Maybe to some people, getting the outline done is no biggie, but to me, it's a huge step in (hopefully) the right direction.
In this post, I wanna compare what I did last year and what's different this year.
Haha, the first thing I did differently this year was of course, to actually have an outline for the essays! I think what it does is that it allows me to connect themes that I wanted to highlight to the adcom, rather than focusing on stories that I want to tell the adcom. What is the different between stories and themes? Let's look at what HBS asked last year and compare to how they ask this year....
Last year's questions were about 6 short stories (3 achievements + 3 setbacks), why you want a (HBS) MBA, and a pie-in-the-sky question. To the uninitiated, the questions seemed to ask about stories - and my mistake last year was to think that my stories implied that I have these traits and characteristics that would make me valuable to HBS and its MBA program...
WRONG, I was dead wrong...
I personally like this year's set of questions better. The questions only ask about 2 things and give you extra 200 words each to elaborate. They do not specifically ask for a set of things you do well or you wish you had done well but set a tone for discussing areas that you do well and you wish you could improve.
See the big difference here? Allow me to ellaborate.
Essay 1: Tell us something you've done well (400 words)
In this essay, you perhaps thought that you can squeeze in 3 things you had done extremely well in the past (it kinda goes without saying that when they ask about things you've done well, they mean extremely well - HBS is the mothership of Type-A overachievers). But I think this is where most people would fall into a trap - stories are irrelevant because they will eat up your word-limit. Remember, you only have 400 words! Despite the fewer essays and shorter application, HBS is still looking for leaders who will make a different in this mad, mad world and they explicitly say that they look for this trait in past achievements - that is, more than 1 achievement. But how can you squeeze in more than 1 achievement in a 400-word essay? Simple answer is, you don't.
But you use this essay instead to highlight themes that adcom can see across other part of your application - recommendation, resume, details in the application form such as extracurricular etc. Pick a story that you can tell in 200 words - set the context, challenges, what YOU did, how others react, what were the results & impact (yea I know, still bloody damn hard to do all these in 200 words but you gotta do it!). Then use the remaining 200 words to REFLECT! Remember HBS is damn proud of their Case Method. This is a good opportunity to tell them how 1) this thing that you did well is not a fluke 2) that you can replicate/simulate the experience in their Case Method for the benefit of your future section mates 3) that you'll actually go do these things when you're there and after you left HBS
In summary, what I did for Essay 1 was to pick a few themes about me that are consistent with my resume and letters of recommendation - I'm a disruptive, no-nonsense, result driven cross-fucntional engineer with vast international experience (oh my, I sound so cocky on paper!). So I wrote about my experience in a cross-functional, multinational product development team where my main contribution was not designing a new product like I was suppose to do (but I did anyway because I'm type-A overachiever), but instead focus on how I created a "creative disruption" that enable the project to realise greater value earlier (translation - increase in profit/net present value/lower cost etc) and a breakthrough in process optimisation that will greatly affect future products - and that's the impact I'm highlighting (RESULT + IMPACT IS A MUST).
Then I reflect on how "creating innovative disruption" is kinda my thing (this is THE THING I'VE DONE WELL), mention briefly other examples in my uni life and career thus far (hoping that if adcom wants more details, they would refer to my resume and LoR and this is important to establish/emphasis consistency) and on how I can bring my "disruptive" eyes to the Case Method and contribute to the class.
Essay 2: Tell us something you wish you've done better (400 words)
Same approach can be applied (200 on a story that describe a set of themes, 200 on reflection) but bear in mind that you're writing for HBS. Hence, SOMETHING YOU WISH YOU'VE DONE BETTER better be something extraordinary in its own right. This is actually what I suspect would happen in the class room during the Case Method discussion. In a way, HBS is being smart by using the essays to screen for people who can give high quality, high impact answer in the class room! Aren't they a bunch of geniuses...
Anyway, my approach was to use this essay to establish why I want an MBA. I talked about something I did well in the past during my undergraduate studies (got an award for it, so that ticks a box in overachiever quadrant) but something else happened along the way that got me thinking that there must be MORE to what I've achieved and set me on the path to learn HOW to do MORE. MORE in this sense is not more money, but MORE IMPACT and HOW of course refers to business education. Relect a bit on how my experience now allow me to see a different angle to the THING I WISH I'VE DONE BETTER and describe a bit how I WOULD APPROACH THE PROBLEM NOW - important stuff to show maturity. It's important to say that you wish the end result would be A instead of B and SHOW WHY YOU THINK/KNOW B is better than A!!!
In summary:
Although the questions are different this year, the essence of HBS essays remains the same. They are still looking at your motivation to pursue MBA, things you're good at and how you can bring these to the classroom and your potential to exert impact on every level. Except this year, they are looking for ALL THAT IN 800 WORDS or LESS!
I wish this is the secret recipe to get into HBS this year, but these are just my take on their essays... I COULD BE 100% WRONG, THOUGH :)
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