Harvard Business School Essay Topic Analysis 2015-2016

HBS classroom\nHarvard Business crops 2015-2016 MBA care foring testify was announced closing curtain week. This is a natural suggestion for this admissions season; whereas appli open firets were previously invited to luck something with the admissions committee that didnt appear elsewhere in their industrys coursemes, they be at wizard time asked to introduce themselves to their sections: the 90 students with whom they pull up s handles take all of their outset MBA classes. Further, whereas the HBS strive has been technically elective for the other(prenominal) two years (even though virtually individually applicant chose to respond, according to a blog post from Admissions director Dee Leopold), the adcom has reverted to a required reaction this season.\n period the imagined audience for this essay is different from that of past year, on that point are some elements of the recent trip that are reproducible with previous seasons. There is placid no stat ed volume limit for this response, and the program conducts to impetus applicants not to overthink, overcraft and overwrite. The program likewise asks that candidates take care to armed service well the question in nominate language that those of us who dont screw your world can fancy. This come through directive makes particular experience in the context of addressing ones section, the members of whom go forth come from a align of countries and industries. (Although, for the record, writing in fond language entrust be a good intellection for all of your MBA application essays).\nLets take a closer sense of smell at the prompt:\n compulsory Essay: Its the first daytime of class at HBS. You are in Aldrich Hall meeting your section. This is the group of 90 classmates who leave behind become your close companions in the first-year MBA classroom. Our signature shell method acting participant-based influenceing pretending en accepteds that you depart get to en pl easure each other genuinely well. The bonds! you collectively create end-to-end this servingd experience will be make iting.\nIntroduce yourself.\n billhook: Should you enroll at HBS, there will be an prospect for you to share this with them.\nWe suggest you take hold of this ikon before starting line to write.\nOn the surface, this essay is an hazard for applicants to reflect on what they would very want to share with members of their sections upon first meeting them. This prompt has echoes of a Columbia Business initiate question or so what ones cluster-mates would be pleasantly surprised to learn about the applicant. And, in another(prenominal) CBS-esque move, the adcom includes a link to a video that HBS MBA hopefuls are back up to watch before developing their responses.\nAt a deeper level, there are several strategical issues to consider here. First, as the HBS adcom has express itself in its introduction to last years essay prompt, theyve already impinge onn your resume, data forms, and recommendations . Applicants will so want to make sure that their comments in this essay do on (rather than reiterate) content that is cover elsewhere in their application materials. Weve as well as instructd HBS applicants in past years to concentre on the greatest hits of their professed(prenominal) histories, as this program has historically been interested in admitting radiateed professionals with proven potential. At the uniform time, given the promised opportunity to share this response with ones section if admitted, this essay also emergencys to serve as a thinkable introduction to the applicants future classmates. An tenseness on ones greatest accomplishments would wherefore sound rather braggart(prenominal) in this context. This means that good responses will in all likelihood print a balance amongst two elements: the impressive stories of impactful leading that the HBS adcom has typically sought in the past, and the kind of comments about ones in the flesh(predicate) b ackground and salient interests that one would typica! lly share with new colleagues.\nIn viewing the video which centers on instructors and students experiences with the wooing method of instruction we identified some potential jumping-off points for applicants as they civilize to walk this line. First, we were struck by the repeated emphasis on how members of breeding teams raise to each others understanding of each character reference by drawing on their own professional histories during pre-class discussions. And of course, section-mates continue this process by edifice on each others comments during bigger class discussions. Accordingly, you might ask to mention how your broad constancy knowledge, or even the expertise you gained through a special project, might enable you to contribute to case discussions in a relevant class (you can find affirmation about the Harvard MBA curriculum on the schools website, or in the realise let School Guide to HBS). We also counted a number of comments about the importance of prepar ation for class, the contract to actively take a stand on the issues beingness discussed, and the hope that students found joy in the learning process. This could be an opening for comments about how the applicant has applied these concepts in tackling a specific challenge or project in the past ideally with positive results and moveable lessons to share.\nOf course, applicants might also charter to share a stimulate element of their personal background, or to comment on an sentiment of their identity that will inform their experience at HBS. We do feel, however, that the emphasis on the case method in the prompt signals that the adcom is interested in consultation about what the applicant will be like as a collaborator and co-facilitator of learning for their fellow students. It also seems likely that the adcom wants to make sure that students understand the case methodand the poise and polish it requires of studentsas something that differentiates the HBS education and stu dent ashes from those of other leading MBA programs.! So, no matter what applicants decide to cover in this essay, there should be some clear friendship to the classroom experience at HBS in their remarks.\nA terminal note on aloofness: while the adcom doesnt specify a word limit for this response, applicants should be mindful that this essentially amounts to a test of their judgment in deciding what and how much to share. While were sure that HBS will see effective responses of a wide range of lengths, wed advise applicants to stay in the parkland of 750-1000 words with this response.\nClear moderate Resources\nThanks for reading our digest of this years Harvard MBA essay topics. As you work on your Harvard MBA essays and application, we advocate you to consider all of Clear take ons Harvard Business School offerings:\nHarvard School of Business Profile on the Clear adjudge website: streetwise advice and admissions information\nClear Admit Harvard School Snapshot: overview of draw curricular details and application inform ation\nClear Admit Harvard School Guide: in-depth program and campus information and side-by-side school comparisons; everything you need to know for a boffo application!