UPDATE: This article was originally posted on September 6, 2019. It has been updated with new information and tips below.
With a diverse community, unique opportunities to pursue a dual degree at partner business schools around the globe, and location in one of the world’s most famous cities, HEC Paris is at the top of the list for an increasing number of applicants who seek to pursue (or continue pursuing) a high-impact, global career.
However, competition to join HEC Paris’ elite MBA is more difficult than ever.
That’s why we’ve prepared this guide to help you use your HEC admissions essays to stand out. We’ve rounded up our best tips and links to HEC Paris MBA sample essays to ensure you give your Haas application your best shot.
1. Who is HEC Paris looking for?
(Photo courtesy of @hec_paris on Instagram)
“Founded in 1881, HEC Paris has continuously strived to give its students the necessary knowledge to become the business leaders of tomorrow. At over 130 years old, it is clear that we can stand the test of time. From its early days, HEC Paris has been a leading institution with an extensive array of options tailored to suit every student’s needs, which is why the MBA program (formerly Institut Supérieur des Affaires) was created in 1969 and has been teaching the business elite ever since.” HEC Paris Admissions
Every year, HEC Paris literally searches the globe for outstanding professionals given the honor of joining each class (HEC has two intakes per year), each of around 250 students. With a strong emphasis on diversity, there is no “typical” HEC student, yet the average admitted student for the Class of 2025 had a 690 average GMAT score. Furthermore, 95% of the class was international, with 49 nationalities represented.
Though diversity is a key point at HEC, the admissions committee is looking for candidates who embody the following characteristics:
(Photo courtesy of HEC Paris’ website)
If this sounds like a community in which you’d be right at home, you’ll first have to prove you’ve got what it takes by successfully answering HEC Paris’ admissions essay questions.
2. How should I answer the HEC Paris essay questions?
Though HEC Paris does require numerous essays, this approach allows you to fully present who you are and why you’re passionate about the school in your application.
2.1. Essay 1 Tips
Why are you applying to the HEC MBA Program now? What is the professional objective that will guide your career choice after your MBA, and how will the HEC MBA contribute to the achievement of this objective? (3500 characters including spaces – about 500 words – maximum)
Though it may seem that you have a lot of space to discuss why you’d be a good fit for HEC in your overall application, you will want to pay special attention to this question!
That’s because this goals essay not only shows your career ambitions (an important part of determining how prepared you are to leverage your MBA after graduation), but also asks you to answer one of the most important questions in the application: why us and not another business school?
First, when discussing your goals, clarity is king, so make sure you include a job title and industry in your description of your post-MBA aspiration (mid-term) and also a connected long-term goal.
However, goals without context can be a little confusing to decipher or understand (or they can just seem a bit lackluster). For example, a client last year initially started his essay by saying:
“I want to become a Business Development Director at a Brazilian company.”
While interesting, it’s better to give a little bit of context to help these goals come to life. Check out the final version of the same essay’s introduction:
“In the 1970s, the phrase “think global, act local” came into use, suggesting that for the world to change, one must be active locally. With this mindset, I focused my career on Brazilian multinational companies to start creating global change at home. I now seek to take the next step to become a “glocal” leader by becoming Business Development Director at a Brazilian company.”
After clearly stating your goals (and your motivations for having these goals), we suggest you briefly touch on how HEC can help you achieve these goals. This should not be a “laundry list” of 10 classes you found on the HEC site, nor a section in which you repeat clichés about the school.
Instead, you should thoughtfully consider how you must grow personally and professionally to reach your stated short-term goal and what elements of HEC (classes, faculty, clubs, etc.) will help you reach them.
Ending your essay with a killer conclusion sentence to leave your reader with a strong image of your profile is the perfect wrap-up.
2.2. Essay 2 Tips
What do you consider your most significant life achievement? (2000 characters including spaces – about 250 words – maximum)
Over your career, you’ve likely had a lot of wins — both big and small.
