Are you trying to impress your MBA college admission panel with your personal statement?
More often than not, students write personal statements only once in their lifetime. However, if you really eye admission, you need to have an MBA personal statement that competes with a professionally written one.
This is why a different approach is needed in its writing.
In this blog, you will learn how to draft a unique personal statement for MBA with the help of an MBA personal statement example.
As you read on, you will see
- What is an MBA personal statement?
- How to write an MBA personal statement?
- MBA personal statement examples and what to learn from them
- Expert tips on drafting an impeccable personal statement
What is an MBA Personal Statement?
MBA personal statement is an essay you will need to submit as an MBA applicant in order to impress the selection panel with your profile.
A good personal statement is mandatory to stand out and to prove your worth for being considered for MBA admission.
Why Do You Need an Impressive Personal Statement for MBA Program?
Admission committees of popular universities and colleges receive hundreds of personal statement for MBA program from applicants all over the world. However, they can’t admit all the applicants. Rather than picking students based on their eligibility, they would want to select the most suitable candidates.
They would make their selection efficient with the help of personal statements.
A superscripted MBA personal statement would:
- Enable to show who you are and why you deserve the MBA admission
- Help you show how your previous experiences and involvements in various activities add value to your choice of MBA
- Let you prove how you are different from all other applicants in terms of academic excellence, personality and social commitment
- Establish how your strengths and skills can benefit the student community and the institute
How Do Admission Committees Assess MBA Personal Statement and Ascertain Students’ Worth?
Admission committees of reputed colleges and universities have established criteria for evaluating your MBA personal statement.
Here is a list of conditions they use to measure the quality of your write-up.
Grammatical accuracy:
whether you have written your essay without mistakes.
Readability:
whether you have drafted your essay in an engaging and readable manner.
Comprehensiveness:
whether you have addressed all the key points that the selection panel is looking for.
Honesty:
whether you have presented an honest story.
Uniqueness:
whether you have tried to present your story in a unique way without any cliches.
Thinking About Writing an MBA Personal Statement? Here Is a Perfect Strategy for Your Action Plan
Most students start writing their MBA personal statement without any pre-set plan. As a result, they end up making a lot of mistakes on the go. Moreover, this will cause you to write an overly lengthy or overly short essay. With a proper plan and outline ready at hand, you can bypass such mishaps. Here is a workable strategy for you to use while planning how to write MBA personal statement.
Review the Guidelines of your Preferred Institute
Understand the Prompts and Prepare your answers
Get the perfect structure from MBA personal statement example
Get familiar with all the common Mistakes
Incorporate the expert tips to make your personal statement world-class
Review the Guidelines of Your Preferred Institute
Remember that each university may have its own guidelines for the applicants that they should follow while writing their personal statement for MBA program.
You can usually find those guidelines by navigating the admission instructions on the university website. Following those guidelines is important to make your writeup relevant and personalized to the institute.
Understand the Prompts and Prepare Your Answers
Your MBA personal statement format consists of two things – the style of the text and the order by which you structure your write-up with relevant points. Here are a few prompts/questions that you must cover in your document.
What are your motivations for applying to this particular MBA program?
Talk about how your interest in MBA got ignited and how it developed into your passion. Also, mention how you came to know about this particular program and what made you go for it.
What do you value most in your personal and professional life?
Answer this carefully blending your career aspirations and your sense of commitment to the profession and social responsibility.
Talk about an instance when you showed your leadership skills.
Rather than simply mentioning your skill in handling leadership roles, describe a specific instance where you could lead a team to success through your commanding power and leadership.
Describe an instance where you did your best.
Answer this question by picking the best instance in your life where you did your best and got recognized or appreciated for that.
How could you contribute to the institute’s students’ community?
Mention in what different ways you can contribute to the institute and its student community. You can show how your communication skills or ability to socialize will be useful in this context.
Get the Perfect Structure from MBA Personal Statement Example
As you start investigating how to write a personal statement for MBA program, you will have a lot of questions. More often than not, the university guidelines alone won’t help. This is when you should consider reviewing the best MBA personal statement examples and try to make sense of them for your own writing.
