0:06 well hello everyone this is John burn
0:08 with poets and quants Welcome to our
0:11 webinar on how to tackle the Harvard
0:13 Business School
0:15 application uh there are many of you out
0:17 there who want to apply to Harvard in a
0:19 typical year uh the school may get as
0:22 many as 10,000
0:25 applications uh and accepts probably 12
0:30 133% at most uh in a given year so it's
0:32 highly selective and to help you get
0:35 over the hurdle we have the one and only
0:38 Carla Cohen a
0:40 former associate director of admissions
0:43 at Harvard Business School who is now a
0:45 director at for tuna Admissions and one
0:48 of the members of the dream team of
0:51 former NBA Gatekeepers at the top
0:54 Business Schools so welcome thank you
0:56 John it's it's great to be here and I
0:59 appreciate that that introduction and at
1:02 Harvard we have some new essays this
1:04 year uh Harvard doesn't typically change
1:08 things uh very often so this is a big
1:10 deal let's go through them one by one
1:13 how do you suggest tackling them you
1:15 know there's a business-minded essay for
1:18 example how do you tackle that it's a
1:21 great question and so that's the first
1:23 question that they have is is to really
1:26 focus on um my my advice is to focus on
1:28 key moments and
1:30 experiences that have shaped your career
1:32 and so this one is very much a
1:35 short-term and long-term um goal
1:37 articulation um where you're going to
1:41 map out a plan um and so it's important
1:43 to really zero in on what are those
1:45 moments that have pointed you in the
1:46 direction of the trajectory that you're
1:49 you're planning to go on and give a
1:51 little bit of context um to help them
1:52 understand your decision- making there
1:55 so much about what exists at HBS is how
1:56 to make better decisions in fact that's
1:58 what the whole case method is predicated
2:00 on so they want to get a taste of how
2:02 are you going to make this decision um
2:04 with respect to this investment of uh of
2:06 going to to HPS if you're lucky enough
2:10 to be admitted and um and so the that
2:13 would be I think the core element is to
2:16 clearly articulate the specific moments
2:18 um that have shaped that and then helped
2:19 them understand where the momentum is coming
2:20 coming
2:23 from right and then there's a leadership
2:26 focused asay how do you how do you
2:28 tackle that one yeah this one is you
2:30 know again Harvard is a place even
2:32 though the essays have changed it's it's
2:33 going to be looking for Community
2:35 engagement appetite and aptitude and
2:39 Leadership is is the core measures um to
2:41 determine who's a good fit and so this
2:43 is where you can really Flex on your
2:45 leadership style or moments where you've
2:48 let initiatives this doesn't necessarily
2:50 have to be work related so especially
2:53 given that the first one is going to be
2:55 um almost certainly professionally
2:57 focused this one you can show both
3:00 perhaps the community engagement side as
3:02 well as certain moments that you have
3:05 really shown within whatever spaces that
3:07 you've been in they want to see
3:09 individuals that were um you know
3:11 whatever you do in whatever environment
3:13 it is better for your presence and so
3:15 usually this takes on the form of
3:17 demonstrating examples of leadership so
3:19 whether that is you you know saw an
3:21 opportunity that that others didn't
3:22 within a nonprofit that you're
3:25 supporting or you came up with an idea
3:27 um and got it off the ground there's
3:28 many different ways that leadership can
3:31 show up there's formal and informal so
3:33 my advice is to to look at it doesn't
3:35 necessarily have to show up on a resume
3:36 it can be solving problems with
3:38 colleagues it can be smoothing over
3:41 disagreements or it can be improving
3:43 morale um increasing engagement within a
3:46 team um positive attitude can be a force
3:49 for for strong leadership as well um as
3:53 well as optimism but um examples yeah
3:54 these are these are tight so you have
3:56 only you know uh you don't have the
3:59 length that you did before no and then
4:01 there's the growth oriented essay the
4:05 third one yeah John you and I shared
4:07 yeah this is our favorite I think um
4:09 between the my favorite actually
4:11 absolutely because you're you're you're
4:14 gonna demonstrate creativity when did
4:17 did creativity lead you to pursue
4:20 something different interesting that
4:22 pushed you outside your comfort zone and
4:24 how did that change you um so you want
4:26 to think about examples and this is you
4:28 know again the theme throughout all of
4:30 these is the show versus the telling so
4:32 you want to come up with these examples
4:33 that demonstrate these ideas that you're
4:36 looking to convey um it's it's much
4:39 easier to to it's easier to say that
4:41 this you know interesting idea or this
4:43 curiosity was what inspired my
4:45 involvement in ex or you can just detail
4:49 so specify the situation and uh talk
4:51 about the different steps that you took
4:53 that led you in that direction and then
4:55 show the reflection here you have um a
4:59 bit of space to to talk about how this
