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Below are links to Clear Admit's exclusive interviews with MBA admissions directors at leading programs.
Dawna Clarke (Tuck)
Rose Martinelli (Chicago)
Judith Hodara (Wharton)
Sara Neher (Darden)
Soojin Kwon Koh (Michigan)
Randall Sawyer (Cornell)
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Peter Johnson (Berkeley)
Isser Gallogly (NYU)
Mae Jennifer Shores (UCLA)
J.J. Cutler (Wharton)
Jake Cohen (INSEAD)
Rod Garcia (MIT Sloan)
Mary Miller (Columbia)

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Become an expert on your target schools overnight! Get the program-specific details you need to craft essays that stand out. See how schools compare head-to-head in key areas like recruiting, curricular structure, elective offerings and more. Available for immediate download. As featured in the Economist.

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Understand career-specific offerings at leading MBA programs and identify the schools that will best support your career goals with the Clear Admit Career Guides! Available for Consulting, Investment Banking, Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Healthcare.

Clear Admit Strategy Series
Craft a winning application with the Clear Admit Strategy Series! Step-by-Step guidance through the application process. Titles include a Resume Guide, Recommendations Guide, Waitlist Guide and more!

Clear Admit Interview Guides
Be as prepared as possible for your MBA interviews this season with the Clear Admit Interview Guides! School-specific sample questions and in-depth strategy, campus visit details and places to stay.

Essay Topic Analysis
Below are links to our comments on some of the top programs' essay topics.
The Career Goals Essay
Berkeley / Haas*
Chicago Booth*
CMU / Tepper*
Columbia*
Cornell / Johnson*
Dartmouth / Tuck*
Duke / Fuqua*
Harvard*
Indian School of Business*
INSEAD*
London Business School*
MIT / Sloan*
Michigan / Ross*
Northwestern / Kellogg*
NYU / Stern*
Oxford / Said*
Penn / Wharton*
Stanford GSB*
UCLA / Anderson*
UNC / Kenan-Flagler*
USC / Marshall*
UT Austin / McCombs*
UVA / Darden*
Yale SOM*
* denotes '09-'10 commentary

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Interview Reports
A selection of interview field reports from fellow applicants posted to the MBA Admissions Wiki. Add your reports when you are finished with your interviews.
Chicago
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Kellogg
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School Rankings
Rankings are a good way to start your research on various MBA Programs. Keep in mind each uses a different methodology.
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Business School Resources
The following are business resources offered by a variety of leading Business Schools. It's useful to subscribe to these resources, especially for the schools to which you are applying.

• knowledge@wharton
• INSEAD Knowledge
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• Knowledge @ Emory
• Columbia Ideas @ Work
• knowledge@ W. P. Carey
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CATEGORY - ESSAY TOPIC ANALYSIS

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Clear Admit MBA Planner iPhone App Now Available in ‘Lite’ Version – For Free!

MBA applicants across the globe have depended on Clear Admit’s MBA Planner iPhone app throughout this admissions cycle and we’re thrilled with the success our app has achieved.  BusinessWeek has chimed in with a favorable review and numerous schools, test prep companies and MBA fair organizers have praised the app.  Here’s a recent customer review from the iTunes store:

Best Business School App Available!

This app is a great resource for anyone thinking about applying to business school! It makes researching each school super easy, as all the data you need to make an informed decision is available from right within the app … much easier than browsing to each school’s individual site, especially when you’re on the go. In addition, the “My Schools” list has helped me stay organized during the application process, and remind me when deadlines are approaching. This app is great, A+! 

For those of you who have gazed longingly at the app from afar, but were reluctant to commit to purchasing it without a test drive, we are happy to annouce the introduction of MBA Planner Lite - a free version of the app.  The Lite version includes all functionalities of the full application, but with a limited school set.  This allows MBA applicants to use the product and gain a better understanding of its rich feature set before buying the full version.

MBA Planner Lite is now available in the iTunes store for use on your iPhone or iPod Touch.  For a full product description, screen shots and more, click here.  Enjoy!

1 Comment »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 11:39 am in Admissions Tips, Essay Topic Analysis, MBA News, MBA Planner App

Thursday, November 05, 2009

USC Marshall Essay Topic Analysis 2009-2010

Although this year’s essays topics and requirements are significantly different from last year’s, Marshall still demonstrates an interest in applicants’ contributions to their communities, international experiences, and personal growth.  Let’s take a look at the questions asked for USC for the 2009-2010 application season:

Essay 1: What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals? How will USC Marshall help you achieve these goals? If interested in a dual-degree program, please address in this essay. (750 words)
This essay is similar to the career goals essay required by many of the top schools. Although this year Marshall does not specifically ask for 250 words each on three distinct topics (short-term goals, long-term goals, and what will enable applicants to achieve these goals), this year’s candidates may also want to maintain a balanced approach to answering this question.  Because Marshall does not specifically ask for a career history section, applicants should keep any description of their professional experience to a minimum, connecting it to their interest in and potential to achieve their goals.  Taking the time to learn about the school’s curriculum, special programs and extracurricular activities – whether through a visit to campus, conversations with members of the community– will pay dividends here in addressing the two questions of the essay.

Essay 2: How will other USC Marshall MBA students benefit from your background, experience, leadership and teamwork skills? (500 words)
Although many applicants end their career goals essay discussing the contributions they would make to a school’s program, USC Marshall’s new second essay question specifically asks candidates to address the ways in which they can give back to the school.  This prompt is fairly broad, but applicants should remember to select unique information about their backgrounds, experiences, leadership and teamwork skills to help them stand out to the adcom.  Rather than simply addressing how they will contribute to courses, applicants should think of other avenues through which their skills and past experiences would allow them to benefit their fellow students at USC Marshall, i.e. clubs, programs.  In such a short essay, it’s probably best to focus your discussion to two or three topics.  The emphasis on leadership and teamwork indicates that candidates focus their essay on benefitting other students through collaboration and effective leadership.

Essay 3: Select three from the following and describe: (250 words each)
a) A challenging international experience
b) A personal or professional setback
c) An entrepreneur you admire
d) Your family, including any ties to USC
e) Your most significant accomplishment
f) A situation where your professional ethics were challenged
Candidates have a wide range of topics they could consider discussing in response to this new essay.  Applicants should make sure to use both work and personal experiences in responding to these three prompts, as doing so will provide a well-rounded picture of their candidacy. Because of the limited word-count for this essay, economy of words will be key; applicants will likely want to state their topic and move right into an illustrative anecdote.  Candidates with family connections to USC should feel comfortable mentioning the relationship in this essay through selecting option d.

1 Comment »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 6:00 pm in Essay Topic Analysis, School: USC / Marshall

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Oxford / Said Essay Topic Analysis 2009-2010

Oxford/Said’s essay topics remain unchanged this year.  With a total of 3,000 words between two essay topics, Oxford presents a unique challenge in terms of sharing important and relevant information about one’s candidacy while staying on topic. For this reason, careful reflection and outlining is even more important when approaching this sort of application than one with a long series of shorter answers.

Essay 1: Explain why you chose your current job. How do you hope to see your career developing over the next five years? How will an MBA assist you in the development of these ambitions? (1000 word maximum)
This is a very standard career goals essay, although applicants must specifically explain why they chose their current jobs. In addition, you should note the explicit five-year goals timeline; while it’s certainly fine to look beyond this is in your essay and cover longer-term objectives, it will be important to develop the five year plan in depth to tailor your response to the question. As is the case with any essay of this sort, you’ll also want to comment on the specific merits of the Said Business School even though the question doesn’t mention this directly.

Essay 2: Which recent development, world event or book has most influenced your thinking and why? (2000 word maximum)
This question, which covers the range of world geography and topics factual and fictional, is about as broad as they come. The rather high word limit makes responding to the question all the more challenging, as many applicants find it difficult to sustain a coherent and relevant discussion over 2000 words. In selecting a topic, think carefully about what your event or book selection will tell the reader about your concerns and priorities, ideally selecting a subject that is in accordance with the positioning established in the first response. In terms of structuring the discussion, it might be helpful to think about ways that this book, development or event has influenced your actions as well as your thinking; this could provide a way to introduce a fair amount of information about your experiences and candidacy while keeping to the topic.

For more guidance on how best to present yourself to Oxford or other programs with upcoming deadlines, feel free to send your CV to info@clearadmit.com for a free initial assessment.

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 2:31 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: Oxford

Thursday, October 01, 2009

UT Austin / McCombs Essay Topic Analysis 2009-2010

We wanted to take some time today to comment on the UT Austin – McCombs essay topics for the 2009-2010 admissions season.  Reflecting an emphasis on applicants who have contributed to their workplace and the community (and who will continue this level of personal engagement in an MBA program), UT Austin’s questions focus on how candidates would enrich their environments through leadership commitment.

1. Describe how your experiences, both personal and professional, have led you to pursue an MBA at this time. What are your short- and long-term goals and how will a Texas MBA help you achieve them? (Limit: 900 words)
McCombs has revised this question for this season; formerly asking about career progression to date, McCombs now asks applicants to share how their personal and professional experiences have led them to pursue an MBA at this time.  While all admissions committees are interested in the reasons behind applicants’ decisions to apply to business school and the motivations regarding timing, the fact that McCombs specifically asks about personal experiences shows that candidates will need to expand their essay to include non-professional experiences that have influenced their future goals.

