The committee also requests that applicants use fairly current examples in their essays, ideally from the past three years. A successful accomplishment that occurred more than five years ago is less appealing to the committee than one that may not have turned out the way the applicant had intended but that took place more recently.

In short, when writing your essays for Sloan, keep in mind the phrase “past behavior is the best predictor of future success.”

Cover Letter

Prepare a cover letter (up to 500 words) seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA Program. Describe your accomplishments and include an example of how you had an impact on a group or organization. Your letter should conform to standard business correspondence and be addressed to Mr. Rod Garcia, Director of MBA Admissions.

You will note that unlike most schools, Sloan does not ask its applicants to discuss either future goals or “why Sloan.” This is not an oversight! In keeping with its conviction that past behavior is the best predictor of future success, Sloan wants candidates to emphasize their past actions and thought processes in their essays, rather than their long-term aspirations. In fact, in an interview with Fifteen, the MIT Sloan newspaper, Director of MBA Admissions Rod Garcia explained that the “admissions committee does not explicitly ask applicants for their future goals to prevent candidates from telling stories that they think the admissions committee wants to hear.” Garcia added, “That’s why we don’t ask the ‘Why Now?,’ ‘Why MBA?,’ and ‘Why Sloan?’ type of questions that every other business school asks because these questions are leading questions, i.e. they lead the interviewees to tell the interviewer what the interviewer wants to hear. So, to go around this trickery, we ask candidates to talk to us about past examples instead.”

Our advice? If you believe that you absolutely must outline your goals in your cover letter to provide context for your stories, do so, but discuss them as minimally as possible. Similarly, explaining “why Sloan” is neither expected nor encouraged, but if you feel you absolutely must address this topic anyway, again, keep your statement(s) brief, relevant and specific.

Although the MIT Sloan cover letter differs in some ways from a typical Personal Statement, some fundamentals still apply. We therefore suggest that you consult our mbaMission Personal Statement Guide —which we offer free of charge via our online store—before writing this essay for Sloan. Please feel free to download your copy today.

Essays

We are interested in learning more about you and how you work, think, and act. For each essay, please provide a brief overview of the situation followed by a detailed description of your response. Please limit the experiences you discuss to those which have occurred in the past three years.

In each of the essays, please describe in detail what you thought, felt, said, and did.

Essay 1: Please describe a time when you went beyond what was defined, expected, established, or popular. (500 words or fewer, limited to one page)

For this essay, candidates typically consider times when they possessed a bold vision and achieved ambitious goals, despite discouragement from others, or times when no one else had even realized an opportunity existed. Either circumstance is reasonable as a starting point, but we suggest that applicants also consider instances when they demonstrated themselves to be independent thinkers, capable of finding their own path and/or adhering to morals and principles they hold dear. No matter which event from your past you choose to discuss, by creating a clear picture of what was expected of you and then contrasting your choice—by describing your actions and outlining your reasoning and thoughts—you can present a compelling picture of yourself as a strong-minded and adventurous “hero.”

Essay 2: Please describe a time when you convinced an individual or group to accept one of your ideas. (500 words or fewer, limited to one page)

We suspect that this essay is likely less about convincing than it is about persuading. The admissions committee wants to fully understand your people skills, and especially your level of diplomacy. The committee probably does not want to read about how you forced an opposing group or individual to accept defeat. So, you should focus on describing a time when you encountered a problem and explain how you maneuvered to gain consensus and solve the problem, or a time when you conceived of an idea, sharing how you advocated for it to achieve mutually beneficial ends. Describing a classic “win-win” situation is likely ideal, but you could just as successfully deviate from this approach and instead identify a complex situation in which you were able to persuade others to mitigate losses (though one could perhaps argue that such a situation would still be “win-win”). Regardless of the situation you choose to discuss, be sure to concentrate on describing your actions and the thought processes behind them, rather than the results.

Essay 3: Please describe a time when you had to make a decision without having all the information you needed. (500 words or fewer, limited to one page)

The only change to Sloan’s application questions from last year is this one for Essay 3. Although choosing a situation to discuss that appropriately fulfills the requirements of the question is of course important, the key in this essay will be showing your thought process and truly conveying the how element of your decision making. In the business world, one must regularly make judgment calls without the benefit of all the desired data, and even though this is a skill that candidates will have the opportunity to hone while in business school (and particularly at those schools that use the case method to a large degree), we suspect that the admissions committee wants to know that you already have good instincts in this respect and the willingness to make a decision and stand behind it. Sharing a story about a situation in which your decision proved to be the right one and resulted in positive outcomes would be ideal, but no matter what the final outcome was of the incident you choose to discuss, be sure to focus on demonstrating the thoroughness of your contemplation and outlining the reasons you made the decision you did. No one always makes the right choices in life or business, but showing that you seriously considered your options and made a reasoned, rational and well-founded final decision will indicate to the admissions committee that you took the responsibility seriously and put forth your best effort.

