The best way to craft a compelling MBA application story
This time three years ago, I was holed up next to my laptop, hammering away on my MBA applications. After many revisions and fine-tuning, I finally settled on a “personal story” I was happy with that got me accepted into 3 top MBA programs.
Since then, I’ve perfected this method through working with my clients. I’ll share it with you today in hopes that it will help you with your application journey.
If you’re in the midst of round 2 applications, you’re probably sick of hearing the word “story”. A good story is as much about a recounting of your life as it is about personal branding.
It is more than just stating what your goal is, it encompasses your entire professional and personal journey — where you come from, where you are and where you want to go. It describes four elements:
- This is where I come from (my past and current experiences)
- This is where I want to be (career goal)
- This is the path I need to take (plan to get to my goal)
- And this is why I need an MBA (why MBA is part of the path)
For the story to flow cohesively, you have to not only explain what these four things are, but also how they relate to one other. For instance, what is the linkage between 1 and 2? How do your past experiences inform or prepare you for your goal?
Additionally, explaining the connection between 3 and 4 requires you to understand what gap exists between where you are and where you want to be and how an MBA will fill that gap.
Strong stories are simple, cohesive and clear. They give the illusion that the applicant has been meticulously working on their career goals for a long time and that an MBA is the most logical next step to achieving those goals.
If the concept of a “story” still seems foreign or intimidating, don’t worry. Everyone has a story. Your work experiences and interests already tell it. You just need to pull out the pieces and put them together.
The best way to craft your story is by using the “line of best fit” method. This is the approach I used myself and the number 1 thing I recommend to my clients.
Do you remember learning about linear regression in statistics class? There are two variables, a bunch of points and you have to find a line that best expresses the relationship between those points.
Well, that’s what you have to do with your story. Imagine your professional experiences as the first point (or a cluster of points) on a graph, your goal as the last point, and the MBA as a point somewhere in the middle. Your story is the line that overlays these points while minimizing the distances between them. There may be other points on this graph too — community service, leadership experiences, awards — they all count.
There are two approaches to draw all this out depending on how sure you are of your goal.
Approach 1: Fit a line through the points. If you have all the “points”, including your post-MBA goal, you just need to draw a line through everything. In other words, if you know what you want to do “when you grow up”, then you just need to articulate how everything you’ve done so far relate to your goal and how the MBA plays a role in that.
Approach 2: Fit a point on the line. If you do not have a clear idea what you want to do, that’s okay! This is a common scenario. Regardless of why you want an MBA — whether it’s for a two-year vacation or a way to wait out a recession — you still need to articulate a compelling professional story.
In this case, you can “back into” the last point by drawing a “predictive” line. In other words, look at your experiences and activities to date and pick a goal that seems likely given your existing trajectory. This will ensure a cohesive story because your goal will be tailor made for your profile.
A good way to test out your story is to dumb it down to something that even a 10-year-old would understand. Try the following format:
My goal is to become [x]. My experiences and activities support / inform my goal as they have shown / taught me [x] through [x]. But to further achieve my goal, I have a gap in [x]. To close that gap, I need to get an MBA at [x] to learn / gain / experience [x].
This step is very important because it'll be hard to write a good essay on your story if you can’t even describe it in few lines.
The line of best fit method works because it creates a story that is authentic to your actual experiences. It allows everything you’ve done to have a role and purpose in your story. Using this method, each one of your experiences will relate to your goal in some way because your story was designed around them.
There are two things your story does NOT need to be.
- It does not need to be “sexy”. You don’t have to aspire to be the next Mark Zuckerberg. If you want to be a consultant or a banker, that’s fine! Write about that. Your story does not have to be novel or grand, but it does need to be cohesive and clear (and preferably written in an interesting way).
- It does not need to be true forever. You will not be held to the story in your application! It’s okay to change your mind after you get in. In fact, a lot of people do!
Having a strong story is critical to maximizing the chances of getting into your dream school. Hopefully, this overview will help you get started on crafting your perfect story.
If you like this article please share it with your network. Penny is a professional development coach focused on career planning, job search, MBA applications and shifting behaviors and internal narratives. If she can help you achieve your goals, please message her on LinkedIn.
