HBS MBA Essays are all about leadership and impact.
Deadlines:
Round 1: 3 September, 2025
Round 2: 5 January, 2026
Essays:
After a revamp last year, Harvard Business School has made small changes to their essays for this year’s application cycle.
Business-Minded Essay:
Please reflect on how your choices have influenced your career path and aspirations. (300 words)
Leadership-Focused Essay:
What experiences have shaped how you invest in others and how you lead? (250 words)
Growth-Oriented Essay:
Curiosity can be seen in many ways. Please share an example of how you have demonstrated curiosity and how that has influenced your growth. (250 words)
Recommendations:
You will require two recommendations; the best recommenders are people who know you really well. These could be colleagues, supervisors or people with who you work on an activity outside work. Recommendation questions are:
1. How do the candidate’s performance, potential, background, or personal qualities compare to those of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? Please provide specific examples. (300 words)
2. Please describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant’s response. (250 words)
Resume:
Use a standard business resume. HBS does not ask for any specified format.
Interview:
These are by invitation only. Interviews last for exactly 30 minutes, whether they are in-person or on Skype. Within 24 hours of the interview, applicants have to submit a Post-Interview Reflection.
Get the details on: HBS’ interview process and post Interview Reflection
Reapplications:
Reapplicants have to submit an entirely new application.
2024-2025 Essay questions