We hope that Megan\u2019s essays convince you that everyone\u2014including you!\u2014has stories to tell.<\/p>\n
An added bonus: Megan was a reapplicant to HBS. If you happen to be one too, Megan can serve as an inspiring reminder that failing to find success with your first HBS application does not shut you out from finding success in a future submission.<\/p>\n
Pre-Reading Commentary from Liza Weale, Founder of Gatehouse Admissions:<\/h3>\n
In reading Megan\u2019s HBS essays, we meet a woman who exudes both strength and care\u2014someone who is not only accustomed to being the underdog but also feels for <\/span>other<\/span><\/em> underdogs. Not everyone\u2019s post-MBA goals are grounded in a specific personal story, but Megan\u2019s are. We believe that she has the drive (stemming from her long history of interactions with healthcare) and the skills (built through her investing experience) to achieve those goals. She also comes across as someone you would want by your side if you were in trouble; Megan demonstrates that she would arrive with empathy, potential solutions, and the wherewithal to make them happen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As other essays in this collection demonstrate, your leadership stories do not have to be relegated to HBS\u2019s Leadership-Focused essay. In each of Megan\u2019s essays, she reveals an inclination toward leading: partnering with company leadership on marketing initiatives, convincing a college administration to change policy during COVID, creating a new women\u2019s initiative at work, and teaching a class of high school students with special needs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Another comment on the Leadership-Focused essay: the summer that HBS announced its new essay questions, the Gatehouse team worried that HBS would receive an abundance of mentorship-related essays in response to the \u201chow you invest in others\u201d phrasing of the second prompt. Yet to our delight, many applicants chose to share different kinds of leadership experiences. Megan\u2019s two leadership examples show an indirect investment in others: her initiatives and actions created better outcomes for those around her. Not to say that you should avoid discussing mentorship in this essay! But you should not immediately assume that mentorship-related leadership is the only type of leadership that qualifies here.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n You will note that Megan is a reapplicant. She initially applied to the HBS 2+2 program, designed for college seniors. We can infer from her essay that her goals have not changed too much, so instead, she leverages the reapplicant essay space to relay some additional stories related to leadership. She also effectively brings the HBS admissions team up to speed on what has transpired since her earlier application. <\/span><\/p>\n Just before starting middle school, I stopped hearing intermittently. Turns out I had an aural-related autoimmune disease. When the doctor advised me to consider taking the school year off, I refused. While juggling doctor appointments, experimental treatments and school accommodations, I was often told that I couldn\u2019t do the same things as my peers, that everything had limitations, but this just fueled me more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Years later, I started my career on Wall Street\u2014perceived limitations be darned. <\/span>[1]<\/strong> I thrived in banking\u2019s intensity. As I mastered financial modeling, I also learned to turn my self-advocacy outwards on the businesses around me. A long-time fan of Oddity, a sister-and-brother-founded beauty\/health tech company with cult-like loyalty, I pushed my MD to start covering the company, securing Platinum Bank a key advisory role for the company\u2019s future capital needs. Especially exciting was collaborating with Oddity\u2019s CPO on an event for International Women\u2019s Day, which included networking, shopping, and a fireside chat. Supporting a female-(co)founded business was rewarding. But it\u2019s been at Privequity Co. where my vision for the future has crystalized. Helping HealthWise, a vitamin and supplements brand, evolve via social media marketing from a sleepy clinical product into a trending direct-to-consumer brand revealed the blossoming market for consumers wanting more control over their health.<\/span> [2]<\/strong><\/p>\n As a young woman, I\u2019ve long been dismissed in doctor appointments with remarks like \u201cmaybe it\u2019s anxiety\u201d and \u201cyou look healthy, nothing is wrong.\u201d <\/span>[3]<\/strong> I am determined to shift this paradigm by creating solutions that equalize health outcomes. By leveraging my expertise in health and consumer investing, I aim to help entrepreneurs redefine how women and marginalized communities perceive and engage with their healthcare. My long-term goal is to establish a fem\/health-tech venture that challenges paternalistic dynamics and empowers individuals with the knowledge and tools to advocate for themselves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n My mom\u2019s mantra was: \u201cNever take no for an answer\u2014the worst place you can end up is where you are!\u201d<\/span> [4]<\/strong><\/p>\n Her mantra helped when I received an email from Grinnel.edu in spring 2020, encouraging students to fulfill requirements or pursue additional credentials amid lockdowns and cancelled internships. But at $1,873 per credit hour, the cost was prohibitive for those of us on need-based aid. Frustrated, I launched a campus-wide petition, garnering 500+ signatures\u2014and a meeting with the Dean. I highlighted peer universities\u2019 reduced fees and was proud when the administration relented and applied need-based aid. It was invigorating to champion something I believed would give more students access.<\/span><\/p>\n Later in private equity, the \u201cno\u201d was more subtle. I noticed a few of our female partners struggling to speak up in investment committee. If they lacked support, what about us juniors? <\/span>[5]<\/strong> Upon chatting, I was relieved others shared my frustrations. I mobilized resources and secured funds from our CEO for women\u2019s lunches, and we engaged the male partners to discuss how March Madness and cigar tastings excluded us. There was pushback (junior males felt excluded from the lunches), but that spurred more conversations\u2014and lunch invitations. Now, as senior women secure presentation time for junior women and include us in network-heavy industry events, we view every \u201cno\u201d as an opportunity to collectively achieve a \u201cyes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n I aspire to create environments where everyone can thrive, ensuring barriers are dismantled and opportunities are accessible to all.