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Of all the programs we feature in our annual essay analyses, Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business is the one we typically expect to make at least some changes to its application essay questions from one season to the next. So even though applicants must still provide one 500-word written essay in response to their choice of three question options, we were not surprised to see that those options have been modified a bit. Candidates are now asked to write about a time when they led a team (versus being out of their comfort zone), a challenging situation they navigated (versus a failure), or their personal brand and someone they admire (focusing more pointedly now on the applicant than the role model). The school has also tweaked the wording of its video essay prompt; rather than requesting that applicants introduce themselves to their future classmates, the admissions committee wants them to share how they are “unique”—likely to encourage candidates to dig deeper with their response and provide more profound insight into their individuality and personality than before. The school’s optional essay still gives applicants the leeway to discuss anything they feel is necessary, so it should be sufficient to meet everyone’s needs. Read on for our full essay analysis of all the school’s essay prompts for 2020–2021.

We want to hear your story. When responding to our required essays, be authentic and take time to reflect on your goals and past experiences. Craft a response that explains how these experiences led you to pursue an MBA.

Our goal at Georgetown McDonough is to craft a diverse class with people who have had varying personal and professional life experiences. As such, we want to give our applicants the opportunity to select one essay (from a list of three) that allows them the ability to best highlight their experiences, characteristics, and values that showcase the value proposition that they can bring to the McDonough community. Please select one of the following three essays to complete in 500 words or less and include the essay prompt and your first/last name at the top of your submission.

Essay Option One: Principled Leadership: Georgetown McDonough places a strong emphasis on principled leadership, providing both curricular and co-curricular opportunities to strengthen your leadership skills. Describe a time when you’ve led a team in a professional environment to implement a new idea or process. What leadership characteristics did you utilize? What could you have done to be more effective? And most importantly, what skills will you be able to bring to the teams you lead at McDonough? 

Although this essay question retains some elements of the one the school posed last year and again focuses primarily on leadership skills, the admissions committee has made some meaningful adjustments in what it wants to know and how it frames its request. Rather than asking you to discuss an instance in which you led (and succeeded) outside your comfort zone, McDonough tasks you with sharing a time when you led a team specifically “to implement a new idea or process.” This means that the situation you share is one in which you had to apply your skills and thought processes in a novel way rather than simply repeating ones you had executed before in a similar context. You must thereby demonstrate that the abilities and knowledge you possess are broad and keen enough to apply to novel situations and—even more—that you know how and when to exercise certain ones to fit the demands of the task at hand. This essay is about revealing not only the leadership qualities you already possess but also your instincts in identifying the ones that are appropriate and helpful in a given situation and in using them effectively.

The addition of the specification “in a professional environment” requires that the experience you share be related to your career (a change from last year), and although the prompt no longer says the incident must be one in which “you were asked to lead” (emphasis ours), this will likely be the case, given the workplace context. The prompt also no longer specifies that you must have “succeeded,” but you will of course want to show yourself to be effective and that your leadership skills are such that they direct people to the desired result, so we would caution against sharing an instance in which you and your team failed to attain your goal. 

You want to focus on conveying the skills you engaged and steps you took to guide your team, as well as your thought processes along the way. The admissions committee will thereby gain both a clear picture of what you accomplished and the aspects of your character that inspired you and helped enable your success. Take time as you are planning your response to this prompt to carefully read the “About Principled Leadership” page on the McDonough website. Although you obviously want to be authentic in conveying which skills and qualities you in fact relied on in the situation (and therefore not claim to possess any you do not because you think the admissions committee is seeking a specific “right” answer here), if any you plan to discuss align with the school’s stated values, they might warrant a little extra emphasis in your essay. 

The addition of the query “What could you have done to be more effective?” constitutes an invitation to demonstrate to the admissions committee your capacity for self-assessment and both your motivation and ability to identify areas for improvement. This is also your opportunity to explain how the McDonough MBA experience will help you address and mitigate those shortcomings. Absolutely do not denigrate anyone else on your team or related to the project by saying or implying that you could have been more effective if others had acted differently. Also, note that the admissions committee does not ask what you learned from the experience, so we caution you against using valuable word count on this point.