Supplemental Information (Optional)

You may use this section to address whatever else you want the Admissions Committee to know. (250 words or fewer, limited to one page)

However tempted you might be, this is not the place to paste in a strong essay from another school or to offer a few anecdotes that you were unable to share in any of your other essays. Instead, this is your opportunity, if needed, to address any lingering questions that an admissions officer might have about your candidacy, such as a poor grade or overall GPA, a low GMAT score, a gap in your work experience, etc. In our mbaMission Optional Statement Guide, available through our online store, we provide detailed advice on when and how to take advantage of the optional essay—and offer multiple examples—to help you mitigate any problem areas in your profile.

For a thorough exploration of MIT Sloan’s academic program/merits, defining characteristics, crucial statistics, social life, academic environment and more, please check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guide to the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Think about the decisions you have made in your life. Answer the following:

(a) What choices have you made that led you to your current position?
(b) Why pursue an MBA at this point in your life?
(c) What is your career goal upon graduation from NYU Stern? What is your long-term career goal?

Because Personal Statements are similar from one application to the next, we have produced the mbaMission Personal Statement Guide, which helps applicants write this style of essay for any school. We offer this guide to candidates free of charge, via our online store. Please feel free to download your copy today.

For a thorough exploration of NYU Stern’s academic program/merits, defining characteristics, important statistics, social life, academic environment and more, please check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guide to New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business.

2. Your Stern Experience
(500-word maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font)

We take great care to shape the Stern community with individuals who possess both intellectual and interpersonal strengths. We seek individuals who are highly intelligent, collaborative and committed to flourishing as Stern leaders. Please answer the following questions:

(a) What is your personal experience with the Stern community? Tell us what actions you have taken to learn about us.
(b) Describe what most excites you about Stern from both an academic and extracurricular perspective.
(c) How do you anticipate making your mark on the Stern community? Be specific about the roles you will take on and the impact you hope to achieve.

Being located in New York City is an incredible asset for an MBA program, because the school’s students are therefore close to numerous professional opportunities and the program can attract many great business school candidates who simply love the city. However, from NYU’s perspective, the location can also be a liability, because many students who were already working and/or living in the city before joining the MBA program tend to focus on maintaining their pre-business-school lives, rather than immersing themselves in the Stern community as the school would like. Thus, the program is determined to select candidates who are truly ready to contribute to and participate in the Stern community, and this essay is a first step in weeding out those who have not done their homework, who may not be ready to commit fully or who simply do not understand the nature of the experience.

To impress the admissions committee, you will need to discuss your firsthand experience(s) with the school, gained via personal interactions with alumni, students and/or admissions officers, and especially via a campus visit. Applicants who live abroad can learn a great deal about the school and its community by speaking with students or alumni by phone or by attending Stern outreach events held outside the United States. Discussing repeated visits to the school’s Web site and only referencing information found there will show that you have achieved—and invested—no more than the bare minimum. Demonstrating evidence that you have thoroughly researched the program and identified true connections between yourself and Stern’s offerings is vital.

In addition, as you explore the topic of “what most excites you about Stern from an academic and extracurricular perspective” in your essay, take care to offer more than just a long list of various classes, professors and clubs. Instead, focus on the ones that are most applicable to your interests and goals, and illustrate direct connections between these resources and your aspirations. (Please consult the aforementioned free mbaMission Personal Statement Guide for examples.) Similarly, when discussing your anticipated “mark on the community,” you will have to do more than enumerate the clubs you plan to join. Remember, the school wants to see “impact” and specificity, so the more detail you can provide about how you will participate in the school’s community and how your participation will benefit the whole, the better.

3. Personal Expression

Please describe yourself to your MBA classmates. You may use almost any method to convey your message (e.g. words, illustrations). Feel free to be creative.

If you submit a non-written piece for Essay 3 (i.e., artwork or multimedia) or if you submit Essay 3 via mail, please upload a brief description of your submission with your online application.

