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Duke Fuqua

Required Short Answer Questions
Answer the following question in 500 characters only (the equivalent of about 100 words).
What are your post-MBA career goals? Share with us your first choice career plan and your alternate plan.

Duke Fuqua shortened this already short prompt for the last admissions season, cutting the first question about why applicants are pursuing an MBA now.  Instead, applicants are only asked in this Duke MBA essay to concisely state their professional short- and long-term goals, and a back-up plan. Identify your goals and even name a company or two that you are targeting immediately post-MBA. Then, cover how the short term is a stepping stone to the long term. Highlight the impact you hope to make because of what you’ll be doing, too, if you have space. Although asking about career alternatives is a bit unusual as far as b-school applications go, applicants simply need to identify a second post-MBA position that would also lead them toward their stated long-term goals.

Duke MBA Essay 1 – 25 Random Things About Yourself
The ‘Team Fuqua’ spirit and community is one of the things that sets the MBA experience apart, and it is a concept that extends beyond the student body to include faculty, staff, and administration. Please share with us “25 Random Things” about you. The Admissions Committee wants to get to know YOU – beyond the professional and academic achievements listed in your resume and transcript. Share with us important life experiences, your hobbies, achievements, fun facts, or anything that helps us understand what makes you who you are.
Your list will be limited to 2 pages (750 words maximum). Please present your response in list form, numbered 1 to 25. Some points may be brief, while others may be longer.

This nontraditional MBA application essay has been a staple of the Duke application for several years running. This suggests that the format is working, i.e. that the adcom has been pleased with the information this exercise provides about candidates’ backgrounds and fit with Team Fuqua. This open-ended prompt allows applicants to showcase interesting and meaningful facts about themselves that they otherwise might not get a chance to share with the adcom. It also amounts to a test of the applicant’s creativity and judgment in arriving at a well-rounded set of admissions-appropriate tidbits.

So, in the spirit of the Duke MBA essay, here’s our list of ten not-so-random things to think about when developing your response to this prompt:
Keep it positive! Share happy memories, silly details, interesting talents, or (very short) stories of resilience and accomplishment. Steer clear of failure or disappointment (unless you can be light-hearted or self-effacing about it).

Aim to cover all domains of your life, including your interests outside of work and even important personal details and relationships. Writing about the reason you admired your grandmother growing up or what you learned during a long-distance phase in your relationship will help the adcom get to know you on a level beyond your resume.

Short list items are okay!

In fact, the most effective responses to this question will intersperse very brief items (of just a few words) with longer ones that might include several sentences, creating an almost poetic effect.

First-date and job-interview rules apply here — think twice before discussing religion or politics. If these areas are important enough to you to warrant mentioning, limit your comments to personal meaning and community aspects (i.e. don’t try to educate or persuade the reader).

Take a lifespan view. Sharing a few details from your childhood can give the admissions reader insight they won’t find anywhere else in your file. Meanwhile, covering present-day favorites (e.g. food, film, travel destination, place to visit in your city or town) can show the reader who you are today.

Brief anecdotes — for example, about learning something the hard way while traveling internationally or working hard to improve at a new hobby — can showcase both your interests as well as your process when faced with a challenge.
We recommend a maximum of 5 work-related list items (and suggest that you aim for even fewer). As the preamble hints, the adcom can read about your professional background elsewhere in your application.
Aim for balance in content throughout your list; rather than listing items chronologically or by domain (i.e. professional, personal, extracurricular), change things up throughout and keep your reader on her toes to make this truly “random.”
Show your draft to a close friend or relative to get feedback on how well you’re capturing your personality (and on whether you’re overlooking anything).

Duke MBA Essay 2: The Fuqua Community and You
Fuqua prides itself on cultivating a culture of engagement. Our students enjoy a wide range of student-led organizations that provide opportunities for leadership development and personal fulfillment, as well as an outlet for contributing to society. Our student-led government, clubs, centers, and events are an integral part of the student culture and to the development of leaders. Based on your understanding of the Fuqua culture, what are 3 ways you expect to contribute at Fuqua?
Your response will be limited to 1 page (300 words maximum)

Fuqua has presented a prompt about its student culture for many years, and this Duke MBA essay question is no exception. When highlighting the changes to this year’s application, Fuqua Assistant Dean of Admissions Allison Jamison said, “Our second essay will still ask you about how you plan to engage with the Fuqua community, but we would like you to limit it to the three most meaningful ways you expect to engage as a student. While there are so many opportunities available, one of the first skills you must develop as a student is how to prioritize what’s most important to you. There will also be a 300-word limit on this essay. Again, we hope this change helps you to focus on things that spark your interest, while also providing the Admissions Committee with helpful insights into the unique contributions you will bring to the class.”

