In addition to completing a short video, applicants to Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management must submit two somewhat brief statements (400 and 300 words) as part of their application. The first prompt is professionally focused, requesting that candidates expound on their intentions for their career after graduation and explain the motivation behind their choices as well as what capabilities they already possess that will position them for success. The second prompt asks applicants to discuss a challenging or difficult situation they navigated and what they took away from the experience. The brevity and scope of the program’s required statements do not offer much opportunity for creativity, but we encourage applicants to try to make their responses as personal as possible to help them stand out better among the multitude of similar submissions Owen will receive. The school’s optional “explanatory statement” prompt allows candidates who might need to clarify any elements of their profile to the admissions committee to do so. Our more in-depth analysis of Owen’s statement prompts and video component follows.
Applicants to the HEC Paris’s MBA program have their work cut out for them as far as writing application essays goes. Candidates must submit a total of five essays (and may add a sixth, if they wish) that cover a wide range of topics. One submission is a fairly standard personal statement, but then applicants are asked to describe a particularly significant achievement, share an instance at the intersection of leadership and ethics, and envision a completely different life for themselves. Lastly, candidates must choose whether to highlight a favorite place or monument from their homeland; critique an otherwise universally popular book, movie, or play; or discuss a person they admire. If they still have more story to tell, they can do so in an optional essay. Read on for our more detailed analysis of the 2025–2026 essay prompts for HEC Paris.
We still think that asking MBA candidates about their goals is plainly absurd, because so many students change their goals while they are in school. Further, isn’t an MBA supposed to be about career development and exploration? Well, regardless of how we feel, during a time when the economy is down and many firms are cutting back on their MBA hiring, you must ensure that (if a school asks via its essay questions or an interview) you have a compelling story for where you believe your MBA will take you. Two years ago, getting that banking job may have sounded compelling to you. Are you really capable of making that transition today? Certainly, fewer jobs are available now in the real estate world. Is this a likely next step for you during a prolonged real estate drought? Venture capital and private equity jobs are challenging to land during the best of times—are you able to compete with the elite during a downturn?
These are just a few examples of questions that you should honestly ask yourself. Keep in mind that not only are MBA admissions committees examining your story to determine whether you would add something unique to the class, but, this year, they will also likely send any borderline cases to the career services office to help confirm whether your stated goals are realistic and you won’t be difficult to place by or after graduation (i.e., that you won’t hinder the school’s employment stats and thereby negatively affect its standing in the rankings). So, pay special attention to your goal statements and make sure that you can credibly stand behind them—and, as we have written in the past, even consider preparing to discuss some alternate goals.
The application essays for IE University’s International MBA Program are not overly taxing from a length perspective, but they require candidates to make some important decisions as to what they choose to share and how. We imagine most applicants will end up devoting a good bit of time to considering their options as far as topics to cover and just as much (if not more) time to crafting the presentation of that information. The school’s broad personal statement prompt instructs candidates to essentially tell the admissions committee the most important thing about themselves that has not been discussed elsewhere, and applicants can do so in a video, via a PowerPoint presentation, or in writing. At the other extreme is IE’s “online assessment,” which gives candidates almost no time to prepare their responses in advance. Read on for our advice on approaching the school’s essays for this season.
The one required application essay for the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University gives candidates the opportunity to provide a little context, detail, and depth to complement the statistics and other basic data conveyed in the rest of the application. The essay is essentially a rather traditional career goals statement, allowing candidates one single-sided page in which to outline their professional aspirations and explain their need for an MBA. Applicants with unusual or unclear elements in their profiles, or who simply have more they feel they need to share with the admissions committee, can take advantage of a 500-word supplemental essay. All aspiring Fisher students must complete a video interview in conjunction with their application, and although this is not technically an essay, we offer tips on preparing for it as well in our complete analysis, which follows.
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