Choosing MBA goals that are practical, not abstract or theoretical
In the good old days, when Wharton still offered feedback to rejected applicants (way back, early 2000s), I spoke with a potential client who was reapplying to Wharton. He had received feedback on his first application, and the adcom had, in fact, really liked his application. “They actually said I was well qualified, and I would be a good fit for the school.” Pause. “The problem was my goal. Venture capital. They said it wasn’t a feasible goal for me.”
With this applicant’s smarts and initiative, he surely could have succeeded at venture capital (VC), given the chance, and it would be wonderful for him, but the reality was that his chances of getting a VC job post-MBA were about zero. The adcom knew that, and he should have known it, too.
Unrealistic goals, ineffectively presented goals, and impractical goals can get otherwise appealing and well-qualified applicants dinged from top MBA programs. This story is not an isolated case. I have heard similar ones every year for the more than 20 years I’ve been involved in the admissions world.
So how do you avoid this scenario, especially if there is no clear path to your goals?
Explaining how you’ll make your goals a reality
It’s not enough to focus solely on what you’d like to do or – what’s even less compelling – what you think you’d like to do. You’ve got to figure out and articulate what actual impact you wish to have and, especially, how you’re going to make it happen. Do you recognize the obstacles that might get in your way, and are you prepared to work to overcome them? The Wharton applicant I just mentioned belatedly discovered this challenge, possibly at the cost of his admission to his dream school. (However, he did get admitted the next year as a reapplicant, after working with me!) It’s not that you should never present complex or difficult goals in an MBA essay – in fact, it’s relatively rare for goals to follow a simple, straight line (and adcoms appreciate that life is complex and circuitous). But rather, when your goals are challenging and/or do not represent an obvious path on the surface, acknowledge that fact in your essay, and present a concrete plan for how you expect to achieve them.
Imagine that my Wharton applicant had said in his original essay that he knew how difficult it would be for him to land a VC job and had mapped out a credible plan to address the challenges ahead of him. And further, what if he had stated that if his vision didn’t pan out right away, he had a short-term Plan B that could also move him in the direction of his long-term goals? The adcom would have seen him as an applicant who was ambitious and passionate, realistic about his situation, and prepared to navigate it.
Your goals need to be specific, credible, well-articulated, engaging, and – ideally – exciting. But how do you craft them for your goals essay? This article will walk you through that process step by step.
Focusing on what you want to do
“I want to move from the buy side to the sell side.”
“I want to shift from technology consulting to investment banking.”
Sorry, these are not goals.
A goal isn’t something you want. A goal is something you plan to do. It has multiple facets: something you want to achieve, an impact you want to have, and the process you plan to implement to get there. Therefore, a goal needs to be specific and include practical steps. As the author of The Little Prince said, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
The two key components of an MBA goal are industry and function. For many people, geography could be a third key component, if it is integral to the goal (e.g., developing solar energy in northern Africa).
What will the work you hope to do actually consist of? What do you hope to accomplish? These details flesh out your goals.
Here are some examples that incorporate these key elements:
- “I plan to return to operations but work at a higher, decision-making level, such as Senior Operations Manager, in an East Asian semiconductor firm. In this role, I would, for example, oversee $XXX operations and a global high-tech supply chain, while managing a diverse range of technical and business professionals. I hope to promote stability in the sector during a time of geopolitical and economic turmoil.”
- “Currently, I’m a BPR consultant; I plan to shift to strategy consulting at a top global firm, such as Bain or McKinsey, ideally focusing on clients in the pharma/biomedical space and helping them establish and sustain operations in Eastern Europe.”
Writing an energetic and dynamic MBA goals essay
It’s essential to write goals that are clear, credible, and convincing. But can you make them exciting? For competitive MBA programs especially, getting the admissions reader engaged with your goals is your ultimate objective; you want them to feel invested in helping you achieve your goals. As the admissions reader is reading your essay, you want them to think, “Wow, it would be great if this applicant could do that!” Inspiring the reader’s engagement and enthusiasm is what you should aim for with your goals essay. As all my clients have probably heard me say, you want to turn your reader into your cheerleader.
To get your readers excited by your essay – and your candidacy – you need to deliver “goals plus.” This explains how your goals developed as the result of your experiences and describes your motivation and vision to achieve them. Let’s define those terms.
- Experience means when, where, and how your goals developed, their “origin story.” This element adds to your story’s credibility.
- Motivation is that spark point, that “Aha!” moment when something gained traction with you. When did you become so captivated and moved that you wanted to pursue a given path?
- Vision is the broader impact of achieving the goal, beyond your own immediate efforts.
