Six Must-Know MBA Essay Writing Tips
If you’re applying to business school, nailing the MBA essays is one of the most critical steps in the process. But here’s the thing: many people think they know what makes a great essay—until they start writing. In our experience, applicants often miss vital elements that can make or break their chances. SBC consultant and B-Schooled co-host Chandler Arnold loves helping MBA applicants create compelling narratives in their business school applications. Today, we’re reviewing six must-know MBA essay writing tips from one of Chandler’s popular podcast episodes so you can take your essays from meh to wow.
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Essential MBA Essay Writing Tips
Tip #1: Answer the Question Directly
We cannot stress this enough: answer the question you’re asked! You would be shocked at how many people don’t do this. If the essay prompt says, “What is most important to you and why?” then you better start your essay with, “What’s most important to me is [X], and here’s why.”
Don’t dance around it or give a vague, rambling answer that barely touches on the topic. The AdCom wants to know if you can communicate succinctly, distill your thoughts, and make your point. If the prompt asks for three leadership traits, don’t bury the lead—just say, “My three key leadership traits are…“ and dive right in.
Remember, admissions officers are skimming your application. As much time as you spend on those essays, they’re only going to spend about 15 to 20 minutes reviewing your entire file—essays, recommendations, transcripts, everything. So grab their attention quickly and make it easy for them to find your answer.
Tip #2: Use the Active Voice
Let’s return to high school English class for a minute: active voice versus passive voice. The active voice shows who did what. The passive voice sounds like things just happened to you. You want to use an active voice in your essays, resumes, and interviews.
For example, saying, “I received a promotion after two years at the firm,“ is passive. It sounds like you just hung around until you got promoted. Instead, say, “After leading several major projects, I advocated for and earned an early promotion.“ See the difference? You’re showing action, impact, and initiative.
Better yet, say, “In my first year, I initiated a project that fundamentally changed how we reported to clients, which led to my promotion.“ Now, you’re truly showcasing what you did.
This goes for everything—whether you’re writing about strengths or weaknesses, focus on your actions and how you grew from the experience. Don’t let the essay happen to you; take control of the story.
Tip #3: Start with an Attention-Grabbing Sentence
Your first sentence is the most important one in the entire essay—don’t waste it! A dull or overly formal sentence like, “I am excited to apply to XYZ Business School,“ won’t cut it. You want to grab attention right out of the gate.
One of Chandler’s favorite examples? A client once opened his essay with, “I was 12 years old when I buried my first body.“ (Yes, you read that right!) He was volunteering at his mosque, where he helped wash and prepare bodies for burial—a profoundly formative experience that he used to answer the “What matters most to you and why?“ prompt for Stanford.
You don’t have to be that dramatic, but find an opening that makes the reader want to keep going. Another client opened with, “My supervisor doesn’t believe an MBA is worth it—but I disagree.“ Or, “My first time on national television, I was outshined by a six-foot-tall dancing ice cream cone.“ These sentences make you want to learn more, right? That’s the effect you’re going for.
Pro-tip for MBA essay writing: If your first sentence sounds like something anyone could write, scrap it and try again. Make it personal and memorable, and hook the reader.
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Tip #4: Use the STAR Format
You’ve probably heard of the STAR format—Situation, Task, Action, Result. This is an excellent structure for telling a story in your essay because it keeps everything clear and focused. Here’s how it works:
- Situation: What was happening? Set the stage.
- Task: What were you responsible for, or what challenges were you facing?
- Action: What did you do? (Be specific here!)
- Result: What was the outcome? (Don’t forget to talk about what you learned or how you grew.)
For example, don’t just say, “I led a project and we increased revenue by 20%.“ Sure, that’s a good result, but also tell us what you learned about your leadership style or how this experience prepared you for future challenges. Make it personal, and make it quantifiable where possible.
Tip #5: Structure Your Essay
A clear structure is vital. Even the most brilliant ideas can get lost if your essay is disorganized. Think of it like this: every essay needs a beginning, a middle, and an end. If in doubt, the classic five-paragraph essay works. Here’s a quick formula:
- Paragraph 1: Attention-grabbing opener, followed by a direct answer to the prompt and an overview of what’s to come.
- Paragraphs 2-4: Use these to dive into your examples. If the essay asks about leadership traits, each paragraph can focus on one trait.
- Paragraph 5: Wrap it all up. Come back to your opener, summarize your main points, and tie everything together.
For instance, if you started with a personal story like “I buried my first body at age 12,“ you could close with a reflective line like, “The lessons I learned in those moments still shape how I approach leadership and life today.”
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Tip #6: Keep It Simple
Finally, one of the best MBA essay writing tips is not to sound overly formal or stuffy. Simple, straightforward language works best. If it sounds like you’re using a thesaurus to squeeze in as many big words as possible, it’s time to rework your essay. You want your voice to come through and the essay to feel natural.
It’s okay if your first draft isn’t perfect—that’s what revision is for. As Justice Brandeis said, “There is no great writing, only great rewriting.“
So, take the time to rewrite and refine your essay. It gets better with each draft. With these six tips in mind, you’re well on your way to writing a standout MBA essay. Remember, you’ve got this!
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Stacy Blackman Consulting offers multiple services to meet your MBA application needs, from our All-In Partnership to essay editing to hourly help reviewing your MBA resume and more. Contact us today for a free 15-minute advising session to talk strategy with a Principal SBC consultant.
