The sky’s the limit - Harvard - Free example business school application essay

Free example business school application essay

Attending an all-woman’s institution has instilled in me the self-confidence, the self-assuredness, and the core belief that, as a woman, I can excel in any field that I choose to pursue. In every sphere of my college experience, Smith College ingrained these values in me and has shaped me into the woman that I am today.

Smith’s liberal arts curriculum encouraged me to explore a variety of academic fields. I supplemented my study of economics with diverse courses in fields such as religion, music, and history, which sharpened my ability to think analytically and broadened my perspective. My classes were small in size which allowed my professors to focus on my intellectual development, pushing me to take initiative and assert my opinion in a coherent and rational manner, as well as to be receptive to my classmates’ points of view.

I also had the opportunity to meet some of the most amazing women that I know today. Through my classes, extracurricular activities, and Smith’s unique housing system, I met highly accomplished, diverse women, each striving to achieve manifold professional pursuits. I have spent my childhood growing up in several different developing countries where I always saw a clear disparity between the two genders. My interaction with my peers at college taught me to disregard any stereotypes associated with women. My fellow Smith classmates were planning to pursue careers in an array of different fields, and I sincerely believed that women could thrive in any profession that they choose to pursue.

The Smith alumni network only furthered these beliefs. During the course of my undergraduate studies, I interacted with highly successful alums who have reached the top of their fields. I met Smith alums who are leading doctors, bankers, medical researchers, scientists, and philanthropists, and this allowed me to find my mentors and role models. Rochelle Lazarus, CEO of Ogilvy & Mather; Ann Kaplan, former partner at Goldman Sachs; and Caren Byrd, one of the first female bankers at Morgan Stanley, cultivated in me the drive and inspiration to pursue a career on Wall Street.

Being in an all-women’s institution was enriching, empowering, and transformational. My classes, professors, peers, and alums helped me grow and mature and instilled in me a tremendous amount of self-confidence in my abilities and potential. Most importantly, Smith College molded me into a stronger, more self-assured woman with a passion and drive to succeed.

Analysis

From the opening sentence, Lavanya’s essay is distinctive, in large part because she chooses to focus on gender, a tactic that grabs the reader’s attention. In the first two paragraphs Lavanya describes her experiences at Smith College and very literally walks us through the ins and outs of her college experience.

The greatest strength of Lavanya’s essay is its consistency and focus around a particular theme, in this case gender. This essay question is designed to be incredibly wide open. Consequently, many applicants flounder when they try to convey too much in their responses. Implicitly, in pursuing a broad response to the question they fail to tell us something new about themselves. Lavanya targets her message, facing this challenge head-on. She should rest assured that those reading this essay will walk away knowing something that could not be conveyed elsewhere in the application.

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