Applicants may want to begin by thinking about an element or two of the student culture with which they find the greatest resonance, and should also consider which are already evident in their activities and accomplishments to date. In fact, one to two examples that illustrate their skills and potential to make a positive impact should be woven in to selected means of contributing. Consider this in light of the idea that past behavior supports future success.

Of course, the majority of this response should center on the applicant’s three planned activities and contributions as a Daytime MBA student. Given the adcom’s preamble about student-led government, clubs, centers and events, applicants will be expected to be fairly concrete in their comments about how they’ll engage in specific activities, to the point of discussing their behavior outside of the classroom and identifying specific student organizations in which they might take a leadership role.

While there is also a focus on personal development, applicants should also describe the impact they hope to make during their two years on campus—after all, this is also geared towards contributing to a community. Candidates should note that speaking convincingly about their ability to make a positive difference will likely require some informed sense of the areas of opportunity and need on campus. Conversations with students and alumni will be very important in producing the most effective essay possible.

Optional Essay
If you feel there are circumstances of which the admissions committee should be aware (such as unexplained gaps in work, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance), please explain them in an optional essay.

Please do not upload additional essays or additional recommendations in this area of the application, and limit your response to one page.
This Duke MBA essay is a fairly narrow prompt, and applicants should only use this optional essay to address liabilities in their candidacies. While the adcom allows responses of up to one page, applicants should keep their responses as brief and direct as possible.

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Michigan Ross

Short Answer Questions
Select one prompt from each group of the two groups below. Respond to each selected prompt in 100 words or less (<100 words each; 200 words total). Every word counts here — the tight word count is intentional to force you to focus.
GROUP 1
I want people to know that I:
I made a difference when I:
I was aware that I was different when:
GROUP 2
I am out of my comfort zone when:
I was humbled when:
I was challenged when:

As an initial approach to these short answers, consider the broader themes across them—impact through action, attitude under adversity, or self-awareness amidst diversity—and ensure you have a balance of content across the set. By dividing the questions into groups, the adcom is sending a signal that they want to hear about different aspects of your candidacy. The Director of Admissions at Ross, Soojin Kwon, told Clear Admit, “The essays provide us with the ability to get a sense of who the applicants are, and the experiences that have shaped them. We approach the essay portion of the application looking to get a glimpse of who the applicants are–outside of what we see from their transcripts, test scores, and resume–and hear about their unique stories.” So, it would be prudent to highlight a range of experiences and characteristics as you choose your topics for each group.

Group 1 starts off with a very open-ended option allowing candidates to introduce a hobby or personal characteristic, then the second prompt focuses on impact.  Last year, the lead about being different appeared in a separate group. With only 100 words, each sentence must move the story along by conveying some action or impact. It makes sense to ‘complete’ the selected prompt in the first sentence, and, ideally, this opening would include your impressive results. For instance, “I made a difference when I resolved X problem for my local YMCA, resulting in more after school programs” or “I want people to know that I value education. I launched X after school program, which helped dozens of underprivileged students gain access to Y opportunities.” For the third option, you can demonstrate self-awareness about something that sets you apart from others—whether it’s a value or personality trait. There is also the potential to showcase your ability to adapt through resilience and grit, or to highlight emotional intelligence and interpersonal skill in a story about bridging divides or navigating challenging interactions. The key to a strong response here will be establishing what was different, elaborating on your constructive response, and concluding with the positive results.

In regards to Group 2, the overall theme of attitude under adversity stands out. Humility is certainly a positive trait worth exploring. For instance, it would be appropriate to be humbled by how large a project team is, and how many colleagues contributed to its success; or one can be humbled when climbing a challenging peak or navigating a tropical storm in a small sailboat. Regarding being outside of one’s comfort zone, this is an ideal opportunity to introduce any international or cultural experiences you have had. You may also have a hobby that entails consistent growth and challenges; for instance, perhaps your quest for the next belt in your martial arts classes pushes you outside of your comfort zone. “Being challenged” opens up myriad settings for potential options.  The key to this essay is to quickly provide the context that the reader needs to appreciate your story, and then elaborate on how you handled the situation and grew because of it.

Career Goal Essay
What is your short-term career goal and why? (200 words)

The Ross adcom has retained this career goals essay question for another admissions season. Briefly establishing where you are headed at the outset of the response can help create context for your short-term goals; hence, we’d recommend that applicants open with their five- to ten-year target position. Then, you can touch on the position you hope to obtain immediately after school — down to the job title and 2-3 dream employers. Be sure to address why this is your goal, whether for impact, skills, or as a stepping stone to your future.

