Archive : MBA Essays

Around here, we spend a lot of time talking about applications and the writing samples that comprise those applications. For MBA candidates, the focus is on essays and how to both answer a school’s question while also injecting your key message points into the response. Essay writing requires a specific approach, which is an intuitive concept for most applicants, given the specific nature of the essay questions and the variety of issues that matter to individual schools. But what of the personal statement? How do you take a blank page and vague instructions and maximize the opportunity before you? Personal statements also require a specific approach, one that can best be understood as a three-step process.

Before examining the three steps to writing a great personal statement, note that there will always be subtle differences in strategy, depending on the program type. For the personal statement on a law school application, the goal is always to maximize the space in whatever way that circumstances dictate. On a medical school AMCAS personal statement, there is always going to be a “stand out from the crowd” element to consider. For many grad school programs, candidates need to make sure they understand the program in question. You can go right down the list and find a caveat for every type of graduate school. That said, once you account for those nuances, you will always come back to the following three steps:

Last week the Stanford Graduate School of Business released its admissions essay topics and deadlines for the 2009-2010 application season. Notably, as is the case with HBS, Stanford’s Round 1 deadline is now in the first week of October, and the school will now notify Round 1 applicants before the holidays at the end of the year.

Harvard Business School has released its application deadlines and admissions essays for the 2008-2009 season. Here they are, taken from Harvard’s site. Our comments are in italics:

Two weeks ago Columbia started accepting applications for the January 2010 intake of its accelerated MBA program. There is just a single deadline — October 7, 2009 — and the school promises a response time of eight weeks after an application goes into review. Below are the Columbia J-Term’s admissions essays, with our comments in italics:

Columbia January Term Admissions Essays

1. What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals? How will Columbia Business School help you achieve these goals? (750 words)

(This is the fairly standard “Why an MBA? / Why this school?” question, but your answer will need to be a little more focused than the answer that an applicant would submit to a typical two-year program. The J-Term is especially designed for young professionals who plan to return to their current employers or otherwise don’t need the benefit of a summer internship to transition to a new career, and Columbia will closely look for evidence that you understand the pros and cons that such an accelerated program offers.)

Harvard Business School has posted the admissions essays and deadlines for 2009. Here they are, taken from Harvard’s site. Our comments are in italics:

HBS 2+2 Program Application Deadline
There is just one application round for the HBS 2+2 Program. Applications must be received by July 1, 2009, at 5:00 PM Eastern time. Applicants will be notified of their admissions decisions by September 15, 2009.

Last week Dee Leopold posted a Round One update on the HBS blog.

Leopold and her team are now in the process of reviewing applicants who have already interviewed for Round One, and they expect to continue doing so up until the school’s Jan. 21 notification deadline. They are also putting some applicants onto the Round One waitlist, and Leopold says that she expects to waitlist around 100 Round One applicants.

This week many of our clients are working hard to finish up their Round One business school admissions essays. If you

While we’ve previously blogged about UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business, below is a closer look at the school’s admissions essays for 2008-2009. Our comments are in italics:

Kenan-Flagler Application Essays

1. What are the 2 or 3 strengths or characteristics that have driven your career success thus far? Do you have other strengths that you would like to leverage in the future? (500 words maximum)

Earlier we posted NYU Stern’s 2008-2009 application deadlines. The school has since posted its full online application. Here are Stern’s application essays for 2008-2009, with our comments in italics:

UVA’s Darden School of Business has released its application essays for the 2008-2009 admissions season. Here they are, with our comments in italics:

UVA (Darden) Application Essays

1. What pivotal choice(s) have you made in your life that have influenced your decision to pursue an MBA? (500 words)

INSEAD has released its application for the 2008-2009 season. The following are INSEAD’s deadlines and essays for the coming Sep. 2009 intake, with our italics in comments:

INSEAD Application Deadlines
Round 1: October 1, 2008
Round 2: November 26, 2008
Round 3: February 11, 2009
Round 4: April 1, 2009

UCLA’s Anderson School of Management has released its online application and announced its application deadlines and admissions essays for the 2008-2009 season. Here they are, with our comments in italics:

UCLA Anderson Application Deadlines
Round 1: October 9, 2008
Round 2: January 8, 2009
Round 3: April 2, 2009

Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business has released its admissions essays and application deadlines for 2008-2009. Our comments are in italics:

Duke (Fuqua) Application Deadlines
Early Action: October 15, 2008
Round 1: October 27, 2008
Round 2: January 7, 2009
Round 3: March 16, 2009

Columbia Business School’s online application is available for the 2008-2009 season. Below are are this year’s Columbia application deadlines and admissions essays (our comments are in italics):

Columbia Business School Application Deadlines
Jan. ’09 Accelerated Program: October 8, 2008
Sep. ’09 Class, Early Decision: October 8, 2008
Sep. ’09 Class, International Applicants: March 4, 2009
Sep. ’09 Class, U.S. Applicants: April 15, 2009

The Yale School of Management recently released its application essays and deadlines for the 2008-2009 admissions season. Our comments are in italics:

Yale SOM Application Deadlines
Round 1: October 22, 2008
Round 2: January 7, 2009
Round 3: March 18. 2009

Although Chicago GSB hasn’t yet released its full 2008-2009 application, the school recently announced its admissions essays for the upcoming year. Our comments are in italics:

Chicago GSB Application Essays

Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business has confirmed that its 2008-2009 admissions essays will be the same as those in last year’s application:

Dartmouth (Tuck) Application Essays

1. Why is an MBA a critical next step toward your short- and long-term career goals? Why is Tuck the best MBA program for you?
2. Tuck defines leadership as
   

University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business has released its application essays for the 2008-2009 season. Our comments are in italics:

Ross Application Essays

Long Answers: (500 word max)

The Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley has just released its application deadlines and admissions essays for the 2008-2009 season. Note that as of 7/16/08 Haas still notes on its web site that these are subject to change for the 2008-2009 application season. Our comments are in italics:

Haas Application Deadlines

Wharton has released its application deadlines and admissions essays for the 2008-2009 season. Here they are, taken from Wharton’s site. Our comments are in italics:

Wharton Application Deadlines
Round 1: October 9, 2008
Round 2: January 8, 2009
Round 3: March 5, 2009

Kellogg applicants, look alive! The Kellogg School of Management has just released its admissions essays for the 2008-2009 application season. The questions are as follows, lifted directly from the Kellogg web site: