How To Use the STAR Method To Write Standout MBA Essays

UPDATE: This article was originally posted on August 29, 2022. It has been updated with new information and tips below. 

Adcoms of top MBA programs read thousands of essays annually; needless to say, they are presented with plenty of stories and examples of candidates who want to prove to them that they stand out. 

So, while you are writing your MBA application essays, how can you make your stories stand out while ensuring your impact and strengths are highlighted while doing so in a relatively short amount of space?

One of the best ways to craft an efficient, detailed, and well-organized example is to use the STAR method. By the time you’ve finished reading this blog, you should have a solid understanding of what this successful technique is and how you can use it to market your experiences effectively!

 

What is the STAR method?

“STAR” is an acronym that stands for situation, task, action(s), result(s). Let’s break down exactly what these terms mean.

 

Situation 

This is the part of your story where you describe the context of your experience. This should include all context and background information that the reader should know about the situation you were going into. 

For example, if you are going to discuss that time that you were able to save 100 employees’ jobs through your analytics skills and leadership, your situation would be the reasons why these employees were going to lose their jobs (such as a necessary budget cut) and why this was a problem (for example, you knew that most of these employees were older and would have a difficult time finding replacement jobs to support their families). 

Basically, in this section, you want to answer all of the “why” questions that your reader might have about the situation you were in.

 

Task

For the task section, you will build from your situation by describing your own role and responsibilities as a part of this context. You should also include what specific challenges you would have to be facing. 

Continuing with our previous example, the task could be written as follows: 

“As a senior data analyst, I proactively decided to leverage my technical skills and leadership position to try and save these employees’ jobs by taking a new look at the company’s budget-saving model.”

Notice that this narrows down your story slightly by focusing on how YOU were relevant to the broader situation you first described.

 

Action(s)

Now, in discussing action(s), it is time to focus on exactly what you did to tackle the issue and complete your task at hand. This should include all the necessary steps you took to achieve the results.

For example, to show how you tackled the previous challenge, you can discuss the efforts you made to compile new data that was not previously included in the company’s model, how you developed a new analysis to highlight non-human budget cuts that coil benefit the company, and what you did to present this effectively to senior management. 

This section should illuminate what made you stand out from others who might have been tasked with similar responsibilities — what approaches did you take? What work did you do to ensure success? How did you go above and beyond to solve the problems at hand? These are all questions that can help you choose which actions are most important to highlight — those that make you stand out and show how you achieved your results.

 

Result(s)

Finally, it is important for you to discuss the impact of your actions. This can include both immediate results and, if possible, broader/long-term results. 

For example, you could discuss how you were able to save all 100 employees’ jobs by making previously overlooked unnecessary material costs, and, in the long-term, the company decided to implement a policy of annually updating their cost-saving models as you had highlighted the importance of maintaining the trust of workers.

The main objective in this section is to show why, given your situation and task(s), your particular actions were important. In most cases, your results will prove to the reader how your decisions were meaningful. Additionally, discussing results will provide a sense of conclusion to your story.

Note: for some essays, you may need to demonstrate failure or weakness. In these cases, it is perfectly acceptable to report either failed results, or no results at all. However, it is extremely important that you discuss why these results happened and what you learned!

 

Of course, telling your stories in an effective way can be tricky. If you are looking for help to determine if your essays are structured in a way that stands out to the adcom, don’t hesitate to check out our MBA Resource Center! 

There, you can find dozens of past successful essays and detailed brainstorming worksheets to help you plan out a winning essay. Our library also includes guides for all top global MBA programs, interview tips and mocks, CV templates, and recommendation letter guides. Click to join!

 

How can you use STAR effectively?

Now that you know what STAR stands for, let’s focus on how to use this framework effectively to ensure your story is highlighting your most important ideas in a clear and interesting way!

 

Explain how you achieved your results, don’t just name actions

One mistake that our clients often make while discussing their actions is that they either are too general about what they did, or simply list a series of statements about what they did without explaining how they got there. 

Instead, think of your results and everything that contributed to them, and describe what you did. If possible, provide the reasoning behind them as well. 

While in most cases, you could write about every action and process you took, you are most likely limited by word count. Even if you’re not, it’s always a good idea to stay focused, so choose only the most significant actions and those that are most relevant to your results!

 

Focus on YOU!

The STAR method should make it very easy for your reader not only to understand what took place, but to also see your role in all of it. Therefore, it’s very important that the focus of your story is you and not your team or company. 

Even if it was a team effort, highlight your own actions within the team. You can discuss how you collaborated with others or discuss how you contributed to bigger results, but the emphasis should be on your own part of the story.

 

Highlight uniqueness

This brings us to the next important aspect of using STAR. While this gives you a framework to organize your story, you must still ensure you are telling the most impactful and interesting aspects of it. 

To make sure you are telling the most important parts of the example while emphasizing your own uniqueness, think of the actions that you took that were different from what others may have done. How did you think outside the box, demonstrate exceptional thoughtfulness (for example, about other people or about long-term consequences), or go above and beyond? Be sure to include actions that answer these questions.

When discussing your results, be sure to also explain how these specific actions contributed to the results. This will really emphasize the impact of your uniqueness!

 

Highlight change

For examples of successful results, most candidates will illustrate what this success looked like (for example, increased revenue or a closed deal). While this is certainly a good way of discussing results, you can go even further if you can also show that you created some kind of positive change.

Not only will this really prove the value of your uniqueness, but it will also show that you are able to exceed expectations and drive progress. For example, some of our clients have discussed how they improved methodologies, built trust amongst their team members despite a previous history of lacking collaboration, or introduced environmentally-friendly production processes. 

 

Include lessons learned

We often work with clients who use the STAR method effectively but end the paragraph simply with numerical results. 

What we must remind them is that it is critical to discuss what you learned from your example. If you are describing an example in which you succeeded, you should be discussing what strengths or approaches were most important to your success. Discussing lessons learned shows the reader that you are able to make the most of your experiences and that you take that information forward with you to improve.

If you are discussing a failure, this aspect is even more important, as you must demonstrate to the reader that you have been able to grow from your mistakes. In this case, show what you realized that you did wrong and how you plan to do things differently in the future.

 

We Make Your Story Shine

One of the most common mistakes we see in MBA essays is that candidates fail to tell compelling stories. This is important because if your stories are not compelling, they will not be persuasive. At the same time, they must be backed by strong examples that establish a track record of success and prove to the admissions committees why you belong at their school. 

Striking this balance between content and creativity can be tough, however, as succeeding means not only choosing the right stories but ensuring they are told in an optimal manner. 

This is why our iterative developmental feedback process here at Ellin Lolis Consulting helps you mold your message through the application of our storytelling expertise until it reflects exactly what makes your profile stand out and show fit with your target program. 

Not only can you take advantage of our iterative feedback process through multiple edits – you can also benefit from it after a single review! If your budget is tight, our editors will be happy to help polish your text as much as possible and leave “bonus comments” so you can keep working on it on your own!

No matter how long we work with you, we will always ensure your essays shine. Sign up to work with our team of storytelling experts and get accepted.