To give you a sense of what strong essays look like, we have shared a few examples below. Do not copy them. Use them as inspiration to craft your own unique story.
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Here's what works across the three essays of Rohan Mehta:
Read on ...
Essay 1: Contemplate situations that have shaped your personal journey. Present what these situations have taught you about your strengths and weaknesses, and how they have shaped your personal and professional journey. (400 words max)
Sample Essay
Growing up in Mumbai, I felt the pace of the city mirrored my own restlessness. In eighth grade, after watching a news segment on devastating floods in Assam, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had to do something. I drafted a plan for a school fundraiser, complete with a bake sale, art auction, and donation drive, and showed up outside the principal’s office with a proposal and a list of student volunteers (none of whom had agreed yet). The principal gave a cautious nod. Convincing my classmates was harder. “Who’ll bake 50 cupcakes on a school night?” one asked. I didn’t argue. I showed up with a borrowed oven, helped them bake, made posters, and took charge of logistics so all they had to do was show up. By the end of the week, we had raised ₹28,000 and sent it to a local NGO. That experience didn’t just teach me that I could lead, it showed me that people rally behind energy, not authority.
This instinct to take initiative and build momentum has stayed with me. At my first job in a mobility startup, I was put in charge of onboarding drivers in a new city. The existing script was dull and transactional. I rewrote it to sound warm and relatable, and convinced two skeptical city leads to pilot it. When sign-ups increased by 40%, it felt like a repeat of that school fundraiser, an idea brought to life by pulling people along with me.
But this same trait, bias for action, has sometimes morphed into impatience. In a later role, while leading the launch of a skilling app for gig workers, I pushed our tech team to meet a tight timeline without fully understanding their constraints. We went live with bugs that frustrated early users and had to pull back. It was humbling. I had moved fast, but not together.
The turning point came during a field immersion in a Tier-3 town. I was there to drive adoption of our new skilling app. Our plan was to highlight ease of use and quick job placements, assuming that would appeal to users. But in one-on-one conversations, I kept hearing a different concern: “Will this actually lead to a dignified job?” “What will my family think if I take this course?” These were not questions about features, they were about identity, self-worth, and aspiration. Based on that, we scrapped our original pitch and rewrote the content to focus on success stories from people like them, in their own language, showing not just outcomes, but pride. Adoption rates rose, but more importantly, I learned to slow down. I stopped assuming. I started listening, not to respond, but to understand.
I realize that my strength lies in catalyzing action, but my growth lies in learning when and how to act. I’m still restless, but I’ve become more reflective. And I now see leadership not just as momentum, but as mindfulness.
Essay 2: What intellectual experiences have influenced your approach to learning and have led you to pursue an MBA? Please describe using anecdotes from your own experiences. (400 words max)
Sample Essay
I have been curious about how people make decisions, not just what they choose, but why. That curiosity began at home. My father runs a small textile business, and I often accompanied him to the wholesale market. I was fascinated by how he negotiated—not just with logic, but with timing, tone, and intuition. Once, I saw him walk away from a deal he actually wanted, only to have the supplier call him back five minutes later with better terms. “People decide with emotion, not just numbers,” he told me. That line stuck.
This seed of curiosity grew during my undergraduate years. While organizing our college fest, I noticed how slight tweaks in communication shaped people’s responses. People were more likely to commit when roles had ownership built in. For instance, instead of asking, “Can you help with logistics?” I said, “Would you be in charge of backstage coordination?” The same person who ignored the first request said yes to the second. On the other hand, volunteers disengaged when there was no visible outcome tied to their effort. One assigned to ticket checking dropped out mid-day, saying, “No one even notices if I’m here.” After that, we started publicly acknowledging contributions during daily briefings, and attendance improved. I began thinking less like an organizer and more like a designer of behavior.
That mindset stayed with me when I entered the workforce. At my first job in a mobility startup, I was tasked with improving driver onboarding in new cities. I noticed that many applicants dropped off after the first call. Instead of rewriting the whole process, I changed just one thin: we began the call by addressing drivers by name and asking how they heard about us. The tone became more personal, and drop-off rates decreased significantly. It was not a product change, it was a human one.
But the experience that most shaped my approach to learning came while leading a project to redesign a skilling app for gig workers. We initially focused on simplifying the UI and shortening course content. But user feedback told a different story. They did not just want fast learning, they wanted relevant learning. They wanted to know how a course could change their career, not just their next week. So we restructured the content to begin with real-life success stories from past learners, people who had used the same course to land better-paying jobs or switch industries. We also added a module at the start of each course that mapped skills to real career outcomes, so users could connect their effort to a larger goal. Completion rates improved, but more importantly, the way users spoke about the course shifted, from “useful” to “aspirational.”
These experiences have taught me that understanding people, customers, users, teammates, is the foundation of good business decisions. They have also made me realize that I want to formalize this learning. I don’t just want to observe patterns, I want to study frameworks, understand strategic thinking, and build systems that scale thoughtfully.
That’s why I now seek an MBA. I want to sharpen my intuition with structured thinking, and grow from being an instinctive problem-solver to a deliberate leader.
Essay 3: Given your experience and aspirations, how do you plan to use the PGP at ISB to fulfil your professional goals? (250 words max)
Sample Essay
My short-term goal is to transition into a product leadership role in a consumer-tech firm that builds for Bharat, India beyond the metros. Long term, I hope to co-found a digital-first company focused on access and inclusion in areas like skilling or financial well-being.
This goal stems from what I have seen on the ground. Working in Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns, I met users who had ambition, grit, and curiosity, but lacked services built for them. They were underserved not because of low demand, but because no one designed with them in mind. A young delivery boy in Indore told me, “I want to learn Excel, not English.” A street vendor in Aurangabad showed me her savings app, but said she didn’t know whom to call when she got locked out. These moments shifted how I saw product-market fit, not just as usability, but as cultural fit.
