For some, life in the Northeast would not be complete without ice hockey. The hockey club at the Yale School of Management (SOM) is reportedly very active, attracting student players of all abilities. Approximately 50 players scrimmage weekly throughout the fall and into the early spring. Said a second-year student we interviewed, “Playing hockey or attending as a spectator is a blast, especially since we use Ingalls Rink, an amazing facility where the currently #1 ranked Yale hockey team plays its matches.” Referring to the Stanley Gartska Cup, he added, “The season culminates with a first-year versus second-year game in April, named after our deputy dean, whose first name is Stanley (get it?).”

For in-depth descriptions of social and community activities at the Yale SOM and 14 other top MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.

A second-year student mbaMission interviewed at the Yale School of Management (SOM) remarked that Sharon Oster (“Basics of Economics” & “Non-Profit Management”) “loves teaching almost more than being dean!” Oster is the Frederic D. Wolfe Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship and teaches “Basics of Economics,” part of the school’s first-year core—for a while giving everyone, as one second year told mbaMission, “a chance to get cold-called by their dean!” Oster’s expertise lies in economics and nonprofit management. She is the author of several widely used business school textbooks, including Modern Competitive Analysis (Oxford University Press, third edition, 1999), and has co-authored introductory economics texts such as Principles of Microeconomics (with Karl E. Case and Ray C. Fair; Prentice Hall, tenth edition, 2011) and Principles of Economics (with Karl E. Case and Ray C. Fair; Prentice Hall, tenth edition, 2011). In addition, Oster is an expert in nonprofit management. Her text Strategic Management for Nonprofit Organizations: Theory and Cases (Oxford University Press, 1995) is used in the SOM course “Non-Profit Management,” which a second year described to mbaMission as “always heavily oversubscribed.”

For more information about the Yale SOM and 14 other top-ranked business schools, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.

The Yale University School of Management’s (SOM’s) weekly happy hour, Closing Bell, takes place on Thursday nights. Given that students have no classes on Fridays, Closing Bell kicks off the weekend. Generally held at an off-campus location, this event is attended by students and their partners as well as by faculty and staff. According to one second year mbaMission interviewed, “It’s a great chance to catch up with friends after a busy week and to make plans for the evening, which often includes a trip to GPSCY [the Graduate & Professional Student Center at Yale, aka Gryphon’s Pub] or other popular watering holes like Mory’s, Richter’s, or Anchor, or quieter dinners and gatherings.”

For in-depth descriptions of social and community activities at Yale SOM and 14 other top MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.

Twice distinguished with Excellence in Teaching awards during his time at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Yale undergrad alumnus Andrew Metrick (’89) (“Venture Capital & Private Equity”) first joined the Yale School of Management faculty in 2008 as a professor of finance. In 2009 he was named the Theodore Nierenberg Professor of Corporate Governance and made faculty director of the Millstein Center for Corporate Governance. Then, in 2010, he became deputy dean for faculty development and the Michael H. Jordan Professor of Finance and Management.

Metrick’s interest in venture capital reportedly began when he volunteered to take over a course in the study area while at Wharton and led to the eventual publication of his textbook Venture Capital and the Finance of Innovation (with Ayako Yasuda; Wiley, 2010). His work now focuses on financial stability. In his biography on the Yale SOM Web site, Metrick states, “Watching what happened to Bear [Stearns] in March 2008—seeing how fast a large and powerful financial institution can collapse—had a profound effect on my research interests. Since then, I have been spending much of my time trying to understand financial crises. I don’t expect to finish this project anytime soon.”

Metrick stepped away from the Yale SOM briefly in 2009–2010 to serve as an economist on President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors, then returned to the school in the fall of 2010. A second-year student told mbaMission, “He’ll once again be teaching a wildly popular PE [private equity] and VC [venture capitalism] course while continuing to lecture and write on corporate governance.”

For more information about the Yale SOM and 14 other top-ranked business schools, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.

Short Answers
Please answer each of the four (4) 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 going professionally, and why. (600 words total)

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? (If you plan to use your Yale MBA to make a significant change in the nature of your career, please tell us what you have done to prepare for this transition.)
4. The intentions of our students to engage in a broad-minded business school community and to connect to an eminent and purposeful university greatly influence the Yale MBA experience. How do you plan to be involved in the Yale SOM and greater Yale communities?