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After submitting your MBA application, you endure weeks of nervous anticipation before ideally being invited to interview. You then start to prepare for the interview, ready to prove yourself to the admissions committee. You take your tour, sit in on a class, and head to the Admissions Office only to find—gasp!—a second-year MBA student waiting to interview you! You think, “This school must not take me seriously as a candidate. I must be some kind of second-tier applicant that it does not really care about!” If you find yourself in this situation, take a deep breath and reconsider.

What is the admissions committee’s job? Quite simply, the committee strives to find the best candidates for its program. So, whether you interview with a member of the committee, an alumnus/alumna, or a student, your interview will be considered equally. Why would an admissions committee put a huge group of candidates at a disadvantage? What would be the point of interviewing an applicant if the admissions committee did not consider its school’s alumni reliable interviewers? Why would the committee solicit the help of students if it sincerely believed those individuals were not capable of rendering an appropriate judgment?

All this is to say that if you find yourself on campus and being interviewed by someone other than an admissions committee member, do not worry. This is not a reflection of the school’s impression of you or an indicator of how likely you are to ultimately be admitted. Maintain your focus, and remember that your story and your ability to connect with your interviewer are what truly matter in your interview.

Once again, INSEAD appears to have made no significant changes to its MBA application essay prompts this season. Candidates must respond to four short career-focused queries (a fifth one is optional) and provide three motivation essays (with an optional fourth).  Applicants are also tasked with completing a video component for which they answer four questions as four separate video recordings. Given the total number of prompts, tasks, and questions involved, some candidates may find INSEAD’s essay gauntlet a bit intimidating and likely arduous as well. Read on for our full analysis, which we hope will make the process a little easier to manage.

Job Description 1: Briefly summarise your current (or most recent) job, including the nature of work, major responsibilities, and where relevant, employees under your supervision, size of budget, clients/products and results achieved. (200 words maximum) 

Job Description 2: What would be your next step in terms of position if you were to remain in the same company? (200 words maximum) 

Job Description 3: Please give a full description of your career since graduating from university. Describe your career path with the rationale behind your choices. (300 words maximum) 

Job Description 4: Discuss your short and long term career aspirations with an MBA from INSEAD. (100 words maximum) 

For the school’s job-related mini essays, we encourage you to start by very carefully parsing exactly what data the school requests for each. Together, these four prompts cover many of the elements seen in a traditional personal statement essay, including info about one’s career to date, interest in the school, and professional goals. However, the topics are clearly separated among individual submissions rather than covered in a cohesive single essay, and INSEAD also asks applicants to comment on their expected progression within their current firm were they to remain there rather than entering business school.

The first prompt requires that you outline roughly six different aspects of your current or most recent position. Be sure that you address each of the elements the school lists, and do not skip any just because you would rather write more about some than others. You may also want to consider providing a very brief description of your company or industry, if the nature of either might not be readily clear to an admissions reader. For the second question, your response should be fairly straightforward. If your firm has a clearly defined management hierarchy in which one position leads directly to a higher one—and you would be interested in adhering to that system—you simply need to explain this and perhaps offer a short description of the new responsibilities your next position would entail. If your company does not have such an arrangement or you would want to move in a different direction, simply explain what your preferred next role would be and the duties involved. 

The third prompt is rather self-explanatory with respect to detailing the various stages of your career to date, but do not be remiss in responding to the “rationale” and “choices” aspects of the query. The school wants to know that your progression has not been passive, with your simply accepting the next good thing to come along, but rather that you have made thoughtful decisions with clear motivations and intentions behind them. For the fourth question, you will need to present your professional goals within the context of an INSEAD MBA education. Do your research on the school to identify specific resources it offers that relate directly to the skills and experiences you need to be successful in your career, thereby illustrating how INSEAD would help you achieve your aims. Above all, be sure to show determination and direction—that you are focused firmly on your intended end points and will not be easily deterred. 

For all your job description responses, avoid using any acronyms or abbreviations that would not be easily recognizable to most people. Using shortcuts (in the form of abbreviations/acronyms) and skipping basic contextual information could make your answers less understandable and therefore less compelling and useful to an admissions reader, so do yourself a favor by depicting your situation as clearly as possible. 