Next, summarizing your skills/strengths based on your background—and explaining how they would enable or have inspired your career plans—will help to set up the gap in your skill set that an MBA would fill. Allot remaining space to addressing why the Ross MBA program and student community are a particularly strong fit with your objectives. If there’s a programmatic offering or elective course that seems particularly relevant to your professional plans, it could be worth mentioning to show the adcom how you see Michigan as an important part of your desired career path.

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UVA Darden

Short Answer 1: Learning Team
Learning Teams are an invaluable peer resource for Darden students as they navigate the core curriculum. Every student is assigned to a Learning Team consisting of 5-6 students from an array of backgrounds and perspectives, and this built-in support system serves as an important connection to the broader Darden community.
Tell us what you would want your Learning Team to know about you that is not on your resume. (150 words)

Given the narrow word limit, applicants will need to reflect carefully on the aspects of their backgrounds they most want to highlight. While a brief mention of your professional background and career goals may be appropriate for context, note that Darden is looking for material specifically outside of your resume. We encourage applicants to use this opportunity to showcase elements of their personalities and candidacies that they will not have the chance to address elsewehere. Perhaps you have a particularly interesting work or extra-curricular experience to share, or a personal accomplishment or aspect of your heritage of which you’re especially proud. By focusing on a range of qualities and characteristics, this essay will allow applicants to demonstrate the well-rounded nature of their candidacies even within the 150 word limit.

Short Answer 2: Choose One – Leadership and Impact
Darden strives to identify and cultivate responsible leaders who follow their purpose. Please respond to one of the following prompts (200 words)
Select the prompt to which you will respond.
Q1: Tell us about a time when you acted with a team to solve a problem or seize an opportunity. What role did you play? What did you learn from this experience?
Q2: Tell us about a time you acted to solve a problem for the greater good. What drew you to this issue? What did you learn from this experience?

These options are classic in terms of MBA essays; adcoms are interested in people who lead and make an impact, whether at work, or in other avenues of their lives. They want to know you’ll lead and make an impact while on campus at Darden and as an alumni, as you pursue your career and life goals.

Whether you choose an example from your professional or personal life, it’s important to share all the background a reader will need to appreciate the story before clearly outlining the actions you took and the results you achieved. For Option 1, this includes defining your team and the problem/opportunity. Then, walk the adcom through your actions. The more detail you’re able to provide about your role in achieving a positive outcome, the easier it will be for you to accurately demonstrate your leadership skills. For Option 2, it will be important to explain how the results impacted the greater good. You also need to cover why the situation was meaningful to you to provide some insight into your values.
For both, be sure to highlight what you learned—whether refining a skill or discovering a new purpose.

Short Answer 3: Choose One – Diversity and Inclusion
Diversity and inclusion are critical to our mission and they work best when they are an integral and celebrated part of our community. Review the University of Virginia’s Commitment to Diversity.
Diversity stands with ethics, integrity, and academic excellence, as a cornerstone of University culture. The University promotes an inclusive and welcoming environment that embraces the full spectrum of human attributes, perspectives, and disciplines. When people of different backgrounds come together, they exchange ideas, question assumptions (including their own), and broaden the horizons for us all. A University of Virginia community rich in diversity affords every member equal respect and provides a forum for understanding our differences as well as our commonalities.
The Darden School develops practices and cultivates a culture that reflects and incorporate the worldviews of its many community members. In this inclusive culture, the community learns important — and sometimes uncomfortable — lessons from one another, resulting in more conscientious global leaders and citizens. Please respond to one of the following prompts (200 words)
Select the prompt to which you will respond.
Q1: Share a time when you learned something related to diversity, equity or inclusion that was previously unknown to you? How did this experience impact your perspective?
Q2: Share a time when you advocated for a perspective, identity, or community different from your own. How did this experience impact your worldview?

For both options, there are three main elements to cover: defining your initial perspective/worldview (to set the stage for change), establishing the different perspective, identity, community or experience (so the adcom understands the catalyst for change), and explaining how the selected engagement changed your outlook. While Option 1 mentions simply “learning” something new, you should strive to share an example that incorporates action and engagement. For example, for Option 1, perhaps you worked on an international project recently and your engagement with different cultures altered your perspective on leadership, communication or another aspect. In such a case, it will be important to connect to how this has influenced you—ideally shown through some related actions—as the adcom will want to get to know you and how you think and evolve.

