<p>You can find my analysis for Fall 2009 Admission (Class of 2011) to HBS here. It is rather obvious that the questions an MBA program asks you reflect its admissions strategies. This is as true for the Harvard Business School as for any other school. 3 c. What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience? This question is obviously ideal for a graduating senior or someone with 1 or 2 years of work to answer. Given the emphasis that HBS puts on academic ability, it is no surprise that they ask this question. For those who have been out of school for a while or would prefer to emphasize other aspects of their background, this question was not perceived as an ideal one to have to answer. Now luckily it need not be answered because HBS has now introduced a choice of questions into its application. Of course, many schools have done this for a long time. <i>This data has been done by Essay Freelance Writers !</i></p><br /><br /><p>For example, Kellogg has consistently given applicants one or more essays where they have had a choice of topics. HBS, for the last several years has been considered a hard application by many, not principally because of the lack of choice of which questions to answer, but because of the difficulty of some the questions as well as the word count limits. In particular, the question I just mentioned and a question on ethical issues you expect to encounter in in your professional future were considered quite difficult. The ethical issues question has now been removed entirely. However looking over the present set of questions, I don't think any of them can be described as difficult. All applicants will have to answer the two mandatory questions in this essay set. The fact that these two questions are mandatory indicates that HBS wanted to have a common point of comparison for all applicants based on these two topics.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>As you will see, HBS does not ask the "Why MBA?" question as one of these two. It may initially seem that the choice of these two is arbitrary, but it most certainly is not. 1. What are your three most substantial accomplishments and why do you view them as such? HBS has asked this question for a very long time. Accomplishments reveal your potential to succeed at HBS and afterwards. Accomplishments reveal your potential for contributing to your classmates. Everyone has had accomplishments, so it is easy to compare applicants. What you consider to be an accomplishment are real tests of your self-awareness and judgment. 2. What have you learned from a mistake? This second mandatory question has been asked by HBS and many other schools. Note the use of the word "mistake" and not "failure." Mistake is much more broad category that includes failure. I think using the word mistake takes into account that some people simply have not experienced outright meaningful failure, but we all have erred whether intentionally or otherwise. The reason I think it is included is because learning from mistakes is a core part of what case study analysis is about.</p><br /><br /><p>Discuss a defining experience in your leadership development. How did this experience highlight your strengths and weaknesses? I know that some will say that since HBS is all about leadership, you should write Essay 3a. Now 3a is most certainly a classic MBA essay topic and one that in various forms has been a part of the HBS application for a very long time. I would say that 3a is not necessary to write if you have sufficiently demonstrated your leadership potential elsewhere, especially in 1. IN ANY EVENT, IF YOU APPLY TO HBS YOU SHOULD READ MY DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THIS QUESTION BECAUSE DEMONSTRATING LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL IS CRITICAL AT HBS. However, since you will likely have to write on this topic for other schools and will most certainly need to be ready to discuss it in an interview, I think it is great to write on if you have a strong topic.</p><br />