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The McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin has tweaked the wording of one its MBA application essay questions this season in what we believe is a subtle nod to the uncertainty caused by the (seemingly endless) coronavirus pandemic. Otherwise, the queries remain unchanged and still focus on eliciting the same fundamental information from candidates. The school’s required self-introduction essay (or video, for those who prefer that option) has been in play since at least 2013, and for its second essay, applicants are asked to imagine the end point of their MBA studies and to reflect on what they have gained and learned at McCombs within the context of their goals. Anyone with a potential problem area or unclear element in their profile can also submit an optional essay to address the issue(s). As a whole, the Texas McCombs essays give applicants ample opportunity to provide meaningful insight into their characters and strengths. Read on for our entire analysis of the program’s essay prompts for 2020–2021. 

Essay 1: We will learn a lot about your professional background through your resume and letter of recommendation, but we want to get to know you further. Please introduce yourself. Select only one communication method for your response. 

• Write an essay (250 words) 
• Share a video introduction (one minute in length)

The Texas McCombs admissions committee offers a little clarifying text before its straightforward request for an introduction, guiding applicants to steer away from aspects of their story that will already be covered in their resume and recommendations. Otherwise, candidates have an arguably blank slate from which to begin here. We imagine that the less guidance a program provides with its essay questions, the more panic is generated in the hearts of hopeful applicants, but let us reassure you that you do not need to be intimidated. Some patience, self-reflection, brainstorming, and authenticity—with a dash of creativity—and you should be on the road to a standout submission.  

First, determine the format that is more compatible with your personality. If you are the quiet, thoughtful type, an essay may be the better choice; if you are typically the life of the party or a better speaker than writer, you should probably select the video option. Next, start identifying the kind of information you might share by thinking about what you would like to know about a new person you are meeting and would find interesting, helpful, or intriguing. For example, would you consider someone’s age or undergraduate institution particularly important or compelling? Probably not, so you should skip mentioning such facts in your own introduction. (Remember, too, that your actual audience will be a member of the admissions committee, who will already know such basic information about you from the rest of your application.) You would likely be more curious about what someone does in their spare time, what interesting or exceptional skills they have, whether they are approachable/funny/hyperorganized/a risk taker/etc., whether they have extensive experience in a certain area or a more wide-ranging background, and so on.

So think about the aspects of your personality and profile that you believe truly define you as an individual—not just what you do and have done, but who you are—and fully explore your background, hobbies, talents, experiences, values, goals, and quirks. Brainstorm an extensive list and then eliminate any items that seem too common (e.g., a BA in finance) or basic (e.g., your hometown) until you have a collection of truly distinctive qualities you can weave into your response. Your goal is to provide a well-rounded picture of yourself that draws from multiple areas and shows that you possess characteristics and/or knowledge that would make you a positive addition to McCombs’ diverse community.

Remember to bring energy and enthusiasm to your submission. You are not filling out a job application—you are trying to connect with others, so charisma is welcome, and a less rigid and traditionally “professional” demeanor is okay. Forego any fancy essay-writing or dramatic tactics (e.g., starting with a quotation, launching into an anecdote), and just be as natural and authentic as possible. Do not pitch your candidacy, detail your career goals, or express your admiration for the program. As they say, you only have one chance to make a first impression, so dedicate the time and effort necessary to ensure that your introduction is engaging, substantive, and true to who you are.

If you choose to submit a video, think beyond what you will say and also consider the clothing you will wear, the setting or background, your tone of voice, your language style, whether you will include music, and other similar details. Brainstorm ways of nonverbally communicating some of your strongest attributes and key aspects of your life to help permeate your submission with as much information as possible. For example, if you are an avid biker, consider filming your video while you are actively riding. If you are a dedicated musician, perhaps incorporate your instrument into your message by playing it while you speak (if you are especially confident, you might even sing about yourself!). Think about what makes you who you are today, decide what you most want to share about yourself, and then let your creativity flow.