How to Write a Personal Statement for MBA Application – The Introduction
‘Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people’…
In times of self-reflection, I explore the truth behind this thought from Eleanor Roosevelt. As I visualize myself putting on the entrepreneur’s hat, I realize that knowledge acquisition finds its ultimate manifestation in incorporating ideas. I would acknowledge my orientation and family influence to have significantly shaped my professional goals. Born and brought up in a fishing family in one of the remotest villages in India, I closely witnessed my father expand his business to the regional level. Well, as living inspiration to me, my father has set benchmarks with his tireless striving to ensure us a comfortable living, and I wish to follow his footprints. Particularly, in the digitized business infrastructure, global companies are on the hunt for leadership and managerial talents. As I fancy putting on the shoes of a manager, I believe this to be the right time to go for a career progression.
Remember that the first sentence of your personal statement is going to be a turning point for the reader.
He or she will make a judgment for the essay based on the vibe they sense in the first sentence. So, try to write it as best as you can.
On top of that, you must make your introduction complete by including the following points:
- A sneak peek into what the essay will discuss
- A personal experience that could captivate the reader to read further
Second Paragraph – Underscore Your Motivations
All these years, I have witnessed the potential that a progressive economy like India holds for skilled and certified business professionals. Besides, the fishing business is an evergreen domain, where I can establish my hold at the national level. Now that I have completed my B.Com from one of the most reputed institutes in India with a CGPA of 8.70, I am bracing up to pursue an MBA from your revered institution in the UK. Presently, I feel it imperative to grow my strategic analytical skills. Besides, successful business leaders need adaptive thinking capabilities. As a goal-oriented and organized individual, I have always prioritized knowledge acquisition. Standing at the crossroads of a dynamic career and a prolific academic life, I look forward to being a part of your esteemed B-school.
The second paragraph of your personal statement is where you begin the body.
Ideally, you can focus on your motivation for choosing MBA as your higher study course.
While explaining this, try to touch on a few other elements too.
- Highlight your academic qualifications in the context of your MBA application
- Talk about the knowledge and skills you have acquired fryour om your past academic formations and how they are relevant to MBA.
Third Paragraph – Leverage Your Reputation Through Your Diligence
At this stage of my career, I need international exposure to spearhead my organizational and administrative skills. During my leisure hours, I love reading biographies of successful entrepreneurs. Eventually, I realized the value of soft skills like decision-making, time management and people management. I look forward to infusing myself with these skill sets and evolving as an accomplished professional. The fresh skills and international exposure will help me expand my family business to the national level. Organizing several events and workshops at the college level, I realized my innate ability to work independently as well as a part of any group. It gives me immense gratification to coordinate with my team members while working on a common goal. Walking in the shoes of a manager calls for stringent skills in administration and management. This MBA program will significantly bridge my skill gaps, transforming my career holistically.
Use the third paragraph to add more perspective about yourself and your career aspirations.
Try to make sense to the reader’s question as to:
- Why do you want to do an MBA?
- How would it help you?
- How would you utilize your formation for your own growth?
Fourth Paragraph – Reflects Your Academic Strengths and Leadership Skills
My mark sheets resonate with the commitment I have towards my academics. After aggregating 87% and 96% in my Secondary Examinations and Intermediates, respectively, I followed up with decent grades in my graduation. My inclination towards business compelled me to embrace Commerce, where I came across the basic business concepts. I believe that leadership skills are nurtured from experiences in different walks of life. Eventually, I integrated myself into various extracurricular activities and college events, honing relevant organizational abilities. However, the lack of the necessary tactical and diplomatic skills makes it crucial for me to go for an industry-oriented program. Pursuing this program in the holistic international academic ambience will help me cultivate these skills. I also look forward to broadening my business ideas by interacting with aspirants from various demographic and cultural backgrounds.
