Writing Those MBA Application Essays

Writing an MBA application essay? Then, you’ll want to see this video featuring Sandy Kreisberg, founder of the HBSGuru.com, and Alula Eshete, a first-year Harvard Business School student and product manager for The Harbus.

We put them together on the HBS campus to discuss what makes for a great essay and, in particular, to debate the value of The Harbus’ new Essay Guide.

The new essay guide includes 16 successful essays written by this year's incoming HBS students

The new essay guide includes 16 successful essays written by this year’s incoming HBS students

For the past two years, The Harbus, the MBA student newspaper at Harvard Business School, has collected and published essays from successful applicants now enrolled as students at the school. What those collections clearly show is that an essay doesn’t have to be a masterpiece to get you an invite to attend Harvard. “They just need to serviceably present your story and not be annoying of odd or offensive or confusing,” says Sandy Kreisberg, founder of HBSGuru.com, the MBA admissions consultant.

The new 51-page essay guide costs $49.99, the proceeds of which go to support the non-profit Harbus Foundation. It contains 16 essays written by students admitted to Harvard’s Class of 2017. For just $20 more, The Harbus will toss in last year’s essay guide which includes an additional 23 essays. You can buy them here. Unlike much of the drivel written about how to write an MBA essay, the advice and the essays come from incoming HBS students who are willing to share the questions they were asked and the essays they wrote.

DON’T MISS: SAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL ESSAYS or HOW NOT TO BLOW YOUR HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL INTERVIEW

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