MBA Essay Review — Make Your Story More Compelling
MBA essays are about showing an admissions committee how you think, what shaped you, what you care about, and why business school makes sense as your next step career step. I love storytelling! No matter your background (even for those that might think they have a 'generic' application profile), there's a unique story that we can pull into an essay. My objective is to help you turn your essay drafts into a clearer and more compelling application story. We’ll focus on making the story unique to you, and whether your goals, motivations, and personal background come through in a memorable and personalized way. We’ll start with a live call so I can understand your background, career path, target schools, and the broader story you are trying to tell across your application. Then we'll move offline. I'll review your essay drafts and leave detailed comments on what’s working vs. feels generic, where we can 'show' vs. tell, and where the story can be sharper. Given the (critical) importance of maintaining your own voice in the application, I don't intend to write/rewrite your essays for you. Rather, I’ll give direct comments, suggestions, and examples to help improve the structure and flow. But the goal is for the final essay to still sound like you, with your own unique voice. This may be especially useful for applicants with strong raw material (i.e., "content") but are struggling to turn that material into a cohesive application story for top MBA programs OR for applicants with struggling to determine how to stand out in a pool of similar-looking applications.
What's included
My style is direct and story-focused. I’ll start by getting to know your background and goals live, because essay feedback is much more useful when I understand the broader story you are trying to tell. After that, we'll work largely offline. I’ll review your essay in detail 3-4 times and leave comments directly in the document (e.g., PDF, Word, Google Docs, etc.). I’ll indicate to you where the essay is strong, where it is too generic, or where story needs to be clearer. I generally will not rewrite sentences or the whole document for you. Instead, I’ll give you specific feedback and suggested directions so you can make the essay stronger while ensuring (very important) that it remains in your own voice.
- 1-hour live kickoff to understand your background, goals, target schools, essay prompts, and broader application story
- Iterative offline essay review (~3x), with direct comments on structure, clarity, storytelling, school fit, and whether your unique voice comes through
Meet your expert
Vikranth P.
Kellogg MBA | Former Strategy Consultant | Storytelling for MBA Apps
I’m a management consultant with over 7 years of management consulting experience and a strong interest in storytelling. I enjoy learning about and helping applicants uncover / portray the unique aspects of their personality through essays and resumes. My focus is on MBA applications, resume reviews, essay feedback, and consulting interview prep. I especially enjoy helping candidates take "raw material" from their career and personal background and turn it into a cohesive and captivating story. A strong essay/resume goes beyond the 'what' and starts to explain to a reader the 'why' and the 'what drivers this person'. It should help someone understand what you owned, what you changed, what you learned, and what makes your path distinct/memorable. I tend to work best with applicants who want direct, thoughtful feedback. I’ll help you pressure test what's working vs. generic and where your story can shine more while still sounding like you. I also have deep experience with consulting interview prep and have delivered hundreds of practice cases over the years through business school, peer coaching, and my consulting experience. For candidates preparing for consulting recruiting, I can provide case reps with clear feedback and help build good casing habits that matter in live interviews: structure, math, synthesis, communication, and business judgment.
