short and long term goals essay mba

MBA Career Goals Essay Examples

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Career Goals Essay Samples

Almost every MBA application has a career goals essay. Here are some important resources to help you nail it:

Career Goal Guidance from Key Members of our SBC team

How to Structure your MBA Essays

Successful Examples of Career Goal Essays

One of the things I value most at Company X is the collaboration between teams to advance new technologies. As a Program Manager, I coordinate research and development (R&D) projects for the engineering department. R&D is an exciting field to me because we make quick decisions, progress at lightning speed, and focus on the future. Currently, I am directing a X project that impacts the future of autonomous driving.

Post-MBA, I will join the R&D group for a technology or automotive company as a product manager. I want to own the product lifecycle and effectively shepherd a product from inception to market. Ultimately, I aspire to influence monumental decisions like Porsche’s recent $6B investment in electric cars and electric charging infrastructure.

Product management capitalizes on my strengths: communication, teamwork, leadership, planning and organization. I enjoy the breadth of exposure through this role because successful new product development requires me to leverage resources from all over the company – R&D, finance, marketing, supply chain, and production.

But to achieve this goal, I first need a Goizueta MBA. Specifically, Goizueta’s extensive core coursework will teach me how to manage budgets and identify new product markets. Opportunities to apply my classroom learnings to real-world problems through an IMPACT 360 project and to further my leadership development through the Goizueta Advanced Leadership Academy will enable me to pivot to a R&D product manager role and advance my career.

Additionally, Goizueta’s culture of engagement will be instrumental to my development. Building camaraderie through extracurricular and social opportunities will enhance the shared learning I seek in my MBA program, as I envision gathering with my classmates every Thursday at KEGS and exploring Atlanta on the weekends. Essentially, Goizueta provides a business education that will not only facilitate my career progression, but also offers a lasting, lifelong community.

My immediate post-MBA goal is to secure a client relations position at a private equity firm, focusing on global expansion in Latin America. In this position I will hone-in on my knowledge of Latin American banking and finance, coupled with my Spanish speaking fluency, to apply the financial acumen gained at Kelley, to help drive firm’s expansion into the Latin American market. I know that a Kelley MBA would help me pivot into the private equity space and enhance my technical finance and analytical skills needed to excel while working in this unique investment class.

In my three years of professional experience, I have an increased understanding in interpersonal skills needed for a client relations position; however, I want to continue to advance my career in finance through a private equity role. A Kelley MBA will help me enrich my financial expertise and build technical skills needed to succeed in the industry. Additionally, I will acquire deeper problem solving and data analytics skills through courses in the Quantitative Analysis for Business Decisions and Financial Accounting disciplines. Specifically, I am excited how Kelley offers finance electives as early as my second semester, which I will take advantage of in preparation for my summer internship. Finally, Kelley’s Capital Markets Academy will be key to my development. The Capital Markets Academy, particularly Academy Fridays, will provide me with additional coverage into the financial services industry where I can gain the core finance skills necessary to grow, as well as delve into networking opportunities outside of the classroom.

My immediate post-MBA goal also includes being a business leader with global perspective. I anticipate enhancing my managerial skills through courses such as International Management and Organizational Behavior and Leadership in order to be a more effective manager and a stronger communicator. Because of my interest in working with a global financial services organization, I will pursue the Global Business Achievement certificate program. Through Kelley’s Global Business Achievement certificate program, I can further develop my Spanish speaking skills and potentially work on a global research project in hopes of enhancing my worldview, gaining exposure to other international companies, and expanding my global perspective; all key to leading international teams.

In summary, I believe my MBA from Kelley, coupled with my experience working in Latin American finance, will make me a competitive candidate for a position at a private equity firm. In the event I do not get an offer from a private equity firm, I would look for client facing roles at an international bank or hedge fund. Ideally, these opportunities will also focus on Latin American expansion, as I am interested in continuing to work in Latin American finance and improving my Spanish language skills. I know that Kelley offers exposure to diverse financial firms and opportunities in banking, ensuring my successful launch on a new path.

I am excited by the ability of technology to make tools and information more accessible. Television and libraries have been made available globally through internet distribution at virtually no cost. I too have leveraged data and technology to exceed expectations in my educational and professional experiences. For example, I spearheaded the development of Energy First’s iPhone application in 2008, and integrated Live Meeting as a collaborative tool in my retail territory. As I uncovered further applications of technology, I began aspiring to work on the strategic development of such advances, rather than merely their adoption. Having spent the last three and a half years with Energy First, a conservative organization, I look to further my career with more innovative organizations that drive change – such as Facebook or Google – before working in a strategic capacity for a startup venture.

I have always been an entrepreneur at heart. In the sixth grade I published a magazine on my home computer, seeking subscribers from classmates. In 2005, I ran a consulting service that provided computer training for baby boomers. As I look to shift my career path to the technology sector, a strategic roadmap is required to ensure I develop the appropriate skills to facilitate this transition. In the short-term, I plan to gain experience with leading providers of online solutions through internships and post-graduate work. Industry experience will help me apply strategic theory in practice, while I learn best in class marketing tools and processes. I will learn to apply my refined analytical skills in scenarios that are pertinent to preparing for my long-term goals. Having already worked in strategy and execution roles with Energy First, I see myself applying these complimentary foundations in a new sector. After gaining industry experience, refining my quantitative skills and learning to apply a rounded skill set with leading organizations, I will be prepared for a prominent marketing and strategy role in an innovative online service startup. I seek to work on leveraging technology to improve accessibility to information and services. Just as Google has leveraged data mining to launch Google Books and expand global access to literature, I believe further opportunities exist that I plan to uncover as I gain industry knowledge. Any organization in which I work will also need to have a significant focus on leveraging their resources to help the community. UCLA Anderson provides an ideal foundation for achieving both my short-term and long-term goals, as well as allowing me to continue developing a socially conscious mindset through various leadership opportunities.

In order for my career to take a crucial step forward, I need to put myself in an innovative environment where I can challenge and be challenged. I have developed a strong understanding of what my strengths are, and more importantly, what areas require development – financial analysis and business planning in a new industry. An MBA at UCLA Anderson will provide me with the best foundation to take that next step for three reasons. First, the culture of energetic and passionate students and faculty from diverse professional and geographic backgrounds will facilitate idea sharing from varied points of view. For example, the opportunity to learn from Professor Bob Foster on technological business plan development will be a crucial element of my graduate studies. Secondly, Anderson’s reputation for developing exceptional team leaders is evidenced by some of the inspiring alumni, such as Jim Stengel. Teamwork will be at the forefront of any business that I enter, and learning leadership principles that have produced success in the past will ensure that I am adequately prepared to lead a team-based organization. I will develop my teamwork and leadership skills in clubs such as the High Tech Business Association as well as community-driven endeavors such as the Challenge for Charity. Finally, Anderson’s Applied Management Research Program will allow me to build on the principles of the rigorous curriculum, as well as acquire knowledge firsthand about an organization in an industry that I am passionate about. The challenge of working with a team to develop recommendations will provide invaluable experience that will prepare me for business plan development in a method unique to a traditional class-based curriculum. I am confident that my experience at UCLA Anderson will help me target my current weaknesses, share my strengths and experiences with my colleagues, and develop my entrepreneurial skills so that I am able to play a key role in a venture that is both financially and socially responsible.

After several years as a Wireline Field Engineer, I am at a crossroads where I will start to define the future of my career. I envision becoming the VP of Strategic Marketing at a technical firm. Unlike most of my fellow engineers, I plan to merge my technical background with a marketing education to put myself in a position where I can be successful in such a career. A marketing position in a technical firm fits my interests and talents perfectly. Cutting-edge technology fascinates me, and with an engineering background, it is a language I speak. Most engineering jobs deal with technology, but few are primarily focused on human interaction, something that is an essential part of my vision. I enjoy dealing with people; while solving a complex engineering problem can provide great pleasure, it is no match for the satisfaction I derive through team interaction. Similarly, I have always enjoyed coaching others, whether it’s by conducting mock interviews at the high school where I volunteer or teaching nuclear theory to new engineers at a wellsite. The idea of taking a complicated concept and packaging it in such a way that the client clearly understands the benefits is highly appealing.

While my current technical position has many advantages, it is time for a change. I love the challenge of problem solving, and I thrive in such an international role, but I lack a strong business background. As I progress and move into an office job within Schlumberger, I do not see a career path allowing me to follow my goal without taking the initiative to gain further marketing knowledge. I have set my sights on this goal and will devote the necessary time and energy to put myself in a position to be successful.

Anderson is my choice in an MBA program for three reasons. First, it has excellent access to the Asia Pacific region, a market I am familiar with and would like to do business with in the future. My time spent in Thailand has been phenomenal, and I hope to work with such gracious, hospitable people throughout my career. Second, Anderson has a diverse student body from all over the world, something that is essential if I am to be multi-cultural upon graduation. Finally, Anderson is known to be an excellent all-around program, and being well-rounded is extremely important to me. With high quality training from Anderson, I am certain that I can succeed in the strategic marketing position I desire. I understand that a career of this nature requires a great deal of work. I embrace the challenge and look forward to a career which combines my professional skills and my enjoyment in working with others, but for the near future I look forward to an MBA program with exposure to the brightest teachers and young professionals from different business sectors across the globe. Learning to solve business problems, not just technical ones, is the next critical step toward a career in which I will thrive for years to come.

Growing up as one of five bi-racial students in a small farm town south of Dallas, I yearned to see the world outside of Texas. Looking for the first opportunity to broaden my horizons, I only applied to East Coast colleges to ensure that I would experience a variety of ways of life. At seventeen, I moved to New York to attend NYU where I earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, and immediately after moved to the Midwest to experience another area of the country, attending Indiana University Law School. Further pushing my boundaries, I studied abroad in Sevilla, Spain my first summer of law school and realized not only the joy of experiencing different cultures, but also my desire to have a career with a global impact. While interviewing for post-law school positions, I found I was not interested in the more traditional legal roles, but that my skills and passions were better suited for the business sector where I could combine the reasoning and analytical skills I learned in law school with my interest in marketing and travelling. My first job with Kaplan was a perfect balance of these qualities. My responsibilities as an account manager, including creating and implementing effective strategies, plans and promotions to increase preference at law schools, sparked my interest in discovering consumer needs. Last year, I accepted a position with Princeton Review as a regional manager, where I manage and analyze sales goals for over 100 representatives, work with outside corporate sponsors to increase revenue and brand recognition, and partner with cross-functional teams to drive growth. Additionally, this position has required numerous business travels, which, in addition to my international travels, has strongly piqued my interest in the hospitality and travel industry and I am now ready to make a career shift to this sector. My long-term vision is to become an innovator, developer and leader as a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of a large hospitality company. The most rewarding aspect of my past two roles is bringing a product that I believe in to other people. As a CMO, the opportunity to share my passion on an international level is exciting and motivating. After three years of sales and account management experience, I have developed a thirst for understanding consumers and discovering their needs, their motivation to purchase products or services and ultimately how they become loyal to a specific company or product. Within the hospitality industry, specifically airlines and hotels, providing excellent service and a quality product makes travel easier and more enjoyable, increases travelers’ happiness and encourages future travel and brand loyalty. To reach this goal, in the short term I want to become an associate brand manager within the hospitality industry with a company such as Virgin America or Kimpton Hotels, helping grow their business traveler segment, while maintaining their current brand as a luxury service. Here I will learn the ins and outs of the hospitality industry, while receiving hands on experience managing a product, coordinating marketing functions, and leading cross-functional teams to ensure that the marketing plan is properly executed. After learning the basic skills of brand management, I expect to progress through the company as a marketing director and eventually my ultimate goal of a CMO. An MBA is essential to reach my goals. As I have only worked on the sales side with a legal research and a bar review prep company, I realize my limitations without more formal training. Without knowledge of how to read and analyze a profit & loss statement, bring a brand to market and position it for success, evaluate pricing patterns, synthesize market reports and understand consumer learning, I cannot be successful in a brand management role. An MBA will not only ease the transition, but will also help me gain the building blocks of marketing and business in general and gain broader strategic skills to effectively manage multiple large products. I look forward to my MBA putting me on the path to achieving my personal and professional goals.

Having the opportunity to observe the intricacies of private real estate operations in my current position, I have come to the realization that there’s a considerable gap in how sustainable design (planning strategies that minimize environmental impact and reduce energy consumption) is integrated with development/construction efforts. Consequently, I see significant promise in expanding green awareness to urban planning and wish to dedicate my career to support sustainable growth in the real estate industry. Therefore, in the short term after earning an MBA, I plan to take a position as a development manager for a national REIT and work to implement programs that derive economic gain from environmentally-conscious construction. In the long run, I will capitalize on these experiences by founding a consulting firm that will provide strategic expertise to support and improve private retail, real estate, and development firms’ sustainable initiatives.

My passion for green design began when I was a young painter growing up in an overpopulated Taipei neighborhood. As a boy, I often found the city’s monotonous gray backdrop insufficient for the contents of my canvas. The drastic Taipei urban expansion, resulting from rapid economic growth in the 80’s, drained many environmental resources and plagued the sky with pollution. During this time, I started recreating the city’s outlines into a more ideal community through imagination, and in the process found a passion to combine my artistic talents with my creativity to reshape the surrounding neighborhood. After moving to the US, I decided to make a leap from my imagination to reality and embarked on a career in sustainable design by enrolling in the School of Architecture at the University of Arizona.

After graduating, I took a position with Thompson Architecture in 2004 for the opportunity to work on program implementations that emphasized green construction. Recognizing the potential impact of my position, I consistently went beyond my defined technical roles to assume managerial responsibilities and became the youngest Project Architect in the 600 employee firm at the age of 24. In this new role, I was provided significant exposure to project delivery management, contract negotiations, and client interactions, and in the process deepened my overall interest in business operations. My increased client access also enabled me to initiate sustainability research proposals for them, an endeavor that resulted in landing new green design deals with retailers including Coffeeland, Clothestime, and Shoetown. However, in the process of analyzing the costs and environmental benefits for these green stores, I learned that this case by case approach offers rather limited effects on the environment, and the only way to maximize the benefits of sustainability is through implementation on a more massive scale. After working with the real estate groups of these major retailers and witnessing the impact of ROI analysis on the direction of corporate development, I discovered my true passion would be to work in a business capacity that had exposure to all sides of the real estate development business and could drive environmental impact through broad company initiatives.

Upon evaluating my objectives, I believe I have attained the core technical knowledge necessary to fulfill my future aspirations, but lack the business expertise to execute upon my abilities. Specifically, I would like to enhance my knowledge of market analysis, financing options, economics, and the overall trends/cycles of the real estate industry, in order to propose effective, sustainable solutions. Additionally, as my current role is limited to serving only retailers, I would like to learn appropriate strategic frameworks for consulting other types of clients. I also hope to refine my managerial and communication skills, which will be essential for obtaining buy-in for alternative development proposals. Having identified my goals, I feel now is the right time to attain a business education that can complement my technical experience and facilitate a career transition into real estate development.

From my campus visit this summer, interaction with current students, and discussions with school alumni, I strongly believe that Haas offers the best MBA program for me. First, the Fisher Center offers a wide array of real estate courses, such as Real Estate and Urban Economics, that will provide a valuable foundation for understanding the market dynamics of the development industry. I have already studied Professor Jaffee’s insightful research on the trend toward green development and discussed my interests at length with current Haas Real Estate student Steven Shanks. Therefore, I sincerely believe the Fisher Center will empower me with the necessary resources to identify high-potential sustainable opportunities and organizational skills to generate substantial returns. Outside of the classroom, I plan to take on leadership roles within the Real Estate Club and contribute through activities such as the Bank of America: Low Income Housing Challenge. Finally, I am excited about the Real Estate career opportunities that Haas has to offer, and plan to be actively involved with the new ACRE program.

Haas also stresses global entrepreneurship and innovation. As an innate entrepreneur who has implemented numerous personal and professional initiatives to improve our environment, I look forward to participating in Lester Center activities such as the Berkeley Solutions Group and YEAH. Additionally, through the Haas Social Venture Competition, I plan to propose a business idea for assisting private real estate companies address public urban concerns while achieving financial returns. I also hope to explore different leadership styles and further expand my international exposure by interacting with a truly global student body and learning environment. To that end, I am interested in leveraging Haas’ global entrepreneurial perspective to assist underprivileged communities around the world by participating in the International Business Development program. Through the sponsorship of nonprofit sustainable-oriented clients, such as Beahrs ELP, I hope to assist low-income neighborhoods similar to where I grew up through proposing effective green planning and environmental conscious construction.

