0:02 After absolutely shaking up the MBA
0:04 admissions world in 2024 by replacing
0:06 its longrunning single application essay
0:08 prompt with three new short essays,
0:10 Harvard Business School took an entire
0:12 year plus to make the most modest tweaks
0:18 to its 2025 2026 application essays.
0:20 The school is still positioning its
0:21 questions as businessminded, leadership
0:23 focused, and growth oriented, but it's
0:26 cut some of the details. The wording
0:29 before was pretty cumbersome and our
0:30 guess is that they were trying to
0:32 eliminate some confusion. And we also
0:34 suspect that in simplifying the
0:36 questions themselves, they're trying to
0:39 avoid any accusation of an effort to
0:41 elicit responses that require a
0:43 discussion of diversity because of the
0:45 program's ongoing battles with the Trump
0:48 administration. That can be a separate
0:50 video. As I just noted, HBS states that
0:52 it's looking for applicants who are
0:53 business-minded, leadership focused, and
0:55 growth oriented. And in doing so, they
0:57 are rare among MBA programs in that they
0:59 directly tie their essay questions to
1:01 their stated admissions criteria. Before
1:03 you begin to fret about whether you have
1:05 acceptable businessminded, leadership
1:08 focused, and growthoriented stories, I
1:09 would argue that these terms are so
1:12 broad and all-encompassing that the vast
1:15 vast majority of applicants will have no
1:17 trouble generating multiple ideas they
1:19 could use for each of their essays. But
1:21 simply expressing ideas isn't your
1:23 endgame, of course. You need to develop
1:25 a suite of essays that accomplishes two
1:27 main things. First, your essays have to
1:28 do more than just reflect core
1:30 experiences or accomplishments. They
1:33 must reveal your values. So much of your
1:36 application is static or fact-based. If
1:39 your GMAT scores, transcript, even your
1:41 resume and short answers are to an
1:44 extent informational, though your values
1:45 should come through subtly in those
1:47 latter two elements. You have three
1:50 explicit opportunities to really
1:52 showcase who you are. So don't flood the
1:56 adcom with strict accomplishments.
1:58 Really ask yourself whether you're
2:00 conveying your spirit and personality.
2:02 Second, and anyone who follows our
2:04 channel should know exactly what I'm
2:06 going to say now because this is just
2:08 MBA mission and Jeremy Shinewald
2:11 orthodoxy. You must keep the admissions
2:14 reader learning about you from one essay
2:15 to the next. If you share three
2:17 accomplishments in your three HBS
2:19 essays, all from the same work project,
2:22 the odds are overwhelming that you'll
2:24 end up boring or frustrating the reader
2:26 with your second and certainly your
2:28 third essay. You can draw from the same
2:29 environment for the different stories
2:32 you choose to tell, but each story needs
2:34 to reveal a different skill or value.
2:36 So, if you led the overhaul of a core
2:38 product and were a very thoughtful
2:40 mentor to a junior colleague, you can
2:42 certainly tell these two workrelated
2:44 stories. But if you just repeat the same
2:46 product management story or experience
2:48 from one essay to the second to the
2:51 third, you'll miss out on a significant
2:52 opportunity to inform and impress the
2:54 adcom. Be intentional about your suite
2:57 of HBS essays to ensure that the adcom
2:59 gets multiple windows into your
3:02 experience and values. Almost ready to
3:03 dig in, but first I want to mention our
3:06 new free book of 50 sample application
3:09 essays from successful HBS admits. And
3:11 these are the new essays, not the old
3:13 ones. Of course, you shouldn't attempt
3:15 to emulate these essays, but if you need
3:17 some inspiration, you'll find plenty in
3:20 our book. Use the link below to download
3:22 your free copy. Let's discuss the newest
3:23 essay questions for now. Let's look at
3:26 essay one, businessminded. Please
3:27 reflect on how your choices have
3:29 influenced your career path and
3:31 aspirations. You may be looking at this
3:32 prompt and saying to yourself, "Wait,
3:34 this is the simplified prompt? I'm
3:38 afraid so." Your choices is a very vague
3:40 way of eliciting information. Hopefully,
3:42 you can identify a pivotal or catalytic
3:44 experience that's influenced your career
3:46 choices. This experience might have
3:47 occurred in your personal life,
3:49 extracurricular activities, academic
3:51 life, or even an early professional role
3:53 that led you to your existing path. The
3:55 area from which the story comes isn't as
3:58 important as the magnitude of that
4:00 formative experience. You need to show
4:02 that certain experiences have driven
4:03 meaningful choices you've made and are
4:06 fueling your sense of purpose. You need
4:08 to show that linkage. Then you must
4:10 demonstrate an awareness of the impact
4:12 you can have when that purpose manifests
4:14 and not in a tright way where you
4:16 discuss being a change agent. You need
4:18 to show that you truly comprehend your
4:20 role and that you have a clear and
4:22 plausible ambition that flows from your
4:25 skills and experience and that you have
4:27 a realistic and potentially powerful way
4:29 of wielding that potential so you can
4:31 create broad benefits going forward.