To build solutions that are not just functional, but truly relevant, I need to move beyond intuition and startup instinct. ISB offers exactly the learning environment I seek: courses like “Design Thinking,” “Digital Innovation,” and “Strategy in Emerging Markets” will give me structured ways to build for complexity. I am especially excited about the Product Management Lab and the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which will allow me to test ideas alongside experienced mentors and diverse peers.
ISB will help me translate my on-ground understanding into scalable, inclusive solutions. It’s not just a step forward, it’s the foundation I need to lead with empathy, structure, and scale.
Here's what works across the three essays of Divya Nair:
They bring out a clear progression: past → reflection → future
Each essay shows progression—how Divya has evolved from where she started to who she is now, and why an MBA is the logical next step. That makes her goals believable.
Essay 1: Personal challenges → learning to lead quietly → shifting from lone problem-solver to collaborative leader.
Essay 2: Starting with technical curiosity → expanding into strategy and systems → realizing the need for structured business learning.
This progression is essential. Admissions committees look for people who grow, reflect, and act with intention.
Read on ...
Essay 1: Contemplate situations that have shaped your personal journey. Present what these situations have taught you about your strengths and weaknesses, and how they have shaped your personal and professional journey. (400 words max)
Sample Essay
Growing up in Kozhikode, I was surrounded by people who worked hard but rarely had the luxury of choice. My parents gave me what they never had: access to good education and the freedom to dream beyond our town’s boundaries. That made me hungry, not because I lacked opportunity, but because I knew exactly what it meant to have it.
That hunger shaped the way I approached every phase of my life. At College of Engineering Trivandrum, I was not the loudest voice in the room, but I earned the respect of my peers by delivering under pressure, whether as a coordinator of the college fest or as a researcher on a final-year project that was later featured at an IEEE student conference. I learned that leadership is not always about being in the spotlight. It is about quiet reliability.
That mindset was tested more deeply during a personal crisis. In my final year, my father fell seriously ill. I became his primary caregiver while finishing my degree. I learned to prioritize, juggle responsibilities, and deliver on expectations. I also learned a difficult truth that I tend to take everything on myself. It is a strength in small doses but a liability when it becomes a habit. That is a pattern I have worked hard to break.
At Oracle, I channeled that same drive into learning quickly, earning trust, and eventually being selected for a high-potential women’s leadership cohort. I have contributed technically to ERP solutions and operationally to onboarding systems that now help new hires across three teams. I also led tech bootcamps for schoolgirls in rural Kerala. Watching them write their first line of code reminded me of where I started, and why this journey matters.
What ties all these experiences together is a mindset shaped by hunger, but tempered by empathy. I am not just striving for my own success. I want to be part of a generation that builds access for others. That’s what motivates me now to pursue an MBA. To grow into a leader who can drive change without losing sight of the individuals behind the systems.
Essay 2: What intellectual experiences have influenced your approach to learning and have led you to pursue an MBA? Please describe using anecdotes from your own experiences. (400 words max)
Sample Essay
My approach to learning has been shaped by curiosity and a desire to connect the dots between people, problems, and systems. But it was only over time, through a mix of academic, professional, and real-world experiences, that I understood how much I enjoy looking beyond the software codes I wrote, to the context behind the code.
In college, my machine learning project to predict student performance was more than a technical challenge. I spoke to teachers, studied behavioral data, and designed something that could actually be useful, not just accurate. It was selected for presentation at an IEEE student conference, but more than that, it made me realize that what drives me is not just solving a problem. It is understanding who I am solving it for.
At Oracle, this mindset grew stronger. While working on ERP cloud solutions, I often found myself questioning not just “how” to build a feature, but “why” it mattered to the client. I started reading up on digital strategy, industry trends, and user adoption metrics, which were not required for my role. When we faced onboarding delays with a major client, I initiated an analysis and developed a streamlined onboarding guide. That document is now in use. It was a small internal project, but it taught me that solutions are only as effective as the systems around them.
I have also sought out new experiences. Being selected for Oracle’s women’s leadership cohort gave me exposure to executive decision-making simulations, business case discussions, and cross-functional collaboration. I realized I thrived in environments where there wasn’t a right answer, only subjective judgment.
This realization that dealing with ambiguity works for me led me to pursue an MBA. I no longer want to work only within systems. I want to shape them. I am looking for a learning environment that combines business depth with real-world application, and a peer group that pushes me to think. At ISB, I hope to evolve into a strategist and a leader who can build for both scale and substance.
Essay 3: Given your experience and aspirations, how do you plan to use the PGP at ISB to fulfil your professional goals? (250 words max)
Sample Essay
ISB’s PGP offers the ideal platform to bridge my technical background with strategic and leadership skills. In the short term, I aim to transition into a consulting role focused on digital transformation. Courses like "Strategic Innovation Management" and "Digital Transformation Strategy" directly align with this goal, equipping me to advise clients on tech-enabled change.
I also look forward to learning through real-world applications. The Experiential Learning Programme (ELP) will give me hands-on consulting experience across industries, while the peer group, diverse in function and geography, will sharpen my collaborative and communication skills. The Women in Business Club and the Technology Club will offer a space to both learn and contribute, especially around inclusion and emerging technologies.
In the long run, I want to lead programs that drive tech access and inclusion for women across India. ISB’s Centre for Business Innovation and Entrepreneurship could be a launchpad for such initiatives. I also hope to draw on ISB’s alumni network, many of whom are in impact-driven roles, to refine my vision and execution.
For someone like me, engineer, dancer, caregiver, mentor, ISB offers not just academic depth but a holistic space to evolve into a purpose-driven leader.
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