Lastly, I am ultimately impressed by Haas’ unparalleled commitment to integrating corporate social responsibility within its entire business curriculum. My definitive goal is to implement innovative programs that positively advance our surroundings and Berkeley’s socially active student body passionately shares such vision. I plan to contribute through the Net Impact Club by making use of my non-profit experience while proposing novel and publicly useful business plans to local private companies. Thus, I will stay involved with the local community while investing in my cross-functional skills alongside a diverse set of talented peers. I am deeply impressed by Haas’ strong support and tradition, and I sincerely believe Berkeley’s close-knit student body will strengthen my capacity to lead the important changes that I could only imagine as a young painter twenty years ago.

Entering the classical music industry just before the economic downturn has opened my eyes to disconcerting financial weaknesses in professional symphonies. As lucky as I was to be a working musician, I saw signs of economic instability in orchestras around America. As a committee member of the Santa Barbara Symphony, I see firsthand how orchestras are financed from year to year and the room for improvement is tremendous. Almost immediately after the housing bubble burst and the market crashed in 2008, orchestras began to show signs of financial insecurity. Due to the recent economic downturn, symphonies across the country are shortening seasons, instituting hiring freezes, and even filing bankruptcy. Top ranked symphony orchestras, such as the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic, have enacted hiring freezes for vacant positions, and highly regarded orchestras in Houston, Atlanta, Baltimore, and Philadelphia have enforced pay cuts after posting an average of $1.5M in budget deficits. Clearly, changes need to be made on how these primarily nonprofit organizations operate.

After working as a cellist in this economic climate and seeing the strain on my colleagues, I am moved to make a career change to the business side and revolutionize how symphony orchestras are managed. Over the past four years, I have witnessed my peers struggle to find work, soloist friends go weeks without concerts, and prominent symphony musicians show deep concern for their livelihoods. In spite of recent hardships, I believe there is incredible room for growth and revitalization within the classical music community, specifically in symphony orchestras. With the right guidance, I know that symphonies can not only become more financially secure, but also stir a renewed interest in orchestra concerts in their surrounding areas. Armed with an education in general management and exposure to nonprofit business models, I will be able to exact that change. With the skills gained from a Rice MBA, I will join a symphony in a general management role to improve operations and better manage endowment funds and revenue from ticket sales and donations. Long-term, I will transition my career to consulting, where I will help orchestras around the country operate more efficiently and profitably, thus enabling them to thrive both financially and artistically.

To be effective, I need both the strong educational foundation and practical application that Rice offers. At Rice, I will gain the knowledge and skills I need through its comprehensive general management core curriculum. Specifically, I intend to maximize my education through the Leadership Intensive Learning Experience, case-based coursework, public/nonprofit financial management elective, and real-world Action Learning Project. I believe that attacking real world issues and learning from real examples will be key in my transition from a leader as a cellist to a leader as an executive. Coming from a collaborative musical background, I believe that Rice’s well-rounded core curriculum, which emphasizes a healthy balance of class lectures by leading faculty and real world applications of concepts, will give me the tools I need to transform from musician to businessman. Moreover, the Leadership ILE courses will give me a chance to turn my leadership skills in music into strong leadership skills in business. Finally, participating in the Consulting, Net Impact, and Finance Clubs will further equip me to work with orchestras by learning from and being inspired by my diverse peers, all the while building lifelong friendships with like-minded colleagues.

I look forward to bringing my experience as a team player and leader from a unique background as a musician back to Rice and growing both professionally and personally within a culture where students challenge and encourage each other. I am confident that I will contribute to the overall culture, atmosphere, and education of the Jones School by working well with my classmates both inside and outside the classroom. With my unique background as a concert cellist and pedagogue, I also look forward to offering a different perspective in class discussions while having my eyes opened to many different perspectives drawn from equally diverse experiences. Furthermore, I look forward to being able to exercise the problem-solving skills I acquired as a teacher, an ensemble team member, and a section leader in my transition to a businessman at Rice. As my MBA classmates inspire me to constantly evolve and improve on my strengths and weaknesses, I know will do the same for my peers.

As a high school senior, I was given an interesting Christmas present from my parents. They opened up a brokerage account in my name and deposited few hundred dollars into it. It wasn’t the stereo system or the new set of golf clubs that I had hoped for, but it would turn out to be the best present they could have given me. I did not realize it at the time, but this gift would ultimately have a great impact on my future. Sitting down at the computer with my father, he taught me the basics of investing in stocks and mutual funds. My interest in investing grew throughout that final year of high school and became even greater in college. The more I learned about finance and the capital markets, the greater my interest grew.

Not surprisingly, I chose to study economics and finance as an undergraduate student at SMU. The summer after my freshman year of college, I obtained an internship with Merrill Lynch, assisting a Senior Financial Advisor with the daily duties of his job. I continued my studies throughout college and upon graduation, accepted an Operations Associate position at Condera, a boutique asset management firm in Houston. Supporting several financial advisors in the management of around $200 million in assets, my duties include performing portfolio analysis, implementing our strategies by executing trades in client accounts, and interacting with clients on a daily basis. This role has enhanced my leadership and communication skills, two areas in which I can contribute in my endeavors at the Jones School. The autonomy of the position and the willingness of my supervisors to listen to my suggestions are extremely satisfying and for this experience, I am grateful.

Throughout my career at Company X, I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about the sophisticated investment strategies that we employ for our clients, institutions, and foundations. Working with two industry veterans, I make it a point to learn as much as possible from them. They allow me to undertake challenging tasks, such as explaining our investment philosophy to prospects and researching new products to use. As I have grown into a more proactive role in client service, the advisors have focused more on bringing in new assets, thereby increasing revenue for the firm. It is from these experiences that my passion for the analytical side of investing has emerged. I have a deep interest in modern portfolio theory and, after completing my MBA, plan to apply that theory in a role that focuses on market and securities analysis. I believe the Jones School curriculum and the environment fostered by the students and faculty will give me a more comprehensive understanding of modern portfolio theory and its application to institutional asset management.

Long-term, I plan to start a boutique asset management firm that services foundations, endowments, and institutions. Recent trends in the financial services industry indicate that the big box brokerage firms such as Merrill Lynch and UBS are losing favor with many investors. Independent advisors are leveraging the services of custodial firms like Fidelity and JP Morgan to run asset management shops that provide completely unbiased and independent financial advisory services. I see this trend continuing as the major investment houses go through drastic changes during the current financial crisis and intend to capitalize on the migration of assets to independent advisors.

The MBA program at the Jones School provides the best bridge for connecting my current career to the future career that I seek. I have gained a strong, core knowledge of investing and finance and need to build on this knowledge, acquiring a more in depth view of the capital markets. After visiting the campus, speaking with students at a partio, and sitting in on one of Professor Weston’s finance classes, I have concluded that the Jones School offers the curriculum and environment that will best prepare me for that career. The real-world asset management experience that the Wright Fund provides is also of particular interest. Another impressive aspect of the program is the wide array of finance courses available to students. I look forward to being a part of a diverse class that will allow me to learn as much from my peers as I will learn from my professors. It is this collaborative aspect of the Jones School that impresses me the most. I know that I will contribute to the Jones School community in a profound way while growing both personally and professionally from all that the program has to offer.

My earliest memories are punctuated with aromas of my Mexican mother cooking tamales, while my Iranian father taught us about Navroz – the Persian New Year – where life begins anew, and dreams are revitalized. This idealism excited me, and watching my parents struggle to provide for my sister and myself, I wanted to help them create a fresh start. I channeled this motivation into opportunities where I could deliver positive change. My career vision, to lead a Latin America-centric microfinance organization such as Accion, capitalizes on these experiences. In the interim, I will prepare myself by attaining an MBA, and joining the International Finance Corporation’s Global Transaction Team as an Investment Officer.

After graduating from UCSB, I wanted to maximize my contributions and exposure and found this opportunity at [XYZ Sports], a small, established apparel manufacturer. While my primary responsibilities were in finance, I made time to work with marketing, sales, and operations teams, understanding their challenges, and helping implement proposed solutions. I wanted to apply this newly acquired knowledge at a startup, passionate about influencing a fledgling entity. At [Memorabilia Retailer], my goal was to implement financial and accounting processes forming the company’s backbone. Working in an ambiguous, often chaotic startup environment, I holistically analyzed each issue and its ramifications. I also built relationships with functional experts, incorporating valuable insights from them. I confidently presented a tough but necessary set of strategic recommendations around financial operations reengineering to management, and won their approval. As an Investment Officer at IFC, and later, a leader in microfinance, I will leverage the poise I developed during these early-career experiences.

Next, I accepted a job at [ABC Healthcare], coming in to an under-resourced finance department. I suggested augmenting our human-capital base in Costa Rica, expanding our limited presence there, and lowering costs. Although this went far beyond my official job description, I spearheaded this project. Spending significant time in Costa Rica, I understood the work environment, hired resources, and trained them on our business processes. Under my direction our Costa Rican office now efficiently handles all our accounting processes, and has grown from a staff of two women, to 20. This success hinged on my ability to safeguard against the risks of developing an international location, a practice that is imperative to the sustainability of a microfinance organization. Further, witnessing the impact meaningful employment can have on families and communities paved the way for my professional ambitions.

Inspired by the transformation I saw in Costa Rica, I began actively volunteering at a local non-profit microfinance organization, Foundation for Women (FFW). As a Senior Advisor, I partner with low-income entrepreneurs to develop their businesses. Through this first-hand microfinance experience, I have reaffirmed that it is an area of business in which I thrive personally and professionally. I have also recognized the skills I need in order to attain my goals.

An MBA’s academic rigor will form the theoretical foundation on which I will build my future career. Courses such as Business Strategies for Emerging Markets, and Corporate Finance may sound similar to what other business schools offer, but Haas’s approach to the MBA via the BILD curriculum is distinctive, and especially appealing to me as its focus on forging change fits well with my personal leadership style. Through its emphasis on innovative leadership I will prepare myself for the volatility often inherent in international microfinance. I am looking forward to embracing knowledge outside the classroom as well. Applying academic theories to real world issues through Haas’s International Business Development Program will be a unique opportunity to learn from diverse teammates, professors, and clients, while gaining exposure to different geographies and their intricacies. I would also love to add an element of microfinance at the 2013 Latin American Business Conference, perhaps by inviting my contacts from FFW to attend or speak.

The Haas MBA will prepare me for a summer internship in banking and a full-time job at the IFC’s Global Transaction Team, where I will strengthen my understanding of the investor’s role in microfinance and build a toolkit for analyzing businesses with a discerning eye. Focusing on Latin America at the IFC and studying the design and productivity of the region’s microenterprise operations, I will become well versed in its cultural and socioeconomic challenges. Armed with this analytical acumen and regional perspective, I will be ideally positioned for a career at Accion, ultimately building on my experiences and network to establish a robust microfinance infrastructure in a country like Costa Rica and eventually across Latin America.

Upon receiving my MBA at USC Marshall, I will assume a managerial role at XYZ where my mother has been the President and CEO since she took the company over from my grandmother in 1998. XYZ is a leading managed care company in Southern California, providing billing and quality oversight services for over 7,400 physician practices. As the future leader of XYZ, I seek to expand its success by addressing the fast-changing management dynamics of medical groups; a Marshall MBA is critical to this career path.

To ensure an efficient transition to my managerial role at XYZ, I will enter the Marshall program with knowledge from my public health masters program and preceding consumer-oriented work. Through my public health masters program, I have developed an innovative masters thesis that evaluates Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), the latest healthcare delivery model put forth by the President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Through this project, I have become savvy in the ACO model and have gained an understanding of’s current and future potential clients, many of which are already ACOs in the Southern California region. My preceding work in connecting to the consumer mindset through marketing programs and, before that, through internships at XYZ, will also contribute to my informed managerial role.

I have a unique opportunity to create a renewed vision for our company that leverages the emerging paradigm shift in healthcare; the industry is moving away from a system of “sick care”—or acute care for diseases and illness—to a focus on preventing chronic disease and reducing costs. In the short-term, as a manager at XYZ, I intend to align my department and influence my employees to set the industry standard for coordinating care by evaluating the effectiveness of provider networks under this new model of care. I will expand XYZ’s services and client-base by creating sustainable, cutting edge products. I intend to enable the company to thrive in the next era of provider services.

My short-term career goals will be only realized if I fuel them with the functional knowledge and critical leadership skills of the Marshall MBA. I will immerse myself in the curriculum at USC Marshall and apply this knowledge in practice through its international programs and on-campus opportunities. In my first year, I will choose marketing as my functional area to hone my skills in management and team-building and will then take electives in healthcare during my second year to learn the specific business principles that guide my industry. The new core curriculum will allow me to explore subjects outside of my specialization to become a holistic leader. Marshall’s coursework will help me acquire the adaptability and rigorous knowledge that is critical for my high-impact career in healthcare.

My experience at Marshall will empower decision making that is socially-conscious within an increasingly global healthcare arena. I require an understanding of social responsibility to make my mark in the healthcare industry. The Pacific Rim International Management Education (PRIME) is a platform to understand these perspectives and will make me a more self-aware, globally-minded professional. The PRIME program will facilitate my learning of the global economy in healthcare as well as further my knowledge about XYZ’s client-base, as XYZ currently coordinates care for patients in the Pacific Rim. The PRIME program will give me a deeper understanding of our clients abroad and potential opportunities for global business development.

USC Marshall will also help me achieve my career goals because of its proximity to XYZ, as I will actively develop my professional network of future business partners and colleagues from the start of the program. Marshall’s core communities will create invaluable networking opportunities with fellow students. As healthcare is quickly evolving into a collaborative, interdisciplinary field, Marshall’s culture will reinforce the values that I will need as a healthcare leader. To further create connections with peers, I will be an active leader in the Healthcare Leadership Association and star player in Challenge for Charity, where I will use my passion for soccer for philanthropic benefit. After my MBA and several successful years working in a managerial position at XYZ, I hope to inherit my family’s business with a strong sense of duty and capability. Only an education from USC Marshall will give me the integrated foundations and networks to transform our business in the decades to come.

SBC’s star-studded consultant team is unparalleled. Our clients benefit from current intelligence that we receive from the former MBA Admissions Officers from Harvard HBS, Stanford GSB and every elite business program in the US and Europe.  These MBA Admissions Officers have chosen to work exclusively with SBC.

Just two of the many superstars on the SBC team: Meet Erin , who was Assistant Director of MBA Admissions at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business (GSB) and Director of MBA Admissions at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

Meet Andrea , who served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Harvard Business School (HBS) for over five years.

Tap into this inside knowledge for your MBA applications by requesting a consultation .

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Career Goals for MBA Aspirant in 150 Words

• Updated on  
• Apr 15, 2023

If you are someone who is planning to apply for MBA , you must be well-versed in the fact that you will be expected to produce certain essays that help the university understand your motivations for pursuing that degree. Most universities will expect you to begin your essay with your career goals in 150 words, and while this might seem like an easy task for some, it can be extremely daunting for others there are several things that everyone needs to keep in mind. The career goals you provide will help those reading your application assess if you are motivated enough to pursue the degree and if you have what it takes to successfully pursue it. So, while presenting your career goals for MBA aspirants in 150 words, you must mention your short-term and long-term goals for your MBA essay in an impactful and precise manner. It is normal to feel uncertain about how to make a statement in as little as 150 words so here is all the information you will need while attempting to answer this question.

This Blog Includes:

How to tackle career goals for mba aspirants in 150 words, essentials to include, quintessential details, don’ts, tips for writing short-term and long-term goals for mba, tips for career goals for mba essay.

There are numerous different ways in which you can approach this question. You can choose to be course-specific, industry-specific or position-specific. The trick with every way that you approach the question is that you build your answer in a way that supports your argument of how the specific thing will help you achieve your long-term goals. If you are writing with the specific course you wish to study in mind, it is important to let the university know how that course from their university will help you achieve your short-term and long-term goals for the MBA essay . You can also choose to mention how a specific faculty member from the university can be instrumental in your growth.

If you are being industry-specific or position-specific, those 150 words must comprise why you wish to work in that specific industry or at that specific position and how the college you are choosing will aid that development and how, in the end, all of this will add up to your professional growth and trajectory.

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While drafting career goals for MBA aspirants, there are various essentials that you need to keep in mind which might range from mentioning the chosen industry to creating a career plan. Let’s first understand the basics you must add to your career goals:

• Particular Industry : Write your specific domain and industry emphasizing why you want to work in it.
• Particular Positions : Once you have mentioned your industry, the next thing is to write about the career profile you want to pursue.
• Connection to Your Academic & Professional Records: While writing career goals for MBA aspirants, it is extremely important to link your academic and professional milestones with your aspirations to sketch out your career journey.
• Association with your Career Goals : Connect your mentioned objectives with your career aspirations and explain how you plan to fulfil them through this degree.
• Community Agenda i.e. how the degree will help you in making your contribution towards the community.
• Expected Outgrowth
• Unique Career Plan

Things to Keep in Mind

While the above-mentioned essentials can be a sure-shot guide to writing career goals, there is a host of other stuff that can help you in making an impressive list. Here is a list of the Do’s and dont’s that you must keep in mind while summing up career goals for MBA aspirants in 150 words:

• Keep it specific and personal.
• Highlight your short-term and long-term career goals in the MBA essay
• Carve out your interests and link them with your career goals as well as plans. 
• Make the article succinct and to the point.
• Always write something easy to talk about.
• Must include Education specific content and your ambitions in life in brief.

