The University of Southern California (USC) Marshall School of Business takes a somewhat traditional approach to its application essays. For the school’s required essay, applicants must detail their short-term and long-term career goals and explain Marshall’s role in achieving them—though without much elaboration, given the submission’s mere 400-word limit. Applicants who feel they have an issue to explain or a particularly significant story to share can use the school’s second essay to do so if they wish, but all reapplicants are required to respond to this otherwise “optional” prompt. Our analysis of all of USC Marshall’s essay questions for this season follows.
Applicants to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School must first provide their rationale for pursuing an MBA and have 250 words with which to do so. The school’s second required essay also has a 250-word limit, where candidates must discuss which of the school’s core values align most closely with their career. Candidates who have more to share about themselves or issues to explain can use the school’s optional essay to (briefly) offer this key information. Read on for our in-depth analysis of Kenan-Flagler’s 2026–2027 essay questions.
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.
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.
In the past, we have addressed (and debunked!) the myth that you must personally know alumni from the top MBA programs to gain acceptance into those schools. Another admissions myth that is somewhat similar—in that it pertains to who you know instead of who you are—is that your recommendation must be written by someone with a flashy title. Each year, many candidates will persuade either someone from outside their workplace (e.g., a congressperson) or an insider who does not know their work all that well (e.g., a managing director or CEO) to write a recommendation on their behalf.
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