These four questions encompass the primary elements of a classic Personal Statement essay question—short-term goals, long-term goals, why you want or need an MBA and “why us”—so we encourage you to consult our mbaMission Personal Statement Guide, which helps applicants address these topics in their essay(s) for any school. We offer this guide to candidates free of charge, via our online store. Please feel free to download your copy today.

The only anomaly in these four mini questions is the last, which requires you to explain how you will engage with the Yale SOM and larger Yale University communities. So, your first order of business is to think about the experience you want to have at the school while also considering the areas where you can contribute (and ideally, contribute something unique!). Then, do your homework on the school, perhaps by reading the mbaMission Insider’s Guide to the Yale School of Management or by chatting with SOM students or alumni or with those of other schools within the university. A brief list of clubs or activities will not constitute a solid answer to this essay question. Instead, make sure to reveal that you truly understand how a particular club (for example) functions and that you have a clear vision for how you would contribute to the organization.

Personal Statements

Choose two (2) of the following topics and answer them in essay form. Please indicate the topic number at the beginning of your essay. (500 words maximum)

1. At the Yale School of Management, we believe the world needs leaders who:

• understand organizations, teams, networks and the complex nature of leadership;
• understand markets and competition in different contexts; and
• understand the diversity of economies throughout the world and the relationships between business and society.

What experiences have you had that demonstrate your strength in one or more of these areas?

This essay question may seem confusing at first, but try not to be daunted by the bevy of options it involves. The Yale SOM admissions committee is basically posing a very open-ended question about your experiences in the business world, and you should—simply by virtue of being a professional—have a variety of stories that fit the broad parameters of the question.

The first option within this question offers you the opportunity to discuss your ability to navigate complex team interactions, or even interactions that extend beyond your team—for example, your team’s relationship with a client. Resist the urge to simply copy and paste an essay that pertains to teams from another application, however, and instead truly contemplate the thoughtful manner in which you navigated a sensitive situation and optimized results. “Optimized” may be the key word here. If you can offer a story about an instance in which you “hit a home run,” so to speak, that is of course fantastic, but Yale appears to be acknowledging how “complex” leadership can be. Therefore, highlighting your success as a diplomat who “optimized” a delicate situation may better reveal your leadership skills (and make for a more interesting essay).

The second option, which asks you to reveal that you understand markets and competition, is not just for those who are engaged in the financial markets. Rather, it essentially asks how you have helped your firm keep pace or even how you have tried in vain to ensure that your firm stays competitive—which can apply to any industry or field. In your response, you might discuss approaches that you considered, tactics you deployed, a vision you possessed or other similar elements. Remember, this is not meant to be an academic paper on competition and/or markets, but a window into your personal experiences and how you have come to understand their complexities.

Similarly, be sure to insert yourself and your unique experiences into the final essay choice on world economies and their relation to societies. Again, the school is not asking you to write a paper on world economies, but to share what you have personally witnessed and learned about economies and how they affect people. Remember that the committee wants to understand the experiences you have had—and the more particular the experience, the better, because you need to own this essay. No environment or industry is the “right” one for this essay—some applicants may have worked in an emerging market, others on Wall Street, and a candidate from either background could write a successful essay for this question option. The key is that you have clear insight into the impact of decisions—particularly, the decisions’ effect on others. This is the place to reveal that you have balanced and intimate knowledge of an issue and its possible solutions, not to share that you have an axe to grind with certain global players or institutions.

Of course, you are not required to stick with just one theme. So, you can choose the most appropriate options for your personal history to show, for example, that you not only “understand markets and competition” but also “understand the diversity of economies throughout the world.”

2. What is the most difficult feedback you have received from another person or the most significant weakness you perceive in yourself? What steps have you taken to address it and how will business school contribute to this process?

This question is a holdover from past years—clearly being a question that rewards the admissions committee with its desired insight into candidates’ personalities and experiences. Although explaining the feedback you received or the soul searching you underwent is certainly important, the committee is particularly interested in hearing about what you have done in response to the critique/weakness and how this process of improvement will continue when you are at business school. In addition to learning how candidates react to the revelation of a shortcoming, the school wants to see that applicants are willing to take responsibility and to act on, not just learn from, such experiences—to use them as a trigger for active personal or professional growth.