As you can see in this sample of MBA personal statement, the fourth paragraph centres around the applicant’s academic, professional and personal strengths.
To keep the flow of the paragraph intact, you must
- Add legible examples and evidence for each of the points you add here
- Only talk about the most relevant and strong point and write that with clarity and conviction
Before you start to write your personal statement for MBA, here is a sample for you to read and understand the basics.
Click the below button to download your MBA personal statement sample pdf
How Should the Conclusion of Your MBA Personal Statement Be?
Presently, the business environment in India is witnessing a multiplicity of challenges. By refining my analytical skills and the capability to think adaptively under various business conditions, I can strengthen my career. Besides, I am willing to strengthen my competence in five core areas of business: leadership, finance, enterprise, health service management and risk management. Considering the curriculum and quality of education at your revered university, I have decided to pursue my MBA program at this institution. Besides, studying in the UK will bestow me with direct exposure to the highly refined commercial environment there. The globally recognized degree will spearhead my profile as I mature as a business professional in the coming years.
Like the introduction, the conclusion of your personal statement too is significant and influences the decision of the admission committee.
Write the introduction by following the below factors:
- Ensuring that it contains the essence of your write-up
- Concluding on a positive note expressing your enthusiasm to join the institute and do your course
Here is another sample for your revision.
MBA Personal Statement Example
This letter is a tribute to the entrepreneurial dreams I have managed to weave amidst my hectic schedules. All I need now is a suitable academic degree, validating my eligibility to even anticipate such a huge responsibility. My journey until the present leg of my life has been limited to technical concepts, restricting chances to hone my management skills. Still, the business roots of my family and the inheritance of similar genes urged me to dream about the day I finally get to step into the shoes of a businessman. As the technical background of my past tenures prohibited me from academically developing my management competence, it didn’t stop me from my aspirations. I explored and searched for possibilities and platforms that sharpened and sculpted my soft skills, team and oratory skills, essential for an entrepreneur. At this point, I am tired of such short-lived opportunities and have decided to rely on this trove of business knowledge and skills that will take me to the greener side of my entrepreneurial dreams.
My undergraduate degree in Computer Science was highly rewarding as I was able to imbibe the necessary technical skills to build an effective professional career. I was interested in management practices at the undergrad level and was the Chief Coordinator of various technical events and cultural activities at my College. I was responsible for organizing, managing and monitoring the event TechFest 2019. As the Chief Coordinator, I approached various organizations for sponsorship and through lucrative operational plans convinced various firms to collaborate with our student organization. This was a great experience as I was able to streamline my managerial and leadership abilities. I was also a core member of the CS Inventa Club and led a team of 15 members in various hackathons and technical competitions. I learned how important it is to accept criticism from your group members and adjust plans while under pressure. This greatly improved my ability to work with teams and lay out specific plans for achieving the final objective.
My professional career as a Software Developer lasted around two years and after that I was promoted to the position of Project Manager. At this position, I was responsible for project planning, scheduling, updating clients and other stakeholders and so on. The first project I handled was related to building an innovative application to streamline financial transactions for an American Bank and I must admit that my lack of administrative skills posed a threat to the smooth functioning of my team. Nevertheless, I was able to handle the requirements and after understanding my shortcomings, I have worked really hard to improve my knowledge of different aspects of management. I believe that my persevering nature and never give up attitude has allowed me to become successful in my professional role as a Project Manager.
I have been wanting to establish my own IT firm for a couple of years now and I believe that gaining sufficient management knowledge academically is the first step in achieving my goal. Although I have sufficient experience managing teams, my knowledge regarding Human Resource Management, Marketing, and other relevant business areas is very limited. As such I wish to pursue an MBA from your institution. I will be able to increase my business expertise, acquire access to a global market, and master business management tasks by completing the programme. The course modules for the MBA programme were also created by this university in collaboration with businesses like Apple and IBM. One area in which I have a lot of interest is analytics. I will have the opportunity to learn more about predictive modeling, deep learning, and cloud technology by choosing the business analytics optional field.