For instance, why you have chosen a certain business school, why you want to study under your chosen professor and what kind of exposure and outgrowth you are expecting to reach closer to your goals.

• Avoid elaborating on those career goals which don’t resonate with what has been asked in the essay.
• Mentioning activities or educational background not relevant to the career goals.
• Avoid being too vague and ambiguous.
• Do not beat around the bush.
• While mentioning your industry is important, don’t overdo it and keep the essay concise and coherent .
• Why these certain goals?
• When or how they were conceived?
• What past experiences/events make you feel that your set goals are realistic?
• Also, explain the significance of the goals in your life.

This can make your essay more personal and interesting.

As career goals will play an indispensable role in your MBA essay in 150 words, it is essential to know how you can efficiently incorporate them into your answer. Here are some insights into crafting the best short-term and career goals for your MBA essay:

Mention the major career goals you look forward to fulfilling post-MBA

This will include your short-term and long-term career goals post MBA and while drafting these, it is crucial to be precise and put an extra emphasis on showing a career map of what you look forward to. That’s why you should mention the industry you aspire to work in, the job position you want, and how you further aim to climb up the hierarchy accordingly.

Concisely elaborate upon why these goals are important to you

Showing your interest and passion for your short-term and long-term goals in your MBA essay can also help you impress the admission team. Give a unique and interesting reason why you want to pursue a certain industry or job role and connect it with the MBA course you have opted for!

Make it specific to the academic institution

Another imperative pointer to add to your career goals for MBA aspirants in 150 words is to connect your content with the school/college/university you are applying for as it will help the admission committee assess your interest in applying to a certain institution.

Examples of Career Goals for MBA Aspirant in 150 Words

It is always easier to understand how to go about a specific thing by looking at examples of it. Here are free career goals essay samples for MBA aspirants in 150 words:

My long-term goal is to secure the position of a senior (job position) manager in a company that caters to (industry needs). I aspire to create a significant impact in a dynamic and ever-changing industry and to advance the development and growth of such a corporation. I strongly believe that pursuing an MBA degree (specialization if any) from your university will help me develop a skill set that will be instrumental in both my personal and professional growth. I believe that through the duration of the course, I will be provided with ample opportunities to strengthen my leadership and administrative skills and they will help me contribute to the industry. I also believe that pursuing this course at your university will help me realize my long-term goals and over time help me contribute to society’s development as a whole. 

I wish to pursue an MBA in (specialization) from your esteemed institution because I strongly believe that the course taught by (the specific professor) will give me a dynamic learning experience, which will help me become well-versed with the fundamentals emphasized in the course offered by your university. This comprehensive course offered by your university is well-known for providing the essential skill set that will help me become a global leader in the industry. I strongly believe that my previous experience as (job experience) in the industry has equipped me well for pursuing this course and that the environment and exposure provided by your university will help me multiply my network and magnify my potential. My long-term goal is to create a sustainable mark in the industry that aids the overall development of society and that admittance to your university will be a major step on that journey.

My long-term ambition is to enthusiastically enter and be a valuable representative of a Multinational Corporation like Google or Microsoft as a top management consultant after completing the prestigious MBA program from the prestigious university (University Name). I want to learn from a diverse portfolio of client engagements and put all of my theoretical experience into practice in a real-world environment. I’ll work my way up to being a partner, and then I’ll focus on introducing digital and correct business strategies for the industry in the long run. In my position, I will mentor younger generations of aspiring consultants as well as work with clients. I wish to prove myself to be an important asset for the organisation where I will be working in the future.

My long-term goal is to investigate the situation of a senior (work position) Manager in a reputable and renowned company.  My ambition is to have a significant impact in a fast-paced, ever-changing market and the industry, as well as to help my organisation to further improve and develop. I’d like to pursue an MBA in (specialisation) from your reputable institution to gain the necessary insights and knowledge about the current dynamics and trends of the industry, as I am confident that the course taught by (the particular educator) will provide me with a powerful learning experience that will assist me in becoming knowledgeable with the fundamentals emphasised in the course. I also agree and assume that pursuing an MBA degree in (specialisation if any) from your college will assist me in developing a set of skills that will be useful in both my personal and professional growth. Finally, it will help me better grasp my long-term goals and, in the long run, contribute to the development of society as a whole.

Ans. Start with your short-term objectives and work your way up to your long-term objectives. Outline the measures for achieving those objectives in a few sentences. Maintain a laser-like emphasis on your employer and the work you’re applying for, as well as how your objectives would eventually benefit the business.Start with your short-term objectives and work your way up to your long-term objectives. Outline the measures for achieving those objectives in a few sentences. Maintain a laser-like emphasis on your employer and the work you’re applying for, as well as how your objectives would eventually benefit the business.

Ans. A long-term goal is a goal that will be accomplished by a series of smaller goals over a long period, usually five to ten years or more. You might be asked about your long-term objectives and how they fit with the organisation you’re interviewing with during an interview.

Ans. MBA programs instil analytical skills, long-term strategic thinking, networking, and leadership in their students.

Ans. You’ll learn business strategy, preparation, and even financial management in an MBA programme. These abilities will allow you to effectively manage your own business while also contributing to your country’s economic growth.

While we’ve given you an insight on how to go about it, it is normal to feel apprehensive about whether or not what you have written will guarantee you a place in your desired college. But you don’t have to be uncertain about such an important aspect of your application. With the help of the mentors at Leverage Edu , you can write an essay that will meet the university’s expectations and give you an edge over other applicants.

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How to Write a Perfect MBA Goals Essay

May 5, 2023

What are goals?

Can i keep my goals vague, what do clear, detailed goals look like, an interview-winning formula, past experience, future goals, present mba, answer the question.

• Get expert help

UPDATE: This article was originally posted on July 10, 2018. It has been updated with new information and tips below. 

It’s not always phrased the same way, but each school is asking for the same thing: your goals essay . 

Your response must be a personal statement that describes much more than just your short- and long-term goals (though they are, of course, the key to the whole essay). Crafting a compelling goals essay that lands you an interview means giving context to your goals and showing that you’ve thought through them enough to be specific and realistic.

In other words, a good goals essay will include both your short- and long-term goals as well as the context and motivation for having those goals, past experience you have in the field to support your plans (and ideally, some storytelling !), as well as the impact you envision making in those positions. 

As you can see – goals alone are not enough. You will need to support them with other elements to convince the admissions committee to accept you into their program. To help you understand how to craft a convincing goals essay, we’ve compiled some of our best tips below.

While it may seem obvious, let’s start at the beginning: what are goals in terms of your MBA essay ?

Goals are what you imagine becoming as a future professional. Your short-term goal is what you imagine becoming immediately after earning your MBA from your dream program. Your long-term goal is the eventual position you hope to achieve in your field (this could be anything from 5-10 years to where you see yourself at the end of your career). 

This means that your own vision of your future career path must be crystal clear since no elite business school will admit candidates who do not state clear, well-argued goals . After all, why should the admissions committee grant you a precious spot in their program if you cannot show them exactly how you plan to use it?

Let me repeat that just to be sure: your essay must state clear, detailed short- and long-term goals. 

You may be tempted to keep your goals vague to allow for the many possibilities available to you in the future. After all, how can you be sure that you will still want your current desired position after 15 years? Sometimes, we even see candidates who would prefer to argue that they just don’t know what their goals are and instead hope that business school will help them figure that out.

Neither of these strategies will land you a spot in a top-tier MBA program. The admissions committee knows that things change and that your goals may change, too. But they want to see that you have thought clearly about how to translate your passions and dedications into a plan, and for this, specificity is key. They particularly want to see, as of now, what you plan to do with your MBA so they know you will use it wisely.

Chicago Booth, for example, explicitly states the need for clear goals when outlining who they are looking for when analyzing applications:

Arguing that you hope that an MBA will point you in the right direction long-term is also not the solution. Remember, the one thing that all programs ask is about your goals. Revealing that you have no idea will get your essay – and your candidacy – set aside.

So, no, you cannot keep your goals vague in a winning MBA admissions essay.

The key to a good goals statement is clarity and detail. Failing to provide this can leave the reader feeling like they do not fully understand your goals – and that you don’t, either. 

Avoid vague goals like, “I want to work for a Fortune 500 company,” because who doesn’t? According to a Bentley University admissions team member , it’s much more effective to do your market research and choose a specific organization you’d like to work for because they are particularly innovative, socially responsible, etc. Be sure to show why you are aiming for the role and organization in your statement, not just what . 

Furthermore, your chosen goals demonstrate your “career risk” to the admissions committee. In other words, they show the admissions officers how likely you are to succeed in the future and how well their program can set you up for success. 

If your goals are vague, they will not be able to determine your career risk and your application will likely be rejected.

For example, in her first draft, one of our clients initially wrote:

 “My goal is to increase sustainability in major Brazilian companies.” 

However, there are some key elements missing in her statement. Who does she plan on working for and in what field? What kinds of sustainability? What kinds of companies does she aim to do this for? All of these things leave the reader wondering if the candidate actually knows what she wants to do in the future.

In a good goals statement, however, all of these questions will be clear. Take a look at how the candidate’s long-term goal developed by the end of the editing process with our team :

“In the long-term, I hope to become a principal at BCG who focuses on emphasizing sustainable solutions by promoting renewable energy in consumer goods companies across Brazil. In this position, I can not only help companies become more sustainable but reinforce this mindset among BCG teams in order to increase widespread environmental awareness in business.”

Not only is her long-term goal clear but she also details a plan to manifest this goal. Specifically, she names the position and company she hopes to work for as well as how she plans to focus on sustainability in that position.

In other words, by adding detail, you also add clarity to your MBA goals.

If nothing else, you must be specific enough to name both the position you hope to hold in the future as well as the company (or an example of the type of company) you plan on working for. If your goals do not feature these elements, I can tell you right now: they are not specific enough.

Looking for example goals essays to help you start writing? Our MBA Resource Center has dozens of successful sample essays, in addition to all types of essays from countless schools, brainstorm guides, resume templates, interview mocks and answer models, and much more. Find out more about your one-stop shop for MBA application success here .

If you’re still not quite sure what you want to do post-MBA, you may want to consider career coaching before endeavoring to write a convincing goals essay. 

Assuming you have some rock-solid goals in place, let’s get started!

Try to think of the MBA goals essay as a story. The important components of the story are your past, present, and future and how they all connect. Specifically, how they connect should look like this:

Past Experience + Present MBA = Future Professional Goals

Your story should flow well between these components, building upon each of them and creating a unified narrative. However, that narrative shouldn’t follow a ‘past, present, future’ sequence at all since it’s difficult to explain why a particular program is perfect for you if you haven’t stated your goals yet. 

Instead, go with a ‘past, future, present’ format . This means talking about the skills, strengths, and lessons learned you’ve accumulated, showing how all of this has led you to decide on your short- and long-term goals, and then putting it all into the context of the MBA you’re applying to (including how the program complements your previous experience and fills in gaps before you are prepared to achieve your goals). Organizing your essay in this way will provide clarity and a pleasing flow to the information.

Now let’s look at what each section should include.

Whether the question asks for it or not, a little bit about your work history is important to include in this essay. It gives context to your goals, proof that you have relevant experience and motivations related to your goals , and sets up the argument for why you’re applying for that specific MBA – a crucial aspect of your MBA goals essay. Bonus points if it also sets up the type of impact you envision for your goals.

If the question does ask about your career progress to date, keep in mind the information the admissions counselors already have. The goal here is not to list every achievement you’ve made (they can see that on your resume) but to give brief, strong examples of an accomplished career, especially focusing on achievements that relate to your future goals . 

For example, though you may have had a highly successful marketing internship but have since forged a career in M&A, you may want to leave your marketing achievements out of your goals essay to focus on more relevant information.

Picking and choosing relevant experiences also helps emphasize storytelling , an element our editors highly recommend incorporating into all of your MBA admissions essays. By formatting your experiences into stories , you can connect more easily with your reader, help them remember your application better, and help keep your reader engaged in your tale. 

A good story doesn’t talk about your evolution at a major company over five years. Instead, a good story focuses on a specific problem you had while at that company, what you did to solve that particular problem, and what you learned from the experience. 

If you want to make sure you are choosing your stories wisely, be sure to check out our blog post on this topic. 

Nonetheless, not everyone has a perfectly linear path where each step logically leads to the next. Your work history might look disjointed on paper, but the key is to emphasize growth and highlight your capabilities. All of this needs to add up to the next section: your future goals .

Your essay revolves around your short- and long-term goals, which means you need to think through these two things more than anything else. 

At the same time, everything in your essay should be connected. It is important that you explain the relationship between all the lessons you learned along your career journey and your future – how has your past prepared and inspired you for your future?

As mentioned above, you should almost always include both short- and long-term goals in this part of your essay. Each of these elements should include your desired role, company/organization (or at least what kind), key actions and achievements, and ideal impact.

We highly suggest you take a look at other successful essay responses before you begin writing. 

Our MBA Resource Center has dozens of past successful essays for these prompts – and many more! – and detailed brainstorming worksheets to help you plan out an essay that gets you into your top-choice MBA. 

Our library also includes guides for all top global MBA programs, interview tips and mocks, CV templates, and recommendation letter guides. Click to join !

This is your chance to really sell yourself to the admissions committee – why is their school the very best for your specific needs?

You have proven you have experience and knowledge, and the goals that resulted from your skills gained and lessons learned. Now you need to show that this program can give you everything you need to reach those goals. Specific classes, the school’s non-academic offerings, and school culture can all be referenced to support your argument that this program is the very best (or only) way to build the skills you need to reach your goals. 

While some schools, like MIT , like their candidates to rely on general, school-specific arguments, most others want to know what specific opportunities you will take advantage of on their campus.

Here are some good examples of specific opportunities:

“I want to take advantage of the class Leadership in Small Businesses to gain an international perspective of how family-run business decisions are made, since my previous experience has been entirely with major companies.”

“Through the Education Club, I will further engage in the community to enhance my knowledge of the educational landscape.”

“Additionally, CBS’ Global Immersion class will allow me to learn in-depth international business practices, especially by meeting with business executives and government officials.”

As you can see, these statements not only make it clear what you want to do at the school but also why you want to do it. By showing how each of these opportunities will help you grow, you can argue more effectively the school’s essential role in helping you reach your post-MBA goals.

There are many ways to achieve this: arguments relating to specific professors, values that the school holds in particular regard, or even connections to alumni are often good bets here. Columbia Business School , for example, feels it is important that candidates feel a connection to their prime location in New York City.

Whatever arguments you choose, make sure they are specific to the school and, like all other parts of your essay, detailed.

In general, we suggest using “The Rule of Thirds” when writing a goals essay. Though this does not apply to all essays and all profiles, a good rule of thumb is to devote ⅓ of your essay to the past, ⅓ of your essay to the future, and ⅓ of your essay to the present. 

The above formula is a great way to make sure you include the crucial information in every goals essay, no matter the school. Of course, it’s also important to read each specific school’s question carefully and make sure you’re answering it relevantly. 

Though many candidates want to reuse content from other schools to save time, our experience guiding 98.9% of our clients to receive at least one admissions offer proves this can be a costly mistake. 

For example, Wharton has long asked a question asking candidates for an essay to discuss their career objectives. 

INSEAD, on the other hand, asks applicants to get straight to the point, sensible advice considering how much space the school’s nearly 10 essays gives candidates to introduce themselves:

For that reason, carefully consider how the school is asking you to position your goals and make sure your essay answers this question. 

Other elements that don’t directly answer the question should at least support your main point. Don’t gloss over questions that deviate slightly from the norm – if the application asks why you’re applying now or what you will contribute to the school, incorporate those aspects into the story, but keep things unified.

It is paramount that you don’t cave to the pressure of making your essay ‘meaningful’ and choose goals that you think the admissions committee wants to hear. 

Gradschool.com states that “success on this MBA application essay has nothing to do with manufacturing a statement of purpose that is engineered to hit the admissions committees’ hot buttons.” Keep in mind that this group has read thousands of essays, and can easily tell the difference between “a career vision that has integrity and one that is simply engineered for effect.”

When writing about your goals, your passion needs to shine through. This means writing about something more impactful than climbing the corporate ladder or making tons of money, but it also means being honest and sincere about your vision for your future. Here too, storytelling can be a great way to emphasize both authenticity and passion in your MBA admissions essay .

Show cause and effect

A logical progression of thought needs to be present throughout your entire essay so that the admissions officer can see how your past experiences have shaped your future goals and why you now need an MBA at that school to achieve them.

