Emory Goizueta wants to learn about your professional plans, alignment with the school’s core values, and ability to concisely convey this information through written essays. Additionally, the school’s video essay allows you to present yourself authentically. Don’t be fooled by the short length of the required essays. The brevity requires tough decisions about what key points and anecdotes to include and what to leave out. Write simply and directly to pack as much meaning and impact as possible into each word. And then ensure that your video “personality” aligns with your written “personality.”
Ready to get to work on your Emory Goizueta application? Read on.
- Emory Goizueta application essay tips
- Emory Goizueta application deadlines
- Emory Goizueta class profile
Emory Goizueta application essay tips
Essay #1
Post-MBA Career Goals: What will professional success look like immediately after your MBA experience? Please describe where you would like this degree program to take you professionally. Include information such as desired job title, responsibilities, company, impact, and/or industry. Explain how your professional experiences and personal strengths align with your post-MBA goals. (200 word limit)
This essay is a straightforward goals essay with a low word limit, so you must get straight to the point. The prompt focuses on the job you want as you graduate from business school: your short-term goal. Clearly state your desired position, including the title, industry, and function. You may also include one or two companies on your target list. Be careful to clarify that these companies are ones for which you would like to work rather than the only companies you would consider working for.
Next, you want to connect the dots between what you have done (your professional experiences and strengths) and what you want to do (your goal). To determine what kind of context to provide, consider these questions: What skills have you developed that are transferrable? What type of responsibility are you looking for? Briefly describe the impact you want to have in the role. Sharing information about your long-term goal is unnecessary here because the prompt refers explicitly to your short-term goal.
Although no one will tie you to this goal once you start the program, you nevertheless need to paint a picture for the admissions reader that illustrates that you truly understand the role and have a plan to achieve it. If your goal is a stretch for you, acknowledge this reality, and then lay out your plan for achieving it.
Essay #2
Leadership in Business: Goizueta Business School is a values-driven community with a mission to prepare principled leaders to have an influence on business and society. Please tell us which of the Goizueta Core Values (Courage, Accountability, Integrity, Rigor, Diversity, Team, Community) resonates most with you and share a personal account of demonstrating leadership in this area within your current or previous company or service organization. The committee is interested in a personal story of leadership. (200 word limit)
This essay requires you to demonstrate your personal alignment with Goizueta’s values through a leadership example. After considering the school’s core values, identify which ones most closely coincide with your own. Next, make a list of leadership experiences that correspond to each of the shared values. Note that the prompt indicates that the leadership story you share can be a professional one or one related to your experiences with a service organization.
From your list of options, identify which example in which you made an impact on others best aligns with one of the program’s values. The limited word count means that you will need to briefly explain the story while spending most of the essay focused on your actions and your impact, tying them to the core value you have selected.
Reflecting on this experience, what did you learn, and how would you apply these learnings in the MBA program? You might also want to identify resources at the school that will allow you to continue to grow as a principled leader.
Optional Essay
If there is an important part of your story missing from your MBA application (e.g., unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, past academic challenges), please use this section to provide a brief explanation. Please use bullets if you need to address more than one topic. (200 word limit)
As part of the prompt, Goizueta provides examples of why you might want to submit an optional essay. Consider your entire application, and ask yourself whether you feel you have presented a well-rounded picture of your candidacy. What about your background? Has the application otherwise provided a place to share that you are a first-generation college student? Or that you grew up in challenging circumstances, perhaps as part of an underserved community? Providing additional insights into the obstacles you have overcome will allow the admissions committee to understand how you have persevered to get to where you are today. If you have nothing to add, you do not need to write an optional essay simply because it’s there.
Whether you use the optional essay or not, take the same care in providing your answer as you will with the other essays in the application.
Video Essay
Telling your story through written essays is an important part of the application, but the video essay lets us hear your words in your own voice. In the required video essay, every candidate will answer a “small talk” question to help the MBA Admissions Committee get to know you. The video essay instructions and link are located in your application portal.
The video essay allows you to present yourself in a different way to the application readers and gives the entire adcom an opportunity to get a sense of you personally. With the video essay, members of the adcom that you did not have a opportunity to meet at an MBA fair, on campus, or through the interview process will be able to see and hear from you directly. For nonnative English speakers, this video also serves to give the adcom a sample of your English-speaking abilities.
