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In your first required essay for the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, you need to discuss your professional aspirations, then explain to the admissions committee why the program’s hands-on learning environment is the best way for you to gain the skills and experiences you need to achieve those career goals and succeed professionally in the long term. For Ross’s second essay, you have a choice of four prompts, all of which give you the opportunity to share something about yourself and your life that is separate from your career. A brief optional essay is available as well, should you have any elements in your candidacy that you believe warrant some clarification. Read on for our full analysis of the school’s 2025–2026 essay prompts.

University of Michigan (Ross) Essay Analysis, 2025–2026

Part 1: Career Aspirations 

What is your short-term career goal, and how will Ross’ philosophy in Action-Based Learning help you achieve it? Please be specific. Please answer both parts of this question. (300 words

In most MBA applications, and almost all business school interviews, you will be asked about your career goals. Admissions committees understand that you might later change your mind about your goals and could be interested in different career paths; you might be planning to use the initial portion of your MBA experience to gain insight into which direction to choose. However, the schools still want to make sure that you have given your objectives serious thought. You must convince Ross not only that you have a goal in mind but also that an MBA is necessary to achieve it. Therefore, in responding to the first part of this two-part question, be as specific as possible in presenting your immediate post-MBA goal. The admissions committee knows that recruiting will start immediately after students arrive on campus, so the more you have thought about the role you want to target, the more effective you will likely be in your job search. In describing your target role, you can note your desired industry and function, as well as which companies (or type of companies) you plan to pursue. You might also need to provide context to show why your goal is realistic based on your background and your transferable skills. In addition, make sure that this specific job is feasible for a newly graduated MBA, especially one from Ross. Demonstrating that you have done your research on this post-MBA role will convince the admissions committee that you are confident that investing in this degree will pay off. 

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With MBA graduations right around the corner, many of you will be starting new jobs soon. Getting off on the right foot is critical for job satisfaction and long-term success within an organization (and beyond it).

Whether your new employer offers substantial onboarding and training programs or whether you are expected to take the reins yourself as you forge ahead in your new role, these six tips can help set you up for success:

1. Gain clarity on your responsibilities and your boss’s expectations.

Ask your manager what the metrics of success are for your new position and how your work fits into that of the overall team. Learn about the company’s culture and any unspoken norms; listen carefully to your manager’s directions, and ask colleagues for guidance. 

2. Be proactive. 

Keep your manager up-to-date on the status of your projects; be aware that some managers might have specific preferences on how they would like to be kept in the loop. If you are unsure about how to proceed on a project, consider asking for support with this language: “I am not clear on what my next steps should be, but here’s what I am thinking. Am I on the right track?” or “I am thinking about doing X next but wanted to confirm that with you first.”

3. Ask for and incorporate feedback. 

Get specifics using language like “This week, X happened. I’d love your thoughts on how I could have handled this situation better. Can we discuss it more?” Pay attention to nonverbal feedback; notice the changes/edits made to your work product, and ask why they were made. If you are struggling, request templates or samples of strong work product.

4. Get to know your team. 

Participate in office activities, ask colleagues to lunch, and consider joining affinity groups. Gather information on each person’s working style; ask questions like “What do you need from me to ensure that we’re doing our best work?” Show appreciation for your team’s support and guidance.

5. Maintain a positive mindset. 

Feeling overwhelmed (or even underqualified) when you start a new job is common, so do not worry. If you were an expert at your new job on Day 1, you would be bored by Day 30. Each day is a new opportunity to learn.  

6. Share your new job with your network. 

Add your new role to the experience section of your LinkedIn profile, and post an announcement of it, along with a note of appreciation to those who helped you land it. Send personalized thank-you emails to anyone who assisted you during your job search.

Finally, you worked hard to land your new position, so enjoy the journey! Be curious. Have fun. Build relationships. Learn new things. Find ways to make an impact.

Harvard Business School (HBS) offers an excellent MBA program. This is largely a given, and we are not questioning that. However, what we will call into question is whether HBS (or any other school, for that matter) is right for you. Every year, we get a few calls from confused MBA aspirants who say, “I visited HBS, and I am not sure if there is a fit,” as if that indicates some sort of problem. Indeed, and this may be shocking to some, HBS is not for everyone—particularly those who do not relate well to case-based learning, those who want a lot of flexibility in their first-year curriculum, and those who would prefer a small class size (HBS’s Class of 2026 has 930 students, while the same class at the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business, for example, has just 295).

MBA students at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business are known to work quite hard amid the rigors of the case method. Each day, they are expected to read a business case and perform their own analysis of the situation presented. Then, they must compare and reason through their analysis with a small, diverse group of fellow students—their Learning Team. Students can often spend two to four hours prepping on their own and then two to three more with their teammates to arrive at an answer (as opposed to the answer). And what might be the reward for all this work? The student may be selected for a “cold call” to start off the class.

Columbia Business School (CBS) requires all its applicants to submit a short-answer goal statement of just 50 characters. In addition, January-entry applicants must respond to a second short-answer question about why they have selected the alternative program start date, while August-entry applicants are asked to describe their plans for the summer between the first and second year of the program. Both of these responses are limited to 50 characters, as well. All candidates must also provide three somewhat concise essays. Like the goal statement, CBS’s first essay prompt is about candidates’ career aspirations but focuses on the long term, and the additional length (500 words versus 50 characters) demands much more depth. For their second essay, applicants must discuss their active role in an inclusive experience, and for the third, they are asked to describe their vision for their time in the CBS MBA program and the role they anticipate playing in creating this experience. Together, by balancing professional aspirations with more personal, values- and character-based topics, the school’s essays should provide candidates with sufficient opportunity to provide a well-rounded impression of themselves as aspiring CBS MBAs. Read on for our detailed analysis of the program’s 2025–2026 questions.

Columbia Business School Essay Analysis, 2025–2026

August-Entry and January-Entry Short Answer Question 1: What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 characters maximum)

CBS applicants accustomed to X’s (formerly Twitter’s) standard 280-character allowance might find the school’s 50-character limit here more than a little challenging—especially considering that it includes spaces! To get a sense of how brief your opportunity really is, note that the question is itself exactly 50 characters. With such limited space, this can hardly be considered a true essay, but you will need to approach it with the same level of thought and focus you give all your other written responses for CBS. 

This prompt is a no-nonsense request for information that is all about getting to the point and telling the admissions committee what it needs to know—that you have a clear and achievable goal. Conveying the requested information in such a tight space is definitely doable, and you do not need to worry too much about grammatical issues or crafting a complete sentence (in other words, you do not need to start your response with “I want to” or something similar). We like to offer the statement “Reveal true goals, not what you think CBS wants” as both our example of keeping things concise and our advice on how to approach and fulfill this request. 

So think about what you truly want to do with your career in the short term, and state this aspiration directly. Keep in mind that the rest of your application needs to provide evidence that your stated goal aligns with your existing skills and profound interests, especially once they have been augmented by an MBA education. This will show that your professed goal is achievable and lend credibility to your statement. If you can do this in 50 characters (not words!), you will have done what you need to do to answer the school’s question quite well.