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Columbia Business School: What It Offers and What It Takes to Get In (NEWS)

By: Greg Yang | Last Updated: October 27, 2023

Columbia Business School: What It Offers and What It Takes to Get In Columbia Business School (CBS), ranks seventh in P&Q’s ‘Top Business Schools’ ranking. Popular among applicants, it boasts an acceptance rate of 22% though, gaining admission to the prestigious MBA program isn’t easy. Hanna Stern, an admissions consultant at Stacy Blackman Consulting and…

Personal MBA Coach: CBS Full-Time MBA Essay Tips (NEWS)

By: Scott Edinburgh, Personal MBA Coach | Last Updated: September 19, 2023

https://player.vimeo.com/video/866055472 Planning to apply to CBS? Do not miss this quick tips video in which Personal MBA Coach Founder, Scott Edinburgh, gives advice on how to develop winning CBS essays.

HBS Full-Time MBA Essay Tips (NEWS)

By: Scott Edinburgh, Personal MBA Coach | Last Updated: September 11, 2023

Dreaming of getting into HBS? Watch this quick tips video with Scott Edinburgh, Personal MBA Coach Founder, to find out how to approach the open-ended HBS MBA application essay question!

Tackling The Wharton Essays (NEWS)

By: Cecile Matthews | Last Updated: September 28, 2018

In the essay section of the Wharton MBA 2018-2019 application, the admissions committee states that they, “want to get to know you on both a professional and personal level.” The school’s essay questions reflect this dual desire, so candidates should be ready to write about all aspects of their lives. Essay 1 is very…

MBA Application Essays Part 3 – Leadership, Past Decisions, And Setback Essays (NEWS)

By: Tyler Cormney,, co-founder, MBA Prep School | Last Updated: October 16, 2019

In the first two articles in our MBA Essay Writing Boot Camp series, MBA Prep School discussed four of the most common types of MBA application essay questions. In this third article, we will round out the list of essay question types that you may come across when applying for an MBA. The final three essay…

MBA Application Essays Part 1: Career Progress And Career Goals Essays (NEWS)

By: Tyler Cormney,, co-founder, MBA Prep School | Last Updated: October 16, 2019

Introducing MBA Prep School’s Essay Writing Boot Camp Series MBA Prep School has created this Essay Writing Boot Camp article series exclusively for Poets&Quants readers. The six articles in the series combine to provide MBA applicants with “basic training” on how to develop and write successful MBA application essays. Your MBA application essays can be…

The Optional MBA Essay, Explained (NEWS)

By: Karen Marks, president and founder of North Star Admissions Consulting | Last Updated: September 1, 2023

Confused about optional essays? If so, you are not alone. Here are some guidelines about the optional MBA application essay. Be Brief. You shouldn’t tell an elaborate, personal story, or write creatively. You want to use this space judiciously, and to communicate succinctly. This is also not the right place to recap your entire candidacy,…

Harvard MBA Essay Examples (NEWS)

By: John A. Byrne | Last Updated: October 4, 2019

A soldier who served on the front lines in Afghanistan. A process engineer challenged by a long series of early failures. And a female consultant whose passion became healthcare. Three MBA applicants to Harvard Business School last year. Three students in the newest crop of MBA students at Harvard this fall. All of them answered…

The ‘Introduce Yourself’ MBA Essay (NEWS)

By: Judith Silverman Hodara, director, Fortuna Admissions | Last Updated: August 21, 2017

With round one MBA deadlines just around the corner, thousands of applicants again face crunch time with one of the favorite admissions essay topics, “Introduce Yourself.” Some of the top schools, like Harvard Business School, ask the question quite explicitly while some, such as Northwestern’s Kellogg School, ask the applicant to think about business school…

A Look Into The MBA Essay Process (NEWS)

By: Gregory Yang | Last Updated: August 12, 2017

A Look Into The MBA Essay Process First impressions matter…especially in an MBA application essay. They frame a picture and set a tone. And they quickly reveal whether a candidate brings a unique perspective to the class and fit with the carefully-crafted culture of the school. Every application goes through a rigorous vetting process, however.…

Crafting That MBA Essay On Leadership (NEWS)

By: Deborah Knox | Last Updated: October 4, 2019

One way or another, if you apply to business school, you’re going to need to demonstrate that you’re a leader. While this is being asked less explicitly via essay prompts these days, you’re almost guaranteed to be asked about your leadership skills in your interviews. You’ll also want to highlight them in your résumé and…

No Essay and No Waiting: What’s Not to Like? (NEWS)

By: Jeff Schmitt | Last Updated: May 29, 2020

Shanti Elangovan didn’t plan on enrolling in business school. An elementary school teacher who’d earned masters degrees in education at Columbia University and public health at Boston University, Elangovan dreamed of working in educational administration and reform (or even launching her own school). In 2013, she began researching a Ph.D. in educational leadership at the…

Kellogg to Require Video Essay (NEWS)

By: Lauren Everitt | Last Updated: October 21, 2021

Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management said today (July 29) it will now require a video essay as part of its 2013/2014 MBA application, which will be available in mid-August. While several B-schools have included optional video responses in their applications, Kellogg is the highest ranked business school to make it a mandatory. In Kellogg's…

