INSEAD Essay Question Analyses and Deadlines 2010-11

From INSEAD’s website:

http://mba.insead.edu/admissions/dates_deadlines.cfm

Deadlines for September 2011 Intake (Class of July 2012)

1st Round
Deadline: 29 September 2010
Interview Decision: 5 November 2010
Final Decision: 17 December 2010

2nd Round
Deadline: 1 December 2010
Interview Decision: 14 January 2011
Final Decision: 25 February 2011

3rd Round
Deadline: 9 March 2011
Interview Decision: 15 April 2011
Final Decision: 27 May 2011

Deadlines for January 2012 Intake (Class of December 2012)

1st Round
Deadline: 30 March 2011
Interview Decision: 13 May 2011
Final Decision: 24 June 2011

2nd Round
Deadline: 15 June 2011
Interview Decision: 22 July 2011
Final Decision: 2 September 2011

3rd Round
Deadline: 3 August 2011
Interview Decision: 9 September 2011
Final Decision: 14 October 2011

Please note the following:

“*To be included in a specific round, applications must be complete and submitted by midnight (23.59) Central European Time on the day of deadline.

Competition for each round is relatively equal, so there is generally little advantage to be gained by early application.  Whenever you apply, please make sure that you submit a complete and well-prepared application pack.”

INSEAD has two sets of essays – one that is related specifically to the details of your work, and the other more personal. I write my comments and tips below:

Job-related Essays

1. Please give a detailed description of your job, including nature of work, major responsibilities; and, where relevant, employees under your supervision, size of budget, number of clients/products and results achieved. (250 words)

These two job-related essays are straightforward and you need to just answer the questions directly, giving the admissions committee the information and facts they are looking for. This means that you do not need to tell any personal story related to your work here. Unemployed at the moment? Describe your most recent position. You can explain what you have been doing during your unemployment in the 2nd essay below, and/or in the optional essay.

2. Please give us a full description of your career since graduating from university. If you were to remain with your present employer, what would be your next step in terms of position? (250 words)

Describe your career progress since graduating from university. You’ll end up mentioning some of the same information that’s on your resume, but be sure you’re not simply cutting and pasting from your resume. Use this space to explain your career growth in a way that you can’t on your resume. Things to consider: Why did you choose the path that you did? Why were you promoted? What had you contributed overall? The admissions committee wants to understand, in a nutshell, how you got to where you are now.

Essays

1. Give a candid description of yourself, stressing the personal characteristics you feel to be your strengths and weaknesses and the main factors, which have influenced your development, giving examples when necessary. (400 words approx.)

This is a personal essay that requires you to reflect honestly on yourself. When discussing strengths and weaknesses, choose personal characteristics (as instructed) rather than skills or areas of expertise. Some people confuse the two and write about their intellectual or professional abilities. However, INSEAD wants to know about you as a person. And when choosing your weakness(es), be honest and prudent at the same time. INSEAD wants you to be self-aware enough to write about a real flaw, but you also don’t want to make them nervous by discussing a weakness that is serious enough to raise doubts about your desirability as a candidate. (Hint: Lack of confidence, a bad temper, and poor communication ability are examples that will put your application at great risk.)

Finally, you should support your essay with details of the experiences/people that have shaped you and show the reader how you have displayed those qualities in your adult life.

2. Describe what you believe to be your two most substantial accomplishments to date, explaining why you view them as such. (400 words approx.)

This is very straightforward. When choosing your examples, try and find ones that show different aspects of your experiences and abilities. Talk about what you did and what impact you had made.

3. Describe a situation taken from school, business, civil or military life, where you did not meet your personal objectives, and discuss briefly the effect. (250 words approx.)

You are asked to talk about a time when you failed somehow, where you couldn’t achieve what you had hoped. This is a question about dealing with setback and learning from experience. They want to know what happened, how you dealt with it, and how you have grown from the experience.

4. Discuss your career goals. What skills do you expect to gain from studying at INSEAD and how will they contribute to your professional career? (500 words approx.)

In writing this essay be sure to address your short and long term goals, the areas you need to develop through an MBA program, and how INSEAD can help you in that endeavor. This is the essay where the admissions committee will confirm your professional focus and sincerity in attending their school. Are you realistic in terms of your career plan? Have you thought it through, perhaps even spoken to people in your target field? Have you researched well INSEAD’s offerings? How well you have done your homework will show clearly in this essay.

