Michigan / Ross Essay Topic Analysis 2011-2012

Following up on last week’s announcement of the Michigan Ross essay topics for the coming admissions season, we’d like to offer some guidelines for and comments on each question as applicants begin thinking about potential topics.

Ross has retained the basic format of last year’s essay set, with a very brief opening essay followed by two more required questions of 500 words, and giving applicants a choice between two options for a final, shorter essay.  Overall, the prompts reflect an interest in each applicant’s unique personal characteristics, along with the usual subject matter of professional goals and interest in the Ross MBA.  Let’s consider what the adcom might be looking for, on an essay-by-essay basis.

Essay 1: Introduce yourself to your future Ross classmates in 100 words or less.
A slightly expanded edition of last year’s prompt asking applicants to introduce themselves, this year’s version specifies an audience: one’s fellow students (rather than the admissions committee).  Still, the major gist and narrow word limit remain, requiring applicants 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, we encourage applicants to use this opportunity to showcase elements of their personalities and candidacies that they will not have the chance to address in their responses to the other application essays. 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 100 word limit.

Essay 2: Describe your career goals. How will an MBA from Ross help you to achieve those goals? What is your vision for how you can make a unique contribution to the Ross community? (500 word maximum)
This is a variation of the typical career goals essay, requesting a picture of the applicant’s post-MBA plans and reasons for targeting Ross.  In a previous application season, the wording of this essay question gave applicants a helpful clue about how Ross’s adcom characterizes its school’s program. Though this hint does not appear in this year’s question, “action-based learning” remains a distinguishing element of the Ross education. This essay provides a great chance for applicants to demonstrate their understanding of this school’s unique approach to learning, and doing so effectively will make a positive impact on the adcom.

Meanwhile, the follow-on question about the applicant’s plans to contribute to the Ross community is a new addition for this year. The use of the word “vision” suggests that the admissions committee is looking for detailed and thoughtful comments about the ways that the candidate’s specific skills and interests would translate to some meaningful impact on a student-run club or conference, or enable him or her to bring a unique perspective to group assignments and class discussions.  To achieve this depth, developing an thorough understanding of Michigan’s program will be essential. Taking the time to learn about this school’s curriculum, special programs and extracurricular activities—whether through a visit to campus, conversation with alumni or reading the Clear Admit School Guide to Ross—will pay dividends here.

Essay 3: Describe a time in your career when you were frustrated or disappointed. What did you learn from that experience? (500 word maximum)
This prompt is open to a wide range of topics open for discussion, and thus there are a variety of personal skills and qualities that an applicant can highlight. Some examples of relevant topics include encountering disagreements with one’s team or superiors, receiving negative feedback, making an unpopular decision, falling short of a goal or benchmark, responding to a co-worker’s or employee’s mistake, or being faced with an ethical challenge. It’s important to concisely outline the situation by clarifying what caused you to feel frustrated or disappointed, and to refrain from playing the “blame game.” In responding to the second part of the question, applicants should focus on the steps they took to improve the situation or resolve the problem, the overall lessons learned from the experience, and the ways they’ve applied them since this time. In demonstrating your leadership abilities, communication skills, creativity, and overall growth, you will show the adcom how you persevere through frustrating and disappointing circumstances – something that will attest to your ability to succeed in the face of future trials at Ross and in your career.

Essay 4: Select one of the following questions. (300 word maximum)

What are you most passionate about?
The subject of a candidate’s greatest passion is a popular one among business school admissions committees, and understandably so: it gives a reader a sense of an applicant’s values, priorities and interests, and has implications for one’s future plans and potential involvements while in school. As you reflect on potential topics for this essay, remember that the adcom will be expecting your response to line up with your stated professional goals to some extent, and that professing a deep dedication to family or an obscure hobby isn’t going to do much for your candidacy. Think broadly about themes in your background and the forces behind your decisions and involvements, and arrive at a topic that is true to your passions, allows you show the adcom a side of yourself not covered in your other essays, and ties your goals and previous experiences together to some extent.

Describe a personal challenge or obstacle and why you view it as such. How have you dealt with it? What have you learned from it?
A new addition to the Ross application (replacing a question about contributing to the MBA learning experience), this prompt shares the personal character of the other Essay 4 option, and invites the candidate to reflect on some circumstance or barrier that he or she has had to work to overcome.  As distinct from questions about a challenging situation, the wording of this question suggests that the admissions committee is interested in learning about a more enduring obstacle and the strategies the candidate has developed or the steps he or she has taken to address it.  Topics that might fall under this category include a physical or learning disability, familial or social expectations, challenging socio-economic circumstances, or experiences of discrimination, persistent cultural misunderstanding, or language difficulty.

This isn’t the place to discuss perfectionist tendencies or time management troubles, so not all candidates will have a compelling answer to this question.  It it does speak to you, note that you’ll need to keep your comments fairly high-level and straightforward, given the tight word limit for this response.  An effective approach might be to summarize your challenge and its broad implications in a few sentences, followed by a discussion of how you  have dealt with it – along with a brief illustrative example – before concluding with a reflection on the lessons you’ve learned and they ways you hope that they’ll serve you in the future.

Posted in: Essay Topic Analysis