Cause and effect comes into play even more when talking about your short- and long-term goals. Make sure that what you hope to achieve in the few years post-MBA can realistically lead to what you are aiming for long term . If the two seem slightly disjointed at first glance, you might just have a little more work ahead of you to show the relationship between them. If you can’t find a connection between the two, you may want to take a step back and reflect more in-depth about your post-MBA plans. 

One helpful way of successfully illustrating this cause-and-effect connection is by talking to an MBA consultant about your career path. The key is simply communicating your past and future well – something that we here at Ellin Lolis Consulting can also help you with. 

Make sure your goals essay stands out from the crowd

Standing out as a prime candidate to admissions counselors means writing a goals essay with clarity and purpose, showing that you are informed and visionary enough to see your goals through. If you follow the above format and tips, you will likely be on a path to achieving your next goal: landing an interview with your top choice MBA program.

However, crafting a goals essay that convinces the world’s toughest admissions committees that you deserve a place in their program can often be a daunting task. 

That’s why many candidates turn to us to help put our 98.9% acceptance rate and personalized approach to work for them . 

Not only can we help you develop a strong personal brand and identify the achievements that will best reinforce your brand but our expert team of editors can also ensure you’re able to turn ideas into essays that cut through the noise and help the admissions committee connect with you and your ideas.

As our client (and Columbia admit) Elisa H. said,  “Ellin Lolis MBA Consulting helped me clarify my goals for the future and communicate those ideas effectively in my various essays. I’m confident that their editing suggestions helped me present myself as the best candidate I could be, which led to acceptances at every school to which I applied.

I would highly recommend Ellin Lolis as they were fantastic at helping me flesh out ideas I had in my head in a way that would make the most impact with an admissions committee.”

Want to put the Ellin Lolis Advantage to work for your admissions essays? Find out more about our team of expert MBA essay editors here .

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How to Write a Powerful MBA Essay—With Examples

The MBA essay is critical to your business school application. Read our guide to writing the perfect MBA essay, with successful admit examples.

Posted June 14, 2024

Featuring Avi L.

How an AdCom Evaluates an MBA Application

Starting tuesday, july 2.

5:00 PM UTC · 60 minutes

Table of Contents

What is the mba essay.

The MBA admissions essay.

Those words alone are enough to make most MBA candidates run screaming. Writing in general is hard enough. Writing about why you want an MBA? Your short-term goals and career aspirations? What matters to you most, and why? Forget it.

Of course, you still have to write these essays.

The MBA essay is perhaps the most important part of the business school application. Every other part of the application — your GPA, your test scores, your letters of recommendation — is quantified, cut and dried, or out of your control. The essay is your chance to show up as a fully realized MBA candidate, with hopes, dreams, and vulnerabilities. Admissions committees are not simply assessing your candidacy as a future leader — they're looking to admit human beings. That's where the MBA applicant essays come in.

That being the case, rather than being intimidated by it, treat the MBA essay writing process like the opportunity that it is — the chance for you to highlight your unique, iridescent self; the only moment in the MBA admissions process (prior to the interview) when you can speak directly to admissions officers; the time when you'll show them who you really are. It's not easy to write something that will do that, of course, but with the tips and tricks in this guide, and some help from one of Leland's vetted, world-class admissions coaches, we know you can do it. Give the essay the time, attention, and respect it deserves, and you'll be on your way to an offer of admission at your dream school.

Without further ado, let's dive in!

Ultimate MBA Essay Guide

See the MBA essay prompts, top tips from experts, and real examples from admits with this comprehensive guide.

How Long Will My MBA Essay Take?

First things first: let's talk about timing.

The MBA application is a behemoth; between exams, resumes, gathering your official transcripts, letters of recommendation, and the applications themselves, there's a lot to juggle. That being the case, we suggest you give yourself ample time to draft, write, and revise your essays. The last thing you want is to be rushed to the finish line.

So, give yourself at least three months to write your MBA admission essays. That should allow you enough time to draft, write, and edit. For more information on timing your entire business school application, click here for  A Comprehensive MBA Application Timeline--With Chart .

Now, on to the critical question:

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What Makes a Great MBA Essay?

At the highest level, the answer is the one that is truest to you. The whole point of an MBA application essay is to shine through as an authentic, vibrant human being, so the best essays are the ones that cut through the clutter, and allow you to do that.

Which begs the question — how do you cut through the clutter and shine through as a vibrant human being? Here are four critical tips to follow as you begin thinking about your essays.

1. Answer the Question

This one sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised how many applicants launch into their story, get carried away, and forget to answer the question. Follow the prompt, and answer the question the admissions committee has asked you. Those prompts can actually be very useful when writing MBA essays — it's a great deal harder to write when you have no guidance or guardrails. With these essays, you have a very specific question you need to answer. So answer it!

2. Be Specific

Another mistake some MBA applicants make is to stay at a high level in their essays, keeping their writing abstract and therefore inaccessible to the admissions committee. If at any point, an admissions officer could replace your name with the name of another applicant, then your essay isn't getting deep enough. It's not enough, for instance, to say that you suffered adversity in high school, or that you really, really want a Wharton MBA. You need to explain, in detail, the adversity you faced, and give concrete and unique reasons why you think Wharton is the right program for you. The best essays offer hyper-specific examples and anecdotes, with details and anecdotes that no other candidate could bring to the table. To get those anecdotes, we recommend using the STAR template, as explained below:

• Situation : What was the situation you were facing? Where were you? How old were you? If you were in a professional role during this anecdote, what was the role, and how long had you been in it? If you were volunteering, at what organization? How long had you been volunteering there? Why did you start? Offer all the relevant information that the admissions readers will need to understand your story.
• Task : What was the task at hand? What went wrong? In your professional role, what was the challenge you faced? In that volunteering experience, what were the hurdles you had to overcome? You can't have a good story without conflict or tension, so after you set up the anecdote, explain what that conflict or tension was (and remember, be specific!).
• Action : What was the action you took to resolve the problem? What did you have to do to fix that issue at work? How did you clear that hurdle in your volunteer experience? Again, be specific about how you came through on the other side of that conflict/tension — and while you're doing it, highlight your leadership capabilities as much as possible! Remember that top MBA programs are looking for future leaders who can assess a situation and decisively take action. (We'll say a bit more about this below, in the Personal Statement section.
• Result : What was the result of your action? If you were facing a growth problem at work, were you able to increase sales? If so, by what percentage? If you were advocating for diversity and inclusion at your local charity, what new programs did you implement to help with that effort, and what was the enrollment like in those new programs? Detail what happened in your anecdote with as much specificity as possible — and quantify, quantify, quantify!

If you want to learn more about how to master the STAR Method, read our article How to Nail “Tell Me About a Time…” Interview Questions .

3. Get Vulnerable

Most MBA admissions essay prompts are written with the goal of getting to know as much about you as possible in the shortest number of words. To do that, you're going to have to share real things from your life — to get personal, intimate, and vulnerable. Do not shy away from this. If you're starting to get emotional during the reflection, drafting, and writing process, good — that means you're on the right track. Keep going.

Pro tip: If it’s making you cry, it will make them cry.

Another good rule of thumb is to put something real and true on the table. Admissions officers have to read thousands of applications from thoroughly qualified individuals, some of whom might come from similar roles to yours, with letters of recommendation from equally impressive supervisors. In order to cut through that noise, you'll have to share something honest.

If you're doing it right, this can feel risky. At some point, you’ll likely think to yourself: “Can I say that?” The answer is: “Yes.” Of course, there is a line, you don’t want to be crass or offensive but always err on the side of being open and authentic.

The very worst thing you can do is be overly cautious and write something you think will please the admissions committee. These poor people have to read thousands of essays. If yours is just like everyone else’s, they’ll fall asleep. Don’t let that happen. Wake them up by putting yourself —your true, bright, vibrant, quirky self—on the page.

4. Don't Exaggerate

Finally, do not exaggerate, over-inflate, or lie. This goes without saying, but admissions committees are looking for honest candidates. The surest way to get rejected is to lie about something. (Business schools do a background check on you before you're properly admitted, so they will find out.) Don't be the person who over-inflates on their essays and then has their offer letter rescinded.

The Types of MBA Essays

All right — since we've covered high-level approaches to the MBA essays, it's time to dig into the various types.

There are three general categories of MBA essays you'll see across the board.

1. Personal Statement

These questions ask you to offer up something sincere about yourself. They'll often touch on such things as your values and your character. In these, you'll want to be as authentic as possible, while also highlighting attributes like leadership, intellectual vitality, and teamwork that business schools are looking for.

Here are a few examples of previous personal statement essays:

• As we review your application, what more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Harvard Business School MBA program? (HBS)
• What matters most to you, and why? (Stanford GSB)

2. Why an MBA/Why This School

In these, schools first want to hear about how an MBA will fit into your career, both short and long term. Top MBA programs are looking for candidates who will: first of all, be gainfully employed upon graduating, second of all, have an illustrious career that will make their institution look good and encourage future generations of applicants to apply, and third, be consistent and generous donors. That being the case, they want to know about your career trajectory, and how an MBA will fit into it.

Pro tip: Here, you want to be ambitious and inspiring in laying out your future career, but not naïve. Walk the line between shooting for the stars and sounding dreamlike and uninformed.

In this set of questions, you'll also encounter questions geared at figuring out why you would want to attend a specific school. MBA programs want to know that you're serious about attending their school — yield, or the percentage of admitted candidates who accept their offers of admission, is an important metric for them — but they also want to envision how you'll contribute to their admitted class. What will you uniquely bring to the table, the things that you'll do that the other candidates wouldn’t be able to offer?

We've heard former deans of business schools say that, in choosing a class, they're curating a world-class dinner party, and that each person invited to the dinner party has to bring something different. What will you bring to the dinner party?

Another Pro tip: To demonstrate that you've done your research, and to help the admissions committee envision you in their program, indicate which classes you might take when earning your MBA and why, which professors you might hope to study with, and in which clubs you might participate.

Here are a few examples of "why MBA / why this school" essays we've seen before:

• How is a Columbia MBA going to help you? (Columbia)
• What do you hope to gain professionally from the Wharton MBA? (Wharton)
• Why Stanford? Describe your aspirations and how your Stanford GSB experience will help you realize them. (Stanford GSB)

3. Behavioral/Other

Finally, most other essays will be behavioral in the sense that they’ll ask you about experiences, traits, strengths, weaknesses, and achievements. There's a wide variety of topics here, but all the guidelines from above apply, with the final note to always prioritize authenticity (as mentioned in the Personal Statement section) and leadership ability (remember, business schools are choosing future leaders).

Here are a few examples of behavioral/other essays from the past:

• Describe the biggest commitment you have ever made. (Yale SOM)
• Tell us about your favorite book, movie, or song and why it resonates with you. (Columbia)
• Think about times you’ve created a positive impact, whether in professional, extracurricular, academic, or other settings. What was your impact? What made it significant to you or to others? (Stanford GSB)

Top MBA Program Essay Prompts (Updated 2022)

To help you get started, we've compiled the required prompts from a few top MBA programs below:

1. Harvard Business School (HBS)

As we review your application, what more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Harvard Business School MBA program? (900 words)

For more information, visit A Guide to the HBS Essay .

2. Stanford Graduate School of Business

What matters to you most, and why? (650 words)

Why Stanford? (400 words)

Read What Matters Most When Writing the GSB Essays.

How do you plan to use the Wharton MBA program to help you achieve your future professional goals? You might consider your past experience, short and long-term goals, and resources available at Wharton. (500 words)

Taking into consideration your background – personal, professional, and/or academic – how do you plan to make specific, meaningful contributions to the Wharton community? (400 words)

For Wharton-specific advice, visit A Guide to the Wharton Essays .

4. Columbia Business School

Essay 1: Through your resume and recommendation, we have a clear sense of your professional path to date. What are your career goals over the next three to five years and what, in your imagination, would be your long-term dream job? (500 words)

Essay 2: The Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership (PPIL) is a new co-curricular program designed to ensure that every CBS student develops the skills to become an ethical and inclusive leader. Through PPIL, students attend programming focused on five essential diversity, equity, and inclusion skills: Creating an Inclusive Environment, Mitigating Bias, Communicating Across Identities, Addressing Systemic Inequity, and Managing Difficult Conversations. Tell us about a time you were challenged around one of these five skills. Describe the situation, the actions you took, and the outcome. (250 words)

Essay 3: We believe Columbia Business School is a special place with a collaborative learning environment in which students feel a sense of belonging, agency, and partnership--academically, culturally, and professionally. How would you co-create your optimal MBA experience at CBS? Please be specific. (250 words)

If you’re looking for more tips on the CBS essays, read our Guide to the Columbia Business School Essays .

5. Chicago Booth

How will the Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career goals? (250-word minimum)

An MBA is as much about personal growth as it is about professional development. In addition to sharing your experience and goals in terms of your career, we’d like to learn more about you outside of the office. Use this opportunity to tell us something about who you are… (250-word minimum)

*Pro tip: Some essay questions such as these will say “no maximum.” While it’s certainly a good thing that you’re allowed to write more, keep in mind to never write too much. Our rule of thumb for things like this is to never go over 200 words past the “minimum” count.

Read more at A Guide to the Booth Essays .

6. Northwestern Kellogg

Intentionality is a key aspect of what makes our graduates successful Kellogg leaders. Help us understand your journey by articulating your motivations for pursuing an MBA, the specific goals you aim to achieve, and why you believe now is the right moment. Moreover, share why you feel Kellogg is best suited to serve as a catalyst for your career aspirations and what you will contribute to our community of lifelong learners during your time here. (450 words)

Kellogg leaders are primed to tackle challenges everywhere, from the boardroom to their neighborhoods. Describe a specific professional experience where you had to make a difficult decision. Reflecting on this experience, identify the values that guided your decision-making process and how it impacted your leadership style. (450 words)

For more on Kellogg’s essays, read How to Nail Your Kellogg MBA Application Essays .

7. MIT Sloan

MIT Sloan seeks students whose personal characteristics demonstrate that they will make the most of the incredible opportunities at MIT, both academic and non-academic. We are on a quest to find those whose presence will enhance the experience of other students. We seek thoughtful leaders with exceptional intellectual abilities and the drive and determination to put their stamp on the world. We welcome people who are independent, authentic, and fearlessly creative — true doers. We want people who can redefine solutions to conventional problems, and strive to preempt unconventional dilemmas with cutting-edge ideas. We demand integrity, respect, and passion.

Taking the above into consideration, please submit a cover letter seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA program. Your letter should conform to standard business correspondence, include one or more professional examples that illustrate why you meet the desired criteria above, and be addressed to the Admissions Committee (300 words or fewer, excluding address and salutation)

Applicants are also required to upload a 1 minute (60 seconds) video as part of their application. In your video, you should introduce yourself to your future classmates, tell us about your past experiences, and touch on why MIT Sloan is the best place for you to pursue your degree.

For top-notch advice on the MIT Sloan essays, read our articles Expert Guide to the MIT Sloan Short Answer Question and MIT Sloan Video Statement: Overview, Advice, & Common Mistakes .

How to Start Writing Your MBA Essay

So you've read about the types of essays, and seen some of the prompts from top MBA programs. Now it's time to actually start diving into the essay.

The very first thing to do, before putting pen to paper, is to look inward .

Why do you want an MBA? What role will this degree play in your professional growth? How do you imagine it will shape your life? What do you want out of your career? What is the most important thing in the world to you?

Yes, these are life’s deep-end questions, but you’ll need to tackle them in these essays, so before you start all of your writing, take the time to think through them. Go for a run, swim some laps, bake a cake—however you get into the flow — and start a dialogue with yourself. Put down your work, turn your phone off, and give your mind permission to go to the places it usually avoids. That’s a good place to start. That’s where the answers are.

Pro tip: The first sentence is the hardest one to write. When you're starting out, it can be intimidating and anxiety-producing. The trick is to simply put anything down — and don't look back. Keep putting one sentence after the other. You can edit later: let whatever comes to you out onto the page. If you’re struggling with self-critique, dim your computer screen until you can’t even see the words you’re typing. Then keep going.

Additional Tips & Tricks

Once you've started your essay, it's a matter of persistence: keep writing, then keep drafting and editing until you have something you're really proud of.

To help you write a successful MBA essay, here are a few more tips and tricks:

Take Breaks

When you hit the wall — and you will hit the wall — stop and take a breather. This is your brain telling you it needs to do something else. Walk your dog. Take a lap around your room. Eat some cheese. Your body needs sleep every night to function; your mind is the same way. That next leap of inspiration will come exactly at the moment when you’re least expecting it.

Read it Out Loud

When you finally have a draft, print it and read it out loud to yourself. Your ear will catch things your eyes miss. Reading out loud is the best way to pick up on spelling errors, clunky transitions, and paragraphs that still need ironing out. It’s also a good way to envision how the admissions committee will experience your essay.

