Get Focused on Your MBA Story
The MBA admissions world throws a lot at you. Rankings. Reddit threads. LinkedIn flexes. Friends who casually name-drop their GMAT score or which M7 school they’re planning to target in Round 1. Then, there’s the media panic: “Applications are up! Down! AI is writing your essays now!”
This is all very overwhelming—and distracting. Because here’s the truth: the most strategic thing you can do right now isn’t refreshing forums or analyzing someone else’s success. It’s focusing on you, your motivations, and what makes you unforgettable in a sea of impressive applicants. In other words, it’s time to get clear on your MBA story.
That’s the message at the heart of a recent episode of the B-Schooled podcast, where longtime SBC admissions expert Erica Olson lays it out plainly: “If I had one piece of advice… it would be: focus on yourself. Ignore the noise.”
That may sound obvious, but it’s actually where many MBA applicants go wrong.
Everyone’s Talking. You Don’t Have to Listen.
As soon as the MBA season begins, speculation starts. Will this be a high-application cycle? Are Round 1 odds better or worse than Round 2? Is it even worth applying if you don’t have a top-tier GMAT score?
To all that, Erica offers a reality check: “You will never know who you are competing against. You will never know what their stats are, what their life is, what they’re going to be writing about. You will never know any of that. So it really should not matter.”
The admissions process isn’t about beating the average. It’s about standing out. And trying to reverse-engineer what “worked” for someone else is rarely a winning strategy. What makes someone else memorable isn’t what will make you unforgettable, which brings us to the next crucial point.
Your MBA Story Starts With Introspection, Not a Spreadsheet
The best MBA applications don’t start with filling in school research templates or writing a draft goals essay. They begin with self-awareness.
Erica emphasizes the importance of understanding your own journey before trying to explain it to an admissions committee. That means digging into your strengths and weaknesses, how others would describe you, what’s motivated your choices over time, and why you’ve taken the path you have so far.
This is the kind of insight that business schools look for in essays and interviews. Not a long list of accomplishments, but an authentic story that makes them pause and think, we need this person in the room.
Wharton’s 2025-2026 application guide echoes this, urging candidates to “be introspective, candid, succinct, and most importantly… be yourself!” That level of self-reflection is the foundation of your MBA story—and the sooner you start uncovering it, the more authentic your application will be.
So, how do you uncover that story? Erica suggests starting an MBA journal—or even a shared Google Doc with people who know you well. What stories do they remember about you? When have you been at your best or faced your biggest challenges? What moments reveal who you really are?
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.
The Best Stories Aren’t Always the Flashiest
Contrary to popular opinion, you don’t need to lead a billion-dollar initiative or save a Fortune 500 client to impress an MBA admissions committee. That’s not what makes a story resonate. Instead, take comfort in this truth.
“There’s something that makes you tick that doesn’t make other people tick,” Erika explains. “There’s something that you bring to the table that you would bring to the classroom that nobody else could.”
That “something” might be a childhood experience, a family value, or a pivot you made during a difficult time. It’s often personal, sometimes vulnerable, and rarely laden with buzzwords.
The most memorable essays don’t read like lists of achievements. They sound like someone talking honestly about who they are and what they care about—and that’s precisely what the admissions committee wants.
Give Yourself Time to Let the Ideas Surface
One reason to start early is that your best material won’t appear on command. You can’t schedule introspection for 4 p.m. on a Thursday and expect brilliance to emerge. “There’s going to be things that come back to you when you are taking a jog, or when you’re listening to music, or when you’re on your commute… but you can’t force that,” Erika says.
That’s why she encourages applicants to create space now, before deadlines loom. Let your mind wander. Let memories surface. Capture them in a doc or a voice note. Then, when it’s time to start drafting essays, you’ll already have a foundation of meaningful ideas to draw from.
This Is More Than an Application. It’s a Growth Process.
One of the most powerful insights from that B-Schooled episode is that MBA applications aren’t just a means to an end. This process is about so much more than just gaining admission to a top program. The greater benefit is discovering more about yourself and your potential.
“If you look at this as a self-improvement process, as a self-reflective exercise, I think that the rest of the process will be much less stressful and much more enjoyable for you—and absolutely everybody else around you,” Erika says.
You’ll still have to grind through resumes, rec letters, and submission portals. However, grounding yourself in who you are and why you’re doing this can make all the difference between burnout and a breakthrough.
Your MBA Story Starts Here
The 2025–2026 MBA application season is now underway, and while the road ahead may feel uncertain, your foundation doesn’t have to be. The most critical move you can make right now isn’t about rankings, test scores, or trends—it’s about turning inward.
So, ignore the noise. Focus on your story. And trust that the most compelling version of your MBA application will come from the most honest version of you.
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Ready to tune out the noise and craft an MBA story that actually stands out? Connect with a Stacy Blackman Consulting Principal Consultant for a free candidacy analysis. We’ll help you uncover what makes you memorable—and build a strategy that puts authenticity at the forefront.
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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