On a practical note, be sure to speak clearly in your video. You naturally do not want any part of your message to be lost or misunderstood, and the admissions committee may view your communication skills and style as indicators of how you might interact with your classmates and/or speak in the classroom. Spend some time practicing in front of a mirror or a friend, but do not overrehearse. And definitely do not try to read from an off-camera script or notes (trust us—they will be able to tell!). You want to come across as genuine and natural.

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The Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, has made some slight adjustments to just one of its application essay questions this year, but the core of the query remains essentially the same—candidates are asked to explain how the school will help them become a successful leader. For its first required essay, Berkeley Haas wants applicants to dig deep on a personal level and discuss something about which they are passionate. The admissions committee then takes an interesting approach to the optional essay, offering both a short, multipart questionnaire (which is less complicated than it might seem at first glance) and a straightforward prompt that invites applicants, if needed, to address any unclear or problem areas in their profile. Together, the essays should allow you to offer insight into who you are as an individual and who you hope to be as a future business leader, to complement the information presented in your resume, recommendations, and basic stats. Our more detailed analysis follows…

Required Essay #1: What makes you feel alive when you are doing it, and why? (300 words maximum)

Perhaps you are familiar with the psychological concept of “flow,” which is a mental state people enter when they are completely immersed in and focused on something they enjoy and are enthusiastic about—it is also described as being “in the zone.” With this question, Berkeley Haas is basically asking you to discuss what puts you in the zone. If you are truly excited about something—and, we would assume, therefore engage in it on a regular basis—writing about it should not prove too challenging. Like all other application questions, this one has no “right” answer, so do not try to guess what you think the school wants to hear. Authenticity is key to your success here. Note that the prompt includes the words “when you are doing it,” so although you may feel strongly about certain causes or values, such as animal rights or environmental matters, for this essay, you will need to discuss an activity rather than an ideology.  

The school does not stipulate that your topic needs to come from a specific area of your life (e.g., professional life, community service, personal life). We appreciate that you are likely passionate about your career, but this is not automatically your best choice for a topic here, especially given that the school’s second required essay offers a better opportunity to discuss your professional side. What Berkeley Haas wants to learn from this essay is what gets your heart pumping and mind revving. Enthusiasm and intensity can be very inspiring and energizing and can lead to big ideas and actions. Sharing what incites such feelings in you gives the admissions committee an idea of where you might someday make an impression on the world, how you might leave your mark—especially once you are equipped with all you will gain and learn during your MBA experience.

That said, do not worry if the thing you feel so fervently about might initially seem commonplace to someone else. For example, perhaps you feel passionate about basketball. Because this is an interest anyone could share and enjoy, you might have concerns that it could sound pedestrian or unremarkable—and for many, this is a completely unremarkable pastime and one they should not write about. If, however, you can show that you have engaged with basketball in a way that takes the activity well beyond being a commonplace hobby and that it is something you connect with on a deep level and in various ways (perhaps having played for many years, you now coach youth teams from underprivileged neighborhoods in your community), then it most definitely becomes an acceptable discussion topic. In such a case, basketball could be used to reveal intensity, dedication, commitment to yourself and others, growth, longevity, and/or resilience. Of course, we are offering basketball here just for illustration purposes. We imagine you likely feel the flow when engaging in a completely different activity or even in disparate activities that are unified by a single behavior, such as when you are creating something or perhaps motivating others. The options are very much endless.

Once you have identified the passion you wish to discuss, avoid simply telling the admissions committee about it and instead illustrate how it manifests in your life. For example, rather than starting your essay by stating, “I have been watching and playing basketball since I was a child,” you need to create a more vivid impression of your dedication and involvement, such as “From playing with my brothers after school to varsity ball in college to now coaching a youth league in my community, I can hardly remember a time when basketball wasn’t an integral part of my life.” Or consider a more narrative approach, such as, “Dripping with sweat, I thrust my right arm up and knocked the basketball away, just as the buzzer sounded.” Once you have set the scene and presented the object of your fervor, you must then explain why you connect with it so strongly or so well. Perhaps it gives you a sense of peace or purpose, or it makes you feel connected with others in a meaningful way, or it allows you to challenge yourself mentally or physically. A successful essay response will not only paint a clear picture of your passion but also highlight the elements of your personality that make it significant to you.

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