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This is the second part to how to tackle the Harvard 2+2 application essays. Applicants have the option to choose one of these three essays. After having tackled the first three required essays, these additional essays offer you the opportunity to showcase an aspect of your brand that hasn’t been covered so far in the application or to reinforce your brand. You can also use one of these three essays to address a potential gap that exists in your story. All three essays have equal weight in the eyes of the admissions board so choose what most resonates with you not the essay you believe the admissions board expects you to write.

Select one of the following essays (400-word limit each):

Discuss how you have engaged with a community or organization.

To do justice to this essay you should opt for quality over quantity. It’s more important that you have one or two activities that you are truly committed to and where you can show evidence of your direct involvement. The key word to keep in mind when addressing this essay is “engaged”. This conjures up a picture of rolling up one’s sleeves and helping to bring about an impact. Membership in several organizations doesn’t get at what the admissions board is looking for. The primary objective of this essay is to ascertain what type of student and future leader you will be. If you haven’t shown commitment to other people in the first three required essays, then this essay could be a vital one for you to make sure that you demonstrate that you care about others (not just your own achievements) and that you have tangible examples to show that.  It’s less about the leadership title you held and more about the passion you bring to an organization and how you are able to make an impact.

What area of the world are you most curious about and why?

Self awareness, global perspective/exposure, and maturity are a few words that come to mind when thinking of this essay. This essay could be good for applicants who have a genuine passion for a particular region of the world since it will allow them to “educate” the admissions board why they have this passion and how it fits with their vision for their lives. Remember, what is important is not the region but what it means to you—why you are curious about it. The “why” in this case is more important than the “what”. It’s what you reveal about yourself, your character, what matters to you, that is at the heart of this essay. This could be a great essay to delve into your background—talk about your family.  Or it could be an opportunity to share a hobby/interest that means a lot to you. The choice of topic and how you address it can say a thing or two about your maturity so use good judgment with this essay.

What is your career vision and why is this choice meaningful to you?

It is interesting that HBS doesn’t word this question in terms of your goals but your vision. That leads me to believe, then, that it is less about a step by step process of achieving a particular set of career objectives and more about whether you have the foresight to imagine where you would like to end up and the necessary skills/resources you will need to achieve it. There is a strong element of aspiration connected to vision that applicants should think of when writing this essay. This essay could be good for someone for whom it is questionable why they are applying to the 2+2 program. If you are already on a business track, what is your vision that justifies applying now? Or conversely, if your background is quite far removed from business, then this essay could be a good platform to help the admissions board understand why you are motivated to going to business school and why a program like this would be necessary to help you make that transformation in your career.