As promised last week when we published Darden’s essay topics for this season, we’ve provided some tips for tackling each of the school’s questions below.
Essay 1: Why is an MBA a critical next step toward your short- and long-term career goals? (500 word limit)
This is a standard career goal essay, with an interesting emphasis on the necessity of an MBA to an applicant’s success in achieving his or her objectives. Though the question does not explicitly touch on a candidate’s work experience to date, providing a brief summary of your prior professional path and the skills gained along the way may help to highlight the specific areas of need that could be addressed during an MBA program. Be sure to tailor the discussion to Darden’s program, naming specific classes and clubs in which you are interested and explaining why each would be helpful in making progress toward your goals.
Essay 2: Each of our applicants is unique. Describe how your background, values, education, activities and/or leadership skills will enhance the experience of other Darden students. (500 word limit)
Whereas the first essay touches on the subject of what Darden can do for you, this question is focused on what you would do for Darden. The prompt is quite open, giving candidates a wide range of characteristics and involvements to choose from. A fruitful approach to narrowing down the list would be to consider which options both set you apart from other applicants and translate to some tangible future impact. Whichever elements of your background and personality you elect to discuss, remember that it will be key to tie each to some specific way you could make a unique contribution to the community, perhaps commenting on a specific class to which your insight would be especially relevant or naming an event that you would like to organize on behalf of a particular club.
Essay 3: Choose one of the following questions. (250 word limit)
a. What would you do if you didn’t have to work for a living?
b. Describe a significant maturing experience.
c. What have been the most satisfying aspects of your work life thus far and the most dissatisfying?
The choices presented here cover very different ground: Option A provides a chance to delve into a discussion of a key extracurricular or reveal a passion that might not have otherwise come up in an application, Option B offers the opportunity to share a specific story of personal growth, and Option C invites a discussion of professional preferences and the applicant’s work experience.
As is always the case when allowed to decide which of several questions to address, it will be important to think carefully about the potential topics for each of these essays and select the one that will allow you to introduce information that would best complement and balance the ideas expressed in the school’s other essays.