Please note the following guidelines and restrictions:

• Your submission becomes the property of NYU Stern and cannot be returned for any reason.
• If you submit a written essay, it should be 500 words maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font. If you submit a video or audio file, it should be five minutes maximum.
• If you prepare a multimedia submission, you may mail a CD, DVD or USB flash drive to the Admissions Office. These are the only acceptable methods of submission. Please do not submit an internet link to any websites or to a video hosting service such as YouTube.
• The Admissions Committee reserves the right to request an alternate Essay 3 if we are unable to view your submission
• Do not submit anything perishable (e.g. food) or any item that has been worn (e.g. clothing).

In NYU Stern’s famed essay three, you are offered a phenomenal opportunity to differentiate yourself from the rest of the applicant pool in two distinct ways. The first is the vehicle through which you choose to reveal your persona. By using a creative and captivating format, you can grab the admissions committee’s interest and compel your reader to pay closer attention to your content. However, be sure to consider the possible limitations of certain clever options, not just their uniqueness. For example, although a baseball card may be aesthetically pleasing, this format severely limits the amount of information you can convey because of its size and anticipated style. Instead, if you were to submit a eulogy theoretically written by your best friend (note: do not use this idea; it is now public), the format would be sufficiently broad to allow you to touch on all that is unique about you. The second way this essay question allows you to differentiate yourself is through your content. Ideally, you will use this opportunity to showcase a diversity of professional, personal, academic and community accomplishments that you were not able to share in essays one and two. Essay three allows you to reveal your true personality and “likeability” beyond your professional/academic competencies.

One important note: NYU Stern is now accepting multimedia presentations, but do not feel compelled to use this option if this is not something with which you are comfortable, and if you do choose this method, do not worry about the level of your Web design or video production skills relative to others’. For this essay, content trumps style. In fact, at a recent mbaMission event, we interviewed various admissions officers, students and alumni from NYU Stern who spoke of some incredibly simple essay threes that had captivated the admissions committee—and many of these were straightforward essays!

Because Personal Statements are similar from one application to the next, we have produced the mbaMission Personal Statement Guide, which helps applicants write this style of essay for any school. We offer this guide to candidates free of charge, via our online store. Please feel free to download your copy today.

For more information on the defining characteristics of the MBA program at Chicago Booth (or one of 14 other top business schools), please check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.

1a. 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? (300 words)

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. The school 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 a Chicago Booth MBA is vital to you. The responses to 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.

2. At Chicago Booth, we believe each individual has his or her own leadership style. How has your family, culture, and/or environment influenced you as a leader? (750 words)

In your response to this question, you can freely provide more personal background information than most MBA application essays typically allow. Understanding just how much of your personal life is appropriate to share can sometimes be challenging, but a simple test is to ask yourself whether you would feel comfortable sharing the information you are considering putting into your essay with a stranger the first time you met him/her. If so, you should feel confident proceeding as planned; if not, you will need to put more thought into your topic before continuing.

If you discuss your family background, you do not need to present an idyllic or Rockwellian picture, but should focus on illustrating the cause-and-effect relationships between the values you learned from your family and your subsequent leadership style. Conversely, if your developmental years were arduous and marked by negative input, you can reveal how you have become inspired to create a better atmosphere for others. Of course, as the question states, you can also (or instead) discuss the effect culture —which can include religion and ethnic background, or the broader environment, meaning quite literally the nature and values of the society in which your personality was formed — has had on you and particularly on your view and embodiment of leadership. For this essay to be effective, you will need to be introspective, showing self-awareness about both the past and its impact on the present and future.

3. Considering what you’ve already included in the application, what else should we know about you? In a maximum of four slides, tell us about yourself.

At mbaMission, we really welcome this creative approach to self-expression. Chicago Booth’s unique PowerPoint/PDF presentation question truly offers candidates a blank slate and thus presents an incredible opportunity for applicants to differentiate themselves by creating an entirely distinct concept. What is great about this option is that in a traditional essay, your task is to set yourself apart from other applicants using only your content, but in this presentation, you can showcase your unique attributes through your content while also captivating your audience with your creativity, represented through your chosen design/format. (We are not suggesting that the slide presentation is an artistic competition, but we do believe it has the potential to engage and hold the reader/viewer in a unique way and is therefore an opportunity that should be seized to maximum effect.)

Because the slide presentation leaves so much room for creative interpretation, rather than offering advice on how to approach this for all candidates indiscriminately, we would need to collaborate directly with applicants to devise a personal strategy for each one individually. As a general rule, however, we recommend starting with a thorough brainstorming session and fully considering the range of content available—after all, this is a unique opportunity to tell the admissions committee what you feel is most important about you. Then, devise a design that will allow you to communicate this information in the most unique and compelling way. Take care to give equal thought to both your content and your approach so that both are optimized. You do not want to make the mistake of choosing a presentation method that is distinct and captivating but that limits your ability to fully tell your story, nor do you want to include so much “weak” information about yourself (or worse, repeat information already provided elsewhere in your application!) that your otherwise compelling presentation approach is rendered clunky and ineffective. Fully understanding and crafting your content first will prevent either of these scenarios from happening and will start you on the right track.

