How To Structure Your MBA Essays For Maximum Impact
Many people believe they are not great storytellers. It’s true that some of us come by it more naturally than others. But with the proper structure and mindset, anybody can become a great storyteller. That’s why we’re diving deep into how to structure your MBA essays and refine your MBA essay format to tell your unique story. Remember, the AdCom member reading your materials only has about 15-20 minutes to form an impression of your candidacy. You don’t want them to merely like your application after finishing it.
“What you really want to be is the applicant they’re thinking about as they drive home that night, as they’re chatting with their spouse over spaghetti that evening,” explained SBC consultant and B-Schooled host Chandler Arnold, when he sat down with fellow SBC consultant Kevin Rockmael to discuss essay writing strategy.
A few decades ago, business schools focused far more on applicants’ quantitative or technical skills when making admissions decisions. While your ability to handle the rigors of an MBA program remains a significant consideration, your emotional intelligence now carries an outsized weight. The so-called “soft skills” surrounding communication, the ability to motivate others, and leadership are attractive qualities to the admissions committee.
Chandler says that if you can demonstrate those soft skills in your essays, the AdCom is much more likely to take a chance on you. “Because they know that not only will you be successful… but more importantly, when you graduate, you’ll have a larger impact on companies. And that’s ultimately what these business schools are trying to accomplish.”
Your goal when drafting those essays is to make sure your stories are believable and authentic, SBC consultant Kevin explains. Does it seem real? Is your motivation clear? And perhaps most important, do you seem like someone the admissions committee is rooting for?
Curious about your chances of getting into a top B-school? Contact us to talk strategy with a free 15-minute advising session with an SBC Principal Consultant.
How to Structure Your MBA Essays to Win Over the AdCom
This is one of the topics SBC consultants get asked about the most. “I believe that structure is really the key part of the essay,” says Chandler. “So once you create that North Star, I think the second part is creating the structure, and then it’s actually filling in the sentences and then doing a lot of iteration to make sure that it all fits together.”
Some MBA applicants bristle at the idea, thinking that structure equals “formulaic.” But we would urge you to flip that frame. Instead, think of structure as something that allows you to be more creative and compelling. When a reader senses there’s some structure to the material, it will enable them to relax and enjoy themselves as they read your essay.
 The best essays are a balanced combination of a lot of different things. You’ll see personal stories. You’ll see specific accomplishments and experiences. You’ll get insights into what people have learned and how they’ve grown.
Here are the four main components SBC consultant Kevin advises you to consider as you structure your MBA essays.
Your Opening. What big problem have you seen or experienced that you want to solve?
Your Background. Talk about your background and the obstacles you have faced and learned from.Â
Your Goal + Your Experience. What is missing from your background and experience? How will business school help you reach your long-term goals? Here is where you connect your dreams to the MBA program you’re interested in attending.
Conclusion. The last part of the essay is a wrap-up of the problem you discussed at the beginning and how you addressed it. Finally, explain how you will create a better world to solve that problem.Â
B-Schooled co-host/Harvard MBA Erika Olson wants you to remember those three magic words of good storytelling: show, don’t tell.Â
@stacyblackmanconsulting #sbcyourfuture #mba #bschool #bschooladmissions #businessschool #essays #writing #writingtips ? Sexy Chill Vibes (Background Trap Hip Hop Beat) – rehegoosync
The Power of the Circle
Another way to think about how to structure your MBA essays is to harken back to your favorite high school English teacher. Remember those standard five-paragraph essays? It may seem overly simplistic, but thinking about your MBA essay format this way can be surprisingly powerful, Chandler notes
- Paragraph 1: Start with an attention-grabbing first sentence or a personal anecdote. This surprises your reader and sets them up for the rest of your story.
- Paragraphs 2-4: Each could share one specific point supporting your argument. Perhaps it’s a lesson you learn in college, your first job, or elsewhere. Use the STAR format to highlight your results and what you learned.
- Paragraph 5: Your conclusion harkens back to how you opened your essay. “I think there is a real power in kind of bringing things full circle,” Chandler says.
We often advise applicants to make a checklist of the key elements they want to cover in their entire application package.
- Are there personal stories?
- What about accomplishments?
- Have you done significant self-reflection?
- Did you highlight your leadership experience?
- Is there enough about grit and perseverance?
Find a trusted friend, colleague, or family member to read through your materials. Ask them to identify the major themes or takeaways they get from your entire package. You’ll learn a few things. Have you covered everything? Does it seem balanced? Or are you heavy in one particular direction? And if you are, then it’s time to address the issue.
You want to ensure that you’re building a package that tells your unique story, and that your MBA essay format supports clarity and balance. It should showcase you as a complete human and differentiate you from others within the application pool.
Get ready to put in the work.
Author Stephen King once said, “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” The hardest part is starting. And after that, everything gets easier. Best of luck on your MBA adventures; we look forward to reading what you create.
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Want some help figuring out how to structure your MBA essays and craft a killer application? We’ve got you! Request a free MBA advising session to learn how we can help with your complete MBA applications.
Here’s a snapshot of the caliber of expertise on our SBC team.
Ashley
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 ...
×Pauline
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 ...
×Laura
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
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
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 K.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 ...
×Emma
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. ×
Dana
Dana served as Assistant Director of Admissions at Columbia Business School for the Full-Time MBA program and has over 10 years of experience working in higher education. Known as a scrupulous file reader, Dana reviewed countless applications and assisted in rendering final decisions for the Admissions Committee at CBS. While leading information sessions at Columbia and on the road, Dana met and advised myriad applicants� ...
×Holly
Holly worked as a member of the NYU Stern MBA Admissions team for seven years and holds an MBA from NYU Stern. In her tenure as Director of NYU MBA Admissions, Holly worked closely with admissions teams from Columbia, Michigan Ross, UVA Darden, Cornell Johnson, Berkeley Haas, Yale SOM, and Duke Fuqua on recruiting events domestically and internationally. On the NYU Stern admissions committee, Holly conducted interviews, planned and hosted events, and trained staff on reading and interviewi ...
×Mark
Mark has been working in global higher education for nearly ten years, focusing on MBA Admissions at European programs including Oxford Said Business School and London Business School (LBS). At the University of Oxford’s Said Business School, Mark was the Associate Director of MBA Recruitment, leading the recruitment of all applicants to the Oxford MBA and 1+1 MBA programs. In this role, Mark advised countless MBA applic ...
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