With its straightforward approach to the traditional goals statement and just one other required essay (now with two prompt options that applicants can choose from), the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University seems interested in getting right to the heart of the issues it considers most valuable when evaluating its applicants. The admissions committee wants to first know your professional aspirations in both the short and long term, along with how you envision benefitting from the Johnson MBA program and what related strengths you already possess. For the other essay, you can elect to discuss how you see yourself being a contributing member of the Johnson community or what is special about you that makes you memorable. An optional essay is available, if needed, to address the usual topics of problematic candidacy issues or any outstanding qualifications that might not be represented elsewhere in your application. Read on for our full analysis of Cornell Johnson’s essay questions for 2024–2025.
Cornell Johnson 2024–2025 Essay Tips
Goals Statement: A statement of your goals will begin a conversation that will last throughout the admissions process and guide your steps during the MBA program and experience. To the best of your understanding today, please share your short and long term goals by completing the following sentences and answering the enclosed short answer question (350 words maximum):
Immediately post-MBA, my goal is to work as a(n) [Role] at [Company] within [Industry].
Targeted Job Role:
Target Job Company:
Industry:
In 5–10 years post-MBA, my goal is to work as a(n) [Role] at [Company] within [Industry].
Targeted Job Role:
Target Job Company:
Industry:
Please share how you plan to utilize the resources available to you at Johnson as well as any existing resources you bring to the program to help you secure your post-MBA career goal.
With this incredibly direct approach to gathering information about candidates’ professional goals, Cornell Johnson is clearly conveying a desire for straightforward information. The preamble to this prompt notes, “If you’re invited to interview, you will have the opportunity to elaborate further,” signaling to us that the admissions committee really wants just the facts here. So, respect both the format and the school and be as direct and clear as possible, saving any embellishment or additional explanation for another time.
That said, the inclusion of the mini essay prompt about the offerings at Johnson you intend to target and the resources you already possess indicates that the school wants to have some context for your stated aspirations and a basic understanding of why you are applying to Johnson specifically (the traditional “Why our school?” element). So, do your best within the slim 350-word allowance to explain what strengths and assets you have in your arsenal at this point that will position you for success in your intended career and how the school’s MBA experience will fill in some (or all) of the gaps to make your goals even more attainable. An effective response will provide evidence that you (1) have done your research as to what is required to reach your stated objectives, (2) recognize where you currently are on that trajectory, and (3) understand why/how attaining an MBA from Cornell Johnson will move you further in the right direction.
Although this prompt is not a request for a full-length personal essay, we offer a number of tips and examples in our free mbaMission Personal Statement Guide that could be helpful in crafting your response. We encourage you to download your complimentary copy today.
Impact Essay or The Unique Trait that Defines Me
Applicants may choose which of the two following essay prompts they would like to respond to.
Impact Essay: At Cornell, our students and alumni share a desire to positively impact the organizations and communities they serve. How do you intend to make a meaningful impact on the Johnson community? (350 words maximum)
The Johnson admissions committee has made two key changes to this prompt for this year. First, it removed a phrase that asked candidates to reflect on their background to provide context or support for their intended contribution, and second, the prompt is now school specific, directly referencing the Johnson community, rather than the more general “an elite MBA community.” Maybe the admissions committee suspected that some applicants were reusing text they had written for other schools? Whatever the reason, these adjustments indicate to us that you need to focus more on what you will bring to the school—rather than how or why you will be able to—and very clearly demonstrate your familiarity with the Johnson experience and environment. As with its career goals statement, Johnson wants you to be direct and offer very targeted information; this is absolutely no place for pandering or generalizations.
Note that the school is not asking you to discuss a time in the past when you have made an impact; the question is about your expected impact going forward, and specifically as part of the Cornell Johnson community. We always encourage candidates to connect with students, alumni, and others in an MBA program’s greater community when preparing their application, but in this case, doing so is essentially required if you hope to write an effective essay response. If you have not already been making these kinds of connections, now (immediately) is the time to get busy. The admissions committee undoubtedly expects your efforts to yield useful insights, so saying that you have merely contacted a few people will not suffice. We also recommend familiarizing yourself with the Johnson MBA experience well beyond what the school offers in its promotional materials (e.g., read press releases, news stories, and student blogs; check out the Cornell Johnson YouTube channel) and identify elements that resonate with you. You need to show that the insider information you subsequently received has further solidified your choice to pursue an MBA at Cornell Johnson. In the end, you need to show that the information you have collected and learned has further solidified your understanding of how you fit at the school and what you can do to leave your mark on Cornell Johnson.