5. Please choose one of the following two essay topics:

The following two essays are used to get a sense of your cultural sensitivity. This is important to INSEAD as INSEAD focuses on global business and has an unusually diverse student body.

a) Have you ever experienced culture shock? What did it mean to you? (250 words approx.), or

This is a good option if you have experienced hardship adjusting to or accepting some aspects of another culture. While culture is not limited to geography (e.g., you could talk about culture shock in terms of a different work environment, gender, etc.), I would recommend writing about culture shock as it relates to other countries (Option B below gives us an idea of what INSEAD is looking for in this set of questions).

Culture shock is the uncomfortable set of feelings one experiences when encountering certain unfamiliar aspects of another culture. It could be confusion, surprise, anger, fear, etc. Think about a time when you had experienced something like this, and talk about what that experience was like. What was it, how did you react or deal with it, and how have you changed or grown as a result?

b) What would you say to a foreigner moving to your home country? (250 words approx.)

This is an option for those who have not had much experience interacting with other cultures, or who have not traveled or traveled much outside their home countries. In this case, what would you say to someone visiting your country? How would you describe your country? What advice would you give to him or her in terms of adjusting to or understanding your country? Being able to see your country from a foreigner’s point of view and thereby being able to anticipate what advice the foreigner might need shows cultural sensitivity.

6. Is there anything that you have not mentioned in the above essays that you would like the Admissions Committee to know? (200 words approx.) This essay is optional.

Use this essay to discuss any aspect of your candidacy that you haven’t yet had a chance to share with the admissions committee. If discussing another story, be sure it provides a perspective not offered by the other essays in the set. Otherwise, if you have a potential concern in your application (e.g., no current supervisor recommendation, poor or mediocre grades or test scores, employment gap(s)), please explain that here.

7. In case of reapplication, please use this page. Your essay should state any new aspects of professional, international, academic or personal development since your last application. We would also like you to explain your motivation for re-applying to INSEAD. This essay should not exceed 400 words.

This is a straightforward question asking reapplicants to update their applications. Since you were denied in the past, what efforts have you made to become a stronger candidate? Why do you still wish to attend INSEAD?

Wharton Essay Question Analyses and Deadlines 2010-11

Please find below the deadlines for the regular 2-year MBA program and my comments/tips (beside the vertical orange bars) on the essay questions. (For deadline and essay question information for the MBA/MA Lauder program please refer to the Wharton website.) Wharton has changed its essay questions dramatically, and has done away with its traditionally long essay about goals and “Why Wharton.” They ask several specific questions to get at the qualities that they are looking for, and this essay set requires you to tailor your stories to Wharton.

All deadlines are 5:00 p.m. EST.

From Wharton’s website:

Fall 2010 Essay Questions

The Admissions Committee is interested in getting to know you on both a professional and personal level. We encourage you to be introspective, candid, and succinct. Most importantly, we suggest you be yourself.

Required Question:

What are your professional objectives? (300 words)

This is a shortened version of their traditionally long goals essay question. In 300 words or fewer, you are to state your future career goals. You can go ahead and explain briefly why you wish to attend Wharton as well. My sense here is that they are more interested in finding out about you, and can make their own determination as to whether or not you are the right fit based on the three longer essays below.

Respond to 3 of the following 4 questions:

1. Student and alumni engagement has at times led to the creation of innovative classes. For example, through extraordinary efforts, a small group of current students partnered with faculty to create a timely course entitled, “Disaster Response: Haiti and Beyond,” empowering students to leverage the talented Wharton community to improve the lives of the Haiti earthquake victims. Similarly, Wharton students and alumni helped to create the “Innovation and the Indian Healthcare Industry” which took students to India where they studied the full range of healthcare issues in India. If you were able to create a Wharton course on any topic, what would it be? (700 words)

This is an essay in which you can demonstrate your creativity, awareness of current and pressing societal issues, professional skills and experiences, personal qualities, future vision and potential to contribute to the Wharton community and beyond. A strong and credible essay would include your vision for a relevant course rooted in your own experience and expertise. Let’s say that you’d like to create a course to address the topic of microfinance. (And, by the way, you are not restricted to writing about topics related to developing countries.) Why would you be the right person to develop this course? What experiences, skills and knowledge do you have that will enable you to do this? Why is this course important and why would it be relevant (or be of interest) to Wharton students? What would be your mission in the course? When writing this essay, make sure that you focus not just on the future and the hypothetical but also on your own strengths and expertise. Ultimately, this essay is a way for them to learn more about you as a candidate.

