of accomplishments that they can already see on your resume. Tell them WHY you have made the various personal and career decisions you've made, tell them what motivates you, why you're passionate about a particular cause you're involved with, defining moments in your life that are behind decisions you've made or your future career goals, etc.

Best of luck to all!

This is superb advice. Sounds obvious enough, but whilst other school essays actually want to hear you elaborate on your biggest achievements and "why mba / professional goals". HBS does NOT. Some of the best essays I've read (please do yourself a favor & purchase Harbus's essay collection if you have'nt already) never once mentioned MBA / case method / prior achievements. Write about YOU, what drives you, what shaped the decisions you took, how does that connect to what your ambitions are.

Example: Don't write I was fast-tracked and promoted in 2 years from analyst to associate because I'm so damn good at doing financial analysis.
Maybe write: I've been lucky to have found great mentors in my professional life, who accelerated my learning process and made me love what I did. When I was accelerated up the ranks, I started an analyst-associate buddy system for others to get a similar boost.
(I totally made that up, but feel like the 2nd one at least tells me something about your personality, the first one does NOT get admitted to hbs contrary to popular stereotype: A-type overachiever )

You guys give awesome advice, thank you My essay is so far away from an "overachiever" essay that it hurts. I'm actually worried I went too far in the other direction explaining flaws and failures that I may be shooting myself in the foot. I certainly touch on "defining moments" in life that shaped future decisions, and more broadly the person I grew into. I think I may need to add more on deeper passion and ambitions. My essay didn't really dive into career goals or future pursuits, just aspects of my life so far that were meaningful.

I guess time will tell, thanks for the insight!!

HBS has the 500-character "career goal" short answer field in the application, so if your goals are straightforward and make sense with your career to-date/aren't a huge switch, do not feel the need to address them in the main essay.

I wasn't implying you need to cover ALL of those things in your essay -- usually people focus in on ONE theme of the ones I listed. Hope that makes sense.

It makes total sense, thank you. That was more my thinking as I wrote and honed the essay, but I had a wave of doubt come over me reading all those items. Good to know it's usually a single focus with a strong narrative instead of a laundry list hitting everything from achievements/goals/ambitions/motivation/failures etc etc...

Curious if other applicants are grappling with the same questions I am

Sounds like you've got the right idea. Don't second guess yourself!

Thank you for the reassuring words

Thank you so much for advice!

I have a very different scenario though. I am a reapplicant. I applied in R2 last application cycle. This year my goals have evolved significantly: from consulting to entrepreneurship. It is worth mentioning that I do not have prior entrepreneurial experience. However, I am very keen on following this path and start my own multi-winged startup (which relates to a very burning issue and is the need of the hour). To demonstrate why I have switched my goals, in my essay I am highlighting three events/incidents which have led to the evolved goals. Also, to establish the credibility I am quoting data points as to why this startup is the need of the hour. In addition, I am briefly describing the steps I have already taken for the startup.

Now, I have two questions for you:
1. does my essay theme makes sense? (my intent is to provide the Adcoms with a proper justification for changed goals; also, since this is information is not getting reflected anywhere else, I feel is it of prime importance to present this info for justified evaluation of my candidature)
2. since I am not presenting any career decisions that I've made (I am not presenting any leadership stories), will it cause problems? (however, the startup that I am working on is designed to have a significant impact; also, the steps I have taken reflect leadership potential)

TIA for your help.

Chat session with a current HBS student

Attention Fellow Applicants!

Current HBS student Bridgeur has offered to provide application tips and insights to the HBS life via a chat session! The details are as follows:

Date & Time: Sunday, September 02, 2018; 11:00 AM EST
Join Link: GMAT Club Chat Room

Don't let this opportunity go begging and tune in at the stated date and time to get some first hand insights from a current student. With less than a week to R1 deadline, I hope the chat session will prove to be very helpful. Feel free to ask last minute application tips, Dos n Don'ts before submitting your application, and everything that you feel you must get clarified.

Looking forward to a huge turnout!

Has anyone submitted their application yet?

Close. How are you doing?

Also very close I think I'm gonna do a final review tomorrow and submit it.

Neat! I am just waiting for a recommender to submit his letter. I holding off from hitting Submit in case I need to change my recommender at the last moment.
Good Luck to you!

I was in the same position until a few hours ago. I'm sure it's gonna be fine and he'll submit on time Good luck!