MBA applications have changed shape over the past few years: shorter word counts, more schools asking for short video responses, and less room to hide behind a polished but generic answer. Karla Magana Figueroa worked on Harvard Kennedy School’s admissions committee and has placed clients at Stanford GSB and HBS. Jessica Burlingame has coached MBA and EMBA applicants worldwide since 2006. Greg Guglielmo, ranked ninth nationally by Poets & Quants, has reviewed essays for nearly every top program.

This panel breaks down what shorter essays and video prompts actually reward, and where applicants still get it wrong. Expect talk about pacing a video response, trimming an essay without losing its substance, and how committees read these newer formats differently than long-form essays. Bring your own application questions.