Stanford GSB MBA Essay A: What matters most to you, and why? (650 Words)
Background Information: The applicant grew from poverty to the top 25 percentile income bracket by acing one of the most competitive exams in Finance.
Theme: Mental Health, Low-Income
Theme (Explained): Although the applicant got out of poverty, mental health challenges linger in low-income families. The de-prioritization of survival goals opened a pandora's box of unresolved emotions, culminating in a shocking event in the family.
The applicant's priorities shifted from pursuing career goals to caring for the family that sacrificed everything for his goals.
Profile: IMPACT Investor
Industry: Finance
MBA Essay Strategy: I have consciously adopted a W-pattern narrative – starting with the applicant's insecurities, his high – excelling in one of the toughest exams, and the move to an affluent neighborhood before tragedy hit home. The investment into a social venture specializing in mental health for low-income families is the resolution that ends the essay on a positive note. I have subtly captured changes in perspective that the applicant experienced throughout each pivotal moment in his journey – from poverty to investing in a startup.
Make sure that you lift the reader's mood in the concluding paragraph whenever you cover negative themes.
Inspiration wins over pity.
Opener: The essay starts with a conversation highlighting the applicant's insecurity as a low-income person.
Stanford GSB MBA What Matters Essay Example (623 Words)( The Slums, A Tragedy and the Search for a Systemic Solution)
When my teacher asked where I lived, I used to say near “x” – a cover not to let them know that I lived in a slum.
My parents migrated from the interior villages of Bihar in India and found the cost of living in Mumbai staggering for their daily wages. Worrying that the chores would take away from my valuable time in learning, my mother took on the brunt of the workload. This was after the eight-hour shift in a textile factory.
Hard work was a way of life, a way to survive ..
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Read the Full Stanford GSB What Matters Mental Health Narrative
