The ‘Do This, Not That’ MBA Essay Checklist

You have heard the rules: Be authentic, tell a story, distinguish yourself. But no amount of engineering an essay can work without the fundamental elements — understanding the prompt and understanding what your reader is expecting in response. Here is your definitive “do-this-not-that” checklist for the MBA essay.

1. Understand the Prompt — Don’t Just Read It

Don’t settle for reading the prompt; strive to understand it. Recognize not just what is being asked, but why it matters. If the prompt asks about a time you faced a challenge, they’re not interested in the event itself; they want to peek into how you think, adapt, and grow. When writing, reflect on why you made certain decisions and what those choices reveal about you. Similarly, if asked about your career goals, go beyond the title you aim for — demonstrate how you’ll grow into that role, starting today. Show who you are and the values and priorities that will guide your journey.

2. Reflect — Don’t Just Recount

Your résumé is for listing achievements; your essay is for reflection. Avoid overlap — if your essay mirrors your résumé, stop and rethink your approach. Reflection means critically analyzing key moments in your life, both professional and personal. Imagine you’re reviewing someone else’s life story — focus on the challenges, growth, and transformations that have shaped that story. Admissions committees want to understand your personality, motivations, and evolution — not just what you’ve done. But avoid dressing up weak content; respect your readers’ intelligence.

3. Have a Purpose — Don’t Just Structure

We have all heard the rules of structure before: introduction, body, conclusion; tell them what you will tell them, tell them, tell them what you have told them. But when you write your MBA essay, you don’t write to inform (where the rules of structure work), but you write to influence. And when you write to influence, you need rules of purpose. The purpose of your MBA essay is to influence as assessment of how you will strengthen the MBA class. Your structure should serve this purpose. Focus on illustrating a cohesive narrative—a consistent thread that ties together your experiences and aspirations. Distinction isn’t about being different for its own sake; it’s about showing a clear, consistent purpose throughout your story.

4. Focus on the Words — Don’t Just Count

Word count is more than a limit. It is also about making every word count. When you edit for clarity (is the sentence easy to understand and without ambiguity), also edit for cohesion (does the idea hold together for a critical audience). When you edit for parsimony (not saying in too many words what could be said in fewer), also edit for purpose (does the sentence further the goal of the essay). When you edit for style (is the prose for a professional audience and not your comedy club), also edit for substance (does the sentence add value). And, when you edit for diction (word choice is not exaggerated), also edit for discipline (you never stray from the purpose). In other words, edit intentionally.

When you write an MBA essay, you are not listing. You are not recounting. Instead, you are telling a story. Good stories are interesting and good storytellers are engaging. You make something interesting not by wondering what to say, but by being obsessed about leaving all the uninteresting bits out. You engage an audience not by grabbing their attention, but when they remain interested in what comes next.

Dr. Atish Chattopadhyay is Director at Jagdish Sheth School of Management. He is a mentor and advisor to AACSB and a founding member of the EFMD Indian Business Council. In 2022 he was conferred with the first Y K Bhushan Memorial Award, instituted by the Higher Education Foundation of India, for his “outstanding contribution to management education.”

Suraj Commuri is Associate Professor and Chair of the Marketing Department at the Massry School of Business at SUNY-Albany.