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Note: The following essay questions pertain to the previous academic year. This section will be updated when the new question are released in early to mid-July of 2008. 

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 of significant overlap from one MBA application to the next, we have produced the “MBA Mission Personal Statement Guide.” We offer our guide to candidates free of charge, via our online store.  Please feel free to download your copy today.

2. Tuck defines leadership as “inspiring others to strive and enabling them to accomplish great things.” We believe great things and great leadership can be accomplished in pursuit of business and societal goals. Describe a time when you exercised such leadership. Discuss the challenges you faced and the results you achieved. What characteristics helped you to be effective, and what areas do you feel you need to develop in order to be a better leader?

Tuck puts its own spin on leadership in that it asks for a time when you not only led, but “inspired.” Further, Tuck adds to this question, which in essence appeared last year, by asking you to identify an example where you had broader “business and societal goals” in mind.  So, you may be concerned that you need to discuss a very specific experience, but you should keep in mind that virtually any successful leadership experience satisfies these demands.

Inspiration need not be found only in rousing speeches. It is entirely possible to inspire others through action, creative thought, persistence, etc. So, as long as you were leading others and they were motivated to follow, you have inspired. What is most important is that you capture how you inspired others and show evidence that they were indeed inspired.

With respect to “business and societal goals,” most accomplishments have broad implications. If you helped a firm sustain itself or grow, then it serves both the firm and society. Candidates need not be concerned that they must address a social issue directly; your actions can have indirect benefits – benefits that will require creativity to express.

3. Discuss the most difficult constructive criticism or feedback you have received. How did you address it? What have you learned from it?

As you consider the criticism that you have received, you should be cautious and ensure that you are not inadvertently displaying behavior that is inconsistent with Tuck’s values. An embellished example of what not to do follows: “My boss criticized my laziness….” By displaying laziness, you are undermining your candidacy, because Tuck tries to recruit highly motivated students. Another misguided approach would be to offer a false critique — a negative that is actually a positive: “My boss told me that I work too hard and need to relax and take a vacation; it was hard to hear that…” These answers are transparent and only annoy the Admissions Committees.
When dealing with a critique of your abilities or character, it is important to approach the matter at hand in a straightforward way. The emphasis should be on accepting and remedying the problem. Clearly, with the word “constructive” in the question, you are asked to identify a time when someone took care and sought to help you improve; you need to show that you responded with the effort and thought necessary to “correct” the problem.

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?

Essay four is quite broad; within “personal history, values, and/or life experiences,” there is a great deal of range. So, it is permissible for you to develop one or two significant themes, drawing from your life experiences, and then relate them back to the Tuck experience. This is an opportunity for you not only to display your unique attributes but also to thoughtfully and subtly imply just how well you know the school. By showing true awareness of your connection with Tuck, you will complete the essay portion of your application on a very compelling note.

MBA Mission will be participating in a Free Admissions Consulting Panel, hosted by Manhattan GMAT at its New York Center on August 23, 2007. The topic of the discussion will be “Business School 2008: Preparing For Your Future.” In order to join the us at the event, and partake in our case discussions and Q&A, please sign-up via the link below.

We look forward to what promises to be an interesting and informative event with Manhattan GMAT and several leading Admissions Consulting Firms.

Register for Manhattan GMAT’s Free Admissions Consulting Panel Today!

In this week’s print and digital edition of Crain’s New York Business, the weekly newspaper which reports exclusively on the business and political community in New York City, MBA Mission Founder and President, Jeremy Shinewald, is quoted on the ethics of Admissions Consulting and the value of such services. Please click on the following link to read the article in full:

 Advisors Coach MBA Hopefuls: More Candidates Shell Out For Guidance in Choosing a School, Writing an Inspiring Essay

We are proud to be recognized as an authority by a leading New York business magazine. Further, we are proud of our ethical approach to helping candidates differentiate themselves and gain coveted letters of acceptance from top-MBA programs.

Note: The following essay questions pertain to the previous academic year. This section will be updated when the new question are released in early to mid-July of 2008. 

You must answer the following four questions:

Long Answers (500 word max)

Essay 1: Briefly describe your short-term and long-term career goals. Why is an MBA the best choice at this point in your career? What and/or who influenced your decision to apply to Ross?

Because of significant overlap from one MBA application to the next, we have produced the “MBA Mission Personal Statement Guide.” We offer our guide to candidates free of charge, via our online store.  Please feel free to download your copy today.

It is important to note that Ross includes the line, “what and/or who influenced your decision.” Increasingly, MBA Admissions Committees (Chicago, NYU, Haas) want to know that you have completed a priori research and you are not merely whimsically applying. In this essay, you should not just delve into the resources the school offers but also explain how your interest was generated, via interactions with alumni, faculty, students, admissions officers and possibly even educated outside parties.

Essay 2: Describe your most significant professional accomplishment. Elaborate on the leadership skills you displayed, the actions you took and the impact you had on your organization.

This is a relatively straightforward essay, but it is important that you offer more than just your accomplishment to the MBA Admissions Committee. Ross is seeking to understand the “leadership skills you displayed, the actions you took”; a solid essay will reveal your leadership skills via your actions. Thus, it is vital that you have a process-orientation in your writing, as this will ensure that the committee experiences your leadership style. If you create a narrative structure, the committee will gain a window into your personality and recognize not just that you are effective, but HOW you are effective.
 

Short Answers (300 word max)

Essay 3: If you were not pursuing the career goals you described in Question 1, what profession would you pursue instead? (for example, teacher, musician, athlete, architect, etc.) How will this alternate interest contribute to your effectiveness in solving multidisciplinary problems?