Don’t be precious with your essay. Send it to anyone willing to read it. Solicit as much feedback as you can. If you don’t like what people have to say, you don’t have to incorporate it, but you need an impartial third party to give notes on what they’re seeing, thinking, and feeling. (You’re too close to things to do it for yourself.) This is where a Leland coach comes very much in handy!

Complete Everything Early

This is more of a timing consideration, but you do not want to trip at the finish line because your internet went down the night before the deadline, or your credit card was denied when paying your application fee (it's happened before). Don't let that be you!

Here is another article to get you started, written by an expert essay coach: 7 MBA Essay Tips to Make You Stand Out in 2022 .

Example MBA Essays

Finally, here are two essays to help inspire you. The first, a personal statement essay, was submitted by an admit to Berkeley Haas' Executive MBA program; the second, a career goals / why MBA essay, was submitted by an admit to Chicago Booth's deferred MBA program.

Haas Admit:

A person’s identity is shaped by many different aspects, including family, culture, personal interests, and surrounding environments. Please share a facet of your identity or story that is essential to who you are. (300 words) My upbringing in India, filled with countless myths and legends, had a profound influence on me. The most formative tale was about a sage who prays for years to the goddess of knowledge, but in vain. In the end, the goddess didn’t appear for the sage because he was turning his prayer beads the wrong way! As a child, this story upset me: the sage worked so hard and had the right intentions. As an adult, though, I’ve come to realize that the goddess of knowledge was right: you can’t succeed unless you do things the right way.

Seven years ago, two friends and I started a company, XXXX: a digital health platform that would allow patients to store medical records online and consult doctors remotely. We had early success—we brought on 2,000 patients at XXXX, a gynecology clinic in XXXX—but ultimately we didn’t have the resources to properly scale, and had to shut the company down. Among the many lessons I learned, the most valuable was that ideas and hard work are common; businesses succeed or fail based on execution—on doing things the right way. Two years ago, I relearned this lesson in the most painful way possible: when my marriage ended. My wife and I loved each other, but we weren’t there for each other when it mattered most. Our feelings weren’t enough—we had to back them up with the right actions.

It’s disheartening when you have good intentions but still fall short. When this happens, though, you have to keep trying—because eventually you will do things the right way. I carry the story of the sage with me always, not as a harsh lesson, but as a motivating goal: one that keeps me striving towards doing things the right way.

Booth Admit:

How will the Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career goals? (250 word minimum)

I want to start a geothermal company that will help lead the energy transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy—by targeting existing oil wells as sites for geothermal plants. Oil fields are close to electric grids and have high nearby subsurface temperatures, making them ideal sites for geothermal plants. By building geothermal infrastructure nearby, my company will produce cleaner, cheaper energy, making it more profitable for operators to switch from oil to geothermal. As oil companies decommission their wells, I’ll negotiate for their land rights, so I can use their existing wells for new geothermal vents. I want my company to prove the case for economically viable, carbon-neutral energy production.

After getting an MBA, I want to start a geothermal company which will help me lead the energy transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy. I plan to target developed oil fields in Texas, where, in many places, producing wells are flowing enough hot fluid to generate clean energy. Using this geothermal heat, the carbon footprint of oil and gas extraction will decrease as fewer fossil fuels are utilized to power surrounding infrastructure. As the wells approach their economic life, I will negotiate the lease from various operators, saving them millions in plug and abandonment costs, and retrofit the wells for direct geothermal energy production via closed-loop binary fluid systems, bringing emissions to zero. To accomplish this goal, I need to shore up my knowledge of energy economics and entrepreneurial finance, develop a strong sense of leadership, and build a network of like-minded individuals that will help me lead the transition and I believe I can get those things at Chicago Booth.

My immediate career goal is to develop my first co-production site in Shelby County, Texas at the Blanton well site, which produces abnormally heated fluid from the flanks of an active salt dome. Before investing in capital expenditures, developing a strong sense of energy economics and broader markets is necessary to verify financial feasibility. The University of Chicago, through the Graduate-Student-At-Large: Business program, is already allowing me to accomplish this goal with my enrollment in “Microeconomics” with Professor Andrew McClellan. His instruction helped me understand the impact taxes and subsidies have on market equilibrium, an important aspect of renewable energy as green energy tax incentives continue to change on a yearly basis. As my company continues to grow, having a strong finance and accounting foundation is imperative to building and sustaining a healthy company. Electives such as “Accounting for Entrepreneurship: From Start-Up through IPO” will provide the skills I need to be successful by following the life-cycle of a business that originates as a start-up and covers topics such as building an initial accounting infrastructure. I understand that the execution of the business is as important as developing the idea and proof of concept, and Booth is the best place for me to develop financial fluency.

Leading the energy transition will require a strong sense of leadership. Not only will I need to lead those I get to work with over my career, but to lead the energy transition, and reverse the impact fossil fuels have had thus far, I must have the emotional intelligence to inspire others to join me in my journey. The “Interpersonal Dynamics” course at Booth will allow me to develop my communication skills and better understand the emotions and perceptions of my colleagues. These skills, synthesized with leadership development acquired in “Leadership Practicum” will prepare me to act as a relational leader, who understands the needs of others. As a relational leader, I hope to foster an environment which promotes happiness and maximizes efficiency, not only to make our efforts in changing the world more successful, but to excite other people to join our cause.

To find the greatest chance of success in leading the energy transition, I will need a network of like-minded individuals who can provide a diversity of thought. Chicago Booth provides the opportunity to develop that network through different community experiences. The Energy Club’s “Energy Forward” conference, which designates time to topics in oil and gas and renewable energy will allow me to hear from industry leaders, build meaningful relationships with peers, and contribute my sector experience to the public forum as I learn from those around me. Opportunities through the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Group such as “SeedCon” will help me connect with successful entrepreneurs and early-stage investors whose ideas and funding might change the course of my venture’s trajectory. Even in the GSALB program, I have had the opportunity to connect with other students in various sectors, including the energy industry. I hope to continue to strengthen those connections and continue building new ones with matriculation into the full time program.

Connect with an Expert for all your MBA Essay Questions

We know that a lot goes into the process of MBA essay writing. Research, planning, and execution all are major stages that take a lot of time. If you’re looking to fast-track your essay writing process while still blowing away the admission committee, try looking at some of our all-star MBA admissions consultants . We have a wide array of experts ready to give you as much help with MBA essays as you need, just check out some of our top-rated coaches below!

FAQs for Writing Your MBA Essay

What is the most important aspect of an MBA essay that admissions committees are looking for?

• The most crucial aspect of an MBA essay is authenticity. Admissions committees want to see the real you, so be honest and genuine in your responses. Highlight your unique experiences, values, and aspirations to stand out.

How long should my MBA essay be?

• The length of your MBA essay will depend on the specific prompts and guidelines provided by each school. Generally, essays range from 500 to 1,000 words. Always adhere to the word limit specified in the prompt. In the event that there’s no limit, we recommend floating within 200-300 words of whatever posted word count there is.

Can I use the same essay for multiple MBA applications?

• You can use similar content, but it’s essential to edit each essay to be about the specific school and prompt. Schools are looking for personalized responses that demonstrate your understanding of their program and how it aligns with your goals.

How do I figure out what to write about?

• Select experiences that showcase your leadership, problem-solving skills, and personal growth. Focus on stories that highlight your unique qualities and align with the values and culture of the MBA program you're applying to.

What should I avoid doing in my essay?

• Avoid clichés, generic statements, and exaggerations. Be specific and detailed in your responses. Also, steer clear of overly technical jargon that might be hard for the admissions committee to understand unless it’s directly relevant to your story.

Who can I ask for feedback on my essay?

• Seeking feedback from trusted friends, family, or mentors can be very helpful. In addition, consider working with one of our admissions coaches who can provide professional insights and help refine your essay to make it more compelling.

What should I do if I don’t have a traditional business background?

• If you don’t have a traditional business background, focus on transferable skills and experiences that highlight your leadership, analytical abilities, and teamwork. Demonstrate how your unique perspective will contribute to the MBA program and your future career.

How do I handle multiple essay prompts for the same school?

• Approach each prompt separately and ensure that each essay provides new insights about you. Avoid repeating the same information across essays. Instead, use each essay to highlight different aspects of your experiences, skills, and aspirations.

Here are several other articles that you may find helpful as you put together your MBA application:

• The Most Frequently Asked Questions on MBA Applications
• How to Answer the "Why an MBA?" Essay Question
• My Top Piece of Advice for MBA Applicants
• How I Nailed My MBA Interview and Gained Admission to Top 10 Business Schools
• 4 Expert Tips on Paying for Business School

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Advice, tips and insights from the admissions dream team., table of contents, how to create mba goals: long term vs. short term career vision.

• By Heidi Hillis

To craft the best career vision for the MBA, you must present a coherent narrative that persuasively links your personal reasons for pursuing an MBA with your past experiences as well as your short- and long-term goals.

Once you’ve begun to explore your career vision (see part 1 in this series, How to Create a Career Vision for your MBA Application ), you’ll want to tease out the long-term vision and short-term goals. Understanding the differences between them – and how they work together – will enhance your capacity to articulate a compelling case to admissions committees of MBA schools and programs .

What Are MBA Goals?

Your long-term MBA goal is generally where you plan to be 10 years out, while your short-term MBA goals are the stepping stones paving the way to get there. Short-term goals involve your near-immediate plans – either for an internship and/or two to three years post b-school. During this period, you should be acquiring specific expertise or skills that’s essential for you to reach your long-term vision.

Your long-term vision defines your end goal, the peak of your career — answering the question “what you want to be when you grow up.” In response, it’s unnecessary to delve into exacting detail. Instead, your focus should be on the impact you want to have throughout your professional  career. The admissions committee wants to know your values and motivations and how you plan to influence an industry or community.

Alternatively, for the short-term goal, you DO want to get specific. This goal is more important to the admissions committee and should reflect thorough research down to the function, industry —  even possible companies you hope to be working for.  It’s also important to communicate your understanding of the business school recruiting process and what it will take for you to land your post-MBA job. That said, you might consider a few options, to demonstrate that you have a plan B if your ideal path doesn’t work out.

Taken together, it’s imperative to show a rational thread between your past experiences, the MBA, your internship and your post-MBA goals . You want to show how the skills developed from each of these experiences relate to your vision .

In sum, below are the key distinctions between the long and short-term MBA goals .

Long Term Career Vision:

• Time frame: 10+ years
• The end goal: What you want to be “when you grow up”
• Reflects your values
• Focuses more on desired impact
• Both inspirational and aspirational
• Expresses the motivation behind your short-term goals
• Recognizes that there may be alternative paths to get there (plan A, B, C…)

Three examples of a long-term vision for b-school:

“I aim to increase financial inclusion within current banks by designing, developing, and launching a financial services  ecosystem for unbanked Americans.”

“I seek an executive-level position at a renewable energy organization such as a wind farm or solar company, to well-position me to reach my ultimate objective – impacting the global carbon footprint as a CEO of a global renewable energy organization.”

“I aspire to transform the healthcare system in Mexico by finding innovative ways to make the diagnostic process less costly, so that funding can be used toward enhanced treatments and facilities.”

Short Term Career Goals for MBA Students :

• Time frame: internship and up to 2-3 years after graduation
• Stepping stone to your long-term  MBA goals
• As specific as possible, reflecting considerable research and thought related to: geography/industry/function/potential companies
• Achievable and realistic
• Focuses on building capacities, expertise, and experience
• Displays an understanding of the MBA recruitment process

Three examples of short-term MBA goals for b-school:

“I will leverage my pre-MBA experience as a financial analyst to pursue an internship in finance, either on the buy side or sell side, focused on the energy market. Immediately following business school, I will seek a general management or leadership development rotational program at a global energy firm such as X, focusing on gaining exposure to business development, marketing, and operations.”

 “To gain the experience I need to eventually reach my goal of financial inclusion for America’s unbanked, immediately following my MBA I intend to pursue a role in business development or project management in a late-stage fintech startup such as X or Y.”

“After having had wide-ranging exposure to several industries and companies at X consulting firm, I plan to use the intense finance curriculum at X school to help me pivot to a career in investment banking, where I will be able to gain further knowledge of the key metrics used to valuate companies and portfolios. I intend to pursue an internship with a bulge bracket investment bank such as X, which should help position me to achieve my goal of working as an analyst for an investment bank post-MBA.”

Watch this video on how to articulate your short and long term goals:

Want More Advice?

For more career vision insights and resources on what the MBA admissions committee is looking for in your b-school application, view the Fortuna team’s related articles and video strategy sessions:

• How to Create MBA Goals: Long-term Vision vs. Short-term Goals (blog part 2)
• How to Convey a Powerful Career Vision (blog)
• Your Post-MBA Career Goals & How to Position Them In Your MBA App (video)
• How to Position Your MBA Application When Your Post-MBA Career Goal Is Consultancy (video)
• Your Current Role & How It Connects to Your MBA Career Vision (video)
• What You Should Do Now to Prepare for You MBA Career Vision (video)

Let’s Get You In.

Fortuna Admissions is a dream team of former MBA Admissions Directors and Officers from 18 of the top 20 business schools. With our unparalleled collective expertise, we are able to coach you to develop a clear vision of your goals for business school and beyond. We work closely with you throughout the application process and provide expert guidance at every stage to maximize your chances of admission to a top school.

Our free consultations are consistently rated as the best in the industry. To learn more about Fortuna and assess your chances of admission to a top business school, request a free consultation .

Updated Sept. 2022

Fortuna’s Heidi Hillis is an MBA admissions coach and alumnus of Stanford GSB. For a candid assessment of your chances of admission success at a top MBA program,  essay tips, and more, sign up for a free consultation .

• Posted on September 4, 2022

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How to Get the Adcom Excited About Your MBA Career Goals Essay Plus an Example

In last week’s article, we provided some tips to ensure the short-term goals you share in your MBA career goals essay will resonate with the admissions committee. We shared that your post-MBA goals should be specific, realistic, and logical. This is all true, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. While a strong short-term MBA career goal will demonstrate to the admissions committee that you understand the type of companies that hire out of their program, it won’t get them excited about having you as part of their incoming class. This is where the long-term component of your MBA career goals essay comes in. By long-term MBA career goals, we mean your end game – where you see yourself at the pinnacle of your career. 

Don’t think small or hold back here, it’s ok to be ambitious. Top MBA programs aren’t looking for people who are afraid or unable to dream big. Exactly the opposite – they want to educate the next generation of leaders who will leave an indelible mark on the world. Intimidated? We get it! However, with some deep reflection, research and soul searching, we know your dream job is out there (or maybe it isn’t yet and your plan is to create it – that’s fine too!).

So that’s the big picture. Here are some guiding principles to use as you think about your long-term MBA career goals. At the end of this article, we’re also sharing a strong MBA career goals essay example from a past client that really puts our advice into practice.

1) Your Future Should Connect to Your Past

A great place to start when brainstorming your long-term career goals is with your past. Think about situations – whether early in life, in college, or throughout your career – where you’ve felt truly fulfilled or energized. What was it about these situations that made you feel this way? Is there a common thread between them?

As an example, perhaps in college you built a new campus organization from the ground up and loved the sense of ownership you had during the experience. Fast forward to your current job, perhaps the most exciting project you’ve been involved with was helping your company enter a new market or launch a new product. The connection I see between these two things is an entrepreneurial spirit, which is something that could absolutely factor into your ultimate career goal.

Beyond a linkage to your underlying passions or motivations, your long-term goal should have a more tactical connection to your past. It’s hard to make the case that you want to pursue a certain path if you haven’t had even a touch of exposure to it in the past. For instance, if your pre-MBA career is in investment banking, it would be hard to justify a long-term goal as the founder of a nonprofit (unless another part of your background is heavily social impact focused).

Said simply, there has to be a solid ‘why’ driving your long-term goal that the adcom will understand within the confines of your application and specifically within your MBA career goals essay.

2) You Don’t Have to Reinvent the Wheel

A common concern I work through with clients is how to differentiate themselves if their long-term career goals are ‘typical’. For instance, someone who followed the investment banking / private equity pre-MBA career path and wants to remain in the private equity space throughout their career.

Rest assured that targeting a finance career (or consulting, etc.) is ok! Remember that large portions of the graduates from top MBA programs go these ‘typical’ routes (see statistics at the far right of this table ) and a notable amount of them remain there for the long haul. Clearly the adcom is amenable to these goals.

I do, however, encourage my clients to make these types of goals ‘their own’.  Each of these careers has numerous areas of specialization, whether that be an industry focus, investing philosophy, etc. By identifying one about which you are passionate, rooted in past work or personal experience, makes the goal more unique and interesting.

If not an industry specialty, perhaps you are passionate about a certain leadership philosophy (like Ray Dalio, a Harvard Business School graduate, and his ‘idea meritocracy’) or a cause that could be tied in with your future career ambitions. The key, if you are targeting one of the more common post-MBA careers (and even if you aren’t, quite frankly), is to put your personal spin on the goal and tie it in with the values and passions that make you who you are.       

3) Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day – Your Career Goals Shouldn’t Be Either

As I said earlier, arriving at authentic, well developed long-term MBA career goals is hard – and that’s exactly why it matters to the admissions committees at top MBA programs. I find that many applicants rush to a conclusion about ‘what they want to be when they grow up’ without enough self-reflection and end up with a goal that is run of the mill and uninspiring.

Take the time to research where MBAs that have gone into your field of interest have ended up 10 to 20 years after graduation. Read about business leaders you admire and the path they followed to get where they are. Last and most important, network with alums of your target programs that have gone into your field of interest.  These things will get your wheels turning and help you develop a compelling narrative for your application, while inspiring you to set and achieve lofty goals.  

An MBA Career Goals Essay Example

To help put theory into practice, below is a career goals essay example from one of our past clients that does a particularly good job of incorporating the advice we’ve shared in this and last week’s article.

Prompt (Columbia Business School) : Through your resume and recommendations, we have a clear sense of your professional path to date. What are your career goals over the next 3-5 years and what, in your imagination, would be your long-term dream job? (500 words)

As a first-generation immigrant to the US, I was raised on the principle of investing in the future. My parents gave up their life in <country> to invest in better education and career opportunities in the US for me and my sister. When I moved to New York and struggled to learn English in 6th grade, I spent two months of my allowance on several pocket-size notebooks and pens that I carried around to jot down unfamiliar words that I would later look up in the dictionary. This habit earned me a few jeers on the playground, but I knew the long-term pay-off – mastering the English language – would be worth it.

This long-term lens continues to shape my career. At <Company>, I have stepped up to become the biomass industry lead analyst because I believe in the potential of the industry to be one of the long-term environmental solutions for carbon emission. I was particularly excited to lead a meeting in 2019 with a multi-billion dollar <Client> to share my biomass industry analysis, helping drive their investment in sustainable energy infrastructure. However, given the scope of credit rating analysis, I often find myself disappointed that I have no stake in the investment decision outcome. I want to be in a position to directly invest in companies that have a positive long-term impact. As such, I want to become an investment manager focusing in ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) investing, which targets responsible investing opportunities.

In the next 3 – 5 years after CBS, I plan to work as a research associate for an asset manager or investment fund that has an ESG focus, such as Neuberger Berman or PIMCO. I hope to convert my summer internship into a full-time position at one of these funds, as did <Name> (’20). My goal as a research associate is to leverage my investing skills and application of ESG concepts garnered from my Columbia MBA, the Value Investing program and the Three Cairns Climate Fellowship in particular, to lead teams in crafting investment portfolios that meet the long-term investment objectives of ESG investors. From managing the entire investment process, I’ll understand every aspect that is factored into an investment decision, strengthening my analytical acumen and ultimately growing my network and reputation in the ESG investing community that will help me achieve my dream goal.

My dream job is to be the founder and CEO of a global ESG-focused investment fund that manages the entire ESG investment process in-house – from formulating the top-down ESG selection process to executing on the investment decisions – as most funds either offer ESG as one of many investment options or largely depend on third party analytics as an input to their ESG investment decisions. This tailored in-house investment approach would offer much-needed transparency, enabling investors and stakeholders to monitor the impact that their investments are making. From my personal experience, I fully understand what it means to “invest in the next generation”, and I firmly believe that ESG is a powerful way for investors to focus beyond monetary return.

Need help applying this advice to your own situation? We would love to help. Click here to schedule an initial consultation. 

Katie is a passionate mentor and coach, helping her clients craft a unique, compelling story by leveraging her experience as a corporate executive, alumni interviewer, and campus recruiter. Before completing her MBA at Kellogg, Katie spent five years in banking where she learned practical finance skills as well as how to operate in a demanding, high pressure environment. She pursued an MBA in order to transition to an industry role where she could utilize her finance knowledge to drive change within an organization. Post-MBA, she worked in finance and strategy for a leading CPG firm, progressing to an executive role leading the finance function for a $2B business segment. Her experience managing diverse teams led to a passion for developing others. In addition to her day-to-day responsibilities, she led her firm’s MBA recruiting efforts and served as an alumni admissions interviewer for Kellogg.

MBA Career Goals – Crafting a Compelling Short-Term Vision

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Writing a compelling MBA Career Goals Essay

W riting a compelling MBA Career Goals Essay requires you to do more than just list the companies and titles you plan to add to your resume following the completion of your studies.

Your essay needs to demonstrate that you are passionate about the career you envision while convincing the MBA admissions committee that a larger sense of purpose directs your career goals.

Furthermore, admissions officers will judge your career action plan to determine if the dots connect between your skills and experiences and future aspirations.

In this article, we provide you with insights and tools you need to build a powerful MBA Career Goals Essay.

First, we’ll talk about why admissions committees ask you to write an essay about your career goals and share the characteristics of an outstanding answer. We will also help you to avoid the common mistakes applicants make when writing a Career Goals Essay.

We’ll even provide you with a set of building blocks for crafting a unique and powerful essay of your own.

In the final section of this article, we analyze a sample Career Goals Essay to illustrate the principles we taught you in action.

Why Do MBA Admissions Officers Ask About Your Goals?

The MBA Career Goals essay question regularly appears in one form or another on just about every MBA application. Many applicants wonder why MBA admissions officers are so interested in what they plan to do after graduating from business school. Others feel these types of questions are downright unfair. Isn’t business school a chance to figure out what you want to be when you grow up? And what’s the point of making plans when everyone knows those plans are going to change?

The reason admissions officers ask the Career Goals Essay question year after year is because the mission of a top MBA program is to train future leaders who will go on to make an impact on the world. In a sense, when you apply for an MBA, you’re also applying for the job you will take upon graduation, the job you will progress to five years after graduating, and even the executive job you dream about taking 10-15 years after that.

An acceptance letter to a top-tier MBA program is not a blue ribbon for past achievements. Admissions committees want to know what you aspire to become and want to achieve as a future leader. As it turns out, a strong Career Goals Essay is one of the best tools in your application to get the Admissions Committee excited about your potential and to communicate where and how you plan to make an impact on the world after completing your MBA education.

Business schools ask about your career goals in a variety of ways :

• “What are your short-term and long-term career goals?”
• “What are your professional objectives?”
• “Elaborate on your future career plans and your motivation for pursuing an MBA.”
• “What do you want to do—REALLY?”

When answering these kinds of essay questions, top marks are earned by having clearly defined post-MBA career plans that go well beyond climbing the corporate ladder and making lots of money. Admission officers want to know that you have a passion for the career you imagine and that your career goals are fueled by a sense of purpose.

What Makes For a Strong MBA Career Goals Essay?

Defining your career goals is central to your Application Strategy because a powerful Career Goals Essay will tell the admissions officers how you plan to become a leader of consequence once you graduate. The coherence of your Career Goals Essay serves as elegant proof of your potential.

You’ll also need to persuade admissions officers that your career aspirations are realistic. In other words, they must be convinced that you possess many of the skills, talents, and experiences that you will need to achieve your ambitions. Many candidates undermine their chances for acceptance by proposing a set of lofty career goals that don’t appear achievable when viewed in the context of their past experiences and strengths. Grand ambitions are fine, but you must be able to convince admissions officers that the dots connect from your past accomplishments to your future aims.

Next, remember that admissions officers believe that their job is to find and accept future business leaders who will make a positive difference in the world. The goal of this essay is not to outline your plans for climbing the corporate ladder. Think about how you can devote energy and your career to helping others in some way. This doesn’t mean you have to go to work for a not-for-profit – no matter what field you are interested in, you can identify ways that your career will make a positive difference in the world.

Even when the essay question doesn’t include words like vision and aspiration or doesn’t ask you why your career goals are meaningful, you should let admissions officers know your deeper motivations and that you have a sense of purpose.

Finally, the caveat to all of this advice is that admission officers read thousands of these essays and can tell the difference between aspirations with integrity and those that are simply engineered for effect. To put it bluntly, admissions board members have world-class B.S. detectors, so make sure your career goals pass the sniff test.

Your career goals, if properly developed and defined, can set you apart from other candidates competing for a spot at that school, and that’s precisely what you want them to do. Before you begin brainstorming, you will need to do extensive career planning work to assemble the content building blocks for your Career Goals Essay.

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What Makes for a Weak MBA Career Goals Essay?

Let’s discuss some of the weaknesses in applicants’ MBA Career Goals Essays so you can avoid making mistakes in your essay that might hurt your chances of being admitted to a top business school:

Unfocused career vision

No sense of purpose: passion, meaning, and significance, lack of evidence that the candidate understands his or her future industry.

• Dots don’t connect between prior skills/experiences and post-MBA career goals

Unconvincing motivations for pursuing an MBA

We’ll expand on these common pitfalls.

When it comes to essay and interview questions about your career goals, the “I will figure out my goals once I’m in business school” answer isn’t sufficient. If you haven’t determined what your career goals are, then how can an admissions officer be sure an MBA is your best next step? More importantly, how can you?

The bottom line is that your candidacy will not compare favorably with the applicants who know where they want to go and can explain clearly how an MBA will help get them there. Admissions officers know that once you’re in business school, you’ll have more work to do than there are hours in the day; there’s not much time available for self-reflection and career planning. In fact, within weeks of arriving on campus for your first year, you’ll be polishing your resume up and submitting it to recruiters for summer internships. If you don’t have a vision for your career, you may not benefit from the MBA experience in the same way as other candidates who do have a defined and focused career vision.

MBA programs were founded on the belief that business leaders can and do play an influential role in contributing to society’s prosperity. Schools are looking for future leaders who aren’t just in it for themselves. Admissions officers are proud that their job is to find and accept future business leaders who will make a positive difference in the world. If your career goals are a thinly veiled plan for making loads of money, then your candidacy is in trouble.

Once your long-term career goals are in focus, you should further educate yourself on the industry in which you plan to work. Admissions officers are understandably skeptical when an applicant claims to want to work in a particular field like venture capital, sustainable energy, or social enterprise but doesn’t seem to know much, if anything, about those industries.

Dots don’t connect between prior skills / experiences and post-MBA career goals

Many candidates undermine their chances for acceptance by proposing a set of lofty career goals that don’t appear realistic when viewed in the context of their past experiences and strengths. An admissions officer will examine your resume through the lens of future corporate recruiters. Suppose your Career Goals Essay says that you want to work in strategy consulting post-MBA. In that case, admissions officers will evaluate whether your current resume, combined with the skills and knowledge you would acquire in their program, would appeal to a recruiter at a strategy consulting firm. If the dots don’t connect for the MBA admissions committee, your application will be less competitive.

Your career goals directly relate to your motivations for pursuing an MBA. Therefore, defining those career goals is critical to explaining why you want an MBA. Unconvincing motivations for pursuing an MBA can be another big weakness in your candidacy. If the only answer you can come up with for “why you want an MBA” is “I’m working at a private equity firm, and everyone here goes for an MBA,” then you need to do more thinking about your motivations and reasons for applying to business school. If you haven’t built a solid case for this huge investment of time and money, then admissions committees would be justified in wondering what kind of business leader you’re going to be in the future.

Now that you understand the characteristics of a successful MBA Career Goals Essay and some pitfalls to avoid, we will share some content building blocks to help you design and write a winning essay.

Content Building Blocks for the MBA Career Goals Essay

Now we’ll tie the preceding insights together into a set of building blocks and provide you with a Career Goals Essay example, so you feel fully prepared to write a convincing essay of your own.

The four content building blocks for an excellent Career Goals Essay are:

• Career Purpose
• Career Meaning
• Your Long-Term Career Goal, and;
• Your Career Action Plan

Your first step is to develop a statement of career purpose . The building block question is, “What is the purpose of your career — who will it serve, and how will it benefit others?” A statement of career purpose doesn’t exist on an organization chart. It’s not the job; it’s what you hope to achieve in the world in a larger sense.

The next content building block is career meaning . Ask yourself, “Why is the career I envision meaningful to me?” Admissions officers believe that great ambitions are achieved when an individual’s goals are fueled by their interests and passions. Even if the application doesn’t ask the question directly, you should tell the admissions committee why these career goals matter to you.

Once your career’s purpose and meaning are defined, you can progress to building a succinct statement of your long-term career goals . Your long-term career goal may indeed be found on an organization chart — you should include the job you want and the kind of organization you want to be leading in 15 years – CEO, founder, managing director of a non-profit, etc. What is your dream job ?

“What’s the path to your dream job?” — The final building block is your career action plan – it includes the jobs and organizations you plan to work for along the way toward your long-term career goal. For each position on your path, you can briefly explain how the role fits into your overall plan and moves you a step closer to your long-term career goal by providing additional skills, essential knowledge, and a more robust network.

To wrap up this lesson, let’s take a look at a Career Goals Essay sample so you can see these principles and our content building blocks in action.

MBA Career Goals Essay Sample

Our example applicant “Adam” is an investment banker who wants to return to the private equity world post-MBA.

As you’ll see, by using the content building blocks, he goes beyond answering the “what question” – as in WHAT are your career goals – and answers the “why question” – setting himself up to write a Career Goals Essay that will score top marks.

Adam was born in Ukraine, and his career goal is to help people in that part of the world by spurring economic development. He plans to share how troubled he was by the hardships he saw while on a recent visit to Kyiv, during which his career goals came into focus.

Adam makes his career goals more unique than simply saying he wants to start a private equity fund – the fund he wants to create will invest in the former Soviet Union, providing much-needed economic development in the region. Adam plans to work for an established fund in the CIS region before eventually starting his own fund. His dream job is to serve as an economic advisor to governments in that part of the world.

Having completed his building blocks exercise, Adam has the content he needs to satisfy the career goals question criteria. His answer will be comprehensive and memorable and will set him apart from other candidates who also have their sights set on a future in private equity.

Below you will find an excerpt of the essay that resulted when these content building blocks were assembled. Review the sample essay carefully, and then you will be ready to get to work outlining, drafting, and rewriting your own essay until you and your advisors feel you have an outstanding Career Goals Essay for your application.

(CAREER PURPOSE) By the end of the trip, my career goals were clearly in focus. I want to play a leadership role in economic development in the CIS, first as a private equity investor, and eventually, an economic advisor to the government in Ukraine.

(CAREER ACTION PLAN) Directly out of business school, I want to move to Russia and work with an established private equity group such as Baring Vostok (“BV”). I’ve worked for almost two years in private equity in the US, and working for a firm in Moscow like BV for five to seven years would give me regional private equity experience and ties to capital in Russia and the CIS.

(LONG-TERM CAREER GOAL) Long-term, I want to start my own fund in the former Soviet Union, ideally based in Kyiv. I believe there’s plenty of opportunities. My Uncle’s manufacturing company in Kyiv is actually a good example; he needs growth capital, but his business’s risk profile is wrong for a bank and better suited for a private equity fund.

Final Thoughts

Sharing your excitement about your future career path with admissions officers via your MBA Career Goals Essay is an essential step toward earning an acceptance letter from a top MBA program. The coherence and clarity of your essay can convey your desire to be a leader of consequence once you finish your MBA studies.

Ultimately, the goal of an MBA Career Goals Essay is to convince admissions officers that you will go on to use your MBA education to make a positive difference in the world. The lessons we’ve shared in this article can help you to write a high-quality essay. The effort you devote to writing an excellent MBA Career Goals essay will almost certainly help increase your chances of being accepted by one of the world’s top business schools.

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How to write powerful MBA essays that actually work

Candidates often wonder what it takes to write strong MBA essays that work. It can be a scary and confusing process. Let’s try to figure out a step-by-step process to write a great MBA essay.

For many of us, writing an essay brings back memories of a hot, stuffy classroom on a sleepy summer afternoon, a strict English teacher keeping watch with hawk-like eyes, a mostly blank sheet of paper with the words “My Best Friend” written on top.

And in the middle of it all, you looking desperately at your friend seated next to you, hoping for some inspiration to strike. Or at the very least, for the school bell to strike, lest the English teacher see your as-yet blank sheet of paper and strike first.

In other words, you think of essays as boring. Perhaps even traumatizing, depending on how strict your English teacher was, and how inspiring your best friend was.

We’re here to tell you that that’s not what an essay should be.

An essay should be educating, entertaining, inspiring, thrilling, humorous, and heartbreaking.

Basically, anything but boring.

So if you’re writing boring essays, or if you think essays are boring, you’re doing them wrong.

What is the purpose of writing an MBA essay?

Everybody has seen The Wolf of Wall Street . Remember that famous scene where Leonardo di Caprio pulls out a pen from his coat pocket and tries to sell it to a spellbound, captivated audience hanging on to every word of his?

That’s how an essay should be.

Instead of the pen, you’re trying to sell your story. Your audience is the MBA admissions committee of your dream B-school, and at stake is your MBA dream.

