50 MBA Essays That Worked

WELCOME

…to the third volume of Admissionado’s 50 MBA Essays That Worked.

The aim of this 50 Essays collection is two-fold: First and foremost, we want to show you snapshots of a successful applicant; how their stories fly off the page, and how they present airtight arguments for why THEY deserve that coveted spot at their target MBA program. Second, but equally important, we want to show that these winning essays rarely (never!) start out perfectly. It takes work. And patience.

A quick overview of who we are and what we do: Our clients are overachievers, just like us. They are aiming for Top 15 MBA programs and, therefore, they are competing with the best the world has to offer. Each client teams up with an expert MBA consultant on our team (also a graduate of a Top 15 MBA program but, more importantly, an expert on the admissions process) as well as an essay specialist. This “power couple” guides the process from start to finish, balancing strategic insights and applicant profile positioning with the challenges of bringing out those insights through clear, well-paced, well-organized prose. Draft after draft, we pound and slash and kick and shred and shape and reshape. The result? Essays that our clients have authored entirely on their own, with smart guidance from us, which lead to admits.

Enclosed are 50 sample essays from applicants now earning their MBA at places like Wharton, Stanford, HBS, etc. While the finished essay speaks for itself, we have also provided quick insights on each essay’s effectiveness. Each sample is followed by a high-level diagnosis from our MBA strategy experts on WHY the essay turned heads. You’ll also see a structural breakdown from our essay specialists of how each component of the essay strengthens the overall argument, while highlighting specific examples straight from the page.

But wait, there’s more!

We selected nine of those essays to reveal a little more of the process that led to those final results. We show you the very first draft and a sample of our feedback. Then we show you the final draft, including commentary from our MBA experts and essay specialists. Through these nine samples, you’ll see how each essay starts out as a piece of uncut marble, but ends up transformed into a lifelike sculpture. (Bear in mind, in order to make these easy to read, we’ve cut out some of the detailed feedback.) If you’re curious to see what that might look like, we have included an “unabridged” first edit at the end, so you can get a glimpse into our process.

MBA essay prompts are challenging, folks. Boy do we remember. We have been through exactly what you’re going through. But we lived to tell the tale, and so will you. We applaud your ambition and hope this volume gives you a teaspoon of inspiration to accompany you on your exciting journey.