Behind the Scenes of MBA ABC: A Participant’s Journey

MBA application journeys rarely follow a straight path. But they do have common themes: deciding what support and guidance to rely on, navigating self-reflection, and building confidence in telling your authentic story.

For this MBA ABC participant, the journey began with a few chance encounters - a Reddit AMA, a bunch of YouTube videos, and a conversation with a Sloan alum - that eventually led him to MBA ABC.

What started as an early exploration evolved into a structured strategy.

In this interview, he reflects on how MBA ABC helped him move beyond the surface of “putting together the best application possible” and into the deeper work of understanding himself and his goals.

From the early stages of brainstorming to the final MBA essays, he shares candid insights about the challenges of the process, how self-reflection became a key component of his strategy, and the importance of not being afraid to start over when a story doesn’t feel right.

Q: Why did you decide to join MBA ABC? How did it fit into your MBA application strategy?

A: Truthfully, it was a few very fortunate coincidences! I saw the Ask Me Anything you did on Reddit a few months back, and saved it because it was basically my first glimpse into the MBA application process. (Thank you again for doing that by the way!) Then I started doing a lot more research into schools and how to craft a strong application, and somehow ended up on your YouTube channel. I must have watched every single one of your videos before even realizing that you were the same person I’d been following on Reddit!

Later, I had a really great conversation with a Sloan alum, who told me his best advice was to find an admissions consultant. He gave me the name of the one he used, and I did do my homework to look at my options, and honestly, everyone seemed very much invested in their clients’ success. What drew me to you though was your experience and warmth, which were both radiating from you when we first met – and the price point certainly helped!

Before meeting you, my only strategy was to “put together the best application possible.” What I learned from you, and what I’d recommend to anyone else going through the process, was to go inward first. It’s funny because it seems so simple now, but you really helped me understand the value of self-reflection in creating a strong, authentic application.

Q: I know you began writing your MBA essays at least a couple of months before the deadlines. How did you choose which school essays to draft first?

A: I started with Harvard’s prompt, before they changed it. First because I had no idea that they were going to update it. But also, I felt the open-endedness was the best way to find the story I wanted to tell. Once the questions got updated, I switched to GSB’s WMM [“What matters most to you and why”] for the same reasons. I will say that with hindsight, it might have been more effective to start the other way around, and build up to the one “big picture” story by starting with more focused questions. This process ended up working out for me, I think, but I would be curious to try the other way too if I were to start again from scratch.  

Q: What was your brainstorming and writing process like? What were your goals for the first drafts?

A: My goal was just to get something onto paper. I didn’t really care what it was. I’m a big believer that writing improves clarity - in every aspect of life, I tend to think best by articulating my ideas, whether it’s talking to friends and coworkers, or writing it onto paper (or slides, in my line of work). I’ve also found that it’s a good way to build momentum, because I know that I can also get caught up in thinking too much, and going in circles in my head without any real progress.

Q: How did you approach each round of revisions and edits?

A: Most drafts I just revised on my own, but I definitely relied a lot on others for feedback. I tried to be mindful of peoples’ time, so I only asked for feedback once I thought I was pretty close to done (although I did have many stages of thinking it was “close to done”). I also think asking only two people at a time worked out pretty well for me. It meant I had ‘fresh eyes’ in my armamentarium, and that my reviewers wouldn’t be accidentally biased by my previous drafts. I’ll also add that I paid the most attention to misinterpretations of my content, since that’s always the number one indicator that I didn’t explain something as clearly as I could have.

Q: Did you ever overhaul any essay completely – making it entirely a different story than the first draft?

A: Yes! I can’t even remember how many drafts of each essay I wrote. It’s worth sharing something you said to me that really resonated. I’m paraphrasing, but it went something like: “Just because a story is true, doesn’t mean it’s true to you.”

I wrote many anecdotes and stories that were technically true, but either my reflection didn’t feel quite authentic, or I was including it just because I thought it might make me stand out to the adcom, when it really wasn’t all that important in my life. For better or worse, it was usually only after I fully developed my idea that I realized the story wasn’t quite right.  

Admittedly – and I don’t think I actually told you this Petia – but I ended up rewriting my GSB essay one more time the day before the deadline. Most of the content stayed the same, but right before I hit submit, I realized I wasn’t telling the story I wanted to tell. In my specific case, I was probably over-indexing a little too much on personal tragedy to try and distinguish myself. I wouldn’t recommend rewriting the day before to everyone, but the point I’m trying to make is: it's very much an iterative process, so try not to be too precious with your stories if they don’t feel right.

Q: How did you decide that an essay is “ready” or “done”?

A: My goal was to use the essays as a tool to show the adcom how I see the world and how I make decisions. I wanted them to feel confident that they knew how I would act if placed under different circumstances – ideally in their classroom! I felt I was only “done” once my essays were able to provide that level of insight.

Now, the tricky part was that to do that, I needed to first gain a level of self-awareness – as a leader and as a human – that I probably thought I had, but realized over time that I really didn’t. I thought I knew how I saw the world and made decisions, but the entire process for me was really about getting to know myself even better. In the end, two benefits came from this experience: 1) I felt I was better able to package it up into an essay, using the right stories and anecdotes from my life; and 2) I gained a lot more self-confidence, able to fully own what I’ve achieved and how much I’ve grown over the years, and also able to fully own my shortcomings and see them as opportunities for growth.

This is why I’m so thankful for you, Petia. Whether or not I’m admitted, I’ve grown so much in the past three months since meeting you. You gave me the direction and mentorship to push me to find my authentic story. What will stay with me forever is the emphasis you put on showcasing the human side of my life choices, being proud of my achievements, and having the confidence to show my imperfections and be vulnerable.

I watched a TED Talk the other day by Brian S. Lowery, a GSB professor, on “How to Live a Meaningful Life”. He argued that one finds meaning only when they are able to be positively and selflessly part of other people’s stories. I say this to you, Petia, because I really hope you know how positively and selflessly you’ve been a part of mine. I’m still a work in progress, but I am so thankful I met you. Feel free to cut this part out of the blog post, but I do hope you leave it in so others, if they’ve made it this far, know the profound impact you’ve had on my life.

Q: Any word of advice for candidates who are now beginning to draft their MBA essays?

A: My advice would be: Use this process as an opportunity for deep self-reflection. This might not apply to you if you already have a very strong self-awareness; there’s a good chance that I was just particularly lacking in this regard (and I hope this is true). But if anything I said resonates with you, I encourage you to use this as a chance to go inward, and find your own authentic story. And if you’re not sure how – I also encourage you to reach out to Petia. I guarantee she will be able to help you, as long as you’re willing to put in the work!