But first, a word of caution – channelling your inner wolf of Wall Street does not mean that you throw form and formality to the wind. This is a B-school, and you’re still expected to wear a suit and tie.

An essay could be like a piece of classical music with multiple layers that merge seeamlessly. Or it could be like hip-hop with a catchy vibe and an impactful message.

But if you can demonstrate that you possess an aesthetic palette eclectic enough to accommodate both Beethoven and Busta Rhymes, that is impressive.

If however, you’re more of a Bollywood and Bhangra person with no appreciation or flair for classical music or hip-hop, you can still write a rocking MBA essay.

The point being, there’s no formula to create successful MBA essays. But you can still improve your odds of creating an essay that you’re proud of, if you follow these simple tips.

Here are 6 steps to writing an impressive MBA essay.

• Start early
• Understand the MBA essay prompts
• Demonstrate your fit with the MBA program
• Stick to the word count
• Add a little X factor to it
• Get someone to look over your essay

Let’s delve into each of them to understand the finer nuances.

How to write powerful MBA essays

1. start early.

Writing takes time. A slow cooked dish brings out the flavors of the food being cooked by allowing the spices to percolate, the aromas to emerge, and the textures to develop.

It’s the same with writing.

You need to let the thoughts in your head marinate on low simmer for days for them to develop into well-formed sentences that will delight your reader. Even if you think you’ve got it all sorted out in your head, putting it on paper is a different challenge altogether.

You’ll need a few days of contemplation to come up with points you want to put in. Jot these down as they strike you. Next, brainstorm with friends, foes, family – anyone willing to provide feedback, and whose judgement you trust.

Next, organize your ideas in a structured framework. What this means, in plain English, is that you need to be able to weave your ideas into a story your readers would love.

No, you don’t need a degree in creative writing to be able to do that.

It’s actually pretty simple. Every story has 3 parts – a beginning, a middle, and an end. In theater and film-making jargon, this is called the 3-act structure.

Act 1 is the set-up.

This is where we get to meet the protagonist (you!), and what is called the “inciting incident”, which is something that incites our protagonist into action. ( the need to do an MBA/ get into your dream B-school)

At this point, the stage is set for an exciting journey. The reader is now expecting an adventure of Tolkien-esque proportions. ( we’re kidding, this is an MBA application, not the Lord of the Rings)

Act 2 is the conflict

This is where our protagonist runs into challenges and obstacles. Their attempt to overcome these is the beating heart of the story. It’s the action that the reader started reading the story for, in the first place.

In your MBA essay, this is where you explain why you want to do an MBA, and why specifically from the B-school you are applying to, and how this will help you in achieving your career goals.

Act 3 is the resolution

This is the happy ending of the story. This is where you tie all the lose ends together, and the reader realizes that the protagonist has been transformed by the quest.

Remember that the journey from act 1 to act 3 is not any series of random actions strung together – it needs to be transformative. At the end of the story both the protagonist and the reader of the story get a sense of a change that has happened.

In the case of MBA essay, what this means is that your essay should convey a clear sense of how the MBA (and only this particular MBA from this particular school) will help you overcome the challenges you foresee in your career, and will thus be transformative.

Also keep in mind, that while it is important for your essay to be engaging, this does not mean by any stretch of imagination, that you invent incidents merely to spice things up. Always state facts and facts only.

Remember, facts are stranger than fiction, and the simplest stories are the most beautiful The novelist John Updike once said that the purpose of art is to give the mundane its beautiful due.

Any story can be made beautiful and exciting with the 3-step act. The journey of the caterpillar from egg to butterfly is a classic 3-step act.

There is no need to go chasing fantastic beasts and inventing imaginary islands; all the magic ingredients you need to write that rockstar MBA essay are already within you in the form of your own unique and wonderful life journey. Let the world hear it.

In the interest of time, some applicants may be tempted to use ChatGPT to write their MBA essays. Find out what should and shouldn’t be done if you are planning to use it, here .

2. Understand the MBA essay prompts

Most things in life come with user manuals. It’s the same with B-school essays.

Your school will usually provide instructions of what kind of essays they want, and what they are looking for in an essay. Make sure you follow these instructions to a T.

For instance, some B-schools might want one long essay, while others might want two to three shorter essays.

Often the essay would come with a question, or an essay statement, such as “state your short-term and long-term career goals, or “why do you want to pursue an MBA at this particular stage in your career”, and so on.

Pay close attention to what is being asked as what you write will depend on the question.

Unfortunately, most of us have a habit of tossing the user manual into trash unopened, and then call customer care when we can’t figure out how to operate the washing machine. Let this not be the case with your MBA essay.

Here’s an introduction to the most commonly used MBA essay questions

Why MBA now? MBA Essay question: Why this school? Long-term and short-term career goals essay Leadership in MBA essays Optional MBA essays – Career failure essay – career break , education gap, low GPA or any other aspects.

3. Demonstrate your fit with the MBA program

This is an exercise you need to perform as much for your own benefit, as for the admission committee’s. First and foremost, convince yourself that the particular MBA program is exactly what you need to meet your career goals.

Because MBAs are expensive, and confirmation bias is real.

Just because someone put it into our heads when we were 16 that xyz is a great B-school, it is entirely possible that we will psych ourselves into believing that this school is the perfect fit for us, even if it is not.

Then, at the other end of the spectrum are the cases where we just want to get into any B-school at all, and never really give a good thought into why we want to do an MBA.

If you’ve got USD 150,000 lying around the house, and all you want is to make more money, you’d be better off opening a post office savings account and living off the 7.5% interest you get on it.

An MBA is a different beast. It’ll take from you not just your money, but also two years off the prime of your life, a lot of energy (read pulling off all-nighters trying to crack case studies and making presentations), and time spent away from your loved ones.

If you’re going to be investing all this into an MBA, you need to be very sure of two things – why you want to do an MBA, and why you want to do it from the particular school you are applying to.

Once you have it all figured out, put it down in your MBA application. Remember, if you’re not convinced yourself, you will most certainly not be able to convince the admissions committee either.

Our MBA MAP process is a helpful tool used by many applicants to select the right business schools.

Read this: – How to write business school specific MBA essays – How to evaluate ‘Fit’ with MBA program

4. Stick to the word count

There’s an old bit of Jewish wisdom which says that a proverb has 3 characteristics – few words, good sense, and a fine image.

While the adage may be about proverbs, it is the hallmark of all good writing.

There’s a reason people remember proverbs but forget stories. Proverbs speak to us less with words, and more with sense and images.

Word counts exist for a reason. One of which, of course, is that admissions committees have to wade through a ton of applications, and their time is limited.

But, equally importantly, a word count tests your ability to communicate ideas effectively. If you can’t get your message across in a 1000 words, you definitely will not get it across in 10,000.

And a good manager is nothing if not a good communicator. So take the word count of your essay as another test that you must pass on your way to your dream B-school.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you obsessively start counting words after every sentence you type. A margin of (+/-) 5% to 10% is acceptable in most cases.

But even if the b-school’s online application form does not enforce a hard cut-off, we’d recommend erring on the conservative side and staying below the word count.

Try to fit in all you need to say within this. You really don’t need anything more than that to tell your story. You’re writing an essay, not an autobiography.

Oscar Wilde famously said that brevity is the soul of wit, and we have since come to accept that brevity is pretty much the soul of most forms of communication, MBA essays included. Be frugal with your words and fathomless in your meaning.

Read: How important is the word count for MBA essays

5. Add a little X factor to it

This one is a little difficult to pin down, since what this X factor means will differ from one candidate to another.

That little magic dust that you sprinkle on your application to make it stand out from the crowd.

This become more important when you’re fighting in very competitive applicant pools and your resume doesn’t have much that automatically grabs the admission officer’s attention.

Here are some examples of what you can look at.

A small aspect of your life-story that you may have overlooked could provide that X factor that converts a regular story into a memorable masterpiece.

Or it could be related to your extracurricular activities where you achieved or experienced something remarkable.

Or it could be your unique writing style, or the way you use analogies to bring your ideas to life.

With the right, structured introspection, you’ll find that there are several avenues to highlight that makes the essays unmistakably reflect the real you.

This is one of the reasons we strongly discourage MBA applicants from using sample MBA essays that worked for others.

At first glance, they may look impressive to a new applicant, but they weren’t designed for recycling.

Using sample MBA essays will kill the uniqueness of your essays and consequently the crucial X factor.

Read why sample MBA essays don’t work .

Before we share our 6th and final tip, let’s first delve a little into the reasons we kept it for the end.

Despite their best efforts, even the strongest applicants tend to make mistakes in their application. We invited a special guest from a top school to list them down.

Top 5 mistakes to avoid while writing MBA essays

By rebecca loades, director, career accelerator programs, esmt berlin.

Unfortunately, the following 5 mistakes are all too common:

• Not being authentic . No matter how qualified you may be on paper, authenticity counts. The biggest mistake we see is when applicants tell us what they think we want to hear, rather than showing us who they actually are.
• Not answering the question or going beyond the word count . There’s a reason we ask the questions we do and limit the word count. Ignoring the prompt makes you stand out for the wrong reasons
• Not trying . You might have stellar credentials and a super high test score but that doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed a place. Being successful in an MBA program requires more than pure academics. The essays are where you can help us see beyond your CV so that we get a sense of you, the unique perspective you will bring, and what you want to achieve.
• Spelling and grammar errors . Spellcheck is there for a reason, use it! Ditto for making sure that you’ve spelled the school’s name properly and/or are calling us by our name vs the last business school you applied to.

  With that context, it becomes apparent why this final tip is so important.  

6. Get someone to look over your essay

Once you’re done writing, take a break and get some one you trust to have a look at your essay.

Having a fresh set of eyes go over your writing is always helpful. This is the reason why editors even exist.

Even the most gifted writers – the madcap literary geniuses and the Nobel Prize winners – relied on editors to polish their rough drafts into the enduring literary classics we know them as today.

The thing with writing is that when you’ve been living with the ideas in your head for so long, and then you begin the long, slow, painful process of putting those ideas on paper, you become just too familiar with them to be your own critic.

Those words have been a part of you for so long, you can no longer tell whether they’re good or bad.

It’s like how when we stare at a screen too long without blinking we begin to see the fine pixels and dots that make up the picture, but lose sight of the picture itself?

That sort of a thing.

A good editor can make that draft shine like a lapidary polishes a rough diamond to brilliance.

A “good editor” does not mean you need to get in touch with the New York Times to ask if they can loan out their literary editor for a day.

Here’s a candidate who got a USA MBA admit despite a big mistake in application .

A friend or a mentor with the experience and knowledge of the admissions process can help.

If you don’t have anyone like that in your life, and if all this sounds a little overwhelming, consider hiring a good MBA application consultant .

MBA Crystal Ball has highly experienced admission consultants who can help you polish your application. Read more about our MBA essay editing services .

Drop us an email when you’re ready: info [at] mbacrystalball [dot] com

That’s all folks. Make sure you follow these steps, and we’re confident that you will be able to write an amazing MBA essay that with the potential to impress the admissions committee and to get you that elite MBA seat that could change your life.   Also read: – Top MBA application tips – Sample Harvard Stanford MBA essays using ChatGPT

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August 17, 2023

The Consortium MBA Essay Tips and Deadlines [2023-2024]

Are you committed to increasing diversity and the inclusion of underrepresented populations in education and business? If so, applying to MBA programs through The Consortium of Graduate Study in Management (CGSM) might be for you. In addition to having the opportunity to receive a full-tuition scholarship to a top MBA program, Consortium fellows enjoy the benefits of a strong network with other Consortium students and alumni from 23 leading MBA programs. Other benefits include having to pay only one application fee and submitting all applications by one convenient deadline, reducing considerably the cost and anxiety that comes with applying to business school. Although you have to write a few more essays, The CGSM’s essay questions are short and straightforward. I focus on these essay prompts in this post.

Ready to get to work on your application for The Consortium? Read on. 

The Consortium application essay tips

The consortium application deadlines.

The Consortium core essay #1

Please describe your short- and long-term goals post-MBA. How has your professional experience shaped these goals and influenced your decision to pursue an MBA degree? (2,000 characters)

This is a standard goals essay . In 2,000 characters max, or roughly 400 words, you need to state clearly what your short-term and long-term goals are and how your career to date has influenced those goals. Although you can briefly discuss how you got here, it’s important that you avoid going into excessive detail about your past experience and instead focus on your post-MBA plans. Additionally, you need to write about why you think an MBA is the right degree for you, given your goals. You must be specific and realistic, stating goals that are aligned with your career thus far and that an MBA will help you achieve.

The Consortium core essay #2 (optional)

Is there any other information you would like to share with us that is not presented elsewhere in your application? (1,000 characters)

Although this is an optional essay , I always recommend answering it. You can use this essay to share anything that you believe needs to be explained: a gap in your work experience, a , a sudden drop in your grades. In fact, The Consortium notes that if you answered “yes” to any of the questions in the Personal Certification/Signature section, you must provide an explanation, and this is the perfect place to do so. If there is nothing in particular that you need to explain, you can use this essay to write about something you think is important and have not already shared in the required essays, such as an experience from an extracurricular activity, a special hobby, or a unique story that would help you stand out. Given the tight word limit for all the essays, this is a great opportunity for you to share a part of you that the admissions committees would not otherwise see. 

The Consortium mission essay

Our mission, through the strength of our growing alliance and extended network, is to enhance diversity and inclusion in global business education and leadership by striving to reduce the significant underrepresentation of African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans in both our Member Schools’ enrollments and the ranks of global management across the following sectors: for-profit corporations, nonprofit corporations, government agencies and contractors, and entrepreneurial ventures in both for-profit and nonprofit environments. *Please address the three questions noted below. Please use specific examples pertaining to our target populations and clearly articulate your involvement, actions and results.

1. What have you done pre-MBA in your business, personal or academic life to demonstrate commitment to this mission? (2,000 characters)

The most important of the three questions, this is your chance to show evidence that what you have done in the past aligns well with the Consortium’s mission. 

Maybe you were part of the diversity group at your company and spearheaded an initiative that increased the number of underrepresented minorities in your firm. Or maybe you mentored inner-city kids and helped them improve their grades. Whatever that activity was, this is the place to offer details on it, sharing not only what you did but also what motivated you to get involved. It is also important that you explain the impact your actions had on the group(s) involved.

2. What will you do while enrolled in your MBA program to demonstrate your commitment to the mission? (2,000 characters)

As The Consortium clearly states, its mission is to enhance the diversity and inclusion of underrepresented populations in business. Focus your essay on showing your devotion to this goal by providing specific examples of how you plan to advance it during your MBA experience. Examine what your target schools already do to enhance diversity, and share how you anticipate contributing to existent initiatives or introducing new ones. Rather than writing a laundry list of activities or clubs, think about your talents and experience thus far and how these can be placed at the service of the school, particularly in its diversity efforts.

3. What will you do post-MBA with respect to community service and leadership involvement to demonstrate your continued commitment to The Consortium’s missions of diversity and inclusion? (1,000 characters)

The Consortium would like to see not only that its members are committed to diversity and inclusion during the MBA program, but also that they have a vision for the future. How will you contribute to increasing the number of underrepresented minorities in business education? What are some of the initiatives you envision that you believe would have the greatest impact? Once again, more than simply offering a list of activities or organizations, it’s important that you write about how you expect to support these groups, both professionally and personally.

School-specific essays

You will be required to write at least one school-specific essay for each school to which you plan to apply. Programs see only their individual essays, not any that you write for other schools. To complete these essays, navigate to each program’s supplemental page within your core application. Text boxes with specified word limits will be provided for the membership essay and all school-specific essays.

Make sure that you “study” each of your target schools well before writing their essays, just as you would if you weren’t applying through The Consortium. You need to pay just as much attention to these essays as you will to The Consortium ones, because the individual schools – not The Consortium – ultimately make the admissions decisions. You will need to do your research on each program so you can demonstrate fit in your school-specific essays . 

Every MBA applicant should consider applying through The Consortium. First, as we noted earlier, you are eligible for a full-tuition scholarship for a two-year MBA program, which is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Second, even if you are not awarded a full ride, if you are accepted to be a member of The Consortium, you become part of a valuable network, one that will benefit you throughout your career. If you have actively worked to increase diversity of underrepresented minorities in business, applying to business school through The Consortium is likely the right step for you. 

As a former associate director of minority affairs at the Yale School of Management, with ample experience recruiting and ultimately increasing diversity in business schools, I am happy to offer you my help in applying to The Consortium. I have assisted many candidates with their applications, and they were successfully admitted to The Consortium and its member schools. It will be my pleasure to help you do the same.

