You might have gotten busy with fall activities or taken the GMAT or GRE a couple of extra times, and now you suddenly find yourself just a few weeks away from Round 2 deadlines. You might be wondering, “Can I get my applications submitted in time, or do I have to delay my plans by a year?”
You look around your office and think to yourself: “I wish my coworker were not applying to the same school as I am. They can’t take two people who sit at the same desk. Also, their GPA is 0.15 higher!” On the surface, this reasoning may seem logical, and it can thus cause anxiety for some candidates—especially for those who are in positions for which an MBA is virtually a “must have” to move forward, such as in consulting and banking.
However—not to worry—this thinking has two significant flaws:
Columbia Business School (CBS) and New York University’s Stern School of Business (NYU Stern) have something special in common, and it sets them apart from other business schools across the United States and globally—their New York City (NYC) location! Both programs benefit from being on the island of Manhattan, which makes connecting with alumni and recruiters much easier for their MBA students. Being in the heart of NYC also means that industry leaders can readily serve as adjunct professors and on-campus speakers, and that students can bolster their resumes with a variety of in-semester internships that might not be available in any other city.
IESE, like all business schools, is in search of capable, ambitious candidates who know why they need an MBA and what they want to do once they have one. The school’s two required essays provide applicants with the opportunity to show that they understand the program’s specific resources and opportunities. Candidates must also record a video essay consisting of three questions. An optional essay is available for anyone who has still more information to share with the admissions committee, whether to mitigate a shortcoming in their profile or to highlight a key strength or story that the committee would otherwise not learn about. Our more detailed analysis of IESE’s essay prompts for this season follows.
The University of Toronto Rotman School of Management does not require applicants to provide any prewritten essays as part of their application. However, after submitting their application, candidates will receive a link to a timed written assessment, for which they must compose spontaneous responses to two questions. Read on for our analysis of this portion of the Rotman application for the 2025–2026 admissions season.
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Click here for the 2025–2026 MBA Essay Tips
