50+ Examples of Successful HBS Essays (and Why They Worked)

In 2024, Harvard Business School (HBS) shook up its application process—and the broader world of business school admissions—by replacing its long-running single application essay prompt with three new essay questions. Unlike the open-ended prompt that HBS had maintained for more than a decade, the school completely overhauled its prompts for the 2024–2025 application season, with each one narrowly focused on a distinct topic area.

HBS Essay Questions

• Business-Minded Essay: Please reflect on how your experiences have influenced your career choices and aspirations and the impact you will have on the businesses, organizations, and communities you plan to serve. (up to 300 words)
• Leadership-Focused Essay: What experiences have shaped who you are, how you invest in others, and what kind of leader you want to become? (up to 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. (up to 250 words)

HBS Essay Examples

In 50+ Examples of Successful HBS Essays (and Why They Worked), Jeremy Shinewald of mbaMission and Liza Weale of Gatehouse Admissions focus on the winning strategies—the essays of applicants who were accepted to HBS’s Class of 2027. As you read through the collection of more than 50 essays from 16 successful HBS applicants, consider the wide range of topics covered, from work to personal, college to adulthood, executing something flawlessly to failing markedly. But focus on the applicants’ writing as well. Concepts such as “show, don’t tell,” “connect the dots,” and “draw the reader in” are brought to life, and we highlight these instances in our analyses so you are sure to see and understand them.

Beyond simply presenting these winning HBS essays, in this free guide we evaluate the applicants’ choices for essay topics and writing strategies and what these choices reveal about their overall candidacy. Our hope is that our critiques and callouts, along with the essays themselves, will give you the confidence and the tools to effectively tell HBS your own stories.

If you plan to apply to Harvard Business School, this book is a must-have resource! Download it for free today!