Because Personal Statements are similar from one application to the next, we have produced the mbaMission Personal Statement Guide, which helps applicants write this style of essay for any school. We offer this guide to candidates free of charge, via our online store. Please feel free to download your copy today.

2. What legacy would you hope to leave as a Johnson graduate? (200-word limit)

Another distinct question from Cornell’s admissions committee! Perhaps the school is using these questions to filter candidates, trying to identify those who are dedicated enough to take the time and effort to write unique content?

The key word in this essay is clearly “legacy,” but take care not to become confused by this term and assume that the school is asking about the contribution you expect to make during your two years in Ithaca. Instead of “contribution,” think more along the lines of “permanent impact,” whether as a student or an alumnus/alumna. So, for example, rather than explaining how you will participate in a specific activity or club, describe how that activity or club will be different after your time at Cornell. Or, rather than detailing the nature of the unique contributions you could make in class, discuss—as humbly as possible, of course—the lasting impact you would have on your peers. Another option would be to describe how you plan to maintain your connection to the school after you graduate and what this enduring relationship will mean for the MBA program. What is important here is that you truly comprehend what you have to offer and then reveal exactly how you intend to make that contribution—this will inevitably require that you have a clear understanding of the Cornell experience. So, before you elaborate on how you intend to influence the school’s marketing club or establish a course on a subject that is dear to your heart, ensure that your plans are within the realm of possibility.

3. You are the author for the book of Your Life Story.  Please write the table of contents for the book.  Note: Approach this essay with your unique style.  We value creativity and authenticity. (400-word limit)

This essay question follows the unique and creative model of NYU Stern’s essay three and Chicago Booth’s presentation, but for some reason, candidates are often confounded by what they perceive to be the essay’s rigid structure. We recommend that before you even put your hands on the keyboard or pick up a pen, you head to your local bookstore and leaf through various fiction and nonfiction texts, as well as a wide range of magazines. There, you may find some inspiration that will lead you to your own unique approach, helping you break free of the confines of the rigid table-of-contents format and allowing you to add crucial information that will set you apart from other candidates.

We would like to stress that candidates do not need to order their chapters chronologically, nor must they cover their entire lives to date. Applicants may have interesting family histories or strong visions for the future, and incorporating these kinds of elements into their table of contents can convey an even greater sense of their personality. Other possible options include organizing the table of contents thematically and breaking down the hypothetical book into parts/sections. As the cliché goes, the only limit is your imagination.

Required Question: What are your professional objectives? (300 words)

Just 300 words to answer such a broad question? Yes, 300. Once you get over the seemingly limited structure of this essay, you will realize that your assignment is really fairly straightforward: state your goals. However, you do not need to present them in the traditional short- and long-term sequence, and can instead discuss the bigger picture of what you see for yourself in your professional future. (We suspect Wharton may exclude these parameters because, in truth, few people actually end up pursuing the narrow goals they offer in these statements when they are required to be so specific.) You are also not required to rigidly define your professional objectives by naming a particular industry or job title, so you could instead discuss the type of organization you want to be a part of (a series of start-ups, for example) or the kind of responsibilities or effect you would like to have in your career. Whichever approach you choose, though, you must explain the reasoning behind your stated objectives (the “why”).

As you start to write, keep in mind that you do not need to offer a lengthy work history; the question does not ask for it, and the word count will not allow it. Still, you may want to devote approximately 50–75 words to providing some basic context for your goals before you state your professional objectives, especially if you are a career changer or plan to pursue a highly atypical, particular and/or competitive career path (managing a sports franchise, for example). Providing this context will lend credibility to your ambitions by establishing a purpose behind and a foundation for your ambitions.

Because Personal Statements are similar from one application to the next, we have produced the mbaMission Personal Statement Guide, which helps applicants write this style of essay for any school. We offer this guide to candidates free of charge, via our online store. Please feel free to download your copy today.

For a thorough exploration of Wharton’s academic program/merits, defining characteristics, important statistics, social life, academic environment and more, please check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guide to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Respond to Two of the Following Three Questions:

1. Reflect on a time when you turned down an opportunity. What was the thought process behind your decision? Would you make the same decision today? (600 words)

Many business schools try to learn about applicants through their mistakes. A thoughtful description of a missed opportunity—an error of omission rather than commission—can provide the admissions committee with valuable information about a candidate’s values, motivations and thought processes. Whether you declined to start a business, accept a project (big or small), take time off to travel or take advantage of any other such chance, the admissions committee wants to hear about how you weighed your options and understand your perception of the risks inherent in either choice.

Of course, turning down the opportunity in question may have ultimately been the right choice, in which case you made no error of omission at all. For example, perhaps you made a bold move and eschewed a job offer from an investment banking firm to pursue a less lucrative path, or chose to gain external workplace experience rather than joining a family business. Nevertheless, you will still need to show that you thoroughly considered your options and demonstrate that the decision you made, while difficult, was ultimately correct. Again, clarifying your thought process in weighing your options is key.

Finally, do not overlook the final element of the question: Would you make the same decision today? We suspect that most candidates will choose to share the story of a decision about which they still feel confident and will simply reaffirm that they made the correct choice. However, if your answer would instead be “no,” be sure to include a brief explanation as to why not (ideally—though still succinctly—clarifying what you have learned as a result). Either way, make sure that your essay includes a response to this part of the school’s query.

2. Discuss a time when you faced a challenging interpersonal experience. How did you navigate the situation and what did you learn from it? (600 words)

Here Wharton is interested in understanding your diplomacy skills, asking how you manage your emotions under pressure and would optimize a tricky situation. Start by considering flash points in your professional career—moments that involved notable tension or conflict—to identify a fitting story for this essay. However, you need not focus on a situation that was sensational in nature. For example, if you skillfully persuaded a stubborn supervisor to change his mind on an issue, or if you discovered a way to turn a typically hypercompetitive team member into a cooperative one, you have a valid story to tell. As always, keep in mind the how element of your story—Wharton wants to hear about the process you used and the way you exercise judgment, so you will need to explain your actions and intentions to the admissions committee. Then, you must reflect on and share what you learned from the experience. In this regard, you should reveal that you developed or uncovered a new skill and, ideally, explain how you expect this ability to continue to be useful in the future.

3. “Innovation is central to our culture at Wharton. It is a mentality that must encompass every aspect of the School – whether faculty research, teaching or alumni outreach” – Thomas S. Robertson, Dean, The Wharton School

Keeping this component of our culture in mind, discuss a time when you have been innovative in your personal or professional life. (600 words)

To many applicants, the word innovation seems “loaded,” so they tend to shy away from questions that discuss this topic for fear that their innovations may not be innovative enough—as though you must be working in a lab full of volatile potions or developing a new tool for Google to be qualified to respond to this kind of question. Let us assure you that your experience with innovation need not have had global implications (though if it did, fantastic!), but simply needs to have involved a creative approach that allowed a task to be performed in an improved manner. So, if you discovered and implemented an off-the-shelf scheduling system that saved your company development costs and increased efficiency, for example, or identified a simple brand extension for a product, you are in fact an innovator. In your essay for this question, simply describe the “before,” offering a narrative about the situation that reveals the central problem or opportunity, and then explain how you created or pinpointed an interesting and effective solution/response. Most importantly, reveal how you implemented your plan. Then, take a moment to reflect on and share the impact your actions had on both your environment and you.

Additional Question for Reapplicants: All reapplicants to Wharton are required to complete the Optional Essay.  Please use this space to explain how you have reflected on the previous decision on your application and to discuss any updates to your candidacy (e.g., changes in your professional life, additional coursework, extracurricular/volunteer engagements). You may also use this section to address any extenuating circumstances. (250 words)

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. The school 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 a Wharton MBA is vital to you. Responses to 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.

Optional Section for All Applicants: If you feel there are extenuating circumstances of which the Committee should be aware, please explain them here (e.g., unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, or questionable academic performance, significant weaknesses in your application). (250 words)

However tempted you might be, this is not the place to paste in a strong essay from another school or to offer a few anecdotes that you were unable to use in any of your other essays. Instead, this is your opportunity, if needed, to address any lingering questions that an admissions officer may have about your candidacy, such as a poor grade or overall GPA, a low GMAT score, a gap in your work experience, etc. In our mbaMission Optional Statement Guide, available through our online store, we offer detailed advice on when and how to take advantage of the optional essay, with multiple examples, to help you mitigate any problem areas in your profile.