Action would also strengthen a response to Option 2—think beyond comments or campaigns shared on Facebook, and reflect on advocating actively. Option 2 can also be an event in which you had a hand, whether a personal or professional one. The door is wide open for examples, but the key is to ensure you touch on each element of the prompt to show how you would fit with the culture at Darden. This can be a lot of ground to cover in 200 words, but if you have room, concluding with a brief example of how you applied what you learned would show that your perspective changed.

Short Answer 4: Career Goal
Darden’s Career Center delivers personalized career searches, support and resources to empower students in their goals to create value as purpose-driven leaders. The team of dedicated, expert career coaches spans every major industry, function and geography and collectively represent over one hundred years of coaching experience. Coaches are prepared to support students wherever they are in their search, as career goals shift and evolve while pursuing an MBA.
Through a wide variety of career-related programming, students gain lifelong skills they will continue to leverage throughout their careers. And this support continues after graduation – All Darden graduates have access to complimentary career support for life through Darden’s Alumni Career Services.
What is your short-term, post-MBA goal and how does it align with the long-term vision you have for your career? (150 words)

This prompt is an abbreviated version of the typical career goals essay, focusing on applicants’ career plans immediately after graduation and connection to the long term. First, describe your ideal target employer(s) and job position for the short term, and then detail how this plan will lead to your long-term vision. Given Darden’s preamble about creating value and being a purpose-driven leader, it would behoove you to include the impact you hope to have throughout your career.

Short Answer 5: Darden Worldwide
The Batten Foundation Worldwide Scholarship provides all Darden students in our full-time MBA program with an opportunity to participate in a Darden Worldwide Course.
Darden has an incredible network of alumni and partners around the world, and, in a typical year, the School connects with over 80 countries. If you could choose any location in the world, where would you want to travel? (5 words) And why? (50 words)

This prompt invites more research into Darden’s international offerings. Applicants should start by reviewing the link provided in the prompt, Darden Worldwide Courses, to see what piques their interest. It would make sense for the choice to tie into one’s career goals, though the reasoning could favor the more personal side, e.g. wanting to show your classmates your home country. You won’t have much room to elaborate, so ensure what you do share reveals more about you, your values or interests.

Optional Essay
If there is further information you believe would be helpful to the Admission Committee, please provide it (250 words).

This optional essay comes at the very end of Darden’s online application. Based on the other sections of the application, this would be the ideal place to address liabilities, e.g. gaps in employment, a weak quantitative record, etc. In such cases, applicants should keep their responses brief and to-the-point, offering explanations without making excuses and humbly bringing mitigating factors to the reader’s attention. That said, it’s possible that there are other elements of one’s background that would be appropriate and not covered elsewhere, for example an anticipated promotion or an element of one’s identity not covered in the program’s data forms. While applicants should make an effort to fully represent their candidacies within the required elements of the application, this leaves a bit of room for short exceptions.

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NYU Stern

Short Answer: Professional Aspirations
What are your short-term career goals? (150 word maximum)

NYU has trimmed their career goals essay down to a focus on the short term only. Applicants should concisely describe their plans upon graduating from Stern, covering the particular role and responsibilities they are interested in. Name your target firms and skills that you hope to hone. Space permitting, you could lend meaning to your short-term plans by touching on your long-term goals and/or impact you ultimately wish to have. It can also behoove you to highlight how Stern is the ideal stepping stone to your short-term position. Before such additional information, ensure your short-term career goals are the priority and fully covered.

Essay 1: Change
Change: _________ it
In today’s global business environment, the only constant is change. Using NYU Stern’s brand call to action, we want to know how you view change. Change: _____ it. Fill in the blank with a word of your choice. Why does this word resonate with you? How will you embrace your own personal tagline while at Stern? Examples:
Change: Dare it.
Change: Dream it.
Change: Drive it.
Change: Empower it.
Change: Manifest it.
Change: [Any word of your choice.]
(350 word maximum)

Stern’s new prompt for the 2021-2022 admissions season reaches for applicants’ ability to adapt, to innovate and to engage in global business. To show how the word “resonates” with you invites anecdotal evidence of how you have lived the tagline. To brainstorm for this essay, consider your recent professional or personal achievements. Look at the list you have generated and try to determine which projects or achievements connect the most with a sense of change. Ideally, you would be the main driver in positive change (and therefore outcome). 350 words is not a lot of space, so identify the tagline you selected, set the stage with the major players and account for how you drove change and yielded positive results as concisely as possible.

Finally, highlight specific features of the Stern MBA program that will allow you to evolve during the program or affect positive change for fellow students. This can be club activities, in courses and more – speaking with alumni or attending admissions events can give you keen ideas on opportunities at Stern.

