For the 2011-2012 admissions season, HBS applicants will need to respond to a total of four essay questions. Unlike the past few years in which applicants had some choice about what essay questions to respond to, this year applicants must respond to all of the questions provided. Similarly to prior years, meanwhile, applicants must be clear and concise to fit their essays within each of the essay’s 600- or 400-word limits. Let’s take a look at the essay questions for this year:
1. Tell us about three of your accomplishments. (600 words)
This is a variation on an essay question that has been a hallmark of the HBS application for many years, downshifting its previous request for an applicant’s “three most substantial accomplishments” to a more laid-back formulation this season. Due to its top billing, this question could be the first element of your file that the adcom reads, making this response a great opportunity to present the reader with three strong stories that introduce the major themes of your candidacy. Each accomplishment can be presented as a stand-alone section here, so you needn’t be overly concerned about composing a seamless narrative.
HBS has traditionally been very impact-oriented in evaluating applicants’ credentials, so one way to determine which three accomplishments to describe in this essay is to think about the end results. Experiences in which you made a lasting and quantifiable impact can lend themselves to concise, factual narratives, and considering that each accomplishment must be described in approximately 200 words, this can be an important consideration. However, this isn’t to say that the process followed, skills gained, and lessons learned along the way aren’t important, too; highlighting an incident of personal or professional growth could offer a nice complement to some more straightforward accomplishment stories.
A final point to consider is that it’s also important to select stories with an eye to balance. Harvard’s new wording takes the emphasis off maximum impressiveness, leaving prospective students with a bit more leeway to select examples that highlight a bit more range than he or she might have felt comfortable doing previously. An applicant who describes two professional successes and one extra-curricular accomplishment, or perhaps one each from the professional, academic and activities realms, can show that he or she excels in a range of settings and situations.
这个题目很多年来已经成为了哈佛商学院essay的标志，由于它被置顶为第一个题目，那么它就是adcom了解你的第一扇门，你可以在这里通过你的3个成就将你的优秀和强大展现给读者。在这里，3个故事可以是相互独立的，所以你不必为了3个故事间的衔接伤脑筋。
哈佛在评估申请人时大多是影响取向的，所以在选取3个故事的时候可以考虑以结果和影响为依据，选取那些有持续或者量化影响的成就作为此文章的答案，同时在叙述时还要考虑字数，每个故事大约200字左右。然而，这也并不是说过程以及从中获得的技能和吸取的教训就不重要，强调个人的、职业的成长能够比直言不讳讲述更好的关于成就的故事。
最后一点要考虑的是——平衡，这样的题目给了申请者多一点的选择余地。如果申请者介绍2个职业上的成就和一个业余生活中的成就，或者从职业、学术和业余生活中各选取一个成就故事，那么就可以在更广的范围方面展现自己的过人之处。
(编辑：nancy)