The Unique Trait that Defines Me: What is something unique about you that others will remember you by? (350 words maximum)
This is the second new essay prompt we have seen this season from a top MBA program that asks applicants to discuss what makes them unique. We imagine that such questions are intended to help the schools ensure their desired level of diversity in the incoming class without needing to focus specifically on race, ethnicity, and the like.
A good way to identify your best option for this essay is by making a list of things you believe are notable about you. Ask for input from your friends and family members, who might mention or remind you of qualities you had forgotten or simply take for granted but that others value and admire. Then, home in on the characteristic that best reflects who you are as an individual today and that you can clearly tie to aspects of Johnson’s culture, community, and/or academic and experiential offerings. You want to make sure that you are not just showcasing something that you think is interesting or singular. Ideally, you want the characteristic you highlight to fit well with the overall Johnson MBA experience so that the admissions committee knows you will be a good match for its community while also adding your own special flair to it.
If possible, consider illustrating your chosen quality or skill with a brief story, rather than simply stating it outright. This will help the admissions reader better envision how you might apply your uniqueness at Johnson while also making your essay more memorable.
Optional Essay (required for reapplicants): You may use this essay to call attention to items needing clarification and to add additional details to any aspects of your application that do not accurately reflect your potential for success at Johnson (350 words maximum).
If you are reapplying for admission, please use this essay to indicate how you have strengthened your application and candidacy since the last time you applied for admission. Please also review our Application Guide for additional information about reapplying. (350 words maximum)
If you are a Cornell Johnson reapplicant, this essay should be pretty straightforward. Whether you have improved your academic record, received a promotion, begun a new and exciting project, increased your community involvement, or taken on some sort of personal challenge, 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 yourself and your profile, and that you have seized opportunities during the previous year to do so, because a Cornell Johnson 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.
If you are not a reapplicant, Johnson’s optional essay prompt gives you the typical 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 or GRE score, or a gap in your work experience. Yet it is sufficiently broad to also allow you to emphasize or explain something that if omitted would render your application incomplete. We caution you against simply trying to fill this space because you fear that not doing so would somehow count against you. And of course, however tempted you might be, this is not the place to reuse a strong essay you wrote for another school or to offer a few anecdotes you were unable to include elsewhere in your application. Keep in mind that by submitting an optional essay, you are requiring the already overtaxed admissions readers to do additional work, so avoid being overly verbose or sharing more information than is truly necessary. You must ensure that the admissions committee’s extra time and effort are truly warranted, so write just a very brief piece to explain your troublesome issue or offer the essential (and otherwise uncommunicated) aspect of your profile. If you feel you might have a reason to submit this additional essay, we encourage you to download our free mbaMission Optional Essays Guide, in which we offer detailed advice on when and how to take advantage of the optional essay, along with multiple illustrative examples.
Park Leadership Fellows Program Essay Prompt: Describe a past formal or informal leadership experience and how it informs your goals for growth as a leader. How would the Park Leadership Fellowship assist with these goals? (500-word limit)
This is a fairly straightforward essay prompt, and we recommend responding in an equally straightforward manner. Launch directly into the story of your leadership experience, and detail the specific actions you took in directing others in pursuit of a desired result. We recommend using a narrative approach to present your story, but be sure to also share the thought process and motivation(s) behind your actions. This way, the admissions committee will take away a clearer picture of the aspects of your character that inspired you and guided your actions and decisions. Note that Johnson recognizes that the leadership experience you share could have been a less formal one. Leadership does not need to have an official title attached to it, and it can be expressed in a community service or even family life setting just as much as in a workplace, so explore all the different areas of your life for possible stories.
A particularly important element of this essay is showing that you recognize where your leadership skills can improve and why doing so is important for your long-term success. Although you are expected to discuss areas for development, take care not to deride your strengths. Rather than solely discussing the ways in which you are lacking as a leader, focus on the ways you could become a more complete and capable one. Equally important is tying your educational and experiential needs to the Park Leadership Fellows Program specifically, so of course, your first step (if you have not already done so) is to familiarize yourself thoroughly with what this program entails and provides. Then, in your response, you will need to draw clear connections between the areas you hope to strengthen and the offerings in this program that will enable you to do so.
For a thorough exploration of Johnson’s academic offerings, defining characteristics, crucial statistics, social life, community/environment, and other key facets of the program, please download your free copy of the mbaMission Insider’s Guide to Samuel Curtis Johnson School of Management.
The Next Step: Mastering Your Cornell Johnson Interview
Many MBA candidates find admissions interviews stressful and intimidating, but mastering this important element of the application process is definitely possible—the key is informed preparation. We therefore offer our free Interview Guides to spur you along! Download your free copy of the Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management Interview Guide today.
To learn more about the essays for other top business schools, visit our MBA Essay Tips and Examples Resources Page.