2. Reflect on a time when you turned down an opportunity. What was the thought process behind your decision? Would you make the same decision today? (600 words)

There is no right or wrong answer to this question, as some applicants will talk about a lost opportunity that they do not regret, while others may talk about having done things differently. Again, the admissions committee wants to get better insight into you as a person, and is more interested in understanding how you go about making decisions. The key question here is “What was the thought process behind your decision?” They are asking for an honest, reflective and thoughtful response. In business and especially in high level management, executives are asked to make significant decisions on a regular basis. Sometimes they must do so with limited time and limited information. Wharton wants to know how you go about making decisions. Are you thoughtful? Do you weigh carefully the different options available? What risks do you take? If you do regret a decision, what have you learned from it?

3. Describe a failure that you have experienced. What role did you play, and what did you learn about yourself? How did this experience help to create your definition of failure? (600 words)

This is a standard question with a slight challenge at the end. It is important for business schools to understand how you respond to failure. No person will go through a career without making mistakes, and here it is not the mistake that the admissions committee cares about but your follow up and lessons. They want to know if you have taken the time to reflect on what you did and, if so, what you had gained from it. They want to see honesty, maturity and growth. In choosing an appropriate topic, don’t be afraid to go with a fairly big failure. The important thing is telling them what you learned as a result.

As for your own definition of failure as a result of this experience, think about what failure means to you. How would you define it? Is it a terrible? Is it a reflection of your character, or something else? What does it tell you about yourself? Think about what “failure” means to you now that you have experienced it.

4. Discuss a time when you navigated a challenging experience in either a personal or professional relationship. (600 words) 

Wharton wants to know how you handle conflict and difficulty, since this is something that you will inevitably go through in your future career, and how successful you are at managing relationships will be key in determining how successful you will be in your work. The word to pay attention to here is “navigated.” Show the process, how you dealt with with this person and evolved the relationship. And though they say “personal” here, I would limit the use of personal topics – e.g., no discussion of romantic relationships or other relationships that involve issues not relevant to business school. 

Tags: advice, MBA deadlines, MBA essay questions, Wharton

Stanford GSB Application Deadlines for Class Entering 2011

Stanford has announced its deadlines for the upcoming application season. On their website they recommend applying in R1, if you have the possibility, citing unusual competition in the 2nd round in recent years.

I include the deadlines below. Please go to their site at http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/mba/admission/application_deadlines.html for further details.

Application Deadlines for Class of 2013
(Entering Fall 2011)

Application Round:  1
Submit your application by:  October 6, 2010*
We will notify you on:  December 15, 2010**
Your reply & deposit are due by:  TBD

Application Round:  2
Submit your application by:  January 6, 2010*
We will notify you on:  March 30, 2010**
Your reply & deposit are due by:  TBD

Application Round:  3
Submit your application by:  April 6, 2011*
We will notify you on:  May 18, 2011**
Your reply & deposit are due by:  TBD

* Applications are due by 5:00 PM, Pacific Time

** On the decision notification date, you will be offered admission, denied admission, or offered a place in the waitpool.

Tags: MBA deadlines, Stanford

Harvard Business School Essay Question Analysis 2010-11

Please find below the instructions and essay questions from the HBS website along with my analyses:

Essays for the Class of 2013

As an opportunity to present your distinctive qualities, your essays are an important part of your MBA application. You will be asked to submit your personal statements online with the balance of your application materials. Essays should be single-spaced. Please limit your response to the length indicated.

All applicants must submit answers to four essay questions. The first two questions are required of all applicants. The remaining two essays should be in response to your choice of the next four sub-questions.

Joint program applicants for the Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Kennedy School must provide an additional essay.

Essays:

• What are your three most substantial accomplishments and why do you view them as such? (600-word limit)

Analysis:

The classic HBS question. Accomplishments mean achievement and impact. In what ways have you stretched yourself, gone above and beyond, and made an impact on others? The examples you choose should represent you well, meaning, as much as possible, combine professional examples with an academic, community or personal example. However, your own combination will depend on your own experiences. Do not force a weak example simply to diversify your stories. Try to find a balance between quality and diversity.

• What have you learned from a mistake? (400-word limit)

Analysis:

HBS wants to know how self-aware you are and how willing you are to learn from your mistakes. That is the main point of this question, not how badly you have messed up. So be honest in the mistake you choose and don’t be afraid of showing a weakness. Describe what you did wrong, but show how you handled it and what you learned from it.