Through this essay, Ross is attempting to understand alternative aspects of your character. Indeed, the examples in the question are telling because “teacher, musician, athlete” are not typical post-MBA careers. So, it goes without saying that you should not write about how you would consider banking, if consulting were not to work out.

It is important that you be creative in your response, but that you also connect your response to existing experience. If you have no background as a teacher, it becomes far more difficult for you to make the connection to this hypothetical career. (Thus, when you write about your proposed career, you need to strike a balance – you cannot afford to be too whimsical, and at the same time you cannot afford to be dull either.) Further, if you are not profoundly connected to this alternative career, you will find it quite difficult to answer how you will use this interest to attack multidisciplinary problems.
 

Essay 4: Describe your experience during a challenging time in your life. Explain how you grew personally, either despite this challenge or because of it.

Harkening back to our Monday Morning Essay tip “Conflict is Good,” Ross substantiates our point that it is not all that interesting to read about a smooth and easy ride toward success. Indeed, Ross wants to understand that you have faced obstacles and that you have the strength of character to overcome. While you are free to draw from personal or professional experiences, it is important that you avoid “sympathy plays” and clichés about “learning resilience.” Write with candor and honesty and discuss the abiding impact that a challenging experience had on your life – a successful essay will show that you have substantively changed your mentality or actions and that the experience had an enduring and positive effect.

Note: The following essay questions pertain to the previous academic year. This section will be updated when the new question are released in early to mid-July of 2008. 

Because Sloan’s questions are so broad, many candidates play a “shell game” of sorts, optimizing the mix of stories. For example, a story about an “impact on a group or organization” may also be applicable as story about a “time when you executed on a plan.” Candidates should heed this flexibility and give extra thought to their essay selection in order to ensure that they are creating a sufficiently diverse picture of themselves and their experiences.

Essay 1: Please tell us about a time when you had an impact on a group or organization. Describe in detail what you thought, felt, said, and did.

In this essay, you will need to show a clear cause and effect relationship between your actions and the resulting implication for others. A successful essay will show how you took specific steps to produce the desired results, focus on the results themselves and then, most importantly, add a reflective element, explaining the personal significance or learning, via the experience. This is a leadership essay, and while it does not demand that you exemplify rousing “Churchillian” leadership, the goal is to show how you exercised your influence and brought about a new and better reality.

Essay 2: Please tell us about a challenging interaction you had with a person or group. Describe in detail what you thought, felt, said, and did.

It is important to note that “challenging” need not be interpreted as “heated.” In this essay, you do not have to tell the story of a confrontation, but need to show the reader that you encountered a dynamic that was difficult to navigate and, of course (despite the fact that the question does not ask for it), diplomatically attempted to resolve or did resolve the problem. Through your efforts at resolution, you will reveal your character and management/team/interpersonal style to the Admissions Committee; so it is important that you carefully consider the message that you send via your actions. Ask yourself objectively, “Am I revealing ‘Sloan-friendly’ qualities?”

Essay 3: Please tell us about a time when you defended your idea. Describe in detail what you thought, felt, said, and did.

Each year, Sloan has a question about your ability to advocate, persuade or, in this case, defend an idea. Again, in terms of semantics, the word to take notice of in this essay is “your” in “your idea.” This is not an opportunity for you to discuss a time when you advocated for someone else – you need to “own” this idea to answer the question properly. Of course, your ownership will have its foil – those who do not believe in it. While it is important that you show that you defended your idea passionately, it is also vital that you show that you were not stubborn or inflexible. You want to show that you were willing to consider alternatives and reason through counterarguments. Although this is not a rule, many successful essays will show that you were persuasive and succeeded in changing minds.

Essay 4: Please tell us about a time when you executed a plan. Describe in detail what you thought, felt, said, and did.

Essay one is about impact, which pertains to results; essay four is about execution, which creates a bias toward the process itself.  In this essay, you will lead the reader not through the mechanics of a business implementation, but through your process as you were taken by a possibility and gathered the resources and momentum to see it through. Again, in this essay there may be elements of advocacy or persuasion that enter into the process. What is important to note is that this should not be a “hard” business case, but that the Admissions Committee will come to understand your personality through your actions; so, you will need to concentrate on the “soft” aspects of the process as well (indeed – “what you thought, felt, said and did”).

Cover Letter

Prepare a cover letter (up to 500 words) seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA Program. Please comment on your career goals and those factors which influenced you to pursue an MBA education at MIT Sloan. The cover letter provides a chance for you to discuss your passions, values, and interests. Through what you write we hope to discover whether you will thrive at MIT Sloan and how you will contribute to our diverse community. Address your cover letter to Mr. Rod Garcia, Director of MBA Admissions.

MIT gives you a mere 500 words to discuss career goals, factors that influenced you to pursue your MBA, passions, values and interests and explain how you will thrive and what you will contribute to the program. You will need to be judicious as you draft your letter to Mr. Garcia and ensure that you do not roam throughout, but cover these topics in a systematic and coherent manner. Because the demands of this letter are so extensive and because this is in an unusual cover letter style, you will need to write in a direct, personal tone that makes a more acute point about your appropriateness for MIT and engages the reader.

A quick point about your introduction: for some reason, candidates feel compelled to start cover letters with “my name is X and I am applying to MIT….” This is a typical and boring introduction offering information that the school already possesses; by creating a different and compelling opening, you will grab and hold the attention of an Admissions Officer who has read thousands of these essays.

While MIT has its differences, there are still some “global” fundamentals that apply to this Personal Statement. Thus, we offer our “MBA Mission Personal Statement Guide” to you, free of charge, via our online store.  Please feel free to download your copy today.