by Kelly Wilson
UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA Essay Tips and Deadlines [2024-2025], Class Profile
Are you a team leader? Are you committed to sustainable enterprise? Are you seeking the resources and intellectual capital needed to shape both business and government? Are you a motivated, goal-oriented, innovative individual? If you answered yes to these questions, the UNC Kenan-Flagler adcom is interested in learning more about your multidimensional personality and capabilities.
Ready to get to work on your Kenan-Flagler application? Read on.
- Kenan-Flagler application essay tips
- Kenan-Flagler application deadlines
- Kenan-Flagler class profile
Kenan-Flagler application essay tips
The Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina has two required essays and one optional essay again this year.
Essay #1
Your response should be no longer than 500 words and should address the following questions:
- What are your immediate career goals and how will you benefit from earning an MBA at Kenan-Flagler Business School?
- As the business world continues to evolve, circumstances can change and guide you in a different direction. Should your goals that you provided above not transpire, what other opportunities would you explore?
What do you see yourself doing immediately upon graduation, and why? What is your motivation to go down this path? And finally, why do you need an MBA from Kenan-Flagler specifically to realize your dream?
The adcom also wants to know what your Plan B is. If you are aiming for a position with Goldman Sachs and a career in investment banking, would your backup plan be obtaining a similar role with, let’s say, Bank of America? Or would you instead pursue a position in corporate finance or with a start-up? If you are aiming for McKinsey & Company, Bain, or BCG, what would your Plan B be? Perhaps a position in a leadership rotation program? Or maybe you’d like to work for a firm such as Deloitte or Kearney?
Your Plan B needs to be at least as achievable as your Plan A – if not more so. It should also be an alternative to your Plan A that the MBA education you’ll receive at Kenan-Flagler will help you attain.
Check out our free guide The Winning Ingredients of a Dynamic MBA Goals Essay for more tips on writing about your post-MBA professional aspirations.
Essay #2
Your response should be no longer than 500 words and should address the following question:
- Reflect on a project or initiative you were involved in that had a significant positive impact on a community, organization, or individual. How did this experience shape your sense of responsibility as a future leader dedicated to making a difference in the world?
Kenan-Flagler’s adcom is interested in learning about a meaningful experience you’ve had and how it shaped you. The outcome of the situation you share must have been positive for the people involved. The prompt does not require you to have held a particular role in the situation. Still, whether you were part of a group or in a leadership position, you need to reflect on your actions, considerations, decisions, contributions, and outcomes that benefitted others. To begin your essay, share context and details that paint a picture of the situation. As you lead the reader through the situation, it’s crucial to go beyond merely stating what you did; you must explain why and/or how you did what you did to illustrate your commitment to driving positive change. Finish the essay by reflecting on what you learned and your inspiration for continuing to be a leader who inspires hope.
Essay #3 (Optional)
We encourage you to tell us more about who you are so we can get to know you as a person and potential member of the Carolina community. Use this essay to convey information that you may not have otherwise been able to in the application. Your response should be no longer than 200 words.
Optional topics:
- Personal or professional accomplishments
- Interests and passions
- Gaps in work experience or inconsistent academic performance
- Context for recommender selection
- A fun fact about yourself
Here are the key elements of the instructions for this optional essay:
- “Tell us more about who you are so we can get to know you as a person.” This essay should not be about the widgets or apps you’ve created or the three-letter acronyms that define your work. It needs to be about you as a human being and a potential member of the MBA program’s community. Why should your fellow students want to hang out with you?
- “Convey information that you may not have otherwise been able to in the application.” Don’t repeat material that can be found elsewhere in your application. And do not treat this essay as some kind of grand finale.
Although you could use this essay to provide context for a weakness in your application, you can also use it to discuss your “interests and passions” or to present a “fun fact about yourself.” Let the adcom see this other side of you, which might not come through in the required portions of the application. This is one optional essay you should not skip!
Again, the school is genuinely trying to learn about you and assess whether you will add value to the Kenan-Flagler community. Give the adcom reasons to conclude that you will.
Kenan-Flagler application deadlines
| Submission deadline | Decision release | |
| Round 1 | October 8, 2024 | December 11, 2024 |
| Round 2 | January 7, 2025 | March 19, 2025 |
| Round 3* | March 4, 2025 | April 23, 2025 |
| Round 4 | April 29, 2025 | May 28, 2025 |
Applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on the application date.
*Round 3 is the final deadline for international applicants.
***Disclaimer: Information is subject to change. Please check with Kenan-Flagler directly to verify its essay questions, instructions, and deadlines.***
Kenan-Flagler class profile
Here is a look at the Kenan-Flagler MBA Class of 2026 (data taken from the Kenan-Flagler website):
Class size: 249
Average GMAT score: 707
Average GPA: 3.42
Average age: 28
Average years of work experience: 5
International: 43%
Military: 12%
Female: 31%
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 Kenan-Flagler 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. Schedule a free consultation 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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