Though you’re hopefully nodding your head in agreement, when was the last time you really reflected on which of your achievements are your strongest?
Go back and think of all the moments of your career and life that you are proudest of. Since this question does not state you have to use a professional example, you can surely include a personal example here.
Then, consider what else the admissions committee will learn about you in the rest of your application and choose an example that adds a new angle or perspective that will enhance your appeal as an applicant.
Finally, we suggest choosing an example that works well with the STAR format since these types of examples will be easier to explain in a 250-word essay.
To wrap up the essay, don’t just mention the result of what happened in the story, but be sure to tell us why you consider this your life’s most significant moment. Perhaps it created a passion you’ve been following ever since. Perhaps it gave you a new perspective on your life. Whatever it is, make sure we get to learn this information in your essay.
TOP TIP: We’ve written extensively on how to make your achievements shine in an MBA essay. Check out that article here!
Need more guidance?
Our MBA Resource Center has dozens of HEC Paris MBA essays that worked to get our clients admitted to help you plan out a winning HEC Paris essay. Our library also includes guides for all top global MBA programs, detailed essay brainstorms, interview tips and mocks, CV templates, and recommendation letter guides. Click to join!
2.3. Essay 3 Tips
Leadership and ethics are inevitably intertwined in the business world. Describe a situation in which you have dealt with these issues and how they have influenced you. (2000 characters including spaces – about 250 words – maximum)
This essay can be slightly tricky. Though you should definitely stick to a straightforward story here, make sure you choose one that doesn’t make you look unethical.
For example, a few years ago, a client shared that he’d accidentally shared classified information during a due diligence. Though the error was an important learning lesson and his mistake was totally due to inexperience, it still didn’t give a great impression of his ethics.
As such, we suggest you choose a story where you faced external ethical challenges and used your leadership to overcome this issue. An important note: make sure your choice of example shows you in the driver’s seat! Leadership essays built around examples where the applicant is not really leaving inevitably fall flat.
For example, our client Bianca faced an ethical issue when her company’s suppliers asked her to fudge the numbers on import documents so both the supplier and the company could save money on taxes. Bianca then went through how she kindly worked with the client (understanding this suggestion could be due to a difference in cultures) to ensure the correct numbers were included. In the end, Bianca shared what this taught her about ethical leadership.
When building your essay, follow a similar model. Use the STAR method to explain what happened (making sure the conflict is clear in this essay to ensure you fully answer the question) and then showing what you learned.
2.4. Essay 4 Tips
Imagine a life entirely different from the one you now lead, what would it be? (2000 characters including spaces – about 250 words – maximum)
In this essay, the admissions committee wants to get to know you better as a person. You do not have to answer something business-related; just make sure what you do choose is not in conflict with the personal brand you’ve established in other elements of the application.
I’ll never forget Carlos’ essay for this prompt several years ago (which you can read by downloading our sample essays!). An investment banker, he also fostered a voracious interest in history. In this essay, he shared this passion with us, saying he’d choose to be a history professor in this alternate life! It made for a very interesting essay that gave his IB profile a bit of extra spice.
Remember, there is no “right” answer to this question, so be yourself!
2.5. Essay 5 Tips
Please choose from one of the following essays: (2000 characters including spaces – about 250 words – maximum)
- a) What monument or site would you advise a first-time visitor to your country or city to discover, and why?
- b) Certain books, movies or plays have had an international success that you believe to be undeserved. Choose an example and analyse it.
- c) What figure do you most admire and why? You may choose from any field (arts, literature, politics, business, etc.).
As these options are all equally good, make sure you choose the one you like the best (as long as you have some sort of story or angle you can use to answer this one, of course!)
If you choose to go with option A, think about what you would want to teach someone about your country. If you’d like to share your passion for cooking (and maybe tie in that popular cooking blog you run?) perhaps you could mention taking your guest to a famous market as a way to share your interest and introduce your country’s culinary history.
Or perhaps you love to get outdoors and would encourage your visitor to head out into the mountains on your favorite hike.
