Boston University MBA Essay Analysis Deadlines 2010-2011

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Deadlines
Deadlines vary according to program. Please review the Application Deadline schedule and plan accordingly.
Application Deadlines - Two-Year MBA & MS·MBA
Program Entry Date: August
            Completed application received by:   Admission decision sent by:
Round 1  November 1                      December 10
Round 2  January 5                        February 11
Round 3  March 14                        April 15

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Q1. Goals (750 words)  
# Describe your decision to pursue an MBA degree, highlighting the following:
1. Your motivation for pursuing an MBA degree at this point in your career;
2. Your reason for choosing to apply to Boston University and the specific program that you have chosen, i.e. MS·MBA, Health Sector Management,or Public and Nonprofit Management, or International MBA;
3. Your plan to leverage your professional and academic experiences to achieve your post-MBA career goals

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Q2. Significant event (500 words)  
Describe a formative or significant event in your life and then explain how this event has influenced your subsequent thoughts and actions.

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Q3. Integrity (500 words)  
Tell the Admission Committee about a time when it cost you to maintain your integrity and what you learned from the experience. Who was affected besides yourself? Was there anything you might have done differently? Would you make the same decision again if given the chance?

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Analysis from elite-essays
If you turned down an opportunity, your decision was either right or wrong; a 50/50 answer is unlikely to provide a clear enough picture of your values, morals, ambitions, risk-orientation, and decision-making process, some of the bigger ideas behind this question. If your decision was right, why was it right? What was the outcome? Perhaps the opportunity crossed ethical boundaries, and refusing it was clearly the right decision. Maybe it was a legitimate opportunity that just wasn’t right for you because of your personality or preparedness, or the sacrifices it entailed. Perhaps you would make the same decision, but just because it was right before, doesn’t mean you or your circumstances haven’t changed and that you would refuse the opportunity a second time. If that’s the case, explain what’s different the second time around.
If your original decision was wrong, why was it wrong? What happened? What were your original concerns and how did the experience affect you?

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Analysis from apexwriters
Through this question, the reader wants to know how you evaluate the opportunities and the associated risks. You can talk about the steps do you follow while making the decision. Talking about a particular case, why did you turn down this opportunity?  How did you weigh your options, consulted people, considered financials and more…? Be honest in your introspection. Preferably do not talk about those missed stock market investment opportunities. Write about some closer to life examples to bring in a touch and feel. When you think about the decision today, are you happy or do you regret?
Analysis from mbastudio
Question 2 is a deep, almost wickedly deep, dive into your personal stuff. They are probing the tissue of your motivation, your self-awareness, and self-understanding. The actual opportunity turned down is far less important than why you choose one thing over another, which should takes Adcom right to who you are as a person and what your core values are. Don’t disappoint them in this. Obviously when you turned down an opportunity, it was for a good reason, either a better opportunity or a family obligation or something like that. So what is at stake here too is your judgment and maturity. The question specifically looks to that in asking if you would make the same choice again, in other words, “how have you grown?”
Analysis from mbamission
Many schools try to learn about you through your mistakes. Missed opportunities – errors of omission instead of commission – provide significant opportunities for the AdCom to learn about you and your thought process as well. Whether you declined to start a business, take on a project (big or small), take time off to travel or (truly) any other missed opportunity, the admissions committee will need to understand the manner in which you weighed your options and your perception of the risks of either decision.
Of course, you may have made the right choice in turning down an opportunity – you may have made no error of omission at all. In such a case – maybe you made a bold move and eschewed an i-banking offer for a less lucrative path or chose to gain external experience instead of joining a family business —  you will still need to show that you went through a thorough process of consideration and that show that your decision making was difficult, but ultimately correct.

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Q4. Diversity (500 words)  
Other than national identity, describe a uniqueness you will bring to the Boston University community that will impact your classmates - both inside and outside the classroom.  
这个和去年的题目相比没有差别。不少其他也有类似的题目，有很多的分析可以搜索到。这里需要提醒的是：a uniqueness，用500字把一个概念做透往往不是太容易的事情。这样的题目反倒有些像Stanford的经典第一篇“Essay 1: What matters most to you, and why?”顺手贴过来Stanford自己提供的分析以飨读者：
o     The best examples of Essay 1 reflect the process of self-examination that you have undertaken to write them.
o     They give us a vivid and genuine image of who you are—and they also convey how you became the person you are.
o     They do not focus merely on what you've done or accomplished. Instead, they share with us the values, experiences, and lessons that have shaped your perspectives.
o     They are written from the heart and address not only a person, situation, or event, but also how that person, situation, or event has influenced your life.
Optional Essay:
Provide any additional information, not addressed elsewhere in your application materials, which will help the Admission Committee learn more your candidacy. Please address any employment gaps, strengths or weaknesses. (500 words)