Share your perspective on leadership in the workplace and describe how it has been shaped by the increasing influence of globalization. (500 words maximum)

As you present your view on leadership in the workplace for this essay, take care to avoid writing about leadership in a vacuum. Your perspective should incorporate your personal experience, possibly including reflections on interesting and innovative examples of leaders you have known firsthand, or even some (diplomatically addressed) negative examples of leadership that you have witnessed. For many, integrating globalization into this discussion will be challenging, but fortunately, globalization is a very broad term that is malleable and can therefore be thoughtfully applied in most situations. Everything from layoffs at a firm to introducing a new product to a leader coaching a challenging employee could arguably fall under the purview of globalization. Of course, just making the association between leadership and globalization will not be enough—your description of that connection will need to be meaningful and reveal that you fundamentally understand both the kinds of issues a true leader faces and the responsibilities he/she subsequently holds.

b) MMM Program applicants – Briefly assess your career progress to date. How do the unique characteristics of the MMM Program meet your educational needs and career goals? (600-word limit).

Because Personal Statements are similar from one application to the next, we have produced the mbaMission Personal Statement Guide,  which helps applicants write this style of essay for any school. We offer this guide to candidates free of charge, via our online store. Please feel free to download your copy today.

For a thorough exploration of Kellogg’s academic program, merits, defining characteristics, important statistics, social life, academic environment and more, please check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guide to the Kellogg School of Management.

Essay 2: Describe your key leadership experiences and evaluate what leadership areas you hope to develop through your MBA experiences (600-word limit).

In your essay response to this question, you might offer two simple vignettes that showcase your leadership experience via narratives, and then evaluate yourself and denote certain areas in which you believe you can improve. Although you are expected to be critical in discussing these areas for development, take care not to deride your strengths. Rather than examining the ways in which you are lacking as a leader, focus on the ways you could become a more complete and capable one. In this essay question (much as in essay question three), specific reference is made to your future experience as an MBA student at the school. So, you should seize this opportunity to illustrate a connection between you and Kellogg by showing that you understand how certain resources at the school will directly facilitate your development as a leader.

Essay 3: Assume you are evaluating your application from the perspective of a student member of the Kellogg Admissions Committee. Why would you and your peers select you for admission, and what impact would you make as a member of the Kellogg community? (600-word limit).

No doubt, many candidates will wonder whether they should respond to this question in first person (I, me, my) or third person (he/she, him/her, his/hers). We would guess that most applicants will choose to respond in third person, but neither choice is definitively right or wrong. What is really important is that your content is compelling.

At mbaMission, we always recommend that before you begin writing an essay, you outline your thoughts, but we especially encourage you to take this approach with this essay, because it is so open-ended. Similarly, take care to avoid simply reviewing every single element of your candidacy. Many applicants will fail to write a compelling essay here because they will instead focus on discussing their transcript, GMAT score(s), professional history, GPA, community activities, personal life, etc. You have only 600 words with which to craft your message in this case, so give careful thought to what an objective outsider might think about you, and play to your strengths rather than offering a survey of everything in your profile. In short, we encourage candidates to think in terms of anecdotes for this essay and not default to simply “listing” qualities and accomplishments.

A strong self-assessment will prepare you to effectively bring color to certain events and attributes and link them to elements of the Kellogg MBA community and experience. By doing so, you will not only present your strengths in a compelling manner and a unique light, but also clearly illustrate your fit with the school and prove to the admissions committee that you profoundly understand how you will contribute.

Note: A misperception exists that candidates cannot add any new material in their answers to this question, other than what they have already provided via their resumes and other essays. Logic would dictate that AdCom members would not want to spend their precious time reading about experiences that applicants have already described.  If Kellogg wanted applicants to summarize the rest of their applications into this one essay, they would have provided that direction. We offer the exact opposite advice –  make sure that the reader continues to learn about you in this essay so that you continue to maintain his/her attention.

Essay 4: Complete one of the following three questions or statements. (400-word limit)

Reapplicants have the option to answer a question from this grouping, but this is not required.

a) Describe a time when you had to inspire a reluctant individual or group.

Inspiring the uninspired—isn’t that what every successful Hollywood sports movie is about: a coach or player finds a way to unleash the talents of a group of misfits who ultimately win the big championship? Indeed, a leader who can somehow rouse others to action is unquestionably likeable and compelling. So, to write an effective essay for this question option, you will need to explain exactly how you connected with your hesitant team or individual and what steps you took to creatively motivate them (him/her) to succeed. Your motivational techniques, not your results, should be the primary focus of this essay, though the results should be validating.

b) People may be surprised to learn that I….

We suggest that before writing your essay for this question option, you give a significant amount of deep thought to the image of yourself that you have presented thus far in your application, and especially in your other essays. Often, applicants believe that they are offering a unique perspective on their experiences and personality when they are really just presenting a different side of the same coin: “You know that I am an engineer, but did you know that I also do training?” (This just will not work.)

