Why Grit Is One of the Most Important Qualities in the MBA Application Journey

Updated April 2026

The MBA application process tests more than your credentials – it tests your character. The candidates who come through it with the outcomes they're working toward almost always share one quality: grit. Not just working hard, but staying committed through setbacks, adapting when things go wrong, and choosing to keep going when it would be easier to stop. Here's what that looks like at every stage of the journey.

Applying to business school is not for the faint of heart. I say that not to discourage anyone – quite the opposite – but because I want to be honest about what the process actually requires. It's long. It's demanding. There can be setbacks that are genuinely hard to navigate: a test score that isn't where you want it, a recommender who pulls out at the last minute, a rejection from a program you cared about deeply. The candidates who come through it with the outcomes they're hoping for are almost always the ones who had something specific in common.

Grit.

Angela Duckworth, whose work on this quality I recommend often – and whose book I discuss in my post on three books that will help you navigate the MBA application journey – describes grit as the combination of passion and perseverance. Not just working hard, but working hard toward something you genuinely care about, over a sustained period, in the face of obstacles that would lead someone with less determination to stop.

That's exactly what the MBA application process asks of you. And understanding what grit looks like at each stage of the journey – before you apply, during the process, and after you've submitted – can help you bring it more deliberately.

Grit in the pre-application stage

The pre-application stage is where the foundation is laid – and where many candidates underestimate what will be required of them.

Taking the GMAT/GRE is often the first significant test of grit in the process. The exam is genuinely difficult, preparation takes sustained effort over weeks or months, and many candidates need to retake it before achieving the score they're aiming for. That's not a sign of inadequacy – it's a normal part of the process. What often separates the candidates who improve on subsequent attempts from those who plateau is usually the willingness to approach the exam differently rather than just doing the same preparation again and hoping for a different result. That combination of sustained effort and adaptation is grit in practice.

The profile development work of the pre-application stage requires its own form of perseverance. Meaningful extracurricular involvement takes time – months or years – to develop into something worth writing about. Professional growth that produces strong application material doesn't happen overnight. Candidates who build the strongest profiles before applying are almost always the ones who started thinking about this well in advance and invested consistently, without the guarantee of any particular outcome.

The reflection work – developing clarity about your story, your post-MBA goals, and why the MBA is right for you at this moment – is perhaps the most underestimated demand of this stage. It's not dramatic work, and it doesn't lead to visible progress the way test preparation does. But it's foundational, and rushing it produces applications that feel thin and unconvincing. Giving it the time it deserves requires a particular kind of patience and determination.

Grit during the application process

Once you're in the thick of applications, grit shows up in a different form – the ability to keep moving forward when unexpected things go wrong.

And things do go wrong. In my years of working with candidates, I've seen nearly every kind of setback imaginable. Recommenders who agree and then pull out with days to spare.

Promotions that were expected and didn't come through, changing the professional story at the last minute. Essays that simply won't come together despite multiple attempts. Test scores submitted under time pressure that left candidates wishing they'd had more preparation time.

The candidates who navigate these setbacks best are the ones who treat them as problems to be solved rather than verdicts on their candidacy. Instead of spiraling into anxiety or paralysis, they take stock of the situation, identify what's still within their control, and take the next step. That orientation – forward-looking, solutions-focused, undeterred by what can't be changed – is what grit looks like in the middle of the process.

It's also what leads to better applications under pressure. Candidates who panic tend to make the situation worse – rushing decisions, cutting corners, submitting work they're not proud of. Candidates who stay grounded and methodical tend to find that what felt catastrophic was survivable – and sometimes even produced unexpected strengths in the application.

Grit after you've submitted

The post-submission stage tests grit in a different way – through waiting, uncertainty, and results that don't always match what you hoped for.

Interview invitations require another significant investment of preparation. It's easy, after the exhausting process of completing applications, to feel like you've earned a break before interviews begin. You have. But the interview is a critical part of the process, and candidates who treat it as something to get through rather than something to prepare for tend to underperform. Grit here looks like sustained investment even when you're tired – the commitment to practice, to get feedback, to keep refining your delivery until it reflects your genuine best.

