E-Book Overview
YOUR LIFE . . . IN 300 WORDS OR LESS
It's a daunting task. Even the most seasoned professionals find business school application essays to be among the hardest pieces they ever write. With a diverse pool of talented people applying to the nation's top schools from the most successful companies and prestigious undergraduate programs in the world, a simple biography detailing accomplishments and goals isn't enough. Applicants need clear and compelling arguments that grab admissions officers and absolutely refuse to let go.
To help them write the essays that get them accepted into Harvard or any of the country's other top programs, the staff of The Harbus---HBS's student newspaper---have updated and revised their collection of sixty-five actual application essays as well as their detailed analysis of them so that applicants will be able to:
* Avoid common pitfalls * Play to their strengths * Get their message across
Wherever they are applying, the advice and tested strategies in 65 Successful Harvard Business School Application Essays give business professionals and undergraduates the insider's knowledge to market themselves most effectively and truly own the process.
E-Book Content
65 SUCCESSFUL HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL APPLICATION ESSAYS SECOND EDITION
65 SUCCESSFUL HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL APPLICATION ESSAYS SECOND EDITION With Analysis by the Staff of The Harbus , the Harvard Business School Newspaper
65
SUCCESSFUL
HARVARD
BUSINESS
SCHOOL
APPLICATION
ESSAYS,
SECOND
EDITION.
Copyright © 2009 by The Harbus News Corporation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010. www.stmartins.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 65 successful Harvard Business School application essays : with analysis by the staff of The Harbus , the Harvard Business School newspaper / Lauren Sullivan and the staff of The Harbus. —2nd ed. p. cm. ISBN 978-0-312-55007-3 1. Business schools—United States—Admission. 2. Exposition (Rhetoric) 3. Essay—Authorship. 4. Business writing. 5. Harvard Business School. I. Sullivan, Lauren. II. Harbus. III. Title: Sixty-five successful Harvard Business School application essays. HF1131.A135 2009 808'.06665—dc22 2009012531 First Edition: August 2009 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS Acknowledgments Introduction I. DEFINING MOMENT Stacie Hogya Anonymous Anonymous David La Fiura Anonymous Avin Bansal Anonymous Brad Finkbeiner Anonymous II.UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENCE John Coleman Maxwell Anderson Lavanya Anantharman Rosita Najmi Faye Iosotaluno Anonymous Rohan Nirody III.CAREER ASPIRATIONS Jason Kreuziger Anonymous James Reinhart Jemine Rewane Anonymous Apar Kothari Anonymous Anonymous Stephen Cravens Anne Morriss IV.TYPICAL DAY Anonymous Jay Glaubach Lexie Hallen Benoit-Olivier Boureau Jason Bohle V. THREE ACCOMPLISHMENTS Anonymous Anonymous Martin Brand Anonymous Anonymous
Scott Griffin Daniel Lewis Dale Schilling Erik Johnson VI. S ETBACK OR FAILURE Chris Withers Eugenia Gibbons John Richard Craig Ellis Irfhan Rawji Thomson Nguy Anonymous Jordan Burton VII.ETHICALISSUES Anonymous Paul Yeh Rye Barcott Anonymous Adam Heltzer Anonymous Anonymous VIII.OTHER QUESTION Nathan Dutzmann Anonymous David Zhang John Schmit Jaime Arreola Anonymous Ally Ip Anonymous Anonymous Cabin Kim
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The motivation to create the second edition of 65 Successful Harvard Business School Application Essays came from a recent rise in business school applications. With an abundance of qualified candidates to choose from, admissions officers can be more selective, makin