Tuck School of Business Application Essays for 2004-2005 1. Please respond fully but concisely to the following essay. Although there are no restrictions for the length of your response, most applicants use 1,000 words for fewer. There is no right or wrong answer.)You are head of sales at a medium-sized manufacturing company. A little over one year ago, you recruited John to join the company as a sales manager. Since that time, he has been one of your star producers, and his performance has earned rave reviews from senior management and customers. He has generated an enormous amount of business for the company, landing accounts with the four largest retailers in the region. Last year, John was responsible for bringing in an additional $10 million in sales revenue. In that same year, full-year revenues increased 15 percent to $62 million, significantly outpacing all competitors. Gross margins for the year were 42.9 percent, compared with 38.0 percent last year, and the selling and administrative expenses were 30.2 percent of full year-revenues, compared with 29.5 percent last year. The CEO credits John with turning around the business and is one of his biggest supporters. Furthermore, the CEO praises for bringing John to the company. John is viewed by his co-workers and subordinates as intelligent, hard-working, and creative, but they also find him to be arrogant, confrontational, short-tempered, intolerant, and self-promoting. Morale is not good within his group, and earlier this week, two people on John's team complained to you about how he has been treating them. John is up for his review. At the time you hired him, you implicitly promised that he would be promoted to national sales manager within one and a half years, which would quadruple the number of employees he supervises. You fear that if he is not promoted, he will leave the company and go to the competition, taking with him many of the company's accounts. Likewise, you are concerned about the effect his promotion would have on the rest of the team. How would you handle the situation? What professional or personal experiences would you draw upon to guide your actions? It is suggested that the essays for questions 2 through 6 be answered in 250 to 750 words. 2. Why is an MBA a critical next step towards your short and long-term career goals? Why is Tuck the best MBA program for you? (If you are applying for a joint or dual degree, please explain how the additional degree will contribute to those goals.) 3. Describe a situation in which you led a team to reach a specific goal. Looking back, what characteristics helped you to be effective as a leader? What areas do you feel you need to develop in order to be a better leader?
4. Describe a situation in which you stood up for something you believed in, even though others did not agree with you. In what ways were you pleased with how you handled the situation? What do you wish you had done differently? 5. (Optional) Please provide any additional insight or information that you have not addressed elsewhere that may be helpful in reviewing your application. Complete this section only if you feel your candidacy is not fully represented by this application. 6. (To be completed by all reapplicants) How have you strengthened your candidacy since you last applied? Please reflect on how you have grown personally and professionally. | 