Please respond to two of the following (400-word limit each):

1. What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience?

Analysis:

This is a question designed more for recent graduates who have fewer professional experiences to talk about. If you had a rich undergraduate life and you didn’t attend university too long ago, this may be a good option for you. I often get asked if it is okay to talk about non-academic experience. My answer is yes, as long as you are not talking only about your club and sports activities. That is, your answer needs to discuss your academic and intellectual work even if you want to talk about other activities as well. Questions to think about: What kind of a student were you? Were you intellectually curious? What kinds of intellectual pursuits did you have? If you were also active outside the classroom, talk about that too: leadership, community involvement, etc. Your experience as an undergraduate student will give the admissions board an idea of what kind of HBS student and leader you might be.

2.   What is your career vision and why is this choice meaningful to you?

Analysis:

This is more or less the standard goals essay, although many people ask me why HBS uses the expression “career vision” instead of “career goals” which is used by most other schools. HBS wants to know more than just the concrete things that you plan to do after graduation (e.g., become Director of Marketing); they want to know what your mission and career plan and path are (e.g., serve consumers in developing countries through a position as Director of Marketing). “Vision” is what you see for your future: what do you hope to do, what are the steps you will take to get there, what fundamental value, belief or desire is driving this career path for you? However, don’t get overly anxious about this essay question; if you write all your essays well, this goals essay should not be any different from the goals essays you write for other schools. The one difference between HBS’s goals essay and that of other schools, though, is that you don’t need to spend a lot of time convincing them why HBS is your top choice.

3. Tell us about a time in your professional experience when you were frustrated or disappointed.

Analysis:

This is a completely new question for this year. Through this essay the admissions committee wants to see how you deal with setback, when things don’t go your way. As usual, choose an episode and give enough context to explain what frustrated or disappointed you. Then focus on the main message, which is how you reacted and dealt with the situation. Please keep in mind that, if you choose to write this essay, you’d need to use a different story from the mistake essay above. The two topics sound similar but are different.

4. When you join the HBS Class of 2013, how will you introduce yourself to your new classmates?

Analysis:

Another brand new essay question. Keep in mind that this is a self-introduction to your future classmates. Reading between the lines, it means that it’s alright to cover some more personal topics here as well. What would you say to your new classmates – what would you like them to know about you? Cover the different areas of your background, values and personality but make sure you do more than simply regurgitate your resume. Let the reader get to know more about you as a person here.

Joint degree applicants:

• How do you expect the joint degree experience to benefit you on both a professional and a personal level? (400-word limit)

Analysis:

This is a straightforward question asking you to talk about why you need the joint degree/joint degree experience. They want to know how studying for both degrees will help you professionally and personally.

Tags: advice, HBS, MBA deadlines, MBA essay questions

Harvard Business School Application Deadlines for Class Entering 2011

The following is from the HBS blog:

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………

Class of 2013 – Launching the Application Season

from HBS MBA Program

Below are the key dates for the upcoming application season:

Round 1
Application deadline – Friday, October 1, 2010 at 12:00 noon EST
Decision notification – Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Round 2
Application deadline – Tuesday, January 11, 2011 at 12:00 noon EST
Decision notification – Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Round 3
Application deadline – TBD
Decision notification – TBD

We are “TBD” on Round 3 – final dates will be determined in early July as we assess how much of an overlap we need with the 2+2 application timeline.

The application for the Class of 2013 will go live the week of June 21. To view the essay and recommender questions now, please visit the Written Application page on our website.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

For more information on HBS admissions, please visit their website at http://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions

Stayed tuned this week, as I’ll post my analyses and tips for their essay questions. If you really can’t wait to see the analyses, you can check out my post from last season here: http://www.revecounseling.com/blog/?cat=12

A few of the questions have changed but the rest are the same.

Tags: HBS, MBA deadlines

Kellogg School of Management 2009-10 Essay Question Analyses and Deadlines

Kellogg has a complex and dizzying table of deadlines so let me try my best to organize them here (please note that you need to first submit a short Part 1 application (where you can make your request for either an on- or off-campus interview) before you can submit Part 2 (which is the traditional application set with the essays, transcripts, etc.)

from: http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/Programs/FullTimeMBA/Applying/Deadlines.aspx

And here are the essay questions for MBA applicants (I did not include the joint MBA/JD questions here) with my comments. The instructions below are from the on-line application:

~ ~ ~ ~

When uploading your essay, please include at least a one-inch top margin on each page, and re-state the question at the beginning of the essay.

MBA Program applicants
1. Briefly assess your career progress to date. Elaborate on your future career plans and your motivation for pursuing a graduate degree at Kellogg. (600 word limit)

The standard goals question. Be sure to start your essay with a discussion of how, professionally, you went from Point A to Point B (etc.) to where you are today. Be clear about what you want to do post-MBA (short and long term) and how Kellogg fits into your overall plans.

