Applying to business school this cycle? Aiming for Round 1 (or later?) and not sure where to start? Deadlines are inching closer every day, but we’ve got you. The first thing you need to do to start writing your essays for business school is to…stop! Yes, take a beat. Assuming that you have already narrowed down your top picks for your MBA, before you put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, more likely), you should take a time-out. Carve out an hour or more from your busy schedule, turn off your phone, set your notifications to “do not disturb,” and don’t pick up the phone for your BFF, boss, or mom (okay, maybe your Mom!).
Give yourself time to pause and breathe. Think. Write out what matters to you most – what gets you excited. How do you want your life to look in 5, 10, 25 years? Consider your goals: personal, professional, and academic. Don’t worry about what the adcom wants to hear – not at this stage. Spend time thinking about why you want to attend business school in the first place. Career pivot? Expand your network? Build new skills? Become an entrepreneur? Work in another part of the world?
The answer will probably involve a combination of things that will ultimately help you achieve your professional goals. Answering this “why” question early will help you piece together many application puzzle pieces and connect those all-important dots from past and present (experience) to future (MBA and career).
Here’s what you need to do to identify and write about your MBA goals.
Define Your Goals!
The first thing you need to do is start defining your MBA goals. The more introspection you do before you start working on drafting your goals essay, the faster and smoother the actual writing will be later on.
To start, make a list of what you have most and least enjoyed about your current and prior roles. What did you love? Where did you feel valued, and where would you like to make a greater contribution in the future? On the other hand, what did you dislike or would prefer to move away from? Lastly, where do you see growth opportunities in your skill set? Next, jot down specific roles and industries that you plan to target and that could logically get you from where you have been to where you want to go.
The goal here is to convey what you plan to do post-MBA in a way that is compelling, interesting, and makes sense. If you want to make a big career pivot, explain why and how you intend to do that (e.g., through coursework or desired major, exposure to certain professors, your anticipated network, career opportunities). You want to think about how your goals align with your experiences and how those experiences have not only prepared you for your goals but also helped you define them. So, how do you go beyond the obvious?
Here are some tips to help you write a compelling, extraordinary MBA goals essay.
1. Distinguish between short-term and long-term goals.
Spell out both your short-term and long-term ambitions by discussing specific roles, industries, target firms, and/or entrepreneurial plans. These positions, companies, and industries could change as you transition from the short term to the long term, but you should be able to demonstrate a common thread between the two. Keep in mind that your short-term objective should serve as a stepping-stone to your long-term vision. Refer to specific job titles and companies (or your target industry, if your goals are entrepreneurial) to further illustrate how much you’ve thought about your future.
2. Explain how you intend to make an impact.
Don’t talk merely about what you want to get out of an experience but also about the effect you want to have on the people you encounter and the industry during that time. B-schools are looking for contributors, for individuals who want to make a positive impact in their respective fields. The details that surround your MBA goals, such as your motivation for making a particular impact, are what will make your goals essay stand out from those of your fellow applicants. Details make your essay interesting, credible, and individualized.
3. Research, research, research.
Adcoms want to see ambition, but that ambition should be steeped in reality. Look up hiring trends, services, organizations, market status, products, competitive concerns, and so on at your desired companies. In addition, make sure you know what the school can offer you. There’s no use in telling the adcom you’re excited to focus on a major that isn’t actually offered at the program you’re applying to (oops!). Now is the time to do all this research so that when the admissions officer reviews your essays, your goals make sense and are reflective of what is happening in business and the world, as well as at their institution.
4. Become familiar with the challenges of your chosen industry.
Showing awareness of current business challenges and world events goes hand-in-hand with doing your research. How is the market affecting your target industry? What about possible future trends? Consider the challenges that lie ahead, the role that you might play, and how you would navigate that environment.
5. Consider why your target position(s) and industry appeal to you.
Some essay questions might or might not ask specifically about your motivations for pursuing your particular goals, but you should nevertheless keep your motivations in mind while you’re writing. This will help you present a more engaging story with a stronger message, which will subsequently help your essay stand out. Why do you want to transition to fintech, banking, or consulting? What genuinely interests and excites you about those industries and potential roles? Even bigger than that, what matters to you deeply? You’ll be surprised how really thinking through those big questions can inspire you to hit the ground running, writing-wise.
Following these steps during the prewriting stage of your goals essay will help you formulate a clear, compelling, and original portrayal of what your goals are. It will also make writing your essay quicker and less painful. Use your time wisely, and pace yourself – your applications will be due before you know it!
Kara Keenan Sweeney has more than 15 years of experience in MBA admissions, having worked for some of the world’s top business school programs, including Columbia Business School, INSEAD, and The Lauder Institute’s joint degree MA/MBA program with The Wharton School and the MA/JD program with Penn Law at the University of Pennsylvania. Kara has guided, coached, and counseled thousands of MBA and EMBA applicants, reviewed innumerable applications, sat on admissions committees, and interviewed countless applicants, including while running Wharton’s Team Based Discussions both virtually and in person. Want Kara to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!
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