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Ashley
Ashley is a former MBA Admissions Board Member for Harvard Business School (HBS), where she interviewed and evaluated thousands of business school applicants for over a six year tenure. Ashley holds an MBA from HBS. During her HBS years, Ashley was the Sports Editor for the Harbus and a member of the B-School Blades Ice Hockey Team. After HBS, she worked in Marketing at the Gillette Company on Male and Female shaving ...
×Kerry
Kerry is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS). During her 5+ year tenure at HBS, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a wide range of backgrounds across the globe. She also led marketing and outreach efforts focused on increasing diversity and inclusion, ran the Summer Venture in Management Program (SVMP), and launched the 2+2 Program during her time in Admissions. Kerry holds a B.A. from Bates College and ...
×Pauline
A former associate director of admissions at Harvard Business School, Pauline served on the HBS MBA Admissions Board full-time for four years. She evaluated and interviewed HBS applicants, both on-campus and globally. Pauline's career has included sales and marketing management roles with Coca-Cola, Gillette, Procter & Gamble, and IBM. For over 10 years, Pauline has expertly guided MBA applicants, and her clients h ...
×Geri
Geri is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS). In her 7 year tenure in HBS Admissions, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a diverse set of academic, geographic, and employment backgrounds. Geri also traveled globally representing the school at outreach events in order to raise awareness for women and international students. In additio ...
×Laura
Laura comes from the MBA Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS) and is an HBS MBA alumnus. In her HBS Admissions role, she evaluated and interviewed hundreds of business school candidates, including internationals, women, military and other applicant pools, for five years. Prior to her time as a student at HBS, Laura began her career in advertising and marketing in Chicago at Leo Burnett where she worked on th ...
×Andrea
Andrea served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Harvard Business School (HBS) for over five years. In this role, she provided strategic direction for student yield-management activities and also served as a full member of the admissions committee. In 2007, Andrea launched the new 2+2 Program at Harvard Business School – a program targeted at college junior applicants to Harvard Business School. Andrea has also served as a Career Coach for Harvard Business School for both cu ...
×Jennifer
Jennifer served as Admissions Officer at the Stanford (GSB) for five years. She holds an MBA from Stanford (GSB) and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Jennifer has over 15 years experience in guiding applicants through the increasingly competitive admissions process into top MBA programs. Having read thousands and thousands of essays and applications while at Stanford (GSB) Admiss ...
×Erin K.
Erin served in key roles in MBA Admissions--as Director at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and Assistant Director at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB). Erin served on the admissions committee at each school and has read thousands of applications in her career. At Haas, she served for seven years in roles that encompassed evaluation, outreach, and diversity and inclusion. During her tenure in Admissions at GSB, she was responsible for candidate evaluation, applicant outreach, ...
×Susie
Susie comes from the Admissions Office of the Stanford Graduate School of Business where she reviewed and evaluated hundreds of prospective students’ applications. She holds an MBA from Stanford’s GSB and a BA from Stanford in Economics. Prior to advising MBA applicants, Susie held a variety of roles over a 15-year period in capital markets, finance, and real estate, including as partner in one of the nation’s most innovative finance and real estate investment organizations. In that r ...
×Dione
Dione holds an MBA degree from Stanford Business School (GSB) and a BA degree from Stanford University, where she double majored in Economics and Communication with concentrations in journalism and sociology. Dione has served as an Admissions reader and member of the Minority Admissions Advisory Committee at Stanford. Dione is an accomplished and respected advocate and thought leader on education and diversity. She is ...
×Anthony
Anthony served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he dedicated over 10 years of expertise. During his time as a Wharton Admissions Officer, he read and reviewed thousands of applications and helped bring in a class of 800+ students a year. Anthony has traveled both domestically and internationally to recruit a ...
×Meghan
Meghan served as the Associate Director of Admissions and Marketing at the Wharton MBA’s Lauder Institute, a joint degree program combining the Wharton MBA with an MA in International Studies. In her role on the Wharton MBA admissions committee, Meghan advised domestic and international applicants; conducted interviews and information sessions domestically and overseas in Asia, Central and South America, and Europe; and evaluated applicants for admission to the program. Meghan also managed ...
×Amy
Amy comes from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where she was Associate Director. Amy devoted 12 years at the Wharton School, working closely with MBA students and supporting the admissions team. During her tenure at Wharton, Amy served as a trusted adviser to prospective applicants as well as admitted and matriculated students. She conducted admissions chats with applicants early in the admissions ...
×Ally
Ally brings six years of admissions experience to the SBC team, most recently as an Assistant Director of Admission for the full-time MBA program at Columbia Business School (CBS). During her time at Columbia, Ally was responsible for reviewing applications, planning recruitment events, and interviewing candidates for both the full-time MBA program and the Executive MBA program. She traveled both internationally and dome ...
×Erin B.
Erin has over seven years of experience working across major institutions, including University of Pennsylvania, Columbia Business School, and NYU's Stern School of Business. At Columbia Business School, Erin was an Assistant Director of Admissions where she evaluated applications for both the full time and executive MBA programs, sat on the admissions and merit scholarship committees and advised applicants on which program might be the best fit for them based on their work experience and pro ...
×Emma
Emma comes from the MBA Admissions Office at Columbia Business School (CBS), where she was Associate Director. Emma conducted dozens of interviews each cycle for the MBA and EMBA programs, as well as coordinating the alumni ambassador interview program. She read and evaluated hundreds of applications each cycle, delivered information sessions to audiences across the globe, and advised countless waitlisted applicants. ×