Rejections, waitlists, and unexpected results require the hardest form of grit. A rejection from a program you cared about deeply is genuinely difficult – it's worth acknowledging that honestly rather than trying to rush past it. Take the time you need to feel it. And then get back to work. The candidates who go on to strong outcomes are almost never the ones who were spared all disappointment – they're the ones who encountered it, sat with it honestly, and kept going anyway.

Grit and the longer view

There's something worth naming about what the MBA application journey teaches beyond the outcomes it produces.

The qualities the process demands – sustained effort, adaptation in the face of setbacks, the ability to keep going when results are uncertain – are exactly the qualities that matter in the career and leadership journey the MBA is preparing you for. The application process, in this sense, is not just a gateway to the MBA. It's itself a kind of preparation.

The candidates who navigate it with the most integrity – who do the foundational work honestly, who handle setbacks with grace, who treat every stage of the process as something worth doing well – tend to arrive at the MBA with something beyond an admission offer. They arrive with a clearer sense of who they are, what they're capable of, and what they're willing to work for.

That's the longer view on grit. It isn't just what carries you through the application. It's what the application teaches you about yourself.

Frequently Asked Questions About Grit and the MBA Application Journey

How do I build grit if I don't feel like I naturally have it? 

By starting with something you genuinely care about – which is the passion half of the equation – and then practicing the perseverance half deliberately. Grit isn't a fixed personality trait that some people have and others don't. It's a capacity that develops through doing hard things, experiencing setbacks, and choosing to continue rather than stop. The MBA application process itself is an opportunity to develop it: every time you return to a draft that isn't working, every time you prepare for the exam again after a disappointing score, every time you keep going when the process feels like too much – you're building exactly the quality you're asking about. Start with why you want this and let that clarity carry you through the moments when it's hardest.

How do I know when to persist versus when to reassess my approach? 

The test is whether what you're doing is actually resulting in progress – and whether a different approach might result in more. Grit isn't the same as stubbornness. Continuing to do the same preparation and expecting a different test result, or continuing to write the same kind of essays without getting honest feedback about what isn't working, isn't grit – it's repetition without learning. The genuine gritty response to a plateau or a setback is to ask honestly what needs to change, find the answer to that question, and then apply the same sustained effort to a different approach. Perseverance and adaptation aren't opposites. The most effective version of grit combines both.

How do I maintain grit after a rejection or disappointing result? 

By giving yourself permission to feel it – genuinely, without rushing to be okay – and then returning your attention to what's still possible. A rejection from a program you cared about is a real disappointment and deserves to be treated as one, not dismissed or minimized. Take the time you need. Talk to people who know you. And then come back to the question that matters: what happens next? For candidates mid-cycle, that means returning to the applications still in front of them with as much focus and care as the first one received. For candidates at the end of a cycle, it means an honest assessment of what to do differently in the next application cycle. Grit after disappointment doesn't look like pretending it didn't happen. It looks like deciding to continue anyway.

Does demonstrating grit in the application process help my actual candidacy? 

Yes – in ways that are both direct and indirect. Directly: the qualities that grit produces – sustained effort over time, adaptation in the face of setbacks, the commitment to do things well rather than quickly – show up in the application itself. The candidate who has done the foundational work, who has refined their essays through multiple rounds of revision, who has invested seriously in interview preparation, produces a different application than one who cut corners under pressure. That difference is visible to experienced readers. Indirectly: the process of applying with grit – of doing it honestly, thoroughly, and with sustained investment – tends to lead to the kind of self-knowledge and clarity that makes for the most compelling candidacies in the first place.

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Your story is already there. The work is figuring out how to tell it – clearly, honestly, and in a way that only you could.

If you're on your MBA application journey and want a thought partner who has helped hundreds of clients navigate every part of this process as a top MBA admissions consultant – I'd love to connect.

You can also explore my MBA admissions consulting services or read what past clients have said.

About the Author

Shaifali Aggarwal is the Founder/CEO of Ivy Groupe and a Harvard MBA and Princeton alumna. Named a top MBA admissions consultant by Business Insider and Poets & Quants, she has helped hundreds of ambitious professionals earn admission to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, M7, and top global MBA programs. She has been quoted as an expert in Business Insider, Fortune, Forbes, Entrepreneur, MarketWatch, US News, and other media outlets, and holds a perfect 5-star rating across all verified client reviews on Poets & Quants.