In addition, responding well to negative feedback or a weakness shows maturity, flexibility and a willingness to learn from others—all good leadership and teamwork qualities. With regard to which instance of feedback or which weakness you discuss, make sure to select one that is consistent with Yale’s values and atmosphere. For example, saying, “My boss criticized me for being lazy” would not be advised, given the school’s preference for highly motivated and proactive candidates. Likewise, avoid “empty” criticisms, such as “My supervisor claims I always work too hard and do too much.” Trying to disguise a strength as a weakness will definitely not impress—and might even annoy—the admissions committee and does not indicate an appropriate level of self-awareness and honesty. In short, the feedback or weakness you reveal should leave you exposed—it should be honest, so admitting it should therefore hurt a bit. The school wants to know you are human, so do not try to avoid revealing yourself as such.

3. Imagine yourself meeting your learning team members for the first time in Orientation.  What is the most important thing your teammates should know about you?

At last, an essay option that is a little more fun to write! Our guess is that candidates will gravitate toward this personality piece, in hopes of avoiding the first essay choice, which may seem overwhelming, or the second, which may seem risky. In contrast, this is a pretty safe question.

Before responding to this question, take time to really reflect on your primary personality traits and consider not only which one you deem most important, but also which one your teammates would most likely find compelling. To offer an extreme example, your team would probably not want to hear about your fiercely independent streak, but might be interested to know that you are doggedly determined.

Whichever characteristic you choose to reveal, be sure that you present fitting anecdotal evidence to back up your claim. Writing an extended “tell” in which you simply state that you possess certain skills and talents—yet offer no proof—will ultimately reveal very little about you. The anecdotes you share to support your claims of the “most important” thing about you are what will most effectively demonstrate who you are to the admissions committee.

4.  Required for reapplicants: What steps have you taken to improve your candidacy since your last application?

Whether you have improved your academic record, received a promotion, begun a new and exciting project, increased your community involvement or taken on a personal challenge of sorts, the key to success with this essay is conveying a very deliberate path of achievement. Yale wants to know that you have been actively striving to improve and that you have seized opportunities during the previous year to do so, because you feel a Yale MBA is vital to your future success. This essay question will vary greatly from one candidate to the next, because each person’s needs and experiences differ. We are more than happy to provide one-on-one assistance with this highly personal essay to ensure that your efforts over the past year are presented in the best light possible.

Earlier this year, we spoke to Wharton’s admissions director, J.J. Cutler and he explained that there are no post-interview snap judgments. At Wharton, files are read multiple times prior to and post-interview, according to Cutler, “…then (after the interview) the interview report is placed into the file, and the file gets recirculated and read a fourth time by a member of the admissions committee…. it may get read a fifth time or even a sixth time. (For) most applications at that point, it gets pretty competitive.” At Wharton the admissions committee is not waiting for an enthusiastic report to confirm a decision it has already made, but is using the interview as a part of the evaluative process as it weighs applicants against their peers.

Yale admissions officer, Bruce DelMonico, explained to mbaMission that the School of Management uses a “consensus decision-making model,” where “we all need to agree on an outcome for an applicant (to be accepted)”. Like Wharton, each file is read multiple times and, with this need for consensus, it is fair to write that the committee is not waiting on the interview as the determinant.  Again, there is no post-interview snap judgment, but there is thought and reflection by the admissions officers.

In a past piece in this series, we attempted to destroy the myth that admissions is a science. It is worth repeating that there is no simple formula for MBA admissions and that the process of evaluation is thorough and not instinctive/reactive.  If your interview was disastrous, it can certainly hurt you, but if you felt positively about your experience, you should not worry that you botched it and that this was the determinant of your status.

Let’s consider this (entirely fictitious) example of an individual who writes about how he started a small business for the Yale SOM essay question, “What achievement are you most proud of and why?” Consider the following hypothetical conclusion:

“In starting ABC distributors, I learned a great deal about entrepreneurship and I hope to formalize this knowledge at the Yale SOM. Only with Yale’s vast entrepreneurial resources and profound alumni connections will I be able to take my next venture to a higher level. At Yale, I will grow my business skills and potential.”