5:01 how this opened up your mind maybe you
5:03 had never maybe you're seeing something
5:05 in a new way for the first time whether
5:07 that's um a challenge that you faced a
5:09 problem and so this is this can come
5:11 from any area of your life um and so I
5:14 think that's why it is an opportunity to
5:17 really stand out yeah totally so now is
5:19 there a recommended structure for these
5:23 essays or should you be free form I
5:25 would recommend because it's both tight
5:27 just to to organize yourself you've got
5:29 to be disciplined to use a structure the
5:32 the standard is to do introduction body
5:35 and conclusion so essentially in the
5:37 introduction you want to briefly sort
5:40 Define the context as well as present
5:42 the experiences that you've been through
5:44 and then you want to give it you know
5:47 the the actions decisions and other
5:50 elements that have made up the you know
5:51 the thing that the idea that you're
5:53 introducing and then you want to tie it
5:54 all together at the end with the
5:56 conclusion so what did you learn from
5:59 these experiences um you know this
6:01 sounds a bit abstract but I think it
6:03 makes more sense in the context of you
6:05 know being able to just launch in with
6:06 something so it does feel a little bit
6:09 like a mini traditional essay in that
6:10 sense but you want to have that
6:12 structure you want to be organized um
6:13 and so that's how I would suggest
6:16 approaching it and should they focus on
6:19 work rated examples or can you be very
6:23 personal and outside of work or or what
6:25 you can be personal even when you're
6:27 talking about professional experiences
6:29 you can reflect on you know maybe there
6:31 was a certain situation at work that
6:33 really challenged you and that could be
6:34 something that inspired you to move up
6:36 to the next level or it can be something
6:39 that inspired you to move to a different
6:41 industry or firm um and so you can be
6:43 personal about and and you want to be
6:46 human um the most difficult part about
6:47 um and I've said this many many times
6:49 but it it remains true and especially
6:51 with there's been an increase in MBA
6:53 applications um I know you guys reported
6:56 on this recently but um you're going to
6:58 have to really stand out so being
7:01 personal and drawing from the heart can
7:03 be embedded in any of the essays that
7:06 that you're approaching so that it both
7:09 you know feels real because it's true um
7:11 and so that personal side of it what is
7:13 really driving you what is leading you
7:15 to make the decisions that you're making
7:16 where are you headed at the end of the
7:18 day HBS is a place that wants to educate
7:20 leaders who make a difference in the
7:22 world so that's a pretty personal thing
7:25 along with the you know Mary Oliver poem
7:26 that they they always Showcase with
7:28 individuals around like what do you want
7:30 to do with your one Wild and precious
7:32 life this is a community you're almost
7:34 joining a family so there's a bit the
7:36 personal elements can be in mesed in it
7:39 not every essay needs to be personal you
7:40 can have some that are more um
7:42 structured and focused in the sense that
7:44 they don't necessarily go in that
7:46 direction um but it helps to connect
7:48 with the reader when you can be personal
7:50 one thing that struck me about the new
7:53 essays is how short they are like the
7:56 business-minded essay is only uh up to
7:59 300 words the other two in leadership
8:00 and growth
8:04 limited to 250 words each so is there
8:07 actually room for storytelling here
8:11 absolutely um so don't let the you know
8:14 the shortness or the the length um sort
8:16 of parameters that they will and they're
8:18 tight you know that this isn't just a
8:21 suggested link you will not be able to
8:23 go over you will you know input your
8:25 text into the application form so you
8:28 have to be disciplined um that almost
8:30 demands that if you're going to stand
8:32 out that you have to tell a story you
8:34 have to be better at kind of structuring
8:36 um and weaving and storytelling elements
8:39 um you can start you know the any of
8:40 these or you know I would suggest like
8:42 using different tools like whether it's
8:45 dialogue or you know um a sort of hook
8:46 element at the beginning of something to
8:48 draw the reader in to maintain their
8:51 interest and uh and and then also keep
8:52 the the story moving so that they're not
8:55 falling asleep okay you've read
8:58 thousands of MBA essays uh for from
8:59 people who are trying to get in the
9:01 heart in school what are the most common
9:03 mistakes you've seen I think the most
9:05 common mistakes that that people make is
9:09 that they repeat um information that is
9:11 already included in other parts of your
9:14 application so what I loved um you know
9:16 that was really this this was pushed
9:18 forward in the last you know version of
9:20 their essays which is not lost on the
9:22 readers now which is what more do you
9:24 want us to know and so keep that idea in
9:27 mind too that it's almost more helpful
9:29 to start with the main application first
9:30 because you're going to give them a lot