One approach to this topic would be for candidates to summarize what they’ve done thus far in their career and personal life that have led them to define their career goals.  Then they can explain their future plans and demonstrate why an MBA is necessary to move forward. While that approach does place this question into the career goals essay category, it’s important to keep in mind that the McCombs adcom is most interested in the candidate’s assessment of their personal and professional experiences and the reasons that a turning point has been reached.  Therefore as you write about your professional and personal experiences, you should tie this discussion back to your greater professional goals.

Discussing how the Texas MBA fits into the picture will be key, and you can touch on how the McCombs program will provide you with the skill set necessary to begin reaching your objectives.  Taking the time to learn about the school’s curriculum, special programs and extracurricular activities – whether through a visit to campus or conversations with members of the community will pay dividends here.

2. Discuss a defining experience in your leadership development.  What did you learn from this experience about your strengths and weaknesses as a leader? (Limit: 650 words)
Last year McCombs asked applicants to describe a leadership experience that directly related to one of their four program pillars (responsibility/integrity, knowledge/understanding, collaborative/communication, and worldview of business and society).  Although not specifically mentioned this year, students may want to keep those pillars in mind as they sift through experiences from education, professional, or extracurricular realms and settle on a topic for this prompt.

Because McCombs specifically asks candidates about leadership development as well as strengths and weaknesses, you should choose an experience that clearly demonstrates both your assets and limitations as a leader.  Although it’s necessary to discuss your weaknesses in this essay, it will be important that you conclude positively by showing that you have grown from this experience and now have a leadership style that allows you to more effectively lead and motivate others.

3. At the McCombs School of Business, you will be part of an active and diverse community. How will you use your personal strengths and unique experiences to enrich the McCombs community during your two years in the program? (Limit: 500 words)
This prompt is the same one used last year, signaling the value that McCombs places on student contribution and involvement on campus.  A strong essay would be one that touches on several qualities and involvements, illustrating a range of skills and their applicability to the MBA program.  That said, though this prompt invites a rather broad discussion, anecdotal evidence of your positive traits in action will also be important.  For that reason, it will likely make sense to hone in on 3 or 4 examples, linking each to some similar activity or contribution you could make to the classroom or an on-campus club.  Indicating what clubs, organizations, or programs you hope to participate in and how you will take on a leading role will go far in demonstrating your enthusiasm for and commitment to the program.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 11:00 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: UT Austin / McCombs

Thursday, September 24, 2009

London Business School 2009-2010 Essay Topic Analysis

London Business School’s are unchanged from last year. This is a solid indication that the school’s emphasis on international experience, as well as its interest in a candidate’s past and proposed leadership experience, remains unchanged. More than most programs, LBS asks applicants to share specific details of their future involvement on campus and contribution to the community. From this, one can extrapolate and assume that they’re interested in candidates who’ve spoken to students and learned a good deal about the program to really understand how and where they might fit.

Question 1 (600 words):
In what role do you see yourself working immediately after graduation? Why? How will your past and present experiences help you achieve this? How will the London Business School MBA Programme contribute to this goal? Why is this the right time for you to pursue an MBA?

Question 2 (200 words):
Where do you see your career progressing five years after graduation and what is your longer term career vision?

Here, the typical career goals essay is broken down into two discrete inquiries. This format clearly underlines the importance of having both a short- and long-term career plan in the MBA admissions process. Though the compartmentalization of the short and long term discussions might make it a bit more difficult to adapt content written for applications to other schools, it does signal the extent to which the adcom wants to hear about each of the topics raised. Developing one’s long-term goal discussion over 200 words, with a stopping point at the five-year mark, could be a great opportunity for applicants who often cover this topic in a single sentence to meet the word limit in their essays for other schools. The question also incorporates a “why now?” query, prompting candidates to explicitly justify the timing of their applications given the current stage of their careers.

Question 3 (500 words):
Please describe your experience of working in and leading teams, either in your professional or personal life. Include any specific challenges you have faced. Given this experience, what role do you think you will play in your first year study group?
While this question seems to invite a broad commentary on the history of the applicant’s leadership and teamwork experiences at or outside of the workplace, keep in mind that the most effective essays are those that provide specific details and vivid anecdotes. A general comment about the various leadership roles you’ve held is certainly in order, but it would be wise to use this as an introduction to an example that exemplifies your leadership/teamwork skills and style. Because LBS specifically asks applicants to address specific challenges that they’ve faced in their interpersonal interactions, it would be beneficial for candidates to reflect on strategies they’ve developed to overcome and navigate any obstacles. You should also include information about how you can apply these processes to future work at LBS. Note that the question about LBS study groups offers applicants a great chance to showcase their familiarity with the program and prove that they’ve done their homework, as well as demonstrate that they’ve thought through the contribution they would make and the strengths they could bring to the program.

Question 4 (400 words):
Student involvement is an extremely important part of the London MBA experience and this is reflected in the character of students on campus. What type of student club or campus community events will you be involved with and why? How will you contribute?
This question asks candidates to broadly discuss the clubs and events in which they would like to participate. Because it’s easier to be an active member in multiple clubs than it would be to lead more than one organization, this framing gives candidates a wide berth to discuss how their interests and experiences to date would translate to contributions on several fronts. As with any essay of this sort, it would be ideal to link the clubs and events you cite to established interests or elements of your career goals, as these will help the admissions committee readily see how you are poised to make a contribution. Taking the time to learn about the school’s special programs and extracurricular activities – whether through a visit to campus, conversation with alumni or reading the Clear Admit School Guide to London Business School – will pay dividends here.

Question 5 (150 words):
Describe any significant experiences outside of your home country. What did you gain from these?
This question allows applicants the opportunity to showcase their international experience, both professionally and personally, and is designed to gauge the applicant’s ability to navigate unfamiliar terrain and resolve cross-cultural issues. The word limit does not afford much room for detail, especially for applicants with extensive experiences abroad to recount, so a sound strategy might be to focus on providing detail about the lessons and skills gained from these situations.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 2:56 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: London Business School

Thursday, September 17, 2009

CMU / Tepper Essay Topic Analysis 2009-2010

The essay topics for the 2009-2010 CMU Tepper application are the same as last year’s prompts, except the second essay question which has changed slightly.  Although there is no prescribed word limit, the school advises that applicants write approximately two double-spaced pages per essay.

Essay A: What are your short-term and long-term goals? How will a Tepper MBA help you to achieve these goals? (Please include any information regarding what steps you have taken to learn more about the Tepper School.)
Tepper has taken the fairly typical approach of leading off with a standard career goals essay, and at two double spaced pages they allot a reasonable amount of space to this subject.   The key for Tepper applicants will be to formulate a directed discussion that speaks to the question, making judicious mention of one’s career to date where appropriate in explaining one’s motivation and preparedness for his or her goals.

One more thing to note is that by asking applicants to detail the steps that they’ve taken to learn more about Tepper, the adcom is signaling the high importance of researching the program and understanding why it would be uniquely appropriate for you.  Discussing campus visits or exchanges with current students and alumni would be a great way to demonstrate your engagement with the community and emphasize that you are making an informed decision in applying.

Essay B: The Tepper School’s culture relies on all members to be active contributors to our community. With your values, experiences, and interests, how will you make a unique contribution to the Tepper community? Your examples may include: classroom interaction, student activities, career development, community service, etc.
This is another classic second question in terms of MBA essays; after learning about what you feel Tepper can do for you, the adcom turns its focus to what you might bring to the CMU community.

The prompt is fairly broad and invites the applicant to imagine how his or her unique characteristics might translate into participation in the Tepper community. Remember that you want to stand out from the rest of the applicant pool, and this essay will allow you to introduce information to that purpose.

This year’s version of the essay question provides specific examples and guidelines as to how applicants can respond to this question.  Therefore in answering this prompt, it will be important for you to follow Tepper’s statement, specifically citing how your values, experiences, and interests will help you contribute to the Tepper community.  In order to provide a focused and effective answer to this question, applicants should use one or two anecdotes from their professional, academic, or extracurricular experiences to demonstrate how they would contribute to these three areas at Tepper.

Essay C: Please answer two of the following three questions or statements. Please clearly specify which questions you are answering. Your two answers should equal a total of two pages or less.

1. Describe an obstacle you have faced in your professional or academic life. How did you overcome this obstacle and how did it foster your development?
Whether the story is from your professional or academic life, the major themes of growth and learning remain the same. After describing the initial obstacle in detail, applicants should comment on both their thoughts and actions in response. It’s very important to present both one’s internal and external reactions in creating a full picture for the adcom.

This essay is a good place to highlight instances of resourcefulness and persistence, and provide a comprehensive picture of personal and professional development over the course of the narrative.  Applicants should keep in mind that the adcom will be using their account of their past thoughts and experiences as a barometer to measure their current attitudes and future approaches.

2. Describe a time in which your ethics were challenged. How did you deal with the situation and what did you learn from it?
Questions of this sort are designed to gauge an applicant’s ability to see two sides of a situation and appreciate the merits of both – and ultimately choose the best possible solution. The “challenged” detail in the question indicates that it’s not enough to simply discuss a situation where you chose to do the right thing; you need to be able to show that there was a compelling reason for you to have acted otherwise. The question lends itself to personal experiences as easily as professional ones, but it’s nice to give an example of how you view and handle ethical complexity in the workplace. For instance, there are often experiences of professional conflicts between people and profit that work well in this context.

After setting the scene in your essay, you should explore the dilemma in depth, analyzing each of your options and explaining the potential positive and negative consequences of each. Once you’ve acknowledged the difficulty of the situation, you should lead the reader through your decision-making process, explaining the reasons behind your ultimate decision. Ideally, your strong grasp of leadership and of problem-solving will be displayed by this analysis. Finally, you should present the results of your decision and the lessons you learned as a result.