4:34 Please don't try to pander to the adcom
4:36 with your choice of goal. A lot of
4:38 applicants will do a backflip to ensure
4:40 that they present the adcom with some
4:42 kind of social mission. Don't fall into
4:45 that temptation. You can have a positive
4:47 impact on others in many ways by
4:49 building organizations with integrity by
4:51 reflecting on stakeholders as you manage
4:52 your career. If you do have a social
4:55 mission, that's great. But if you don't,
4:57 you won't be offering a credible linkage
4:59 by simply stating that you do. Don't
5:01 just write what you think the adcom
5:04 wants to hear, please. Let's look at
5:06 essay two, the leadership focused essay.
5:08 What experiences have shaped how you
5:12 invest in others and how you lead? 250
5:14 words. Here again, you're asked to
5:16 identify a core shaping experience, one
5:18 that led you to the perspective you have
5:19 today. Go back to your initial
5:21 brainstorming and select an experience
5:23 that will allow the admissions reader to
5:25 learn something new about you. The story
5:27 you present in your essay should
5:30 undeniably have been a catalyst. There's
5:32 that word again, a catalyst for you. It
5:33 should be clear to the reader that the
5:35 experience was one that obviously
5:37 affected you dramatically that shaped
5:40 you and altered your perspective on how
5:42 you invest in others and commit yourself
5:44 to their growth. Of course, showing how
5:46 you've invested in others is critical.
5:48 You can't just say, and this mentor
5:51 inspires me to this day, how you have to
5:53 show both cause and effect, and that
5:55 effect should have a real example. We
5:57 want to learn how you invest and lead. A
5:59 word of caution. Many applicants will
6:01 see the word leader and assume that they
6:03 need to show that they are the
6:06 individual who gives that rousing speech
6:08 and leads everyone into battle. If that
6:11 truly is you, great. But it isn't most
6:13 people. And you shouldn't be afraid to
6:15 discuss other forms of leadership. For
6:17 example, you can lead through
6:18 persuasion. You can lead through
6:21 example, service to others, conviction,
6:23 integrity, and so on. As long as you can
6:25 show the root of your leadership style,
6:27 show the adcom how you leverage that
6:28 leadership perspective to influence
6:30 others and pinpoint areas for
6:32 development going forward, you'll have
6:35 very much answered this essay question.
6:37 Now, essay three, growth oriented.
6:39 Curiosity can be seen in many ways.
6:40 Please share an example of how you've
6:42 demonstrated curiosity and how that's
6:44 influenced your growth. 250 words.
6:46 Theoretically, you could be curious
6:48 about an infinite number of things from
6:49 something as broad as the unknown shape
6:51 of the universe to something as specific
6:53 as finding the best dumpling in your
6:55 hometown. Know that the object of your
6:57 curiosity is not as important as your
7:00 pursuit of it. In this essay, you must
7:02 reveal a certain kind of doggedness or
7:05 spirited dedication to this knowledge or
7:07 this experience. The pursuit should be a
7:09 metaphor for who you are and should
7:12 reveal your personality. And again, you
7:14 need to show cause and effect. You need
7:16 to show how your curiosity in one area
7:18 has influenced your growth in other
7:20 spheres. So, for example, maybe your
7:22 search for the best dumpling in town has
7:23 led you to create a dumpling review
7:25 podcast, which in turn helped you
7:27 improve your public speaking skills. In
7:29 this example, we have a cause and effect
7:31 connection that makes sense. Curiosity
7:33 about the city's best dumpling led to
7:35 the development of strong public
7:37 speaking abilities, making what might at
7:39 first seem like a trivial pursuit
7:41 actually quite meaningful. My point is
7:43 that you should look within yourself to
7:45 find that moment when you're insatiably
7:48 striving to learn something or grow in
7:50 some way and then reveal the intensity
7:52 of your interest and the way the spirit
7:55 of curiosity continues to manifest in
7:56 your life. Good luck with your
7:58 brainstorming and indeed with your
8:00 writing. If you need some inspiration,
8:01 don't forget to download our free book
8:04 of 50 sample HBS essays linked below.
8:07 And stay tuned for our next video while
8:09 we share one of those sample essays and