Essay 2: Personal Expression (a.k.a. “Pick Six”)
Describe yourself to the Admissions Committee and to your future classmates using six images and corresponding captions. Your uploaded PDF should contain all of the following elements:
A brief introduction or overview of your “Pick Six” (no more than 3 sentences).
Six images that help illustrate who you are.
A one-sentence caption for each of the six images that helps explain why they were selected and are significant to you.
Note: Your visuals may include photos, infographics, drawings, or any other images that best describe you. Your document must be uploaded as a single PDF. The essay cannot be sent in physical form or be linked to a website.

This is a chance to literally show the adcom who you are, where you come from, and what you care about. Candidates should consider what they would truly want their classmates to know about them, while also being mindful of the balance of content between the required essays. That is, because the first response asks about candidates’ career goals, and would necessarily include some commentary on work experience, it would make sense to focus the majority of one’s comments in this response on one’s life outside the workplace. Applicants will want to think reflectively about their values and personality, as well as strategically about what makes them unique with respect to other applicants. Naturally, you’ll also want to communicate your enthusiasm about meeting and working with your fellow students and comment on any ways you would engage with them that aren’t covered in your first essay.  The goal will be to convey information about your interests, values, and personality in the context of this creative exercise.

This prompt invites interspersing text with photos and graphics. A captioned photo album of particularly proud moments or a decision-making flow chart visualizing how you decide to spend your free time could show your creativity and willingness to put special effort into your Stern application. Finally, no matter the balance of images and text, applicants should pay attention to tone and ensure that they’re coming across as sincere, collaborative, and excited about the prospect of joining the NYU community.

Optional Essay
Please provide any additional information that you would like to bring to the attention of the Admissions Committee. This may include current or past gaps in employment, further explanation of your undergraduate record or self-reported academic transcript(s), plans to retake the GMAT, GRE, Executive Assessment, IELTS or TOEFL, or any other relevant information. (250 words)

Given the scope of the required essays and the explicit guidelines provided for this essay, applicants would do best to address only the topics outlined by the admissions committee for this prompt.

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UCLA Anderson

Essay A
For the 2021-2022 application year, we have one essay question that is required for first-time applicants and optional for re-applicants: How have recent events influenced the impact you would like to make in your community, career, or both? (250 words maximum)

We welcome reflection on any events that influenced you in your personal or professional lives, or in society in general, and look forward to learning about specific ways you want to leave your mark.

Within the application, there are fields to define your career goals and address your interest in Anderson. Re-applicants will also have additional space to address improvements or changes in test scores, employment, activities, academics and other areas. This leaves this essay to really expound on the impact you hope to have in the future and how you have been inspired recently. A clear contender for topics would be the role the pandemic has played in your life, or perhaps you have become more involved in issues of social justice. You can certainly also reflect on something less prevalent, but keep in mind you will ultimately want to be able to tie your story back to your community and/or career.

In terms of structural approach to this short answer, you may try opening by fully defining the relevant events. Then, explain how these events have influenced you by describing actions you have taken or a related shift in your perspective. You can follow with describing how you plan to enact these given values or perspectives in the future. Remember that past behavior is often seen as a predictor of future success, so try to reflect on action-based changes in your life and how you could carry on to make direct impact in your future.

Optional Essay
No preference is given in the evaluation process to those who choose to respond to this optional essay, so please use your best judgment:  Are there any extenuating circumstances in your profile about which the Admissions committee should be aware? (250 words maximum)

The narrow framing of this prompt — along with the additional suggestion that applicants exercise judgment in responding — suggests that this response will be best reserved to address glaring weaknesses or liabilities in one’s application (as opposed to offering “bonus information” about one’s candidacy). Applicants should keep their responses brief and to-the-point, offering explanations without making excuses and humbly bringing mitigating factors to the reader’s attention.

Re-applicants will have a chance to account for updates to their test scores, work experience, academics, activities and anything else they deem fit within the application data form. If you have refined your goals, for example, you can select “other” in the data form field and address those related improvements there. With all of this in mind, this prompt should be reserved for extenuating circumstances that happen to fall outside of these categories.

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Cornell

Short Answer
Use this short answer question to succinctly share your short and long term goals. If invited to interview, you will have the opportunity to elaborate further and should be prepared to connect your prior experience with your future aspirations.
A statement of your goals will begin a conversation that will last throughout the admissions process and guide your steps during the MBA program and experience. To the best of your understanding today, please share your short and long term goals by completing the following sentences and answering the enclosed short answer question (350 words maximum):
Immediately post-MBA, my goal is to work as a(n) ____[Role]____ at ___[Company]___within___[Industry]___.
Targeted Job Role:
Target Job Company:
Industry:
In 5 – 10 years post-MBA, my goal is to work as a(n) ____[Role]____ at ___[Company]___within___[Industry]___.
Targeted Job Role:
Target Job Company:
Industry:
How has your experience prepared and encouraged you to pursue these goals?