For this to be a successful essay, your reader needs to be truly surprised—and pleasantly so—by what he/she learns about you. For example, the former college shot putter now performs in an ethnic dance troupe, or a former drama star now competes regularly in crossword puzzle championships. Of course, your story need not be as over the top as these, but you should certainly present a new, interesting and ideally courageous side of you that your reader may not have otherwise expected or assumed.

c) The riskiest personal or professional decision I ever made was….

To successfully discuss a risk you have taken, you will need to show that a great deal was at stake for you; this means you will likely also have to reveal that consequences were impending should your actions (or inactions) go awry. You need not have started a business to discuss a risk you have taken, nor does your risk need to be financial in nature. Switching careers (or even leaving a career to pursue a personal interest), giving less-than-glowing feedback to a supervisor, changing a marketing message, intervening during a time of perceived crisis and other similar actions could all fit the bill for this essay. The bottom line is to make sure you show the reader just how bold you were—albeit in a humble way—through a detailed narrative that illustrates this fact without your having to state it directly.

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.

REQUIRED ESSAYS:

Please be introspective and authentic in your responses. Content is more important than style of delivery. We value the opportunity to learn about your life experiences, aspirations, and goals.
1. What events or people have had the greatest influence in shaping your character and why?   (750 words)

In offering you the opportunity to discuss an event or people that have shaped your character, UCLA Anderson is trying to learn, not about others, but about you through others. So, if you were to write about Gandhi, you are not writing a biography of the man, but the story of his influence on you. Of course, we strongly advise that you not write about how Gandhi, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett or some other highly notable public figure influenced you, because it will be very difficult to own your connection to this person – how has Gandhi, for example, influenced you, in a way that he has not influenced others? It is possible to write about how a less public philosopher or business leader influenced you, but the connection must truly be profound and his/her influences must be very deliberate in your current actions. You have to show how this person’s influence has manifest and indeed, “shaped” you.

Many candidates will write about family members, who can be a fine choice. Again, what needs to be clear is the cause and effect relationship. The reader needs to understand the profound influence the individual has had on you and needs not to learn about you through this person

Bad: My grandfather was born in 1935 in what is now Slovakia. He grew up on a farm and has subsequently always loved to grow his own vegetables.

Good: My first memories come from my grandfather’s garden, pulling up carrots, picking tomatoes and digging up potatoes. As we harvested what we had grown together, he would laugh and say to me, “You have to take time to watch the potatoes bloom…”

With respect to events, again, we are similarly learning about you through an externality and again, the event need not be known to the public, but here you have more leeway. For example, one could talk about the changes that occurred when a loved one went to fight in Iraq, but then, the experience is still focused on you and your life, your family, not on the war. Still, you need not worry if you did not have an experience that was this profound. Again, you simply need to think about an event that became an experience for you and the impact of it must be highly personal.

We often advise applicants to tell their stories narratively and to launch directly into the action; this approach would work particularly well for this essay. Starting this essay with a formal introduction, wherein you sum up for the reader what he/she is about to be told in the rest of the text, will prevent you from being able to create momentum or suspense in your story. Consider the following example:

Bad: “The most influential event in my life occurred when I defied expectations and was elected student president of my 50,000 person college.”

With this kind of opening, where is the mystery? Where do you go from there? By contrast, consider the following:

Good: “Rushing to class on a chilly fall morning, I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a poster advertising the upcoming class elections.”

By launching into the “action” of your story and maintaining the mystery within it, you will grab and hold your reader’s attention, and the story of your shaping event will have maximum impact.

2. What are your short-term and long-term career goals, and how will an MBA from UCLA Anderson specifically help you achieve these goals? (750 words)

Because Personal Statements are similar from one application to the next, we have produced the mbaMission Personal Statement Guide, which helps applicants write this style of essay for any school. We offer this guide to candidates free of charge, via our online store. Please feel free to download your copy today.

Do not use up precious word count here detailing your professional career and accomplishments to date, but do include some general reference to your past work experience to frame why you need an MBA education to attain your stated goals. You must then clearly explain what UCLA Anderson offers in particular that will help you. As always, avoid telling the school what it already knows about itself, and instead strive to demonstrate links between specific offerings at the school and your aspirations. You will need to do your research to best identify direct ties between what Anderson offers and your professional goals, personal beliefs, study style, etc. The deeper your knowledge of the school, the easier pinpointing specific resources will be in the context of your future success, and thus, the more effective your essay will be. Take time to go beyond the school’s view book and Web site and contact students and alumni—and, ideally, visit the school and attend a class.