3. One thing people would be surprised to know about me is…
This question provides candidates a chance to explore an important aspect of their candidacy not mentioned in their data forms, resume, or other responses. For applicants from oversubscribed groups in the applicant pool, this essay could offer a great opportunity to truly stand out from the crowd by sharing an interesting detail.

The element of “surprise” hints that the topic should not be one that the reader could readily discern from your essays, work history or major extracurricular involvements.  Perhaps you played the flute for 15 years, are an expert in bicycle repair or once visited ten countries in as many days.  Whatever topic you select, it would be ideal to link this surprise quality or fact to some element of your experience in the MBA program.

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 12:00 pm in Essay Topic Analysis, School: CMU / Tepper

Thursday, September 10, 2009

UNC / Kenan-Flagler Essay Topic Analysis 2009-2010

UNC / Kenan-Flagler has recently provided its essays for the 2009-2010 application.  The first three essays remain the same as last year’s application, but the fourth question presents a new challenge to Kenan-Flagler candidates.  In writing these essays, applicants should use at least 11-point font and 1.5 line spacing.  Below are some tips to consider in tackling these essays:

Essay 1:  What are the 2 or 3 strengths or characteristics that have driven your career success thus far? Do you have other strengths that you would like to leverage in the future? (500 words maximum)
In a way, this question requests a sort of “career to date narrative,” driven by the themes of a few underlying personal characteristics.   While the strengths you chose to highlight may be broadly applicable and have probably served you well in many situations, it will be important to focus your comments in this essay on the professional realm, highlighting your major accomplishments and detailing what professional strengths allowed you to achieve this success.  To address the second half of the prompt, you’ll also want to include a concluding comment about how you can utilize your abilities in the future to ensure continued success not only at the MBA program, but also in your career path beyond.

Essay 2:  Briefly describe the career path you intend to pursue immediately after b-school. Explain why this career option appeals to you and why an MBA is appropriate at this time. (500 words maximum)
This is a fairly standard career goals essay, as you will need to describe your professional aspirations and the motivation behind them.  Conceivably, the comments in this essay could flow directly from the forward-looking remarks in the preceding response.  Further, because candidates will likely have covered much of their career to date in the essay before, the 500 words in this response should provide ample room to fully explain their goals, the timing of their application with respect to their career path to date, and the ways an MBA from UNC will prepare them.

Essay 3:  What personal qualities or life experiences distinguish you from other applicants? How do these qualities or experiences equip you to contribute to Kenan-Flagler? (500 words maximum)
This question gives you the opportunity to share some information about your interests and experiences that distinguish you from other applicants, while also showcasing your knowledge of and fit with Kenan-Flagler.  Think about how you can translate your passions and past experiences into involvement on the campus, and indicate specific contributions that you would like to make.  Creating a link between your past and future at the program will enable you to present a consistent and clear picture of your candidacy and professional and personal interests.  The more details that you can provide about how exactly you would contribute (playing a certain role in organizing a particular event, for example), the more reason you’ll give the adcom to admit you.

Essay 4:  Kenan-Flager has five core values: excellence, leadership, integrity, community and teamwork. If you could add one value what would it be and why? Be sure to explain how you have lived this value. (300 words maximum)
This question, new to UNC’s application, is an opportunity for you to demonstrate your knowledge of UNC’s program as well as present a personal side of yourself.  Because you will have to explain how you have lived the value you select, it is clearly important to choose a value that reflects your background and interests as well as your fit with UNC.  In selecting this value, it seems appropriate to consider the two or three characteristics you have discussed in your first essay as well as your personal qualities described in essay 3.  Linking your value back to the content of those essays will allow you to present your candidacy in a cohesive manner.

Through detailed research of the school’s program, you should be able to pinpoint one value that fits with the school’s personality and focus – while still supporting your own personal background and experience.  Selecting a compatible value is important, as it allows you to demonstrate that you understand the particulars of UNC’s program.  

In order to prove that you have lived your selected value in under 300 words, you should probably focus this aspect of the essay on a single anecdote.  As with selecting your value, your anecdote should complement the topics you have covered in your other essays; you will need a balanced discussion of your professional, academic, and/or extracurricular background to present yourself as a well-rounded candidate throughout your essays.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 4:35 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: UNC / Kenan Flagler

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Duke / Fuqua Essay Topic Analysis 2009-2010

The Duke / Fuqua essay topics have changed slightly since last year’s admission’s season.  Like last year, applicants must respond to three essays, however, this year’s essays can be twice the length of last year’s, with the limit increasing from one to two pages.

Although there is no specified word limit, Duke does require that all essays be no more than two pages long with 1.5 line spacing and in a font not smaller than 10-point.

As you prepare to answer these questions, remember to do careful research on Duke’s program offerings and integrate your findings in each response.  Candidates should consult the Clear Admit School Guide to Fuqua for an in-depth review of the program’s unique features, character and curriculum.  Let’s take a closer look at each essay as well as the broad instructions/preamble that Fuqua provides:

Today, companies must navigate through complex and interdependent issues. They must deal with health and security matters, environmental impact questions, and diversity and cultural concerns. Leaders need adaptability, imagination, emotional intelligence, as well as business acumen. Thus, Duke is in the midst of an ambitious global venture that will embed and connect us around the world, and we are seeking future leaders of consequence, those who value diversity and collaborative leadership, and who aspire to impact the companies and communities of which they are a part in a lasting and positive way.

In an effort to identify, engage, and foster the development of future leaders of consequence, the Admissions Committee would like to get to know our applicants in a more holistic manner. We would like to know who you are, what has shaped you into the person you are today, and how you hope to impact both Duke and the communities of which you will be a part in the future. The essays are your opportunity to convey that to us. Please be open, genuine, and passionate. Share with us what makes you a dynamic, multi-dimensional person.

Based on this statement, applicants should keep in mind that Duke is interested in students who are both natural leaders and collaborators, able to work with diverse teams of people.  In addition, while discussing their career goals and aspirations, Duke candidates should emphasize their plans to make a lasting impact.  Based on the second paragraph, Duke values students who can express themselves in a personable manner through their essays, so applicants should obviously strive to infuse their writing with personality and passion.

Essay 1: Required
Describe your vision for your career, your inspiration for pursuing this career path, and the role of The Duke MBA in achieving your goals. If you are interested in a specific concentration or joint degree program, please discuss in this essay.
This is your standard career goals essay, and applicants should have ample space to effectively answer each component of the question.  As you clearly articulate your goals, the reasons behind your goals, and the role that Fuqua could play in realizing these goals, be sure to include the specific information and important details about your future vision that will make your essay stand out.

As is the case with most schools, demonstrating an understanding of the unique merits of Duke’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 a visit to campus, conversation with alumni or reading our guide—will pay dividends here.

Essay 2: Required
Discuss a person, event, or experience that has significantly shaped your life and explain why.
This question is essentially the same as last year’s third essay, although it omits an additional bit of instruction that the admissions team had included (in the 2008-2009 admissions season Duke attached the following note along with this essay question: “The goal of this essay is to get a sense of who you are, rather than what you have achieved professionally”).  This change suggests that although Duke is still interested in using this question as a way to get to know candidates better, the school is open to professional anecdotes and comfortable leaving the topic selection fully in the hands of the applicant.

The best approach to this response will therefore be to share an anecdote (professional, personal or otherwise); from there you should draw attention to the priorities and qualities at play in the story, commenting on how you derived these from your development over the years.  Because Duke’s first question focuses primarily on future goals, you have the opportunity in this question to address some of your past experiences.  While the experiences you choose to showcase may range from personal to professional, this essay does offer an opportunity to support the reasons motivating the career goals that you discussed in your first essay.

As you select the anecdote to use and themese to convey, do not forget that you should ideally use this open-ended question to highlight the most important and interesting aspects of your background.  Ideally the Duke admissions reader will gain a sense of who you are and how you are different from others in the pool.

Essay 3: Required
Individuals choose a business school for many different reasons. Through your research, what attributes or characteristics of The Duke MBA program have most resonated with you and why? How do you plan to contribute to the strengthening and enhancement of those attributes and characteristics during your time at Duke and beyond?
This question, new to Duke’s application, requires that applicants demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the unique attributes and characteristics of Fuqua.  It also demands that applicants highlight their fit with the program and detail how they will promote the school’s values while at Duke and afterwards.  It may be helpful to look at this question as a combination between the standard questions “what would you contribute” and “why this school,” as in this essay Duke requires both research on the school and self-reflection.

It’s important that your answer to this question is not merely a reiteration of the points made in your first essay regarding how Duke will help you reach your future goals. One way in which you can approach this challenge is by discussing concrete aspects of the program that will help you on your career path (i.e. specific courses, clubs, professors) in the first essay, and using more conceptual characteristics about Duke that resonate with you in this essay.  For example, in this essay you could choose to discuss Duke’s spirit of collaboration, citing why this appeals to you, how you would promote this while at Duke, and how you see yourself carrying this spirit forward (i.e. founding or joining a company that promotes collaborative work habits).

Another way you can approach this is by considering Essay 3 as somewhat of a continuation of Essay 1.  By pinpointing specific things about Duke that interest and fit with you in the first essay, you will now have a chance to discuss how you will contribute to these offerings as well as the overall culture of Duke’s MBA program.  For example, an applicant who resonates with Duke’s emphasis on leadership may cite a club of interest in the first essay, and then use this third essay to discuss how they would like to play a leadership role in organizing a certain conference or speaker series for this club.  By being clear about how you would contribute, you will make it easier for the adcom to picture you as an active and valued member of the Duke community.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 10:00 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: Duke / Fuqua

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Michigan / Ross Essay Topic Analysis 2009-2010

Michigan/Ross’s essay topics remain unchanged this year.  The school again requires applicants to complete the standard “career goals,” “significant accomplishment” and “challenging time” essays, as well as the slight off-the-beaten-path essay asking candidates to describe the profession they would pursue were they not striving to receive an MBA.  Here are some tips to consider when tackling each of these topics.