Applicants would be wise to simply fill in the blanks for the first section of the prompt.  Past examples for the short answers have included:
Short Term Goal: Immediately post-MBA my goal is to work as a(n) Consultant at Accenture within Media and Technology.

Long Term Goal: In 5-10 years post-MBA my goal is to work as a(n) Founder and President within Nonprofit.

Like last year, candidates are expected to elaborate a bit on how their past has informed their planned future in this Cornell MBA essay question.  This invites applicants to share their career history and how factors, such as industry exposure, client projects and more have influenced their decisions.  This is an opportunity to establish one’s skills and set up the need for an MBA.  You do not necessarily need to touch on each role you’ve held since graduation, but rather the most influential ones in preparing you for your future.  If you are a career changer, you may touch on transferable skills or delve deeper into what really sparked your interest in and passion for your new direction.  The key for the short answer is to make clear and concise connections to your vision and motivation.

Cornell MBA Essay Question 1: Impact Essay
This essay is designed to explore the intersection of engagement and community culture. Our students and alumni share a desire to positively impact the organizations and communities they serve. To help you explore your potential for impact, we encourage you to engage with our students, alumni, faculty, and professional staff before submitting your application. You may choose to connect with them via email or phone or in person during one of our on-campus or off-campus events. As you seek their input and insight, please be respectful of their time and prepare a few discussion points or questions in advance.
At Cornell, our students and alumni share a desire to positively impact the organizations and communities they serve. Taking into consideration your background, how do you intend to make a meaningful impact on an elite MBA community? (350 words maximum)

Given the adcom’s encouragement to engage the school community, applicants are likely expected to incorporate how they’ve had contact with Johnson alumni, faculty, staff or current students, and, in turn, how this informs their potential to positively impact the Johnson community. Based on these interactions, applicants may want to begin by thinking about an element or two of the Johnson community with which they find the greatest resonance, and should also consider which are already evident in their activities and accomplishments to date. In fact, one to two examples (100-150 words total) that illustrate their skills and potential to make a positive impact should be woven in to selected means of contributing. Consider this in light of the idea that past behavior supports future success.

Of course, the majority of this response should center on the applicant’s planned activities and impact as a Johnson MBA student. It would be wise to discuss their behavior outside of the classroom and identifying specific student organizations in which they might take a leadership role. Candidates should note that speaking convincingly about their ability to make a positive difference will likely require some informed sense of the areas of opportunity and need on campus. Conversations with students and alumni will be very important in producing the most effective essay possible.

The sense of community through Johnson does not end on graduation day, and the adcom may wish to understand the long-term impact a candidate envisions. With room permitting, it would be nice to end on a note of your post-MBA plans to have an impact on the community.

Optional Essay (Required for Reapplicants)
You may use this essay to call attention to items needing clarification and to add additional details to any aspects of your application that do not accurately reflect your potential for success at Johnson (350 words maximum).

If you are reapplying for admission, please use this essay to indicate how you have strengthened your application and candidacy since the last time you applied for admission. Please also review our Application Guide for additional information about reapplying (350 words maximum).

For first-time applicants, this optional essay should be reserved for addressing potential liabilities in one’s application. Such discussions should be direct and to the point, providing an explanation and pointing to mitigating factors without being defensive or making excuses.

Meanwhile, reapplicants should comment on how they have spent the past year, taking particular care to highlight improved quantitative records, new professional skills and responsibilities, progress toward their ultimate career goals, and/or increased community involvement.

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INSEAD

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London Business School (LBS)

Required Essay
What are your post-MBA goals and how will your prior experience and the London Business School programme contribute towards these? (500 words)

This is a fairly standard career goals/why MBA essay, asking applicants to specify their post-MBA plans and to discuss the ways their work experience to date prepared them, as well as the ways they see an MBA from LBS fitting into this picture. Given the amount of ground that needs to be covered in this response, highlighting one or two major accomplishments should be appropriate, but it will be important to be prudent with the details. As this is the only required essay for LBS, it will be crucial to include some sense of impact, possibly as part of a discussion of how one’s work to date has prepared him or her for elements of the target post-MBA position.