9:32 of information before they get to the
9:34 essays and so you don't want to just be
9:36 rehashing things that they already know
9:39 you want these essay to be expansive um
9:40 that's number one I think the other
9:43 element is that they try to um focus
9:45 only on professional and it's a laundry
9:48 list of successes the the Forgotten
9:50 element in a lot of these and and this
9:52 is broadly for many MBA applications is
9:55 the power of you know stumbling you know
9:57 it may be that it's only focusing on successes
9:59 successes
10:01 there's always concern when you would
10:03 hear or look at an app like him where
10:04 it's like this is a little too perfect
10:05 right where it's like everything has
10:07 always been smooth you always knew
10:08 exactly what you wanted to do and
10:10 everything always worked out that's not
10:11 really how life works and that's also
10:14 not very interesting and as many of the
10:15 professors have talked about it's the
10:19 ability to adapt that um you know versus
10:20 the strongest or fastest or smartest
10:22 surviving to you know borrow from
10:24 Darwinism but that was something that
10:26 was pressed forward by the school is
10:27 that they're looking for this
10:29 adaptability quotient and you your best
10:31 teachers can be failures so that both
10:33 shows vulnerability which allows you to
10:35 build trust with the reader and connect
10:37 you don't have to just you know list
10:38 your failures either but you want to
10:41 show some vulnerability there so those
10:42 are the two key things that I think a
10:45 lot of folks will will miss and and they
10:47 look a little bit too brochure like
10:49 versus Being Human there are no perfect
10:52 candidates right I mean none so any
10:55 final tips here for a Harvard Business
10:56 School bound
10:59 applicant I think you want to be deeply
11:03 reflective um as you're looking at what
11:05 is different about me when I look at my
11:08 peers the mistake too to kind of circle
11:10 back to the question that you just asked
11:12 but also in terms of guiding this
11:14 process moving forward is to have in
11:17 mind that avoid the temptation to look
11:20 like everybody else um there is this
11:22 sense that oh my friend who got in this
11:24 was their strategy so I want to apply a
11:26 similar approach and they don't want to
11:28 see the same person again the more
11:30 distinctive you can be
11:33 as long as your goals align and the
11:34 purpose of what you want to do with your
11:36 life is also aligned with what um HBS
11:38 offers which is a general management
11:40 degree it's not just Leadership School
11:42 it is um they're great in leadership but
11:44 you want to make sure that you're able
11:47 to show both that you are someone who is
11:49 self-aware self-awareness is critical
11:52 and that you're reflective on your
11:54 experiences and have evidence to show
11:56 that when you set your mind to something
11:58 that you're able to accomplish it that
11:59 doesn't mean that everything always goes
12:02 perfectly but it's that combination of
12:03 self-awareness that you can demonstrate
12:06 at different parts of the application so
12:07 look at everything and take every piece
12:09 of the application seriously don't just
12:11 focus on the essays although they are
12:13 absolutely essential and critical and
12:16 can be the defining Factor oftentimes
12:18 people will over index on the essays and
12:21 miss other opportunities to really sell
12:23 themselves to the committee and to make
12:24 um an impact on the reader so you want
12:27 to be memorable tell the truth um the
12:30 truth always tracks and um and remember
12:33 that being vulnerable is is powerful and
12:36 can help level up your application um
12:38 don't be generic don't be vague I think
12:40 if you're cliche you fall into a trap of
12:42 you know you don't want anyone rolling
12:43 their eyes like I've heard this story a
12:46 million times before so no has lived
12:48 with any other person like everyone has
12:49 their everyone has their own unique
12:52 experiences so really focus on the
12:55 distinctiveness that of the differences
12:58 versus um trying to be blend in with the
13:01 crowd that's great advice so Carla if a
13:04 candidate wants to uh reach out or find
13:06 out more from Fortuna admissions what
13:08 should they do they should go to the
13:12 website um the Fortuna website they can
13:15 contact us for a free consultation and
13:17 uh yeah we hope to help support many of
13:19 the folks out there who are confused by
13:22 this process it is very confusing so
13:23 appreciate you being here John and
13:25 helping to elucidate a lot of these
13:27 issues and uh thanks for your time today
13:29 Carla thank you so you've been listening
13:32 to Carla Cohen who is a director at
13:35 Fortuna admissions the dream team of
13:38 former NBA admission Gatekeepers of
13:40 course Carla as I mentioned before was
13:43 an associate director at HBS admissions
13:45 so she knows the end and out she's been
13:47 on the committee she you know she's been
13:51 in the room where decisions are made uh
13:52 check her out this is John burn with
13:54 poets and quants [Music]