Essay 1: Briefly describe your short-term and long-term career goals.  Why is an MBA the best choice for you at this point in your career?  What and/or who influenced your decision to apply to Ross?
This is a variation of the typical Career Goals Essay.  For Ross’s essay of only 500 words, applicants are not explicitly asked to describe their careers to date.  Instead, applicants might consider ways in which their work histories have led them towards pursuing an MBA at this time.  In the 2006-2007 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, and doing so effectively will make a positive impact on the adcom.  In specifically asking “What and/or who influenced your decision to apply to Ross,” the essay also invites applicants to highlight any notable business relationships they may have.  This is a good opportunity for candidates to illustrate their interpersonal skills and capabilities as both a leader and a team member.

As is the case with most schools, demonstrating an understanding of the unique merits of Michigan’s program is crucial to an effective response to this question.  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 2: Describe your most significant professional accomplishment.  Elaborate on the leadership skills you displayed, the actions you took and the impact you had on your organization.
Applicants debating how to answer this question should think about several key elements of their professional accomplishments, identifying which of the projects demonstrate the most impressive aspects.  Essay writers might examine the scope of their leadership responsibilities, the degree of innovation they brought to the project, the knack for strategic analysis that they demonstrated or the revenue they generated for an organization, to name a few.  In addition, one should evaluate how relevant the accomplishment was to his or her current work and future goals.  Remember that specific anecdotes will make a stronger impression on the reader than generalizations, and that an account of the steps you took which led to your accomplishment is just as interesting as the results.

Essay 3: If you were not pursuing the career goals you described in Question 1, what profession would you pursue instead? (for example, teacher, musical, athlete, architect, etc.)   How will this alternate interest contribute to your effectiveness in solving multi-disciplinary problems?
One could approach this question from two different angels.  An applicant might describe an alternative career that is closely related to the one he or she identified in Essay 1, but devoting this essay to more of a “fantasy” career is another great option.  While some applicants may be in a position to debate two very similar career paths in an interesting way (while still coming across as fully committed to the goals put forth in Essay 1), for most applicants the second of these two options will be the more effective approach.

Taking the first cue from the examples Ross provides in the parentheses, it seems as though the admissions committee is interested in applicants’ passions, whether they are creative, idealistic, etc.  Following this line of reasoning, this is a great opportunity for applicants to discuss their extracurricular activities while still communicating their professional strengths.  An investment banker who signs in a choir might make a great band manager in another life; an IT consultant who dreams of opening her own restaurant could let the adcom that she founded a culinary club as an undergraduate and plans to do the same at Ross.

Essay 4: Describe your experience during a challenging time in your life.  Explain how you grew personally, either despite this challenge or because of it.
Applicants can answer this question with a story about a challenging episode in either their personal or professional lives.  The choice between these two options depends largely on Essay 3; if that essay focuses on a personal interest, Essay 4 could round out the application by delving into a professional experience, and vice versa.

Whether the story is personal or professional, the major themes of growth and learning remain the same.  After describing the initial challenge in detail, the applicant should comment on both his or her thoughts and actions in response.  It’s very important to present both one’s internal and external reactions in creating a full picture for the adcom.  This could be a story about recognizing a professional opportunity and struggling to bring others on board, or the challenge of leading a dissonant team.  For those who are more inclined to tell a personal story, remember that no matter what the topic, the goal is to demonstrate one’s maturity and sincere interest in improvement.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 2:46 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: Michigan / Ross

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Cornell / Johnson Essay Topic Analysis 2009-2010

Today we’ll take a moment to comment on Cornell’s MBA application essay topics for the coming admissions season.   The admissions committee has decided to keep its required essays the same as those from the previous year, including the unusual life story/table of contents prompt it introduced some time ago.  With just three required questions, Johnson’s is among the shorter business school essay sets; careful thought should be given to selection of examples and topics covered in Essays 1 and 3 to ensure that you are presenting a well-rounded picture of your candidacy.

Essay 1: Describe your greatest professional achievement and how you were able to add value to your organization (400 words)
This is your fairly standard workplace achievement question. When selecting a topic, make sure that you are choosing a story that highlights your interpersonal skills and ability to work with others in addition to your capacity to effect positive change. Keep in mind that there are two main points you’ll need to cover: the impact you made on your organization and the process by which you brought this about. It’s important that you provide quantifiable details and present the reader with a before and after picture to really illustrate the significance of your contribution. In addition to this, you’ll want to explain the thought process behind your approach and the steps you followed, as the explanation of your reasoning is really what’s going to show the adcom that you possess the skills and knowledge that would enable you to replicate this level of impact in another job and make a valuable contribution to the business school itself.

Essay 2: What career do you plan to pursue upon completing the MBA and why? How will the Johnson School help you achieve this goal? (400 words)
This typical MBA career goals essay requests that you articulate your professional objectives and reasons for your interest in the school, and poses the added challenge of doing so in 400 words. Economy of language will be key here, as you may need to provide a very brief overview of your career to date in addition to the requested information, so as to establish a basis for your goals and demonstrate that you would bring a valuable perspective to the MBA classroom. There won’t be any room for a discussion of the general merits of a business education here – it will be crucial to include a significant amount of school-specific information to prove that you’ve done your homework on Cornell and are sincerely interested in the program.

As is the case with most schools, demonstrating an understanding of the unique merits of Johnson’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 a visit to campus, conversation with alumni or reading the Clear Admit School Guide to the Johnson School at Cornell – will pay dividends here.

Essay 3: You are the author for the book of Your Life Story. Please write the Table of Contents for the book. (400 words)
This unusual new prompt calls for a high-level and non-narrative overview of an applicant’s life to date. Of course, there’s still a good deal of room for strategy and creativity; while the structure is set, candidates are free to decide which eras or events to highlight, how to title each chapter, and so on. Though relying on a list format might be a viable approach, candidates will likely get more mileage out of this essay by structuring information in paragraphs or a series of sub-sections under broad chapter headings, offering a description of that “chapter” in your life and drawing out the important themes of the story.

As for the content itself, the admissions committee is likely looking for a sense of each candidate’s background, as well as his or her trajectory and growth over time. Touch on those events and accomplishments that are most meaningful and important to you, highlighting the ones that have shaped your personal development. Remember, though, that this is a b-school application, so you will also want to share information that is relevant to your current work and your future objectives without too much repetition of points raised in your other essays.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:23 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: Cornell / Johnson

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Columbia Business School Essay Topic Analysis 2009-2010

After making somewhat significant changes to their essay questions last season, Columbia is sticking with the same three required essays this year.  With one essay about bridging the gap between theory and practice and another about a failure in a team setting, this set of topics suggests a focus on a candidate’s ability to learn from experience and put challenges and setbacks in perspective.

Let’s take a look at each of this season’s topics:

Essay 1: What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals? How will Columbia Business School help you achieve these goals? (Recommended 750 word limit)
The general advice we’ve offered in the past on how to tackle this sort of question applies here. Because Columbia is very sensitive to the fact that it is often treated as a backup for Wharton and other leading programs, it’s especially important to convince the adcom of your interest in the program by packing your essay full of school-specific details about classes and clubs. Taking the time to learn about the school’s curriculum, special programs and extracurricular activities – whether through a visit to campus, conversations with members of the community or reading the Clear Admit School Guide to Columbia – will pay dividends here.

Essay 2: Master Classes are the epitome of bridging the gap between theory and practice at Columbia Business School. Please provide an example from your own life in which practical experience taught you more than theory alone. (Recommended 500 word limit)
In this essay, Columbia asks applicants to share a story about a time reality proved contrary to or taught them something beyond their expectations. “Theory” here refers to one’s thoughts and preparation going into an experience, while the “practice” translates to how an event or project actually played out. This essay calls for a focused discussion of a single situation; professional experiences are certainly relevant, though volunteer or other extracurricular stories could be equally fitting. Given the school’s focus on experiential learning, it will be important that applicants demonstrate an appreciation for the sorts of lessons learned and insights gained from hands-on involvement, so it is important to select an example in which one is an active participant rather than an observer. Finally, while it seems quite possible to fulfill the question’s requirements without watching the associated video, it’s probably prudent to make reference to Columbia’s Master Classes and one or two of the selling points mentioned in the clip, perhaps in the essay’s concluding comments.

Essay 3: Please provide an example of a team failure of which you’ve been a part. If given a second chance, what would you do differently? (Recommended 500 word limit)
Like any failure or mistake themed essay, the key here will be to summarize the failure and its context as briefly as possible, spending the bulk of the essay on reflection and describing the lessons learned from the experience. It’s generally good practice to close with a summary of a second, more recent experience in which the applicant has applied these lessons. In this case, however, Columbia asks candidates to think about the initial experience, and explain how you would act in retrospect, calling for the writer to double back and revisit the same situation in light of what was learned after the fact. To avoid an excessively abstract discussion, be specific in your details and explanations of exactly what you would change in your behavior and/or actions, and explore the full range of potential adjustments and improvements in your handling of the situation.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:05 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: Columbia

Monday, August 03, 2009

Dartmouth / Tuck Essay Topic Analysis 2009-2010

Tuck’s essay topics for the coming admissions season will remain unchanged from those of the previous few years.  This suggests an enduring focus on teamwork, leadership and applicants’ unique characteristics on the part of the admissions committee.  Also like last year, the admissions committee does not specify a word or page limit for its essays.  They have hinted, though, that most candidates find 500 words sufficient for each of their responses, so straying far from that number might not be advisable.