These three elements will likely be intertwined. Here is a brief example taken from a sample goals essay:
“Last year, when I was consulting with a team in Taiwan, advising a global financial services company on consolidating its Asia strategy, I found myself thinking what a shame it was that our relationship with the client proved responsive rather than proactive. With my knowledge of the region’s changing demographic and logistical realities, I could have recommended strategic opportunities a year earlier to prevent the client from getting bogged down in redundant acquisitions and incompatible markets. Based on this realization, I envisioned a new consulting paradigm resembling primary care medicine, based on a long-term, prevention-focused relationship between the consultant and client.”
Adding experience, motivation, and vision turns your goals from static to dynamic. And here are three other advantages of “goals plus”:
- They enhance your credibility, based on your personal experience.
- They differentiate you and your goals because it’s your story and innately unique.
- The create a more memorable story than you would have with pure exposition.
Unpacking your short- and long-term goals
Goals often need to be broken down into short-term, intermediate, and long-term objectives. It helps to have this broader picture in your mind, regardless of where you’ll focus in a particular essay. Short-term refers to the time frame immediately post-MBA to about two years later, intermediate covers the time about two to five years post-MBA, and long-term applies to the time following that. Often, essays ask for short- and long-term goals, but you’ll need to know your intermediate goals as well to bridge the short and long term.
Your short-term goals should be the most specific, for obvious reasons, and also because they link directly to the MBA program. As you describe successive steps in your career that reach further into the future, it makes sense to offer both less detail and less certainty.
Your short-term goals operate as a stepping-stone toward achieving your long-term goals; therefore, when you are describing them, in addition to saying what you’ll do, discuss what you will learn and the experience you will gain, and how these factors will facilitate the achievement of your longer-term goals. Keep in mind, however, that short-term goals are not only a bridge. You should also include the impact you hope to have at that stage of your post-MBA career.
Responding to specific goals questions
Different sets of essay questions will emphasize different aspects of your goals; your essays will need to be of different lengths and have different tones. Some will be open, while others will be focused and directed. The key is to “read” not just the words but the tone of the school’s essay question (i.e., read between the lines). The trend toward short, focused goals essay questions continues, and fewer essay prompts ask for your “vision.” Most adcoms want the facts, straight.
Read for context in each essay prompt: What is the question really emphasizing? Is there an equal focus on the short term and the long term, or does the question mention only post-MBA goals? Be guided by the question as it is specifically worded. Any elements you introduce in your essay should support your main points.
When a school asks why you want an MBA or to attend its particular program, link these points directly to your goals. Show that your goals truly require an MBA education, and explain why the program is the ideal one to help you reach them. The adcoms want to see that you genuinely need the resources they offer, which they view as precious and not to be squandered.
If you can weave a mention of your school visit and/or your interactions with students and alumni into your goals essay, great!
Sharing your backup plan
Think you’re done with MBA goals? Think again. With seemingly permanent global economic volatility, having a backup plan for your immediate post-MBA goal is not only smart planning for you but will also enhance your goal essay’s credibility. It’s particularly important if you’re targeting a difficult-to-enter industry (remember that VC dreamer?) or changing careers. In fact, adcoms have specifically said that they welcome this recognition of reality; it gives them more confidence that you will ultimately land a job.
However, you don’t want to sound undirected or wishy-washy. If you decide to include a backup or “plan B” goal in your essay, focus primarily on your main short-term goal. Then, add up to three sentences about a reasonable alternative you’d consider, explaining how it would also would be a good step toward your longer-term goals. For example, an applicant who is targeting an IT manager role post-MBA with the long-term goal of becoming CIO could have as their backup plan a tech strategy consulting job post-MBA.
Showing your research
I’m frequently surprised at how few people do real-life research into their goals before writing their MBA essays. Digging around on the web for a couple hours and talking to people in careers related to your goals can yield rich detail for your essays. Moreover, mentioning this research in your essay enhances the impression of commitment to your chosen path. Read up on your target industry and its current and future challenges, and conduct informational interviews (see “Stanford MBA Discusses Coffee Chats”) regarding the industry or business function.
Investing in this due diligence will enable you to write intelligently and vividly about your goals. It will make your essay more interesting and help prevent you from making big mistakes, such as the one the Wharton reapplicant at the beginning of this article made. By presenting selected tidbits of your research in your essay, you’ll show the adcom that you’re resourceful and committed, someone who is likely to contribute meaningfully during class.
Don’t spin your wheels trying to identify, define, and write about your goals. Team up with an insightful, expert admissions advisor who can help you get the job done and get accepted. Schedule a free consultation with an Accepted admissions expert today!
After a successful career in business publishing, Cindy Tokumitsu has worked for more than 20 years with Accepted. Every year, Cindy’s clients have been accepted to top MBA, law, and medical programs. Plus, she is a pioneer in the niche of EMBA application consulting. Want an admissions expert to help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!
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