1、标准型开头
标准型的MBA Essay开头涵盖了以下几方面内容：人物，事件，时间，地点，原因和形式。这种写法很像新闻写作中的六个W，它使读者对于文章即将涉及哪些内容有一个清晰的印象。其中最标准的就是概括性的开头，而最普通的概括性开头往往就是重复一遍问题： "While I have had many opportunities to serve in the capacity of a leader in both my personal and professional lives, there are two occasions that I feel clearly demonstrate my managerial potential." "There are two individuals who have deeply shaped my professional thinking." "My most important cross-cultural experience is related to the fifteen months I spent in Thailand as a teacher of Economics and Business in a Cambodian refugee camp."
2、惊奇型开头
这种开头意在使读者大吃一惊，从而引发Essay阅读者他们的阅读兴趣。如："Recently, I was trapped on a ledge more than 300 feet above the ground when an unexpected snow storm hit while I was rock climbing." "During my senior year in college, my father was diagnosed with terminal skin cancer."
3、动作型开头
动作型开头则一开始就把MBA ESSAY的读者带入某一行为之中，它尤其适合需要节省空间的短文章以及用故事作为开头的叙述型/描述型文章。如："I carried the puck up the left wing and couldn't find a team-mate as I reached the offensive zone."
4、领导型开头
领导型的开头在文章的一开始就给MBA Essay读者一个对于作者的某个领导职能的深刻印象，这对于MBA申请是很重要的。这类文章旨在展现一个自信的、目标明确的申请人。在使用这类开头的时候，文章接下来的内容必须十分有力度，以支撑起这一形象。下面举例的三个开头出于同一篇文章，分别用于引导三个部分的内容。"During the summer before my senior year, I founded and managed a company that employed five people and grossed twenty thousand dollars." (第一部分) "In my senior year at Harvard, I led our ECAC champion hockey team in points, becoming the first player to ever begin his career on the J.V. team and finish as the varsity's leading scorer." (第二部分) "I paid for the majority of my college education, while achieving Dean's List every semester, spent forty hours each week participating in a Division 1 athletic program, worked ten to fifteen hours each week to help defray tuition costs, and also maintained a balanced social life." (第三部分)
5、信息型开头
这种开头向读者传达一个事实或信息，而这一事实或者与你的文章的主题有关，或者传达了关于你的某种信息。"Technological innovation is occurring at an ever-increasing pace." "Six months ago, my church implemented a new organizational structure in which all the various church functions were consolidated under the responsibility of one of ten different committees."
6、引言式开头
如果你选择一句引语作为开头，你最好选择不同寻常的、深奥的、有趣的、或者晦涩的引语，而且这个引语不能太长。你选择的引语应该包涵你希望向读者表达的某个意思。不要使用谚语或者类似的陈词滥调，也不要尝试在你的文章里对这句引言作出解释。录取委员会更感兴趣的是你如何对这句谚语作出反应，而不是直白的解释。下面就是一个引言式开头的示例："'It's in my blood, it's in my veins, I am the ghost who entertains.' -- Peter Weiss, Wie dem Herrn Mockinpott das Leiden ausgetrieben wird"
7、对话式开头
这种开头把读者引入MBA Essay当中的一场对话之中。它可能是真实的对话，也可能只是你的想法的一个小小片断："Stop foolin' around, old boy. How would an MBA help you? Better get on with your career." "First-rate skiing, the Winter Carnival, a bucolic setting, Ivy League football, and a great career at the end of it all? Who wouldn't want a Tuck MBA?"