Let’s take a look at each of the school’s essays:

Essay 1: Why is an MBA a critical next step toward your short- and long-term career goals? Why is Tuck the best MBA program for you?
This is a rather straightforward career goals essay. The one way that it differs from those of most other schools is that rather than simply inquiring about the basis of an applicant’s interest in the program, Tuck wants to hear the reasons it might be the best of the candidate’s options. Navigating this issue will require a fair amount of research, as it will be important to identify some features that are truly unique to Tuck and very relevant to one’s goals, background and/or interests. This prompt question also makes it essential that applicants define their career goals as specifically as possible in order for candidates to clearly demonstrate the logical connection between their own interests and goals and the main objectives of Tuck’s program.

As is the case with most schools, demonstrating an understanding of the unique merits of Tuck’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 a visit to campus, conversation with alumni or reading the Clear Admit School Guide to Tuck – will pay dividends here.

Essay 2: Tuck defines leadership as “inspiring others to strive and enabling them to accomplish great things.” We believe great things and great leadership can be accomplished in pursuit of business and societal goals. Describe a time when you exercised such leadership. Discuss the challenges you faced and the results you achieved. What characteristics helped you to be effective, and what areas do you feel you need to develop in order to be a better leader?
This is a tall order for an (approximately) 500 word essay. One great goal to keep in mind is to maintain a balance between the individual and the external. In other words, an applicant might set the scene by offering detailed information about the setting in which he or she led by inspiring others: the financial importance of the project, or perhaps the challenging makeup of a team of coworkers. Of course, ultimately applicants would offer concrete information about how their efforts affected others, and eventually the organization’s bottom line. These descriptions could then be balanced with more reflective observations about the applicant’s own thought process and, in the end, personal development. It will be important for applicants to keep in mind when describing the personal learning and sense of accomplishment accompanying this experience that the heart of this story will be a focus on the interpersonal relationship developed. This essay is a time for applicants to demonstrate their ability to not just succeed on an individual level, but also to motivate and lead others.

Essay 3: Discuss the most difficult constructive criticism or feedback you have received. How did you address it? What have you learned from it?
Though this question will elicit a different sort of story from other schools’ prompts about a failure or setback, the major themes of growth and learning are similar. In addition to recounting the steps you took to address the issue that had been raised (and briefly explaining why it was an issue to begin with), commenting on the way you reacted to this difficult feedback could be a great way to demonstrate maturity and a sincere interest in improvement. That is, the element of communication implicit in “constructive criticism or feedback” provides applicants with an excellent opportunity to show themselves interacting with others, perhaps even under trying circumstances. Applicants should also make sure they are addressing every component of this question. Not only should candidates provide a description of the hard feedback and their responses, but they will need to explicitly state the ways they have grown as a result of both the criticism and their response to it.

Essay 4: Tuck seeks candidates of various backgrounds who can bring new perspectives to our community. How will your unique personal history, values, and/or life experiences contribute to the culture at Tuck?
In asking this question, Tuck is trying to understand the potential value of applicants’ knowledge and interests, and also the way they think about the world. Rather than making the common claim that they can bring a unique perspective to the classroom, candidates are encouraged to offer insightful details about what differentiates them from others in the applicant pool. Discussing the way your individual perspectives would affect this close-knit community (in a modest manner, of course) can really bolster your response here, since the adcom is sincerely looking for applicants who will change the program for the better. For that reason, applicants who outline the specific contributions they could make to the Tuck culture, the ways in which they intend to make them, and the reasons they are uniquely equipped to do so, will make a positive and lasting impression on the adcom. Again, this essay will require that applicants have done their “homework,” so to speak, and have researched the various clubs, courses and campus-wide involvements dedicated to promoting the diversity and varying interests present at Tuck. Specifically indicating which of these involvements interest the applicant will go a long way in proving to the adcom one’s ability to make a positive impact on the school community.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 10:00 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: Dartmouth / Tuck

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Indian School of Business (ISB) Essay Topic Analysis 2009-2010

Today we’ll be taking a look at this season’s essay questions for the Indian School of Business.  The application requires that candidates respond to three questions about their backgrounds, prior experiences, and professional progress and goals.  There’ s nothing out of the ordinary here when it comes to essay topics, though the narrow 300 word limit for each of these responses requires that applicants pack a good deal of information into a mere 900 words.

Let’s take a closer look at each of the school’s essays:

Essay 1: Give 3 reasons as to why you should be selected to the class of 2011. These reasons should ideally differentiate you from the applicant pool and should be backed with some data. (300 words)
The ISB admissions committee is likely wondering two things in asking this one question. The first might relate to what an MBA from ISB would mean to the applicant, and to the industry or community that is the focus of his or her professional goals. Candidates with professional aspirations that are especially high-impact or unusual with respect to the applicant pool might choose to mention them in this essay. If an MBA would carry great personal significance – for example, if an applicant were the first in his or her family to complete an advanced degree – this could also be appropriate to mention briefly.

The above reading, though, will apply to a relatively small portion of the applicant pool. The second (and more obvious) interpretation of this prompt is: “What’s in it for us?” In responding to this question, candidates will want to highlight aspects of their candidacies that will set them apart from other applicants, and that also translate to some contribution they could make to the ISB community and the experience of their classmates. The door is wide open to all manner of qualities, interests and skills from the professional, academic, extracurricular and personal realms, so take some time to reflect on what truly makes you unique, and what impact that will enable you to have at ISB.

Essay 2: Describe a challenging assignment you have handled (at work or outside) to date. What were the challenges and how did you handle them? What were the personal lessons you derived from this assignment? (300 words)
This prompt asks candidates to recount a time they rose to the occasion to take on a difficult task.  There’s a good deal of ground to cover in this situational question, so economy of language will be important.  Setting the scene up front and providing all of the context and challenges at the opening of the essay will enable you to take the reader through your actions in the situation and illustrate the lessons you learned.

As you think on examples you might cover in this essay, think about experiences that have led to significant growth or the learning of an especially important lesson.  A range of situations could be appropriate, so a focus on a positive outcome and lessons learned could help in identifying the most effective topics.

Essay 3: Briefly assess your career progression till date along with your assessment of your future career goals. Discuss how your career goals will be met by the ISB’s one year program. (300 words)
While this is a standard career goals/why MBA essay in terms of the topics touched upon, ISB requests that applicants respond in s considerably fewer words than do many other b-schools.  With so little room to work with, candidates might begin their writing process by devoting 100 words to each of the three topics (career to date, goals, and the preparation ISB will provide).  The key may be to keep the focus narrow, zeroing in on the elements of one’s work to date and aspects of ISB’s program that are most relevant to one’s stated goals.  Note that the prompt includes the information that the program is one year long; very effective essays will acknowledge this and comment on how the duration of the program has influenced the candidate’s decision to apply and constitutes a fit with his or her career path.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:00 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: ISB

Monday, July 27, 2009

UC Berkeley / Haas Essay Topic Analysis 2009-2010

Haas is sticking with its tried-and-true formula for its essays this admissions season, requiring applicants to respond to a series of prompts in just 250 words before exploring two further topics in more depth.  The first of these short answer topics is a new addition for this year, focusing on the candidate’s greatest passion and replacing last year’s focus on a regret.  The rest of the questions remain the same.  Let’s take a closer look at each:

Short Answer 1: What are you most passionate about? Why? (250 word maximum)
A candidate’s foremost passion is a popular essay topic 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 an applicant’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 essays, and ties your goals and previous experiences together to some extent.

Short Answer 2: Tell us about your most significant accomplishment. (250 word maximum)
This is a very tall order for a 250 word essay, so brevity will be key here. You’ll clearly want to select an impressive achievement to discuss – ideally one in which you had a positive impact on a person, group or organization (as it would reflect well on you to say that you consider it significant that you improved something for others). It will be important to comment not only on the results, but also on the actions and thought process by which you brought them about. Note that the question does not limit you to the professional realm, so feel free to think of examples from your outside activities in selecting a topic for this short response.

Short Answer 3: At Haas, we value innovation and creativity. Describe a time when you created positive change in a group or organization. (250 word maximum)
With this topic, the Haas adcom is explicitly guiding applicants to answer the question by telling a specific story about one experience rather than inquiring generally about demonstrating these principles in one’s professional and personal life.  In addressing the full scope of this question, applicants should most likely discuss an experience in which they used innovation and creativity to foster positive change in a group or organization.  While outlining this experience, you should clarify the beneficial and significant results of your actions.  You should also take the reader through your thought process as well as your actions, as demonstrating your ability to create positive results through your innovative intellectual capacity will show how you would contribute to the Haas community and find success in the future.

Short Answer 4: What steps have you taken to learn about the Berkeley MBA program, and what factors have influenced your decision to apply? (250 word maximum)
This is a rather transparent test to determine whether you’ve done your homework and are making an informed decision in applying to Haas; though most schools look to the applicant to demonstrate his or her knowledge of the school, few come right out and ask how a candidate has gone about familiarizing him or herself with the program. Because some applicants treat this school as a backup to Stanford and other programs, it will be to your advantage to convince the adcom that you are sincere in your interest by explaining the appealing elements that are unique to the Berkeley MBA. Obviously, the more specific knowledge you are able to demonstrate, the better; the adcom would love to hear that an applicant has been in touch with students, is familiar with the campus and understands the Haas culture and program.

