MBA Essay Guidance 2024-25: Chicago Booth School of Business
September 10, 2024
Read MoreJune 10, 2022
Self-revelation or self-disclosing essays can be powerfully helpful in showcasing the self-aware person behind your resume and test scores. Yet these types of essays are often the most challenging precisely because they focus less on your grand ambitions and past accomplishments, but rather on your authentic personality. Part of the challenge they pose is that effective self-revelation essays are distinctive and genuine, do not fit some template idea of what you think schools want to hear. Focus on the real you – your background, passions, life challenges, uniqueness or diversity factors.
The sheer breadth of potential subject matter these essays might inspire you to disclose is daunting. So focus first on outlining and honing in on the key life experiences and luminous moments that you believe have changed you most or are most unique to you. Start with your best experiences and don’t worry about your ‘theme’ – it can wait. When have you been challenged or have challenged yourself most? When has adversity or reality changed how you see yourself, people or the world? Which specific life experiences have meant the most to you? If these stories show leadership or accomplishments that you are proud of, congratulations. If not, these experiences can still be worth building an essay around. Remember, it is not enough to describe an experience and leave it be. You must dig deeper into the why, what, and how that experience has shaped, evolved, or made you feel.
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