This year, Harvard Business School (HBS) revamped its essay prompts. It has replaced its previous, open-ended question about what else you would like to share with the admissions committee with three shorter, more defined essay prompts: a Business-Minded Essay, a Leadership-Focused Essay, and a Growth-Oriented Essay. With Round 2 application deadlines just around the corner, many applicants are no doubt starting (or continuing) to rack their brains over how to tackle these new HBS essay prompts, as well as the always challenging Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) essay question “What matters most to you, and why?”
To help you write these essays, we at mbaMission have identified the top questions that candidates applying to these business schools tend to ask us. We hope our ideas will provide food for thought and help you kick-start your HBS and Stanford GSB essays.
“Which one should I write first?”
If you are applying to both HBS and the Stanford GSB, you might be wondering whether writing the HBS essays first would be easier or whether starting with the Stanford GSB essay would be the better option. The answer is that neither will necessarily be easier than the other, so you can begin with either one. Try starting with an essay that you find more instinctive to write. Because the new HBS essay questions are more defined and shorter, many applicants might find them less challenging to start with. That said, some candidates already have a topic in mind for their Stanford GSB essay and therefore might find that one easier to work on first. Whichever one you choose, the important thing is just to start writing!
“How long should the essays be?”
HBS has a limit of 300 words for its Business-Minded Essay and of 250 words for both its Leadership-Focused Essay and its Growth-Oriented Essay.
As for the Stanford GSB’s essays, the school’s admissions committee suggests writing no more than 650 words for Essay A (“What matters most to you, and why?”) and no more than 350 words for Essay B (“Why Stanford?”). The total word count for both essays combined cannot exceed 1,000 words. Although you might be tempted to write more than 650 words for Essay A, doing so could be detrimental to your Essay B. In our experience, 350 words is already a tight space in which to respond to the Essay B prompt, so we recommend sticking close to the suggested word count for each essay.
“Should the essays be personal, professional, or a mix of the two?”
Yes, yes, and yes. We have seen successful HBS and Stanford GSB essays that use a mix of personal and professional stories, successful essays that use only personal stories, and successful essays that use only professional stories. The admissions committee is not looking for a specific mix. They are looking to learn more about you. So whatever stories you choose, just make sure that they are woven into your narrative coherently and compellingly.
“Is the Stanford GSB’s optional short-answer question really optional?”
Generally speaking, you will not be penalized for skipping any question that is marked as “optional.” That said, optional questions provide an opportunity for you to share stories or additional context that you might not have been able to fit into your two required essays. So, we encourage you to answer the school’s optional short-answer question: “Think about a time in the last few years when 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?” You can share up to three examples, so seize this chance to share more of your achievements!
Although these are some of the most common questions we receive about the HBS and Stanford GSB essays, applicants undoubtedly have many more that we have not addressed here. If you would like additional targeted guidance on approaching and writing your Stanford GSB essay, along with annotated essays from actual past applicants, check out our book “What Matters?” and “What More?”: 50 Successful Essays for the Stanford GSB and HBS (and Why They Worked). Be aware that this book also includes and analyzes past HBS essays, but they are based on the school’s previous prompt and not the current ones.
