These essays give the adcom a well-rounded view of you – they go beyond what you’ve done to capture how you think and respond, even how you imagine. Moreover, they require you to communicate complex thoughts and experiences in few words. For the four short essays especially, don’t waste words on conventional introductory and concluding paragraphs. Jump…
IE MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines
Often times applicants to MBA programs go through a bit of an identity crisis when they start the application process as they try to sum themselves and their careers up within tight word limits and limited spaces. Applicants to the IE International MBA program in Madrid may find the process even more daunting as the…
UCLA 2016-17 MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines
The advice that UCLA Anderson provides below is excellent, not just for Anderson’s essays, but for most MBA essays. Read it carefully. My tips are in blue below. Your essays are the primary way for you to share your perspectives and plans with the admissions committee. The best essays are introspective, genuine and succinct in directly…
Yale SOM 2016-17 MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines
Yale has a brand new question this year. And one that is fairly distinctive among bschools. As you did last year, you need to make the most of that single essay, but you also need to take the time to make every box in the application a home run. They are not after-thoughts. Your job…
MIT Sloan 2016-17 MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines
This year’s MIT Sloan MBA application is significantly different from last year’s and has restored MIT Sloan’s signature cover letter and resume. In fact that’s all that’s required. The cover letter was required for years and either last year or the year before MIT Sloan experimented with a letter of recommendation from you and for…
University of Texas McCombs 2016-17 MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines
McCombs combines its rigor with a passionate community. To create its desired community, it seeks a student body that is diverse in every dimension and comprises individuals who can bring their varied voices to form a cohesive group. The questions below reflect this value; they draw out applicants’ individuality, motivations, and ability to collaborate, while…
Chicago Booth 2016-17 MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines
Chicago Booth has always prided itself on admitting students who can handle ambiguity and lack of structure. And its application reflects that principle. In spades. This year’s Booth application also mirrors Chicago’s pride in its distinctive culture. This essay/presentation question, a modified version of last year’s prompt, is about as open-ended and original as it gets. The prompt…
NYU Stern 2016-17 MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines
Stern clearly likes what it received from applicants last year: It is not tweaking, changing, adding to, or subtracting from last year’s essay questions. My tips are in blue below. Our Stern essay questions give you the opportunity to more fully present yourself to the Admissions Committee and to provide insight into your experiences, goals…
Wharton 2016-17 MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines
Last year, Wharton didn’t change its essays after years of shrinking its application. This year it reversed course. It modified slightly the first required question and added a second required question in response to student feedback. According to an interview on Poets and Quants with Wharton Deputy Vice Dean of Admissions Maryellen Reilly, Wharton students felt…
UNC Kenan-Flagler 2016-17 MBA Essay Tips and Deadlines
Are you a team leader? Are you committed to sustainable enterprise? Are you seeking resources and intellectual capital needed to shape both business and government? Are you a motivated, goal-oriented, innovative individual? UNC Kenan-Flagler adcoms are interested in seeing your multi-dimensional personality and capabilities. Your challenge: Prove that your goals mesh with the school’s goals and that…
Indiana Kelley 2016-17 MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines
These questions are a straightforward mix of professional and personal. The adcom wants assurance that you have a clear professional focus and a solid plan for using the Kelley MBA resources. Beyond that, they’re looking for engaging applicants who are willing to share their life experiences and understand what they have to contribute. Strive for…
Stanford GSB 2016-17 MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines
Stanford’s Knight Center earned the highest LEED Platinum rating for environmental sustainability. And the focus on recycling has apparently carried over to Stanford GSB’s MBA essays. Stanford has recycled its 2015-16 essays for the 2016-17 application cycle. This recycling is done for good reasons: These are excellent questions that succinctly get to the heart of what Stanford…
Harvard Business School 2016-17 MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines
Harvard Business School Admissions is not averse to change and here are a few elements in the 2016-17 application that are different: • The essay question itself is different and much more straight-forward than last year’s question. It is very similar to the question posed two years ago, which I thought was an excellent question. •…
Columbia Business School 2016-17 MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines
Columbia Business School tweaked last year’s questions for this year. The changes in wording are minor, and I discuss below. The most significant change is that CBS is bucking the bschool trend of the last five years and allowing you a little more room to tell your story and respond to their prompts. They are also…