This MBA program offered at a B-School ranked for its business virtuosity is the quintessential of academic excellence, plus the one capable of bringing ‘business’ into my academic records. The platter of skills offered in both individual and team contexts, is the spotlight factor. From my side, I hope to shower the capabilities I gained from the technical phase of my life, like striving for the best outcome, self-motivation, being a cheerleader for others and my ‘unstoppable’ attitude. Through such a give-and-take learning process, I expect this second academic phase of my life immersed in the business concepts alone will carve a skilful businessman in me, efficient to handle the humongous duties of running a venture, thereby contributing to the global business sphere.
Download MBA Personal Statement Example PDFGet Familiar with All the Common Mistakes and Keep Them Out
A personal statement with mistakes thrown here and there would not only fail to impress selectors but also invite their displeasure and rejection. To root out a mistake, you need to have a clear idea of what that mistake was.
Here is a list of mistakes and how to weed them out.
Statements after statements:
Though it says ‘statement,’ you don’t have to write only statements. It should sound a bit personal, reflecting your thoughts and engaging to read rather than too formal statements.
Grammatical and spelling mistakes:
Both grammatical and spelling mistakes will cause a dip in the reputation of your personal statement MBA. Eliminate them to ensure the standard and quality of your essay.
Plagiarism:
Even though we recommend you review an example of MBA personal statement, we strongly discourage you from getting inspired or influenced by them. Copying from an existing personal statement will cause your essay to get detected for plagiarism and result in rejection.
Cliches:
Avoid all types of cliches such as using quotes at the start, talking generally about your motivation for choosing an MBA etc. Instead of saying you chose MBA due to your passion, say what that passion was and how it got developed to the point of driving you to make it your career choice.
Not addressing what is required:
Institutes would require you to address a few important questions in your personal statement. Make sure that you have covered all of them in your personal statement.
Incorporate the Expert Tips to Make Your MBA Personal Statement World-Class
If you are not looking to write an average personal statement for your MBA admission but a superb one that makes you stand out, the following expert tips would help.
We have gathered them from the insights of professional writers.
Start early:
Don’t wait until the last minute even if you feel confident about writing your personal statement. By starting a bit earlier, you can ensure sufficient time for proofreading, editing, and making necessary corrections in your write-up.
Show your passion:
The very purpose of the personal statement is to show how passionate you are about going for an MBA graduation. Try to reflect it in every sentence you write. You can do this easily by choosing to sound optimistic about your choice.
Keep it concise and pleasant:
By being concise, it means choosing to write what is relevant and required and avoiding what is not required or too lengthy and unnecessary explanations in your writing.
Write within the recommended length:
If you have been guided to limit the length of your personal statement to a certain number of words, do not exceed it. Keep your essay within that limit.
Write a separate statement for each program:
Finally, if you are applying to different institutes for an MBA, write a separate personal statement for each of them.
Top Business Schools to Consider for Your MBA in 2022
- University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
- Stanford University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Columbia University
- University of Michigan
- University of Chicago
- Northwestern University (Kellogg)
- Harvard University
- Yale University
- University of California -Berkeley (Haas)
- Dartmouth College
Most Opted MBA Specialisations
- MBA in Marketing
- MBA in International Business Management
- MBA in HR
- MBA in Accounting
- MBA in International business management
- MBA in Consulting
- MBA in General Management
- MBA in Entrepreneurship
- MBA in Operations Management
- MBA in Business Analytics
- MBA in Hospitality Management
- MBA in Sports management
- MBA in Banking and Finance
- MBA in Project management
- MBA in Information Technology
Did We Miss Anything?
Given that MBA is the most competitive higher study program today, you can’t bypass the need to have a power-packed personal statement like the MBA personal statement example we shared above.
We hope to have cleared all your questions and doubts with regard to how to write MBA personal statement.
Do you still have any other points that need more clarity?
Let us know.
We are happy to revise our blog and improve it as per your suggestions so that you will have a better experience composing your personal statement.