Effective essays will provide all of the requested information in a straightforward manner, naming a job they wish to hold immediately after an MBA and perhaps alluding to the larger plan in which this position is a first step. Admissions Director David Simpson has commented that the adcom looks for applicants who have taken the time to learn about the program and who are genuinely excited about programmatic offerings that are unique to LBS, as well as the school’s highly diverse student community (in terms of nationality as well as professional background), and its location in a global financial capital. Applicants should therefore aim to demonstrate a high degree of thoughtfulness in discussing the ways their previous experience have provided skills and knowledge that will transfer to this new role and, of course, detailing specific elements of the LBS MBA program that will facilitate this transition.

As for the allocation of space in this 500-word response, we recommend providing a thorough but direct treatment of one’s goals, spending 100-200 words on this topic. We then recommend moving through one’s past work experience and past preparation fairly quickly (in another 100 or so words) in order to reserve ample space for a detailed discussion of the appeal of the LBS MBA. Applicants should aim to devote at least 200 words of their essay to the ways an LBS MBA would uniquely prepare them for future success. Rather than writing in generalities about the program, diving right into specific courses and clubs of interest will enable applicants to get as much mileage as possible out of their comments. Going beyond the program’s website and taking the time to learn about the program via information sessions or conversations with students and alumni will pay dividends here.

Optional Essay
Is there any other information you believe the Admissions Committee should know about you and your application to London Business School? (500 words)

LBS has asked these same two essay questions for several admissions cycles.  When LBS first released these essays, we caught up with Admissions Director David Simpson about the noticeable reduction in topics.  Simpson said, “Along with all the questions we ask in the application form, we believe that the [single required] essay gives us the information we need to make our initial admissions decision.” Hence, applicants should weigh the information they are tempted to share in the optional essay in line with the school’s view that the one required essay should be sufficient.

As applicants are provided fields in the online application to address any academic weaknesses, e.g. academic probation, class withdrawal, etc., this place may be used to address other weaknesses in their applications or anomalies in the professional backgrounds that may raise questions for the admissions committee.  While it may also be possible to share more general information about accomplishments or interests, applicants should pay attention to the “should” signifier in the question–a more closed wording than that of schools asking if there’s anything the applicant “would like” the adcom to know. Any information shared here should therefore be of material importance to one’s candidacy (as opposed to details falling in the “nice but not necessary to know” category).

myice

Cambridge / Judge

Essay 1
Please provide a personal statement. It should not exceed 500 words and must address the following questions:
What are your short and long term career objectives and what skills/characteristics do you already have that will help you achieve them?
What actions will you take before and during the MBA to contribute to your career outcome?
If you are unsure of your post-MBA career path, how will the MBA equip you for the future? (up to 500 words)

Cambridge once again includes a fairly standard career goals essay of the sort featured in many MBA programs’ applications. Applicants are asked to outline their immediate post-MBA professional objectives, as well as their longer-term plans. Meanwhile, the explicit request that applicants inventory the existing skills and characteristics that will help them along their chosen paths is a somewhat unusual one, so candidates will need to reflect on their qualifications and take care in addressing this element of the prompt. This can stem naturally from a brief career summary, as one would be able to point to one’s past actions as proof of their current skills/characteristics.

In regards to the second part of the prompt, discussing concrete efforts, such as additional projects at work, engaging Judge’s MBA Careers team or participating in an MBA career trek, would best support Judge’s request for actions. While the adcom does allow for some ambiguity in one’s career plans, keep in mind that leaders are expected to be decisive and have vision, so we strongly recommend having a clear career plan from the outset. Especially given Judge’s one-year program, it will also be best to hit the ground running in terms of pursuing a career. That said, the essay is not binding for one’s career upon admission and the school does anticipate that candidates are looking for a change, as 94% of the recent class changed country, function or industry sector. Should candidates still be at a loss for a specific career path, responses to the final question should be kept brief, with broad reflections on how the skills acquired during the MBA could apply to an industry in general.

As is the case with most schools, demonstrating an understanding of the unique merits of Judge’s program is crucial to an effective response to this question. Taking the time to learn about the school’s curriculum, special programs, and extracurricular activities—whether through an online admissions event, or conversations with alumni—will pay dividends here.

Essay 2
Describe a difficult decision that you had to make. What did you learn from this and how have you changed as a result? (up to 200 words)

Effective responses will provide the essential who, what, when, and where of the situation in just 1-2 sentences, establishing all of the relevant players and what was at stake for you (and other important stakeholders). You’ll then want to comment on your decision and the outcome with comparable brevity. Applicants should aim to spend at least one-third of the essay commenting on what the experience taught them and/or how they have grown as a result. And, space permitting, it would be a nice touch to end with a remark about how this experience has positioned them to make an impact on the Judge community and/or their chosen post-MBA industry or sector.

