I first considered applying to Berry College while dangling from a fifty-foot Georgia pine tree, encouraging a high school classmate, literally, to make a leap of faith. Every autumn, my school’s graduating seniors took a three-day trip to Berry to bond on the ropes course, talk about leadership, and speak frankly about the future, and it was on that retreat, after the ropes course, that I made my own leap.

I had narrowed my college choices to my top scholarship offers, but after a number of campus visits I still hadn’t found a place that truly felt like home. On the retreat, I realized Berry College was different. The students I met were practical, caring, and curious. The 28,000-acre campus was idyllic. The atmosphere was one of service, leadership, and intellectual curiosity (as founder Martha Berry termed it, an education of the “whole person . . . the head, the heart, and the hands”). Berry also offered what I thought was the best opportunity to mold my own academic experience, take diverse leadership roles, and change myself and my college community in the process.

That is exactly what I did. Taking a “case method” approach to my undergraduate education, I complemented every academic lesson with a practical application. I supplemented my formal education in economics, government, and political philosophy with cigar shop chats, competitive international fellowships, leadership in student government, and in-depth academic research. Rather than studying communication, I practiced communication. As a freshman, I was the campus’s top new television reporter, and as a junior and senior, I translated that passion for human connection into a stint as Berry’s top newspaper opinion columnist and a widely read campus poet. I was the lead in a one-act play and led my college speech team to its highest ever national finish. I learned business, finance, and organizational leadership by founding a community soup kitchen and leading the campus investment group to unprecedented stock market returns; and in everything, I sought not simply to become better educated, but better rounded—a “whole” person—and to change my campus community in the process.

At Berry, I learned that you can stand trepid before a challenge, transition, or experience. Or you can embrace new challenges, define your own experience, and make a leap of faith. I am proud that my undergraduate academic experience was a period lived in leaps.

Analysis

First of all, this essay is evidence that you do not have to graduate from an Ivy League school to secure admission at HBS.

This essay is a fantastic illustration of how to convey personality through narrative style and diction. John’s essay has flair. The essay is successful because readers can get a flavor of what the author would probably be like in real life—restless, action-oriented, and multifaceted.

John is in touch with himself as he explains his choice of school. As he delves further into what makes him tick, he takes a risk in listing a seemingly endless group of activities. However, the stylistic choice works for him as it accentuates his passion and energy. Without stating it outright, the author makes it clear that he would be a colorful addition to HBS, and that attending HBS would be a major step in his personal development. The concluding paragraph is the crowning touch and is consistent with the author’s personality and verve.

When writing this essay, avoid creating a shopping list of achievements that can be easily gleaned from other parts of the application. This essay comes dangerously close to doing that but is saved by its vivacious tone and a well-crafted conclusion. It is crucial to unravel your undergraduate experience through the lens of introspection, action, and results. The result itself, however, is less important than what you have taken from the experience. In order to make a lasting impression, your essay must depict a clear picture of what steps you took to shape your undergraduate experience, why you took those steps, and how are you a different person as a result of the experience.

From 65 Successful Harvard Business School Application Essays edited by the Staff of the Harvard Crimson. Copyright (c) 2009 by the authors and reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Publishing Group