<\/span><\/p>\n After three years as a lunch buddy and tutor with a school near campus that focused on inclusive education for high school students, I sought out an opportunity to teach an interpersonal skills course to ten sophomores with disabilities during what turned out to be three months of virtual learning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To prepare, I read a memoir about raising a son with autism and leveraged<\/span> PeopleSmart<\/span><\/em> [6]<\/strong> to transform \u201cinterpersonal skills\u201d into more accessible \u201cpeople skills.\u201d I selected topics including active listening, expressing yourself clearly, seeking feedback, and asserting needs.<\/span><\/p>\n But that first week, I kept the content light, talking about favorite movies (<\/span>Ice Age<\/span><\/em> was the winner). I also arranged one-on-ones, asking, \u201cHow do you learn best?\u201d Figuring out how to engage each student took experimentation. Jimmy, with severe speech impediments, rocked in his chair due to anxiety. The school\u2019s main coach encouraged me to pull in quieter students (but also told me to make my language approachable, else I\u2019d alienate students). With gentle coaxing, I guided Jimmy through using a tablet to write on a virtual whiteboard. As Jimmy started jotting, the class clapped in excitement, delighted that Jimmy was no longer left on the sidelines.<\/span><\/p>\n This once-in-a-lifetime experience<\/span> [7]<\/strong> taught me to always put myself in others\u2019 shoes and ask\u2014myself and others\u2014what they need to succeed. I carry these lessons with me as I work with Special Olympic junior athletes, partner with management teams (the part I love most about my role), and lead Andrea\u2019s Dream junior board. <\/span>[8]<\/strong><\/p>\n Since last applying, I\u2019ve grown as a consumer investor, exploring trends like personalization, better-for-you, and experiential consumption,<\/span> [9]<\/strong> and learned how good analysis is essential for strategic choices. With Levain Bakery, despite my affinity for ultra-rich cookies, I identified looming competitive pressures\u2014their dough supplier was selling the same product at Sam\u2019s; other quick-service brands could simply extend hours to match or beat Levain\u2014convincing us to walk away from investing. I\u2019ve also learned how people skills are as vital as the numbers. While supporting management of powersports business Mountain Motorsports, I compared lender offers and modeled options, enabling negotiations that secured lower interest rates and extended maturities. I\u2019ll bring these insights to the HBS classroom and beyond as an investor and entrepreneur.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019ve also developed as a community leader and partner. After caring for abandoned cats in Chicago, I reached out to the CEO of Andrea\u2019s Dream in SF, proposed a junior board, and recruited ~30 peers across three cities to staff it. We just finished our 2<\/span>nd<\/span> summer \u201cKittens for Care\u201d raising $50K+ and saving 35 cats! As a volunteer consultant for Bpeace, I advised Better Beans, an under-resourced healthy food restaurant in Chile, on optimizing inventory, suppliers, and cost management. Beans now projects ~15% growth and 100-bps margin improvement. <\/span>[10]<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m eager to bring my experience in consumer investing, passion for fem-tech, drive to advocate for those who need support, and willingness to jump into my communities to HBS\u2014where, in return, I\u2019ll seek as much growth as possible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [1]<\/strong> The contrast between what Megan was told and what she did clearly conveys her drive and tenacity, as she made her way to Wall Street.<\/span><\/p>\n [2]<\/strong> These two experiences\u2014supporting a female-(co)founded business and supporting a consumer health business\u2014were pivotal moments in shaping Megan\u2019s purpose.<\/span><\/p>\n [3]<\/strong> These quotes help the reader easily imagine Megan\u2019s frustration and even self-questioning.<\/span><\/p>\n [4]<\/strong> Starting your essay with a simple quote can quickly give your reader a sense of what you will be writing about. Keep in mind, though, that if you use a quote to begin more than one essay, the reader could find the construct repetitive, making it more distracting than additive.<\/span><\/p>\n [5]<\/strong> Megan uses an effective rhetorical question here to emphasize the scope of the issues.<\/span><\/p>\n [6]<\/strong> Including the title of the book here, as well as how Megan used the book to shape her curriculum, adds credibility to her story\u2014yet another example of the power of vivid, specific details!<\/span><\/p>\n [7]<\/strong> This direct but simple language reinforces how much Megan valued this teaching experience\u2014and how unique it was.<\/span><\/p>\n [8]<\/strong> Note here that Megan draws a connection between her teaching experience and her more recent roles in her community and office.<\/span><\/p>\n [9]<\/strong> Megan is very specific about the trends she has explored. \u201cTrends\u201d can be a vague catchall; clearly defining the trends you are referring to is more challenging. But in doing so, Megan helps us better understand her work and furthers her credibility.<\/span><\/p>\n [10]<\/strong> Megan does an excellent job here of packing in some notable results. Either of these stories could likely have warranted more words and earned a spot in one of Megan\u2019s core essays. Having too many good stories is an embarrassment of riches; if you are a reapplicant and have multiple strong anecdotes to share with HBS, you are at an advantage\u2014you have more words to convey the totality of your candidacy!<\/span><\/p>\n If you would like to see more examples of successful HBS essays, you can download the entire guide<\/span> here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nBusiness-Minded<\/span><\/h3>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nLeadership-Focused\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nGrowth-Oriented<\/span><\/h3>\n
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<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/h3>\n
Reapplicant Essay<\/span><\/h3>\n
Additional Commentary from Liza:<\/b><\/h3>\n