Essay 3
Describe a time where you worked with a team on a project. What did you learn from the experience and how might you approach it differently today? (up to 200 words)

It’s a good rule of thumb to avoid highlighting a failure unless specifically asked to do so; hence, candidates should be sure to choose a situation with successful results here. With such a tight word limit, context will have to be established concisely by defining one’s goal followed by the context of one’s team. Working with others can take on many forms—coordinating with teams overseas, collaborating directly with a colleague for a challenging consulting project. What’s important is the objective you faced and the challenges you overcame—together—to achieve it. Given the focus on teamwork, it would make sense for lessons to stem from communication, motivational or leadership skills.

Essay 4
If you could give one piece of advice to your 18-year-old self, what would it be? (up to 200 words)

Think about who you were at the time. You were likely just about to start college or perhaps even arrived on campus already. While many of us may have told ourselves to steer clear of a certain relationship or raucous outing, remember to keep this in the context of business school admissions. Whatever advice you may give yourself, it would be ideal if you ultimately followed it later in life or at least have a plan to follow it in the near future. It seems as though the adcom may be trying to coax out a weakness you had at the time, in which case you could follow up with how you have since addressed it to show that you can learn and grow. For instance, perhaps you would have told yourself to travel more, and have since engaged in international projects and purposefully planned trips. Maybe you got off on the wrong foot with your major and would have pursued another interest—and since then, you’ve pursued that interest outside of work. If you struggled during your undergraduate years, this could be a good place to discuss your increased discipline or better known style of learning since then.

myice

Oxford Saïd

Essay 1
Tell us something that is not covered in your application which you would like the Admissions Committee to know about you. (Maximum 250 words)

While this prompt sounds very similar to the optional essays posed by many MBA programs, this response is actually a required element of the Oxford MBA application. Candidates will therefore want to consider what sort of anecdote or information will add the greatest value to their applications beyond what’s already included in their CV and data form responses. Before you begin this essay, you’ll want to review what is covered in the application (Please note, the application will be live July 30, 2021; the following details are currently based on the 2020-21 application). There are several background questions, inquiring about family care, upbringing and more, which are simply “yes” or “no” questions. In regards to written content, the application affords 5,000 characters to describe one’s current role; candidates are also expected to submit a one-page CV summarizing and highlighting their work experience, education, interests, achievements, languages and nationality. Applicants are given more room in regards to their goals, as there are several fields that appear depending on an applicant’s career plans. Upon choosing a category that best describes your short-term goals (employment, entrepreneurship, other (including family business) or returning to current employer), a list of questions tailored to the selection appear. For example, if you select entrepreneurship for your short-term goal, you will then need to address, “Describe your business idea including details of your business plan and the steps you have taken so far to develop or launch your business idea.” Oxford is clearly seeking out candidates who know their plans, and have done some leg work to better understand how they’re going to achieve them.

With this in mind and once you’ve figured out what will be in the application, then you can determine what you wish you had room for or what feels like it may be missing. This could truly be anything: a favorite hobby or community involvement, a challenging work project that was ultimately successful, an aspect of your upbringing that’s had a lasting influence, an international or cross-cultural experience that prompted learning or growth, one’s plans for involvement in the Oxford community — all would be appropriate here. That said, the adcom has noted that, when reviewing your written statement and essays, they will be looking for evidence of communication skills, leadership potential, analytical skills, and fit within the Oxford MBA community, among other characteristics.

Candidates should consider the balance of content between this response and content in the application, and aim to highlight something new here that will show the adcom an additional side of their personalities and potential to contribute to the Saïd community. Given the narrow word limit, our sense is that the most effective responses to this question will fully develop a single topic (or introduce 2 examples with a common theme) rather than attempting to cover several disparate items.

That said, because Oxford does not pose an optional essay question, applicants who do have a liability in their candidacy may need to reserve this response to provide an explanation or point to a mitigating factor. Such candidates should aim to accomplish this as briefly as possible — ideally in 50-100 words — and then try to be creative in providing positive information under a singular umbrella. For instance, if you had a low GPA in college, you could talk about rediscovering a love of learning in more recent courses you’re taking to mitigate your undergraduate record.

Reapplicant Essay
What improvements have you made in your candidacy since you last applied to the Oxford MBA? (Maximum 250 words)

Given the narrow word limit for this response, reapplicants will want to offer a straightforward account of the specific steps they’ve taken to strengthen their applications since last applying to Oxford. Candidates should aim to be as exhaustive as possible as they cover improved quantitative records, enhanced professional qualifications, efforts to become more familiar with the Oxford MBA program, and other ways they’ve worked to become a stronger applicant this season.