While there are many problems with the two sentences above – they are cloying and there is no real substance – the most egregious aspect is that Yale never asked for the applicant to discuss how the school will affect his/her abilities going forward. So, the “Why Yale” component is just empty pandering.

As you write your essays, you should always focus on answering the essay questions as they are written and should not try to anticipate unwritten questions. So, if your target school does not ask an explicit “Why us?” question – Harvard Business School does not ask “Why HBS?” – you should not find a way to sneakily answer that question in other essays. The AdCom is not asking this question for a reason. (And, yes, we have helped many candidates succeed in their applications to HBS without addressing this unasked question at all.)

Of course, if your target school explicitly asks a “Why us?” statement, then you should certainly do your homework and answer it. Again, it is all about the question itself.

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. (150 words maximum per question)

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?

As mentioned, these questions involve primary elements of a typical Personal Statement essay question—short-term goals, long-term goals, why an MBA and why now—so we encourage candidates to consult our mbaMission Personal Statement Guide, which helps applicants address these topics in their essay(s) for any school. We offer this guide to candidates free of charge, via our online store. Please feel free to download your copy today.

Of note in question 3 is the parenthetical statement, which shows that Yale expects candidates to take some ownership of their career transition and not anticipate that the MBA degree will be a “magic bullet” of sorts that will take them smoothly and successfully from one career path to another. Being able to show that you have proactively taken steps to learn more about or begin developing skills appropriate for your new function or industry will in turn illustrate your passion, commitment and motivation, which, of course, all candidates should strive to convey in their essays—not just career changers, and not just for this question.

With respect to question 4, you must thoroughly do your research so as to best be able to indicate direct ties between what Yale offers and your professional goals, personal beliefs, study style, etc. The deeper your knowledge of the school, the more easy pinpointing specific resources and offerings will be in the context of your future success (both as a business school student and in your career after graduation), and the more effective you will be able to be in the mere 150 words allotted for your response. To attain this level of understanding of the school, you will need to go beyond the school’s view book and Web site and reach out to its students, alumni and faculty members. Even better, visit the school and sit in on a class or two as well.

Though this question does not call, or even allow, for a recounting of your past accomplishments and experience, you should include some explanation as to where you are coming from and thus what you need from an MBA program to help you reach the goals you will state in response to questions 1 and 2. From there, the central issue is obviously to explain what Yale offers that will help you attain those needs. As always, avoid telling the school what it already knows about itself (especially given the restrictive word limit), and strive instead to show a direct link between specific—ideally unique—resources at Yale and you and your aspirations.

Personal Statements
Choose two (2) of the following topics and answer them in essay form. Please indicate the topic numbers at the beginning of your essays. (500 words maximum per essay)

All the topic options under the Personal Statements heading (except the question for reapplicants) are clearly meant to reveal applicants as unique individuals rather than to allow candidates to merely recount their professional accomplishments.

1. What achievement are you most proud of and why?

A repeat from the past two application seasons, this straightforward question offers the opportunity for you to relate the narrative of an outstanding accomplishment. We emphasize “narrative” here, because you must truly describe the full nature and story of your experience—not just bluntly state the accomplishment itself. Many candidates will start their essay with a sentence that gives away their entire story, such as: “My greatest accomplishment occurred when I overcame opposition and convinced my boss to implement a new retirement savings plan for all firm employees.” Where do you go from there? Once the story’s most important revelations have been presented, no mystery exists, so maintaining the reader’s attention becomes very difficult—as does writing the remainder of the essay!

To better set yourself apart from other candidates, consider choosing an accomplishment for which your reason for feeling proud may not be immediately apparent. For example, anyone would be proud of growing revenues by a large percentage or landing a prestigious account, so these options would not reveal as much about you as a unique individual with your own style. Or, pick an instance in which anyone would be proud of having accomplished what you accomplished, but the reason you were proud was different from what someone might expect. As a simplified example, if you used your great-grandmother’s cookie recipe to win a baking contest, you may be proud of having beat out numerous competitors for the top prize, but you might also be proud of the win because it gave you a greater appreciation for family and ancestors, or it imbued you with confidence that then inspired you to start a small bake shop, etc.