This Year’s Essays Demand Authenticity (NEWS)

By: Maya Itah | Last Updated: October 21, 2021

‘Tis the season, MBA hopefuls. One by one, top business schools are releasing essay questions for the 2013-2014 application cycle. Thus far, the length, tone and style of the questions has varied widely. Harvard Business School, Darden and Anderson opted to keep things simple by requiring only one essay; Columbia even asked for a tweet-sized…

Wharton Drops Application Essay (NEWS)

By: Lauren Everitt | Last Updated: October 21, 2021

The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School has cut the number of application essays in its 2013/2014 application to two, down from three in the previous application cycle. Wharton (4th in P&Q's 2012 ranking) is the latest top school to trim the number of required essays for incoming applicants - the business schools at Harvard, Stanford,…

Perfecting The Careers Goals Essay (NEWS)

By: Evan Forster and David Thomas | Last Updated: October 26, 2021

“Vision is making people see what they have not seen, and making them follow you,” says MIT Sloan’s Rod Garcia who has led MBA admissions for the school for many years. Helping you dig down deep to determine your long-term vision is the central theme of your candidacy around which every other part hinges. One…

Kellogg’s Most Challenging Essay (NEWS)

By: jesussalazar | Last Updated: February 22, 2022

What are the most challenging essay questions business schools ask applicants? That’s a question we hope to answer in this new six-part series. Stacy Blackman, founder of the MBA admissions consulting firm that bears her name, is picking out what she considers to be the most challenging and then providing advice for how to approach each…

Stanford’s Mind-Boggling Essay (NEWS)

By: jesussalazar | Last Updated: March 22, 2022

What are the most challenging essay questions business schools ask applicants? That’s a question we hope to answer in the second feature in this new six-part series. Stacy Blackman, founder of the MBA admissions consulting firm that bears her name, is picking out what she considers to be the most challenging and then providing advice for…

Handling Wharton’s Challenging Essays (NEWS)

By: jesussalazar | Last Updated: March 23, 2022

What are the most challenging essay questions business schools ask applicants? That’s a question we hope to answer in the second feature in this new six-part series. Stacy Blackman, founder of the MBA admissions consulting firm that bears her name, is picking out what she considers to be the most challenging and then providing advice for…

Essays: Responding to Criticism (NEWS)

By: Linda Abraham | Last Updated: October 3, 2019

Next up in our series on major MBA application essay topics: responding to criticism. A typical essay question in this category may be something like, "What is the toughest criticism/constructive feedback you have ever received, and what did you learn from it?" Yes, you'd much rather write about your achievements and the great reviews you've…

The Optional Essay: Use it or Lose it? (NEWS)

By: Linda Abraham | Last Updated: October 11, 2019

You've just spent hours – or more likely weeks – writing the two to four essays that most top MBA programs require. The last thing you want to do is write another essay…unless of course that essay will help you. How do you know if it's worth it to spend the time composing an optional…

Essay Advice: If You’re Reapplying… (NEWS)

By: Linda Abraham | Last Updated: October 9, 2019

If you wanted to boil down your goal in writing the reapplication essay to four words, they would be: Show how you've grown. The adcoms may compare this year’s application with the past dinged one – or at least with the notes from reviewers. And they'll be looking for improvement, plain and simple. To show…

Writing the Self-Revelation Essay (NEWS)

By: Paul S. Bodine | Last Updated: October 3, 2019

Andrew wanted to get into Stanford, but I told him he wasn’t being realistic. His 700 GMAT was ﬁne, but didn’t compensate completely for his mediocre GPA in college, his hardly electrifying proﬁle (IT guy with a major consultancy), and his ﬁne but unremarkable extracurricular credentials. Then Andrew told me his story. Raised in one…

MBA Essays: Why The Goals Essay Is Critical (NEWS)

By: Paul S. Bodine | Last Updated: October 3, 2019

Make no mistake. Of all the essays you’ll write for your business school application, the goals essay is the most important. It’s the one essay in which schools most explicitly ask you to answer the central question that underlies your entire application—why exactly do you need an MBA? Not surprisingly, it’s also the essay that…

The Ghostwriters of MBA Essays (NEWS)

By: John A. Byrne | Last Updated: November 30, 2010

"My clients are not lazy or trying to be unethical. They work in industries where the hours are really long and writing skills are not emphasized… I think I'm helping people. People who go to these lengths will get the most out of business school." That's Blake Reynolds, founder of a college essay-writing service in…

Stanford’s Famous ‘Tortilla’ Essay (NEWS)

By: John A. Byrne | Last Updated: October 6, 2010

The very first question applicants to Stanford’s MBA program must answer is this one: “What matters most to you, and why?” A few years ago, one applicant wrote the now famous so-called ‘tortilla essay’ and it was published on the Internet. Immediately, at least in MBA admission circles, it became the equivalent of the infamous…

November 16, 2023 (CALENDAR)

By: dgutierrez | Last Updated: November 14, 2023

Navigating MBA Admissions: Deconstructing Common Essay Prompts (Part 1) Deconstruct some common essay prompts you might encounter in your MBA application with Sia Admissions founder and MBA coach - Susan Berishaj. Join the LIVE on November 16th where she will break down some of the most common MBA essay prompts, such as "Why MBA?" "Career…