Essay 1: Give us an example of a situation in which you displayed leadership. (500 word maximum)
Though the adcom will already have learned a few interesting things about the applicant from the short essays above, this is the first real chance a candidate has to really develop a story in which he or she shines. It would be ideal to provide a solid professional example here, but an example from an extracurricular activity would suffice as well if you have made a more significant impact on an outside organization than you have in the workplace. To an extent, your topic choice may depend on how you’ve answered the earlier questions (since you’ll want to achieve balance across the essays). Another thing to note about this question is that it does not specify that you should have a formal leadership role – any time you exhibited the characteristics of a leader to effect positive change is fair game here. Essentially, you should aim to use this essay to highlight your interpersonal skills and ability to direct the efforts of others toward a constructive end.

Essay 2: What are your post-MBA short-term and long-term career goals? How do your professional experiences relate to these goals? How will an MBA from Berkeley help you achieve these specific career goals? (1000 word maximum)
This is a fairly standard career goals essay asked by virtually all MBA programs, requiring applicants to provide an overview of their career to date, describe their short- and long-term objectives and explain their reasons for seeking an MBA from Haas in particular. As a general rule, specificity of career goals is of the utmost importance. Given the wording of Berkeley’s question, it will also be beneficial to draw explicit links between your previous experiences and future objectives in addition to touching upon the skills you’ve gained and lessons you’ve learned over the course of your career.

As the subject of the final short essay suggests, demonstrating an understanding of the unique merits of Berkeley’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 a visit to campus, conversation with alumni or reading the Clear Admit School Guide to Haas – will pay dividends here.

Interestingly, Haas chooses to end its essay section with the typical career goals essay, whereas most schools lead off with this topic. Rather than providing an overview of and introduction to your candidacy, as is the case with the career goals essay for most schools, this essay will instead be the culmination of your message to the adcom. Make sure to tie together the themes that you’ve introduced in your other responses, and end on a note of enthusiasm about the program and the timing of your application.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:19 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: Berkeley / Haas

Thursday, July 23, 2009

UVA / Darden Essay Topic Analysis 2009-2010

This season marks the third consecutive year the Darden School of Business has dramatically revised its MBA application essay questions.  Moving from three required questions to just two, with an allowance of just 1000 words between them, UVA’s is now one of the shorter applications among leading business schools.  Of course, “shorter” doesn’t translate to “easier;” with less room to work with in commenting on your background, forcing candidates to think carefully and strategically as they decide which aspects of their experiences to highlight.

Let’s consider each of the school’s questions for this year:

Essay 1: How have the changes in the global economy over the last 18 months affected you and your plan for the future? (400 words)
While the current economic climate will likely be a bit of an elephant in the room in the admissions process at many schools this season, Darden confronts the issues of financial struggle, unexpected unemployment and dampened job prospects straight on in its application. For candidates who have been laid off and are currently looking for work, this question is the perfect place to address their strategy for the months leading up to an MBA program. Meanwhile, applicants with their sights set on careers in banking and finance might speak to the ways that landscape has changed in the past year, comment on what firms they’re targeting and touch on any developments they see on the horizon. Finally, those candidates fortunate enough to have been unaffected by the downturn might focus on more personal reflection about the overall impact they’ve observed and the lessons they’ve learned. No matter what the applicant’s circumstances, the admissions committee is looking for attunement to current realities and proactive planning his or her post-MBA days.

Essay 2: What will you contribute to an MBA program and what are your personal and professional expectations of the program you attend? (600 words)
This two-part question calls for a broad discussion that addresses both a candidate’s personal and professional sides.  A brief comment on one’s professional history will be appropriate in response to the first half of the prompt, framed, perhaps, in terms of the unique perspective one will bring to class discussions and campus clubs.  This part of the essay is also an opportunity for the applicant to share his or her interests and to let the reader see who he or she is outside of the professional realm and how his or her personal background might contribute to an MBA program.

To address the second part of the prompt, one might begin with a concise summary of one’s goals and the skills and knowledge one needs to gain through an MBA program to achieve them.  However, applicants should again hit on the personal aspect, noting how an MBA program would be beneficial to one’s growth in ways other than basic career advancement (e.g. topics like intellectual growth and the desire for interaction with diverse peers in a unique community would be appropriate).  While a response need not be solely focused on “why Darden,” it woud certainly make sense to briefly comment on specific elements of Darden’s program and community offerings with which one feels an affinity (reading the Clear Admit School Guide to Darden will pay dividends here).

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:02 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: Virginia / Darden

Monday, July 20, 2009

UCLA / Anderson Essay Topic Analysis 2009-2010

UCLA Anderson’s MBA application essay topics are largely similar to last year’s in terms of length and format.  The school requires that candidates respond to four essay prompts, three in writing and one, preferably, in an audio recording, and covers topics ranging from one’s upbringing to professional goals.  The school has replaced a question on an influential experience with an inquiry about a significant risk, suggesting a more active interest in applicants’ hands in shaping their own lives and futures this season.

Let’s consider each of the school’s prompts and how one might approach them.

Essay 1: Describe the ways in which your family and/or community have helped shape your development. (750 words)
Anderson has opened its application with a question about candidate’s family backgrounds for many years running now. While we generally caution applicants against writing at length about their families and upbringing when they could cover other topics in their essays (lest they sound immature or create the impression that they haven’t done anything of note more recently), Anderson makes the unusual move of explicitly requesting information on this subject. The school is likely asking this to get at information that might not otherwise come up in an applicant’s file – such as a childhood spent abroad or difficult socio-economic circumstances overcome – to get a more complete sense of the person as a whole and what an applicant might bring to the community in terms of background and perspective. Another possible motivation might be to identify reflective and self-aware applicants who are able to identify the ways their early experiences have influenced who they are today. No matter what approach you choose to take in framing your comments, remember that in spite of the somewhat unconventional subject, it’s important to speak directly to the question and explore the subject in-depth.

Essay 2: Describe the biggest risk you have ever taken, the outcome, and what you learned in the process. (500 words)
A new prompt for this admissions season, this essay topic telegraphs an interest in applicants who aren’t afraid to take a chance when they see an opportunity or set out to reach a goal. Keep in mind that, in addition to saying something about a your level of risk tolerance, the principle, accomplishment or relationship for which you were willing to make a gamble will also say something about your values and priorities. A professional, academic or activity-related example would be ideal, but personal circumstances could also make for compelling subjects here. The key will be providing a sound explanation of why the risk was worth it, and sharing some lessons that will carry into your time at business school and beyond.

Essay 3: Describe your short-term and long-term career goals. What is your motivation for pursuing an MBA now and how will UCLA Anderson help you to achieve your goals? (750 words)
Maintaining its somewhat unusual placement toward the end of the school’s list of questions, this is otherwise a fairly standard career goals essay. While it’s important to provide a candid account of your professional objectives and interest in Anderson’s program, remember that a truly artful set of essays will introduce common themes that run throughout these first three responses. Ideally, then, the topic of this essay will not come as a complete surprise to an adcom member who has read the previous essays.

Note that the second part of the question encompasses two parts: the timing of one’s application, and the ways that UCLA’s MBA program will satisfy one’s interest or needs. In order to tailor your response to Anderson’s unique merits and offerings, you will need to be able to identify certain programs and courses that are relevant to your goals and stated interests. Taking the time to learn about the 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 the Anderson School of Management – will pay dividends here.

Essay 4: Select and respond to one of the two following questions. We would like you to respond to the question by recording an audio or video response (up to 10Mb maximum) for upload in the online application. If you are unable to submit your response via audio or video, then please prepare a written response instead. (250 words)
This audio-preferred essay was introduced last year, and is a unique question type among the top MBA programs. By favoring a recorded oral response (and now adding a video option), UCLA may be signaling the value it places on effective communication, looking for applicants who can express themselves articulately through both spoken and written channels. Thus, speaking with clarity and in as engaging a manner as possible will likely be quite beneficial. The two prompts, meanwhile, seem to be seeking a response that displays passion, commitment, and drive. Let’s take a closer look at each:

a. Entrepreneurship is a mindset that embraces innovation and risk-taking within both established and new organizations. Describe an instance in which you exhibited this mindset.
This is a reworking of a similar prompt from last year that asked candidates what entrepreneurial spirit meant to them; this time around, Anderson wants to know how applicants have acted in accordance with its own definition.

This question is a great opportunity to display a sense of vision and innovation – a great option for candidates with a track record of creative problem solving and improvement, as well as those with entrepreneurial experience or goals. Tying your comments in to UCLA’s entrepreneurial values could be helpful in exhibiting a vision that includes Anderson’s program. Of course, this is a tall order for a 250-word script, so brevity will be important as you set the scene and take the listener through your actions and their impact.

b. What is something people will find surprising about you?
This question provides candidates with a chance to explore an important aspect of their candidacy not mentioned in data forms, the resume, or other responses. For applicants from oversubscribed groups in the applicant pool, this forum could offer a great chance to truly stand out from the crowd by sharing an interesting detail about their background or interests. While the door is open to just about anything, from a quirky hobby to an exotic travel experience, it would be ideal for the topic of this essay to have some relevance to your future in the MBA program.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:00 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: UCLA / Anderson

Thursday, July 16, 2009

INSEAD Essay Topic Analysis 2009-2010

INSEAD’s total of seven essays puts the school at the high end of the MBA application spectrum in terms of questions posed. As always, careful forethought and planning before beginning to write will be important in ensuring that one is using each essay to one’s best advantage and presenting a balanced picture of a well-rounded individual. Let’s take a closer look at the questions:

Job Essays

1. Please give a detailed description of your job, including nature of work, major responsibilities; and, where relevant, employees under your supervision, size of budget, number of clients/products and results achieved. (250 words)

While the essays for most programs begin by addressing the overall progression of the applicant’s career up to this point, INSEAD’s first question requests a snapshot of the applicant’s career at this moment. Even if you have held a number of positions within the same organization, it’s best to maintain focus on your current position and responsibilities. Keeping in mind that this will be the adcom’s introduction to your materials, you might also provide the context necessary for the reader to understand your place within the organizational structure and the work that occupies your days. While there is some room to talk about “results achieved,” there’s no need to get bogged down in the specifics of certain projects or engagements – a good essay will be composed of fairly general comments that are focused on the present. It is fine to incorporate some more specific information about your career’s “greatest hits” later in response to other questions.