And remember, the “and why” portion of the query is important and demands your attention. It cannot be skipped or given short shrift. To fully answer this question, you will need to tie the achievement you describe to your personality and/or ambitions.

2. 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?

This question is another holdover from the past. Although explaining the feedback you received or soul searching you underwent is certainly important, the admissions committee is particularly interested in hearing about what you have done in response and how this process of improvement will continue when you are at business school. In addition to learning how candidates respond to shortcomings, the school wants to see that applicants are willing to take responsibility and to act on, not just learn from, such experiences—to use them as a trigger for active personal or professional growth.

In addition, responding well to negative feedback or a weakness shows maturity, flexibility, a willingness to learn from others, etc.—all good leadership and teamwork qualities. With regard to which instance of feedback or which weakness you discuss, make sure to not select one that is inconsistent with Yale’s values or atmosphere. For example, saying, “My boss criticized me for being lazy” would not be advised in light of the school’s preference for highly motivated and proactive candidates. Likewise, avoid “empty” criticisms, such as, “My supervisor claims that I always work too hard and do too much.” Trying to disguise a strength as a weakness will definitely not impress—and may even annoy—the admissions committee and does not indicate an appropriate level of self-awareness and honesty. In short, your feedback or weakness should leave you exposed—it should be honest, and thus admitting it should hurt a bit. The admissions committee wants to know you are human, so do not try to find a way around revealing yourself as such.

3. 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.

For this essay, resist the temptation to select an accomplishment primarily because of its size, monetary value, the number of people involved or other such quantifiable factor. Although Yale is interested in hearing about situations in which you were successful, it particularly wants to know who you are as an individual and what kind of leader you are and can be. The admissions committee wants to see you in action, so to speak—the key word here being you. Describing a time when you excelled specifically because you acted in a leadership role in a way that felt natural and “right” for you—in other words, an instance in which you followed your personal leadership instincts and ideals—is especially important.

Given the wording of this question, we believe a successful essay here would be one that tells a story. Take care to not just recount the basic facts of the event but also to illustrate how you guided the process from beginning to end, showing cause and effect, and thereby demonstrating the impact of your leadership style and decision making. Note also that the question asks specifically about the resulting impact, so this element should not be overlooked. Ideally, you can point to an impact that endures to this day.

4. An effective leader for business and society is one who is able to hear, understand and communicate with people from all segments of society. In order to educate such leaders, Yale SOM is committed to promoting diversity and creating a community that cultivates a wealth of perspectives. In this spirit, describe an instance when, as part of a team, you played a role in bringing together individuals with different values or viewpoints to achieve a common goal.

Are you a synthesizer of ideas and a diplomat in achieving team goals? If so, this question is for you. Yale challenges the stereotypical perception of the MBA as a goal-oriented leader who simply finds a way to execute under any circumstances, stating instead that it wants leaders who listen carefully and maximize others’ talents on the way to achieving team victories.

Although this question includes the word “diversity,” the admissions committee is not exclusively asking about a time when you managed nationally or ethnically diverse peoples. Instead, the committee is interested in an instance in which you engaged people with “different values or viewpoints” and expects that you will key in on how you managed these people, not whom you managed. An effective essay could start by introducing a goal conflict and then reveal how the goal became imperiled or may never have been appropriate from the beginning. As always, the “how” element, as exemplified by your actions, is crucial, so you will need to take the reader through your process of building consensus in detail. If the reader does not understand the substance of your actions and recognize your importance in reaching the goal, this essay simply will not work. We want to note that in this essay, you cannot discuss a failure, no matter how much you shined during the experience; you must show that you achieved your goals and, ideally, had an enduring impact.

5. For reapplicants (answer this topic plus one [1] of the other topics): What steps have you taken to improve your candidacy since your last application?

Whether you have improved your academic record, received a promotion, begun a new and exciting project, increased your community involvement or taken on a personal challenge of sorts, the key to success with this essay is conveying a very deliberate path of achievement. Yale wants to know that you have been actively striving to improve and that you have seized opportunities during the previous year to do so, because you feel a Yale MBA is vital to your future success. This essay question will vary greatly from one candidate to the next, because each person’s needs and experiences differ. We are more than happy to provide one-on-one assistance with this highly personal essay to ensure that your efforts over the past year are presented in the best light possible.