Whatever you choose, make sure you explain both what you would share and why you would share it, connecting any of your relevant activities or interests.
Option B is essentially asking you to share your favorite book, movie, or play (though asks it not be a “famous” one). Here, again, there is no right answer, so be genuine. Regardless of the piece you choose, make sure you explain the general storyline and why you love this work so much.
If option C stands out the most to you, choose wisely! While selecting your person, make a list of the characteristics you admire about each person, thinking about what stories or elements of your profile you can link to your choice.
For example, a client who wrote this essay for LBS’ EMBA program chose Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi, the first female CEO of PepsiCo. This was the perfect opportunity for the client to discuss her values of resilience and diversity, and also gave her the chance to discuss the women’s empowerment initiatives she leads at her corporation. When discussing what you admire about the leader, however, make sure you discuss why you admire the person as a leader, not as a human being. We also suggest detailing your interpretation of what it means to be a leader.
After giving background on your choice, we suggest you devote a good portion of the essay to the real star of the show: you. Make sure to focus on why the qualities/accomplishments of the person you have chosen are so inspiring and try to build some connection to your profile or background.
2.6. Mini Goals Essay Tips
Please describe your immediate career goals following your MBA including location. (1400 characters including spaces – roughly 200 words – max)
Here, you want to make sure to either copy the goals statement you wrote in Essay 1 and add additional information, including location, if not mentioned in the other essay.
However, if your goals are not explicitly stated in Essay 1, be sure to include that information here.
Though the question only asks about short-term goals, you may also wish to include information about your long-term career goals to demonstrate the link between your post-MBA plans and your ultimate career goals.
Not sure exactly how to define your goals for your MBA application? Check out our post on that topic here.
2.7. Optional Essay Tips
Is there any additional information you would like to share with us? (900 words max)
Though with such a short application you may be tempted to use this response to add additional stories and information you couldn’t quite squeeze in elsewhere, restraint is necessary here. Make sure you focus on explaining gaps in your application only, though you can use these explanations to highlight related achievements.
For example, our client Fernando needed to explain his 6-month gap in work experience. As luck would have it, he spent these 6 months volunteering in Asia, so we not only addressed a “weakness” but were also able to include a new achievement in his application.
We have written extensively on the issue of optional essays, giving tips and tricks for how to address issues like low GMAT scores or poor academic performance here.
2.8. Reapplicant Essay Tips
At the beginning of the application, you will be asked if you have applied to HEC before. If the answer is yes, you’ll be asked to answer the following question:
If yes, please explain the reason that you are re-applying below
There is no stated word limit, but we suggest you keep your answer between 300-500 words. You should use this space to recap what you have improved since your previous application, any additional contact you have made with the schools, and any clarifications you feel will strengthen your application.
We have written extensively on the topic of reapplicant essays. Check out our best tips and sample essays here!
Looking for HEC Paris MBA essay examples? Check out our real sample essays that got our clients admitted here.
3. Feeling Overwhelmed with the MBA Application Process?
Navigating the complexities of MBA applications can leave you feeling overwhelmed, especially when each program requires unique essays, resumes, and recommendation letters. Without a clear plan, it’s easy to fall into the trap of submitting a generic application that gets you dinged.
That’s where we come in. With a 98.9% success rate, our team of expert MBA consultants at Ellin Lolis Consulting has a proven track record of transforming applications into success stories. Through our personalized consultation process, we dive deep into your profile, helping you tell your story in a way that resonates with admissions committees and gets you into top business schools. From interview preparation to essay edits, we’re here to guide you through every step of the process.
If you’re ready to stand out in the admissions pool, learn more about working with us today. Let’s make your MBA dreams a reality!
4. HEC Paris Deadlines
HEC admits students on a rolling basis. You should receive a final answer 5 weeks after applying.
(Photo courtesy of HEC Paris’ website)
Real MBA Essays That Got People In
School-specific sample essays that got our clients accepted