2. Please give us a full description of your career since graduating from university. If you were to remain with your present employer, what would be your next step in terms of position? (250 words)

This is a tall order for a 250 word essay, so brevity and efficient use of language will be key here. The adcom is looking for an applicant who can present her career as a coherent whole, and demonstrate that she has been on an upward trajectory since the outset. While it would be ideal for you to include some comments on lessons learned and skills gained over the course of your career, the primary focus should be touching upon each full-time post you’ve held, explaining the reasons behind each move you’ve made and commenting on increases and changes in responsibility.

Personal Essays

1. Give a candid description of yourself, stressing the personal characteristics you feel to be your strengths and weaknesses and the main factors which have influenced your personal development, giving examples when necessary. (400 words approx.)

It’s important to address the question in full when responding to this sort of essay, but it’s also in one’s best interest to focus as much as possible on the positive. With this in mind, you might lead off with two or three positive qualities and then comment on one or two weaknesses – ideally ones that you’ve already taken steps to address. Whether discussing a strength or a weakness, though, it’s ideal to back up every statement about your character with a brief example as “proof” of the statement. INSEAD’s framework gives applicants free reign to select personal, professional or extracurricular subjects, so try to select your examples with an eye to presenting a balanced picture of your interests and experiences.

2. Describe what you believe to be your two most substantial accomplishments to date, explaining why you view them as such. (400 words approx.)

This is another fairly straightforward question. Though it’s important to reflect and respond candidly with those achievements that have truly been the most meaningful to you, keep in mind that, given the interests and priorities of the adcom in evaluating one’s business school candidacy, it would be beneficial to feature at least one accomplishment from the professional realm. As always, it will be important to ground your comments in specific details and fully explain why these achievements were significant, both in terms of the results you produced and the lessons you learned.

3. Describe a situation taken from school, business, civil or military life, where you did not meet your personal objectives, and discuss briefly the effect. (250 words approx.)

To fully address this question, you’ll need to describe the situation and detail, in very concrete terms, what went wrong and why. This essay has a particularly restrictive word limit, making it all the more important for applicants to summarize and explain the failure as concisely as possible. Keep in mind that the reason a school asks this question is to discern whether a student is able to learn from experience and avoid repeating past mistakes. Toward that end, it would be wise to interpret INSEAD’s request for a discussion of the “effect” of the mistake as a chance to talk about personal growth (as discussing the negative consequences of one’s actions would be a less flattering approach). Ending the essay on a more positive note is always a good idea, especially for those who can point to subsequent successes in the same realm.

4. Discuss your career goals. What skills do you expect to gain from studying at INSEAD and how will they contribute to your professional career. (500 words approx.)

This is the standard career goals essay, with an interesting focus on skills as they relate to INSEAD classes and future goals. The phrasing of this question might indicate that the school is looking for applicants who have really thought through the limitations they face given their current skill sets, and have a clear sense of what they need to learn (and how they will do so through an MBA) in order to be successful in a very specific career path. This underscores the fact that well-defined goals and school-specific detail are essential to a successful application.

As is the case with most schools, demonstrating an understanding of the unique merits of INSEAD’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 a visit to campus, conversation with alumni or reading the Clear Admit School Guide to INSEAD – will pay dividends here.

5. Please choose one of the following two essay topics:
a) Have you ever experienced culture shock? What did it mean to you? (250 words approx.)
b) What would you say to a foreigner moving to your home country? (250 words approx.)

This sort of question is designed to gauge an applicant’s cultural sensitivity and ability to conduct business in an international setting, and it probably comes as no surprise to applicants who are familiar with INSEAD’s reputation as a highly international program. The first option asks applicants to recount a trying experience in another country or environment, and to explain the resulting personal growth and process of adjustment. Meanwhile, the second asks candidates to reflect on the unique characteristics of his or her own culture and anticipate the issues that a visitor might encounter. In both responses, one has an opportunity to demonstrate cultural flexibility, offering evidence for his or her ability to operate as a global citizen and work in diverse teams. Of course, many of the best essays will manage to incorporate a healthy dose of lessons learned, indicating that cultural adjustment can be fraught with trial and error rather than sugar-coating a response and failing to outline the struggles or periods of adjustment.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 8:43 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: INSEAD

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Chicago Booth’s Rose Martinelli Provides an Update from the Admissions Office

In a recent post to her blog, University of Chicago Booth School of Business Director of Admissions Rose Martinelli gave a sneak peek into what’s been going on in the admissions department this summer.

“Lots, I can assure you,” was Martinelli’s short answer. Specifically, her team has been hard at work developing a new set of application questions designed to help them better get to know prospective applicants. “They require introspection and an awareness of you that goes beyond a pure listing of events or facts,” she writes. 

Before sitting down to write your responses, Martinelli recommends taking time to reflect on your life and career, determining the set of schools whose programs promise to help you reach your goals, and planning the messages you want to convey in your application and how best to do so within the new questions. (For the Clear Admit team’s analysis of the new Chicago Booth questions, click here.)

Martinelli and her team will soon depart on a two-week worldwide tour to meet prospective applicants around the globe. Scheduled stops include Tel Aviv, Mumbai, Bangalore, New Delhi, Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo. But she promises to use her blog, the Rose Report, to update prospective applicants on admissions during that time. And if there’s a particular topic you’d like to see her cover, she invites you to email her directly at rose.martinelli@chicagobooth.edu.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 1:00 pm in Essay Topic Analysis, MBA News, School: Chicago

Monday, July 13, 2009

Chicago Booth Essay Topic Analysis 2009-2010

Continuing with our series of essay topic analyses for this season’s applications, today we’ll take some time to think about the 2009-2010 Chicago Booth application essay questions.  The overall format of the program’s prompts is similar to last year; the school requires that applicants submit responses to three ‘essays’, asking candidates about their reasons for applying at the outset of the set and requesting a PowerPoint presentation for the third year running.  As for noteworthy changes, the adcom has discarded last year’s tricky question that asked applicants to explain how an MBA from Chicago Booth would have helped them handle a past situation, featuring in its place a more straightforward situational prompt.

Let’s take a closer look at each of this year’s essays.

Essay 1: How did you choose your most recent job/internship and how did this experience influence your future goals? What about the Chicago Booth MBA makes you feel it is the next best step in your career at this time? (750-1000 words)
This is a broader framing of the goals/why MBA essay than last season’s inquiry (which focused solely on the timing of the candidate’s application to business school), but still a relatively ‘loose’ prompt in terms of the level of detail requested about candidate’s post-MBA plans. Rose Martinelli, the school’s Dean of Admissions, has actually stated in the past that Chicago Booth’s essays are less focused on specific short- and long-term career goals – a hint, perhaps, that they intend to save a more elaborate investigation of a candidate’s aspirations for the admissions interview. While all admissions committees are interested in the reasons behind applicants’ professional decisions and the reasons they’ve chosen to apply at this point in their careers, the fact that these are the sole topics explicitly covered by this prompt sets this Chicago Booth essay apart from those of other programs.

One approach to this topic would be for candidates to summarize what they’ve done thus far in their career, broadly explain their future plans and demonstrate why an MBA is necessary to move forward. While that approach does place this question into the career goals essay category, it’s important to keep in mind that the Chicago Booth adcom is most interested in the candidate’s assessment of their career trajectory and the reasons that a turning point has been reached. Finally, even though the question doesn’t specifically ask to explain why Chicago Booth, applicants should absolutely consider tackling this aspect.

As is the case with most schools, demonstrating an understanding of the unique merits of Chicago Booth’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 a visit to campus, conversation with alumni or reading the Clear Admit School Guide to Chicago Booth – will pay dividends here.

Essay 1a: FOR REAPPLICANTS ONLY: Upon reflection, how has your thinking regarding your future, Chicago Booth, and/or getting an MBA changed since the time of your last application? (250 words)
While reapplicants might have much to say about improvements in their candidacies since they last applied, it’s important to note that this prompt is focused solely on one’s goals and understanding of Chicago Booth’s program. Whether you’ve refined your vision of your future or made demonstrable progress toward the objective you mentioned last season, this is the place to show that you’ve been working to get closer toward your goal – and to get to know the Booth MBA even better.

Essay 2: Please choose one of the following (500 – 750 words):
Describe a time when you wish you could have retracted something you said or did. When did you realize your mistake and how did you handle the situation?
-or-
Describe a time when you were surprised by feedback that you received. What was the feedback and why were you surprised?
Situational questions are a common tool of MBA admissions committees, as they provide a window into an applicant’s past behavior and thought process and offer some insight into how they may act in the future. These two options are a bit unusual, meanwhile, in their focus on the candidate’s ability to recognize and address a misstep or a blind spot. Through these questions, Chicago Booth aims to get a sense of an applicant’s level of self-awareness and willingness to work to improve a situation, relationship or skill.