While you won’t know the question ahead of time, the description of it as a “small talk” question gives the sense that the committee wants to hear from you authentically. That said, there are a few things you can do ahead of time to feel more prepared for the video essay:
Consider your background.
When getting ready for the video essay, make sure you are mindful of what will be in the background of your video. A simple, decluttered setup is what I recommend. You don’t want anything to distract the viewer from watching you and listening to your response.
Research “small talk” prompts.
Write down eight to ten “small talk” prompts on individual pieces of paper. Think of things you might talk to someone about at a cocktail party – questions like “What is your favorite restaurant or movie?” or “What kind of music do you enjoy?” Fold the pieces of paper up and put them in a container. You will use these prompts when simulating the video essay.
Practice by recording yourself.
Using Zoom or Google Meet, you can set up a meeting to record yourself to simulate the video essay. I suggest you wear business attire for your practice sessions as well as the official video essay. Follow the same timing restrictions you will have for the actual video essay. Set a timer for 30 seconds and another for 60 seconds.
Begin the simulation by selecting one of the questions you wrote on the pieces of paper you prepared. Click on the 30-second timer and collect your thoughts for your answer. At the end of 30 seconds, click on the 60-second timer and begin recording.
Start your answer by introducing yourself, and don’t forget to smile! Provide your response to the “small talk” question you selected. You can end your answer by thanking the viewer for the opportunity to share a bit about yourself. Be sure to smile as you are thanking them.
The instructions for the video essay indicate that you can use the entire 60 seconds or stop recording when you feel you have answered the question.
Review your recording and critique yourself.
Play back the recording and notice how you come across in the video. Are you smiling? Was your camera at eye level, and did you look at the camera while talking? Is there anything distracting in the background? Note anything you want to tweak, and set up another practice round.
While you do not want to appear over-rehearsed, this simulation will allow you to get used to the process you will follow when you record your video essay for submission.
Reapplicant essay #1
What will professional success look like immediately after your MBA experience? Please describe where you would like this degree program to take you professionally. Include information such as desired job title, responsibilities, company, impact, and/or industry. Explain how your professional experiences and personal strengths align with your post-MBA goals. (200 word limit)
This is the same goals essay that first-time applicants must submit. Please refer to our analysis of it at the beginning of this blog post.
Reapplicant essay #2
Explain how you have improved your candidacy for Goizueta Business School’s MBA program since your last application. (200 word limit)
The adcom is interested in knowing what has changed since you applied last. Consider enhancements to your candidacy from a career and academic standpoint. Professionally, have you taken on additional responsibilities? Were you promoted? Did you earn any certifications or other accolades? Academically, did you take any additional coursework? Did you retake the GMAT or GRE?
Emory Goizueta application deadlines
| Application Deadline | Decision Notification | |
| Round 1 | October 4, 2023 | December 6, 2023 |
| Round 2 | January 8, 2024 | March 20, 2024 |
| Round 3 | March 20, 2024 | May 8, 2024 |
***Disclaimer: Information is subject to change. Please check with Emory Goizueta directly to verify its essay questions, instructions, and deadlines.***
Emory Goizueta class profile
Here is a look at an average Emory Goizueta incoming class (data taken from the Emory Goizueta website):
Class size: 110-150 students
Average GMAT: 709
Average GPA: 3.47
Average work experience: 6 years
Women: 34%
Underrepresented U.S. minorities: 25%
International: 49%
Students with undergraduate degrees earned in the United States: 58%
Countries represented: 16
Check out the Business School Selectivity Index for more stats.
You’ve worked so hard to get to where you are in life. Now that you’re ready for your next achievement, make sure you know how to present yourself to maximum advantage in your Emory Goizueta application. In a hotly competitive season, you’ll want a member of Team Accepted in your corner, guiding you with expertise tailored specifically for you. Check out our flexible consulting packages today!
As the former executive director of admissions at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School and assistant dean of admissions at Georgetown’s McDonough School and the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz School, Kelly Wilson has 23 years’ experience overseeing admissions committees and has reviewed more than 38,000 applications for MBA and master’s programs in management of information systems, computational finance, business analytics, and product management. Want Kelly to help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!
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