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MBA News: Yale Posts its Essay Questions

Hot off the presses, Bruce DelMonico of Yale just sent us Yale’s new essay questions, which follow:

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

1. What are your professional goals immediately after you receive your MBA?
2. What are your long-term career aspirations?
3. Why are you choosing to pursue an MBA and why now?  (If you plan to use your MBA experience to make a significant change in the field or nature of your career, please tell us what you have done to prepare for this transition.)
4. What attracts you specifically to the Yale School of Management’s MBA program?

PERSONAL STATEMENT 1
Describe an accomplishment that exhibits your leadership style.  The description should include evidence of your leadership skills, the actions you took, and the impact you had on your organization.  (500 words maximum)

PERSONAL STATEMENT 2

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

1. A central premise of our teaching about leadership at the Yale School of Management is that true leadership—leadership that helps to address a significant problem in a new way—is necessarily personal.  It is only when personal passion aligns with meaningful aspirations that individuals are able to inspire others to act in support of an important goal or cause.  What are you most passionate about, and how have you demonstrated a commitment to this passion?
2. What achievement are you most proud of and why?
3. What is the most difficult feedback you have received from another person or the most significant weakness you have perceived in yourself?  What steps have you taken to address it and how will business school contribute to this process?

4. Describe a situation in which you devised and implemented a creative or unique solution to a difficult problem.  What obstacles did you face and how did you overcome them?
5. Required for reapplicants: What steps have you taken to improve your candidacy since your last application?




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