These prompts leave the door open to examples from all realms of one’s candidacy, examples from the academic, professional, extracurricular and interpersonal arenas may be appropriate. The main thing to consider when selecting an example will be the value of the lesson learned as a result of this experience. Because these questions focus on somewhat negative experience – saying or doing something you wish you hadn’t and being unaware of some area for improvement – it would be ideal to select examples from which you have some distance. This strategy will enable you to cover subsequent growth and discuss the ways you’ve applied any lessons you’ve learned since the experience you describe.

Essay 3: We have asked for a great deal of information throughout this application and now invite you to tell us about yourself. In four [Powerpoint] slides or less please answer the following question: What have you not already shared in your application that you would like your future classmates to know about you?
This is the third consecutive year that this unique task has appeared as part of Chicago Booth’s application. While certainly unusual, this approach isn’t exactly revolutionary – Stern’s usual Essay 3 asks for a personal expression that gives candidates complete freedom with content and medium (with the exception of edible/perishable personal expressions) – but it does speak to Chicago Booth’s interest in a candidate’s interests and personality.

All this “white space” might be daunting to some, but an easy way to approach this process is to ask oneself a few simple questions. Are there four personal themes to which you would like to devote a slide each? Would you prefer to use the four frames to create a sense of progression through a day, event or activity? We’re hesitant to provide too much guidance given the free-form nature of the task; the best advice we can offer is to think about who you are (and how this might be of interest to the Booth adcom), consider how you could translate this into words and images, and then give it a try. Showing the initial result to someone who knows you well could be a great way to determine the effectiveness of a working draft.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 2:24 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: Chicago

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Yale SOM Essay Topic Analysis 2009-2010

Following up on last week’s post covering the Yale SOM application essay topics for the coming admissions season, we wanted to take some time today to offer some commentary on the school’s questions.

While maintaining the broad format employed last year – with required prompts covering a candidate’s goals and leadership experiences, and one additional essay on one of several topics – there are a few changes to note here.  The adcom has broken its essay about the applicant’s goals and interest in SOM into four distinct essays of just 150-words each, and cut the list of topics for the second Personal Statement from seven to five prompts.  Let’s take a look at each of these essays and consider how one might approach them when applyign this season.

Short Answers

Please answer each of the four questions below with a short paragraph of no more than 150 words. This is an opportunity to distill your core ideas, values, goals and motivations into a set of snapshots that help tell us who you are, where you are headed, and why. (600 words maximum)

1. What are your professional goals immediately after you receive your MBA?
2. What are your long-term career aspirations?
3. Why are you choosing to pursue an MBA and why now? (If you plan to use your MBA experience to make a significant change in the field or nature of your career, please tell us what you have done to prepare for this transition.)
4. What attracts you specifically to the Yale School of Management’s MBA program?
Yale has taken a new approach to polling candidates about their professional plans this season, discarding their unified 500-word essay on the topic in favor of four compartmental prompts. At its heart, though, this is a fairly standard career goals/why MBA essay broken into sections of equal length – suggesting that the adcom is just as interested in the timing of a candidate’s application as it is in the reasons for his or her interest in Yale.

This new structure does pose some challenges, as candidates will need to unpack in 150 words a topic that they might have covered in a single sentence in their applications for other schools (i.e. the “why now” issue), while distilling their discussion of their interest in Yale’s program to the same length.  On the bright side, though, the 600-word allowance actually amounts to a 20% increase over last year’s limit, giving applicants a bit more room to cover these important subjects.

As is the case with most schools, demonstrating an understanding of the unique merits of Yale’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 a visit to campus, conversation with alumni or reading the Clear Admit School Guide to Yale SOM  – will pay dividends here.

Personal Statement 1:
Describe an accomplishment that exhibits your leadership style. The description should include evidence of your leadership skills, the actions you took, and the impact you had on your organization. (500 words maximum)
Making an appearance in the Yale SOM application for a second consecutive year, this leadership-themed essay topic features an explicit focus on the individual and his or her unique approach. The follow-up prompt asking for evidence of one’s leadership skills and the specifics of the approach means that the key here is to show and not tell.

The accomplishment would ideally be one that highlights your initiative and drive, emphasizing your personal role while also placing the anecdote in the context of the big picture of a team effort. A true leader understands how to utilize the skills and abilities of those on the team through motivation and leading through example.

As the question also asks about overall impact, it will be important to provide a clear “after” picture, pinpointing what changes resulted or what organization elements improved.

Personal Statement 2;
Choose one of the following topics and answer it in essay form. Please indicate the topic number at the beginning of your essay. (500 words maximum)

(3.1) A central premise of our teaching about leadership at the Yale School of Management is that true leadership—leadership that helps to address a significant problem in a new way—is necessarily personal. It is only when personal passion aligns with meaningful aspirations that individuals are able to inspire others to act in support of an important goal or cause. What are you most passionate about, and how have you demonstrated a commitment to this passion?
Echoing Stanford’s standard “What matters most to you, and why?” essay, Yale is looking for candidates with distinct values and an overall motivating vision. Applicants with a deep involvement in some cause outside of work or a strong commitment to their chosen industry might find a ready topic for this response, though candidates might be able to identify a common theme or motivating factor that runs throughout a number of their experiences or activities. Another thing to note is that the prompt hints at an interest in hearing about passion that has or will inspire leadership, adding another nuance to keep in mind when selecting topics.

(3.2) What achievement are you most proud of and why?
This question leaves the door open for a wide range of examples; an applicant might discuss a major professional accomplishment or a more personal triumph. The “why?” element of the question is a reminder that the adcom is not just interested in what was done, but the reason it is a source of ongoing pride for the candidate, so when selecting a subject for this essay, its significance will be a key element to keep in mind. An example from the workplace could be a great topic if there were some important lesson learned, skill gained or impact made. Meanwhile, a more personal anecdote could be quite beneficial if a candidate has some meaningful experience that could help him or her stand out from others and demonstrate distinguishing qualities that might not be evident elsewhere in the application.

(3.3) What is the most difficult feedback you have received from another person or the most significant weakness you have perceived in yourself? What steps have you taken to address it and how will business school contribute to this process?
Moving from the focus on accomplishment in the previous question to one of improvement, this question pushes applicants to recount an anecdote detailing a growth and learning process. This learning process is important because it can reflect maturity, flexibility, adaptability, and humility – all important qualities needed to work effectively in a team. In answering this question, you should identify and explain the issue while also addressing how you reacted to it. Demonstrating a mature response and desire to improve is important, and effectiveness in facilitating this improvement should be apparent. This learning process needs to not only be something that you underwent but something that you can continue to build upon through Yale’s MBA program. Once again, knowledge of Yale’s specific programs will be helpful, as you can pinpoint classes or extracurriculars that will contribute to your ongoing growth.

(3.4) Describe a situation in which you devised and implemented a creative or unique solution to a difficult problem. What obstacles did you face and how did you overcome them?
A new addition to the Yale application for this season, this prompt gives candidates an opportunity to showcase their creativity, capacity for pragmatic thinking, and abilities in problem solving. The follow-up question tips the balance of emphasis toward the “implemented” element of the opening sentence; while commentary on the process by which one devised this innovative solution, the process of putting it into action should be covered in depth as well. It would not be surprising if technical and procedural hurdles arose in the course of the story, but the interpersonal element – overcoming any opposition and convincing others to support this new plan – will be of even greater interest to the admissions committee.

(3.5) Required for reapplicants: What steps have you taken to improve your candidacy since your last application?
This is a standard essay asking reapplicants to identify how they have progressed over the past year and strengthened their candidacy (through refining career objectives, solidifying their academic performance, etc.).

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 10:34 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: Yale

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• B-School Bound
• Tinydancer
• gltnforpnshmnt
• mbabound08
• Achilles
• Eight Schools
• MBA Runner Girl

• Top 10 Students:
• m@ (Ross)
• MaybeMBA (Chicago)
• Hair Twirler (Georgetown)
• Iday (Chicago)
• J-term Johnny (Columbia)
• La Laudiaria (Wharton)
• MBA Gladiator (Yale)
• Angel Angie (LBS)
• Necromonger (INSEAD)
• Chrisof Meyer (Darden)

2006-2007 Top Ten:

• Top 10 Applicants:
• Rungee582
• Iday
• Juggler
• Asiangal
• Forrest Gump
• RusGirl
• Hair Twirler
• JatWarrior
• MBA Babe
• Anand

• Top 10 Students:
• Angel Angie (LBS)
• The Divine Miss N (LBS)
• From Cali (Ross)
• Tim K. (McCombs)
• Noelle (IESE)
• Jerry Blank (Yale)
• Benny (Tuck)
• La Laudiaria (Wharton)
• Karlitos (LBS)
• MBA Gladiator (Yale)

2005-2006 Top Ten:

• Top 10 Applicants:
• MBA Jackass
• Marina
• Forrest Gump
• Pupstar78
• Axechick
• Sorebrek
• Angel Angie
• I_Will_Make_It
• Redwolf056
• Vatsa

• Top 10 Students:
• Marquis (Stanford)
• Poweryogi (Chicago)
• KV (LBS)
• FutureMBAGirl (Wharton)
• The Divine Miss N (LBS)
• Vijay (ISB)
• Wakechick (Chicago)
• NoelleBellie (IESE)
• Jerry Blank (Yale)
• Olivier (INSEAD)

2004-2005 Top Ten:

• PowerYogi
• Brit-Chick
• bskewl
• WakeChick
• Dave
• Iceman07
• iwhoElse
• Atta Girl
• Aregon23
• Classy

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