Source: The Consortium website

Former associate director of admissions at the Yale School of Management, director of MBA admissions at MSU Broad, and consultant at Cardiff Business School in the United Kingdom, Esmeralda Cardenal has guided Accepted clients to acceptance in various graduate programs since 2014, including MBA and master’s in finance, business analytics, data science, sustainability, and public policy. Want Esmeralda to help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related Resources:

• Top MBA Program Essay Questions
• Can the Consortium Help You Get Accepted and Fund Your MBA? -podcast Episode 532
• 13 MBA Resume Tips to Help You Get Accepted

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Short-Term and Long-Term Career Goals Essay for MBA Grad

EssayEdge > Blog > Short-Term and Long-Term Career Goals Essay for MBA Grad

Note: This essay appears unedited for instructional purposes. Essays edited by EssayEdge are dramatically improved. For samples of EssayEdge editing, please  click here .

Please discuss your post-MBA short-term and long-term goals. How will your professional experiences, when combined with an MBA degree, allow you to achieve these goals?

I was seven when I first visited my mother’s native Taiwan, and the trip was daunting. The sea of people crowding the sidewalks, the cuisine, and the local fashion seemed distant and foreign to me. However, as a teenager I realized that my heritage and love of the region still bound me to the people of Taiwan. Moreover, my work experiences have led me to recognize the numerable opportunities arising from the region’s favorable investment environment. Over time, my travels abroad—and particularly my visits to Taiwan—have helped to shape my goals and aspirations.

At this point in my career, I seek an MBA from The University of Southern California’s Marshall School of business because I believe it will broaden my knowledge of finance, allowing me to explore the new opportunities of the Pacific Rim. More specifically, an MBA from Marshall will help me to achieve my short-term goal of obtaining a corporate finance position in an emerging technology company with interests in Asia. The program will provide a theoretical foundation to complement my previous experiences in financial consulting, derivative risk management, and corporate finance, which will in turn help me fulfill my long-term goal of starting a business venture in the Pacific Rim.

My professional experiences so far have been diverse yet relevant to my ambitions. After graduating from college, I joined the Business Assurance Division of Coopers and Lybrand, where I became responsible for the firm’s highest profile clients and managed projects early in my career. After my first eighteen months there, I was invited to join a select group of ten consultants in the Dispute Analysis and Investigation Group of the Financial Advisory Services line. In this position, I provided advice to clients dealing with complex business problems and disputes. I enjoyed the challenge of adapting to different environments and the opportunity to work with a diverse, intelligent group of people. However, this job was devoid of my true interest: the financial markets.

In the summer of 1997, I accepted a position at Morgan Stanley that would allow me to pursue a career in finance and relocated to New York. Once again, I progressed rapidly. After just a year at the company, I was entrusted with managing the Credit Derivative Trading Finance Group. The products involved in this division are the fastest-growing investment and risk management mechanisms currently used by institutions and traders. Consequently, I was able to work with numerous complex valuations, as well legal, regulatory, and reporting issues. For example, I helped to develop a credit spread option and total return swap pricing model that is currently used by trading personnel. Through my work at Morgan Stanley, I have confirmed my desire to pursue a career in finance; at the same time, my aspirations have broadened considerably. Instead of managing the growth of a business, I now wish to grow my own business.

My short-term goal is to work in a corporate finance position at an emerging technology company in an international setting. I am specifically interested in the technology sector, because—as in the derivative market—change there occurs rapidly. I believe the Pacific Rim, in particular, has the largest market of unmet technological needs. However, it is apparent to me that I must develop additional skills to take on such a responsibility. Whereas I have already accumulated strong financial experiences, I need an additional theoretical base and the opportunity to learn from others in order to make effective decisions across an entire organization, from finance to marketing to sales.

Need help? Check out EssayEdge editing services:

An MBA from Marshall will provide the additional knowledge base and network to pursue a career in corporate finance. By leveraging my academic and professional experiences, I know I will make the critical financial decisions that will enable a technology company to successfully complete in a global marketplace. At the same time, I will be able to develop the networks crucial to launching a Pacific Rim entrepreneurial venture.

I am confident that I can best achieve my goals through the education provided at Marshall. My desire to attend the school has been strengthened by the experience of my brother Raymond, who is currently in his second year at Marshall. I frequently visit him in Los Angeles, which has given me a chance to tour the campus on several occasions. Through these visits, I have realized that Marshall’s strength in general management and entrepreneurial studies, combined with its focus on the Pacific Rim, exactly mirror my aspirations. These strengths are evident not only in the curriculum, but also in the Prime Program, through which I plan to return to Asia.

Moreover, I am aware that textbooks are not the most critical component of an MBA program; contact with real businesspeople is just as vital. Marshall’s large population of international students and strong alumni base are especially conducive to forming lasting friendships and developing global business ventures. Finally, the school’s proximity to Los Angeles and San Francisco will give me access to one of the largest concentrations of technology companies in the world while allowing me to be closer to my family and friends.

I know that when I return to Asia, my reaction will be very different from when I was a seven-year-old on my first trip to Taiwan. Instead of feeling confused by a radically different environment, I will leverage the education I receive at Marshall to conduct business with the insight of a native resident.

If the chosen essay prompt asks you to describe your goals, this sample can act as a good template. Keep an eye on the organization, word choice, style, and other details to implement it all when writing. EssayEdge offers in-depth MBA essay proofreading. Place an order and impress the admissions committee.

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Revealed: Harvard Business School’s New MBA Essays For Applicants

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Harvard Business School’s Baker Library.

With just 10 weeks before its first application deadline on Sept. 4th, Harvard Business School today (June 25) revealed a newly revised application for MBA candidates, including a new set of three short essays along with a refresh on how it will evaluate applicants for future classes.

The new prompts?

Business-Minded Essay : Please reflect on how your experiences have influenced your career choices and aspirations and the impact you will have on the businesses, organizations, and communities you plan to serve. (up to 300 words)

Leadership-Focused Essay : What experiences have shaped who you are, how you invest in others, and what kind of leader you want to become? (up to 250 words)

Growth-Oriented Essay : Curiosity can be seen in many ways. Please share an example of how you have demonstrated curiosity and how that has influenced your growth. (up to 250 words)

NEW HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL ESSAYS PUT THROUGH BY NEW MBA ADMISSIONS CHIEF

Eagerly awaited by thousands of prospective students and admission consultants, you can bet that the admissions pages of the HBS website were continually refreshed all morning for a glimpse at the new essay. The Harvard Business School essay prompt for the Class of 2027 was posted at 10:30 a.m. with the opening of the 2024-2025 application online.

This year’s change was put through by Rupal Gadhia , who joined the school as managing director of admissions and financial aid last October. A 2004 Harvard MBA, Gadhia came to the school with no previous admissions experience, having been the global head of marketing for SharkNinja robots.

In explaining the change in a blog post , Gadhia noted that “we have refreshed the criteria on which we evaluate candidates. We are looking for applicants who are business-minded, leadership-focused, and growth-oriented…This is your opportunity to discuss meaningful or formative experiences that are important to you that you haven’t had a chance to fully explore elsewhere in your application…Be authentic, be yourself.”

WHAT HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL IS REALLY LOOKING FOR IN THE NEW ESSAYS

The school added some context to its new criteria for admission, more clearly defining what it means by business-minded, leadership-focused, and growth-oriented.

Business-Minded

We are looking for individuals who are passionate about using business as a force for good – who strive to improve and transform companies, industries, and the world. We are seeking those who are eager to solve today’s biggest problems and shape the future through creative and integrated thinking. Being business-minded is about the interest to help organizations succeed, whether in the private, public, or non-profit sector. This business inclination can be found in individuals with a variety of professional and educational experiences, not just those who come from traditional business backgrounds.

In Your Application: We will look for evidence of your interpersonal skills, quantitative abilities, and the ways in which you plan to create impact through business in the future.

Leadership-Focused

We are looking for individuals who aspire to lead others toward making a difference in the world, and those who recognize that to build and sustain successful organizations, they must develop and nurture diverse teams. Leadership takes many forms in many contexts – you do not have to have a formal leadership role to make a difference. We deliberately create a class that includes different kinds of leaders, from the front-line manager to the startup founder to the behind-the-scenes thought leader.

In Your Application: Your leadership impact may be most evident in extracurriculars, community initiatives, or your professional work.

Growth-Oriented

We are looking for individuals who desire to broaden their perspectives through creative problem solving, active listening, and lively discussion. At HBS you will be surrounded by future leaders from around the world who will make you think more expansively about what impact you might have. Our case and field-based learning methods depend on the active participation of curious students who are excited to listen and learn from faculty and classmates, as well as contribute their own ideas and perspectives.

In Your Application: We will look for the ways in which you have grown, developed, and how you engage with the world around you.

TIGHTER TIMEFRAME FOR ROUND ONE APPLICANTS

The new essay prompts come  nearly two months after candidates to the school’s MBA program would more typically know what was expected of them. Some admission consultants say the delay over the prompt’s release, along with nearly a month’s slow down in releasing application deadlines, is “wildly insensitive” to applicants who will have less time than normal to prepare for the round one deadline of Sept. 4th.

That’s especially true because the most successful applicants to HBS have highly demanding jobs that consume the vast majority of their time. Many candidates go through multiple drafts of their essays to get them as close to perfection as humanly possible. MBA admission consultants are expecting a lot of up-to-the-deadline work this year to help prep candidates for Harvard and other top business schools.

The new application still preserves the post-interview reflection for applicants who are invited to a 30-minute admissions interview. Within 24 hours of the interview, candidates are required to submit a written reflection through the school’s online application system.

REACTION TO THE NEW CHANGE IS MIXED

Early reaction to the change suggests the likelihood of mixed reviews. “This is an uninspired and odd set of questions,” says Sandy Kreisberg, founder of HBSGuru.com and an MBA admissions consultant who closely reads the tea leaves of Harvard’s admissions process. “I don’t know how it’s different from what else do you want us to know about you, frankly,” he adds in a reference to last year’s single essay prompt.

“HBS has certainly moved from the abstract to the concrete,” believes Jeremy Shinewald, founder and CEO of mbaMission, a leading MBA admissions consulting firm. “Some applicants previously felt like they didn’t know where to start and some weren’t sure if they had answered the question, even when they were done. Now, the questions are quite straightforward and all have a cause and effect relationship — one where the applicant discusses the past to reveal the present or future. Smart applicants will understand how to share their experiences and, more importantly, how to relay their values. Some will mistakenly try to whack HBS over the head with stories of their epic feats, but the key isn’t to brag or embellish – the key is to simply create a clear relationship, via narrative, between past experience and true motivations.”

Shinewald found it astonishing that Harvard could not have made the change earlier. “It is, of course, surprising that HBS left applicants on edge until the last minute, all to create very traditional essays,” he adds. “As applicants learn in MBA classrooms, change can be hard and take time. The bottom line here is that these essays are somewhat of an applicant’s dream – they allow the savvy applicant to play to their strengths and draw on their best anecdotes and experiences to create a complete story. Some applicants will lament the absence of a ‘Why HBS?’ prompt, but my guess is that the admissions committee recognized that they would get an almost homogenous collection of essays touting the case method and other well known features. HBS gets some kudos for keeping the focus on the applicant.”

Adds Petia Whitmore of My MBA Path: “I think they reflect one of the traits of this new generation of candidates which is that they don’t handle ambiguity well. So it seems like Harvard had to spell out what they’re looking for way more prescriptively than in the past.”

Some, however, find the new essays a return to the past. “To me, the prompts feel quite regressive, and a return to the more formulaic approach that pervaded MBA applications two decades ago,” believes Justin Marshall, a New York-based MBA admissions consultant. “Because the previous prompt was so open ended, it forced applicants to be introspective and self-aware. You couldn’t just ramble for 900 words; you had to identify themes in your life to show how your personal experiences shaped your values, your leadership style, and your goals. Comparatively, these new prompts are much more paint-by-numbers. Applicants will likely cover the same ground in terms of topic, but there’s very little room for nuance and self-expression. I think it will be harder for applicants with less conventional backgrounds and experiences to differentiate themselves. I’m sure HBS grew tired of reading so many painfully earnest ‘life story’ essays, but I suspect they’ll soon find themselves yearning for essays that have a heartbeat and personality. 250 words just doesn’t allow for that unless you’re a very crafty writer.”

Whatever the case, getting into Harvard’s MBA program is still a daunting exercise. Last year, 1,076 of the 8,264 candidates who applied for admission to Harvard Business School gained admission, an acceptance rate of 13.2%, making HBS the second most selective prestige MBA program in the country after Stanford Graduate School of Business which had an admit rate of 8.4%. Harvard saw a 15.4% drop in MBA applications from the 9,773 it received a year-earlier.

Joint degree applicants for the Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Kennedy School must provide an additional essay: How do you expect the joint degree experience to benefit you on both a professional and a personal level? (up to 400 words)

BIGGEST CHANGE IN HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL ESSAY IN NEARLY A DECADE

Joint degree applicants for the Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences must provide an additional essay: The MS/MBA Engineering Sciences program is focused on entrepreneurship, design, and innovation. Describe your past experiences in these areas and your reasons for pursuing a program with this focus. (recommended length: 500 words). Applicants will also be able to respond to an optional essay.

In any case, it’s the biggest change in Harvard Business School’s application in nearly a decade. The last time HBS made a major switch, moving to the essay prompt it just eliminated, was in 2016. That change to just one essay with no word limit and a post-interview reflection was made by then admissions chief Dee Leopold.

When Leopold applied to Harvard as an MBA candidate in 1978, she had to write eight essays. Over her years as managing director of admissions, she first cut the essays down to four and then one, making it optional, and finally the one last prompt with a post-interview reflection, saying that applying to HBS should not be a writing contest .

OUR BUSINESS CASUAL PODCAST: The New HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL MBA Application:   Fortuna Admissions’ Caroline Diarte-Edwards and ApplicantLab’s Maria Wich-Vila join P&Q’s John A. Byrne to offer applicant advice on how to answer the new HBS essay prompts

DON’T MISS: 2024-2024 MBA APPLICATION DEADLINES or  HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL WILL NOW UPDATE ITS MBA ESSAY 

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Booth Long term and short term Goals Essay

Hello Redditors,

As Booth deadline is arriving, I am super anxious about my preparations. I haven't done a consultant and writing my application myself.

So Booth has a bit strange application and they don't have the standard goals essay. Instead they ask for goals seperately. I don't think I can use 250 words for short term goal and long term goal each. Anyone knows what does the school expect in those two questions. ?

I will reiterate the same thing in my main essay as well.

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Harvard business school announces 3 new application essays.

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Harvard Business School.

Harvard Business School announced a surprising departure from its single, open-ended application essay to three short essays with specific prompts. The HBS website sums up the kind of applicant the school is seeking: “We are looking for future leaders who are passionate about business, leadership, and growth.”

The prompts for the class that will begin in fall 2025 instruct applicants to address each topic in turn.

• Business-Minded Essay : Please reflect on how your experiences have influenced your career choices and aspirations and the impact you will have on the businesses, organizations, and communities you plan to serve. (up to 300 words)
• Leadership-Focused Essay : What experiences have shaped who you are, how you invest in others, and what kind of leader you want to become? (up to 250 words)
• Growth-Oriented Essay : Curiosity can be seen in many ways. Please share an example of how you have demonstrated curiosity and how that has influenced your growth. (up to 250 words)

The prompts ask applicants to go beyond simply asserting their allegiance to the ideals of business, leadership and growth. Each of the three questions asks for evidence: “experiences,” “experiences” and “an example,” respectively.

The prompts do not expect a straightforward list of what happened in the past. Rather, they encourage reflection on how these experiences affected present realities and future goals.

Applicants are asked to reflect on past, present and future as an ongoing process of becoming who they are now and who they wish to become. Even the “Business-Minded Essay” is about past choices and future impact; it also assumes you “plan to serve.” The “Leadership-Focused Essay” does not ask applicants to recite a list of titles, but to discuss who they are and how they relate to others; not what title they aspire to, but “what kind of leader you wish to become.”

Perhaps the most surprising essay prompt is No. 3, which asks about curiosity. It opens the door for applicants to discuss a more personal aspect of their candidacies. The prompt asks not about end result, but about the process of change. Once again, the emphasis is on “growth.”

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In short, the prompts ask about person and process.

How The 3 New Prompts Differ From Last Year’s Single Question

This year’s prompts give applicants more direction than the previous open-ended instruction, which was: “As we review your application, what more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Harvard Business School MBA program?”

Applicants may find it easier to follow these more detailed instructions and to stay on topic. They no longer need to face an open question and a blank page.

Another aid is the shorter word limit. The essay on being business-minded has a limit of 300 words, and the essays on leadership and growth through curiosity are limited to 250 words each.

A third difference is the specific inquiry about business. Last year’s prompt allowed candidates to choose anything they thought would be important for HBS to consider. Some applicants struggled to decide whether to focus on business or something beyond work. While the “Business-Minded Essay” is still personal, it does ask applicants to reflect on their careers.

One might also speculate that the new, more directive prompts makes it easier for the admissions committee to compare essays across applications, while still leaving room for considerable variation in how applicants choose to address the essay prompts.

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