EssaySnark's Strategies for the 2012-'13 MBA Admissions Essays for Harvard Business School

By Essay Snark

Harvard gets well over 9,000 MBA applications each applications season. Even with just two essays this year, that's still a lot for the adcom to review! If you're going to go for the Harvard dream, how do you have a chance? How do you stand out from the pack? Even more important: Do you know how to avoid the common errors that can quickly move an application to the “reject” pile?

This SnarkStrategies Guide for HBS gives applicants to this ultra-competitive program a leg up in the application process, with extensive information about the brand-new short-form application for 2012-'13. Learn what Harvard is *really* asking with this year's new essay questions, and what to expect with that post-interview write-up that they've introduced. This guide has been completely revised for the new application – it's a third longer, even though we're only discussing two essays! You'll find it full of strategies, tips, and tricks for how to think about this set of questions and create a strategy to present yourself in the strongest way possible.

Let EssaySnark help you develop a pitch to Harvard that has a real chance of success.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Essay Snark
• Release date: Jun 8, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476229959

Essay Snark

Essay Snark is an MBA admissions consultant who is sometimes amused and often appalled by what candidates write in their MBA essays to top bschools. Essay Snark shares others' mistakes, so you don't make admissions directors laugh or, worse, want to hurl when they read your essays. If you, intrepid applicant, want to have your essay reviewed by Essay Snark (and posted anonymously - yes everyone will see it), email it to gethelpnow(at)essaysnark(dot)com. Emailing your essay means you give explicit permission for it to be posted (obvious identifying information such as your name and the name of your employer will be removed), and you release Essay Snark from any claims that may result from possible humiliation over said snarkiness. (And please, people, don't email us two days before the app deadline and expect to hear back in time.)EssaySnark has helped clients with successful applications to:Harvard HBSStanford GSBWhartonColumbiaNYU SternMIT SloanKelloggChicago BoothBerkeley HaasYale SOMUCLA AndersonMichigan RossUVA DardenDuke FuquaCornell JohnsonGeorgetown McDonoughUSC MarshallVanderbiltBabsonUT-AustinINSEADIEIESEEsadeOxfordLBSISBand many more...

Book preview

EssaySnark's Strategies for the 2012-'13 MBA Admissions Essays for Harvard Business School

A SnarkStrategies Guide

by EssaySnark

Snarkolicious Press

SMASHWORDS EDITION FOR 2012

version 1.0

originally published June 8, 2012

Revised and Expanded from the 2011 edition

This SnarkStrategies Guide is copyright 2012 EssaySnark.

Cover image copyright Eric Isselée, used under license from Fotolia.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage system, without permission from the publisher.

This publication is provided as is, without warranty of any kind, either express or implied. The author and Snarkolicious Press assume no liability for errors or omissions in this publication or other documents which are referenced or linked to this publication. While we certainly hope that you will be successful in your quest for admission to an MBA program, we cannot offer any promises that you will be. In no event shall Snarkolicious Press or its authors, principals, subsidiaries, partners, or owners, be liable for any special, incidental, indirect or consequential damages of any kind, or any damages whatsoever, arising out of or in conjunction with the use or performance of this information. Applicants to any graduate program or university should verify the school's policies, application requirements, processes, procedures, and other criteria. This publication could include technical or other inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically added to the information herein; these changes will be incorporated into new editions of this publication. Thus, different versions or formats of this publication may include different information.

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal use only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to others. If you would like to share this book, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should go to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

Look for other SnarkStrategies Guides at Smashwords:

Your MBA Interview

Reapplicant Guide

Stanford GSB (2011)

Berkeley-Haas School of Business (2011)

Northwestern Kellogg (2011)

Dartmouth Tuck (2011)

NYU Stern 2011

SnarkStrategies Guides for other schools are also available in digital and e-reader editions at your favorite bookseller or from the EssaySnark blahg at essaysnark.com.

Follow EssaySnark on Twitter!

To all the music makers, and the dreamers of dreams.

About This SnarkStrategies Guide

Applying to Harvard? Awesome! (So is everybody else... not to freak you out or anything.)

Harvard gets well over 9,000 applications each year. No wonder they cut down the number of essays to just two this year! Even with just two essays, with all you Brave Supplicants applying, that's still a lot for them to read. You need to work hard to make sure that your application doesn't suffer from some common (and avoidable) errors that can quickly move it to the reject pile. This SnarkStrategies Guide will set you up with the info you need on the most important elements of the Harvard MBA admissions process – including the new twists they've thrown at you this year. We cover the 2012 application and provide the essentials that you need to know if you are interested in applying to this very competitive school.

Please note that this SnarkStrategies Guide is focused on HBS's standard full-time program, not on HBS 2+2, the special program for applying to Harvard straight from college. If you're interested in 2+2, you'll still benefit from the discussion on essay questions and application strategy provided here, but we're not going into tactics around when to apply and who they're looking for.

And to set expectations right here at the front: EssaySnark will not tell you what to write in your Harvard essays. Sorry. We will tell you about some avoidable errors that many people make. Plenty of Brave Supplicants will do just fine in hunkering down with these tips — plus their own first-hand research — and tackling their Harvard application. A trip to Cambridge can be incredibly useful in understanding what this school is about. If you can do so, it would be to your advantage, particularly if you can do it before you start on your essays.

Of course, if you find yourself stuck on anything, drop on over to our blahg at http://essaysnark.com or email us at [e-mail] – or even tweet us if it's a simple question – and we'll see what we can do to help out.

Table of Contents

About This SnarkStrategies Guide

What Is Harvard About?

Boy They Changed Their App This Year!

The Most Important Angle to Emphasize in an Application to Harvard: Leadership

What Harvard Is Looking for in Applicants

What if you're not a high achiever?

Why is this the emphasis at Harvard?

Who is likely to be successful at Harvard?

A Note for the Really Young Applicant

Common Myths about HBS Admissions Criteria

What Not to Do

Harvard Essays 1 & 2: General Strategies

Harvard Essay 1: An Accomplishment

Harvard Essay 2: A Failure

Before you get too far with essays 1 and 2

So what's a good reason to want to go to Harvard?

The Harvard Interview

The Post-Interview Write-Up

So what will this post-interview write-up consist of?

How to write it?

What to Do Next

What Is Harvard About?

Congratulations, Brave Supplicant! By purchasing this SnarkStrategies Guide, you have indicated that you are taking your HBS application seriously. Cool.

Before we dive into the practical advice for all things Harvard, we have to pause and ask you: Are you ready for this?

Getting into HBS is no easy task, as we imagine you already realize. The odds are not in your favor. Why is this? Because it's an incredible place, and everybody wants to go there, so they have a lot of fine candidates to choose from. The vast majority of applicants are qualified to attend, based on the statistics of GMAT score and GPA and work experience. They have the mental horsepower and the appropriate experience to benefit from an MBA. Obviously though, the vast majority of applicants are not admitted. The ones that make it successfully through and receive an offer of admission are those who