For a thorough exploration of UCLA Anderson’s academic program/merits, defining characteristics, crucial statistics, social life, academic environment and more, please check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guide to the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

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? (If you are applying for a joint or dual degree, please explain how the additional degree will contribute to those goals.)

Because Personal Statements are similar from one application to the next, we have produced the mbaMission Personal Statement Guide, which helps applicants write this style of essay for any school. We offer this guide to candidates free of charge, via our online store. Please feel free to download your copy today.

For a thorough exploration of Tuck’s academic program/merits, defining characteristics, crucial statistics, social life, academic environment and more, please check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guide to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

2. Discuss your most meaningful leadership experience. What did you learn about your own individual strengths and weaknesses through this experience?

As you consider your options for this essay, keep in mind that your “most meaningful” leadership experience may not—and need not—be the one in which you produced the greatest end results. Note that Tuck is asking here for meaning, not impact. So, the experience you choose to discuss can be one in which you challenged yourself and put forth your greatest effort, leaving your comfort zone and diversifying your skills, even if the results were negligible. What you learned from this experience is what is crucial—particularly with regard to your “strengths and weaknesses”—and thus you will need to show that you have given a significant amount of thought to the experience and uncovered some personal and revealing takeaways.

Note: One mistake that many candidates make when responding to this question is offering a profound story of success and then, at the very end, mentioning some trivial weakness. Your essay needs to clearly present and spell out your weaknesses (and strengths) within the context of the greater story you are sharing. Tuck is interested in learning about how these characteristics of yours played a part in the significant experience you are relaying; you cannot simply include some arbitrary reference to a weakness that is not validated by your actions.

3. Describe a circumstance in your life in which you faced adversity, failure, or setback. What actions did you take as a result and what did you learn from this experience?

In its application essays, Harvard Business School wants to hear about three setbacks you have faced. Michigan Ross wants to know about a time when you were frustrated or disappointed and also gives you the option of writing an essay about an obstacle you have encountered. UC-Berkeley Haas wants you to discuss a situation in which you were a student of your own failure. And in this case, Tuck wants to know about a time when you experienced adversity, failure or a setback. This trend seems to indicate thatbusiness school admissions committees want to know that today’s MBA students can roll with the punches and are problem solvers capable of learning from life’s challenges—not entitled or spoiled individuals just looking for a quick way to advance their careers.

A strong essay response to this question will start by describing how the stage was set for a success of some kind but then show how that success was derailed in a swift manner. Without asking for pity, you need to make the reader truly understand your intense feelings of disappointment—even feel somewhat crushed themselves by the story of your experience—and offer honest reflection on how you grew as a result, ideally by presenting clear evidence of change. Don’t be afraid to leave yourself exposed to criticism; in asking this question, the admissions committee is seeking an honest answer. They will not be interested in someone who blames others and can’t be honest about his/her own role in a negative situation.

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?

Tuck’s essay question four is quite broad; within “personal history, values, and/or life experiences,” you have a great deal of range. So, you can develop one or two significant themes, drawing from your life experiences, and then relate them directly to certain components of the Tuck experience (clubs, research centers, courses, conferences, competitions, etc.). This essay offers you the opportunity not only to highlight your most exceptional attributes but also to convey just how well you know the school by clearly illustrating connections between these unique aspects of your profile and specific elements of the Tuck MBA program. By thus demonstrating a true understanding of your personal connection with the school and communicating how your strengths could benefit the entire Tuck community, you will complete the essay portion of your application on a very compelling note.

5. (Optional) Please provide any additional insight or information that you have not addressed elsewhere that may be helpful in reviewing your application (e.g., unusual choice of evaluators, weaknesses in academic performance, unexplained job gaps or changes, etc.). Complete this question only if you feel your candidacy is not fully represented by this application.

However tempted you might be, this is not the place to paste in a strong essay from another school or to offer a few anecdotes that you were unable to use in any of your other essays. Instead, this is your opportunity, if needed, to address any lingering questions that an admissions officer may have about your candidacy, such as a poor grade or overall GPA, a low GMAT score, a gap in your work experience, etc. In our mbaMission Optional Statement Guide, available through our online store, we offer detailed advice on when and how to take advantage of the optional essay (including multiple sample essays) to help you mitigate any problem areas in your profile.

6. (To be completed by all reapplicants) How have you strengthened your candidacy since you last applied? Please reflect on how you have grown personally and professionally.

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. Tuck 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 a Tuck MBA is vital to you. The responses to 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.