MBA and MMM Program applicants
2. Describe your key leadership experiences and evaluate what leadership areas you hope to develop through your MBA experience. (600 word limit)

Please make sure you notice that Kellogg is asking for a description of your key leadership experiences plural and please use your best judgment as to how many you wish to write about. Given the word limit, I generally recommend writing about two key experiences which provide different insights into your strengths (e.g., one professional example and one sports or community example; one “thought” leadership episode and one “people” leadership episode). Lastly, don’t forget to conclude the essay with a thoughtful assessment of what other aspect(s) of leadership you’d like to strengthen and develop at Kellogg.

MBA and MMM Program applicants
Assume you are evaluating your application from the perspective of a student member of the Kellogg Admissions Committee. Why would your peers select you to become a member of the Kellogg community? (600 word limit)

This is a different version of a former classic Kellogg essay question in which applicants were asked to evaluate their own applications from the point of view of an admissions officer. This time, you are asked to evaluate your application from the perspective of a student admissions committee member. What’s the difference? In my experience sitting on admissions committees, while faculty dwelled on things like GPAs and test scores, the student members cared much more about what it would be like to actually study and socialize with these prospective students. So, as you write this essay, think about the qualities that your future classmates would care about. (On the flip side, if you were a Kellogg student, what kind of fellow classmate would you want to have?) Consider the contributions you could make, whether abstract or concrete, that would be appreciated by the student body. Are you team-oriented? Do you have unique things to share? What makes you a good fit?

All program applicants
Complete one of the following three questions or statements. (400 word limit)
Re-applicants have the option to answer a question from this grouping, but this is not required.

These short essays are used to round out your application. See what you have covered so far in the essays above, and find the essay below that would best provide that final perspective on your candidacy.

a) Describe a time when you had to make an unpopular decision.

Answering this question provides you an opportunity to show your strength of character, your strong will, your leadership. Making a decision that is not supported by many takes courage, confidence and self-awareness. If you choose this question, be sure you also describe the thinking and reasoning behind your decision.

b) People may be surprised to learn that …

This is an open-ended question that allows you to talk about anything not immediately apparent in your application. Don’t take this question too literally – even if all your friends know that you skydive, the admissions committee won’t, so do use this essay to talk about something “interesting” about yourself. As you make your choice, though, remember that it isn’t necessarily what you write about that’s important, but how you write it. Use your topic as a way to show the reader something more about who you are – e.g., your values, your personal qualities, etc.

c) I wish the admissions committee had asked me …

And finally, this is the most open-ended question of the three options, just in case neither A nor B gives you the freedom to talk about what you want to. Again, consider what you have talked about in your essays so far and write about something that balances out the rest of the essays. Make sure that whatever you choose to write about provides deeper insight into who you are as a person.

Re-applicants Only (required essay)
Since your previous application, what steps have you taken to strengthen your candidacy? (400 word limit)

Admissions committees don’t want to see the exact same application from last year, but would like to see that you have been serious enough about your MBA studies to take steps to improve your candidacy. Perhaps you took on a significant project at work or further worked on a skill that you wanted to develop. If your test scores weren’t impressive last time, perhaps you retook the GMAT and/or TOEFL and did better. Or maybe last time you simply weren’t 100% focused in terms of career goal and your target schools, and over the last several months you’ve talked to people in the field and done more research on Kellogg. Explain to the committee how you have tried to improve yourself since your last application.

Tuck School of Business 2009-10 Essay Question Analyses and Deadlines

My apologies again for disappearing! I finally got caught up on most of my work for the first round and decided to work on the Tuck question analyses. Last year, Moto and I were invited as representatives from Japan to attend the international advisors conference at Tuck and we got to experience first-hand the very warm and close-knit atmosphere that former students had raved to us about. Tuck really is a unique environment in terms of how caring and nurturing everyone is. In your application, you’ll want to make sure that you come across as someone who would fit into and thrive in such an environment. Team players will make excellent applicants.

As usual, here are the deadlines, essay questions, and my comments:

Please refer to the school’s website for further details about scholarship deadlines, etc.

http://www.tuck.dartmouth.edu/admissions/dates/index.html

And, from their website:

Please respond fully but concisely to the following essay questions. Compose each of your
answers offline in separate document files and upload them individually in the appropriate
spaces below. Although there is no restriction on the length of your response, most applicants
use, on average, 500 words for each essay. There are no right or wrong answers.
Please double-space your responses.

1. Why is an MBA a critical next step toward your short- and long-term career goals? Why is
Tuck the best MBA program for you? (If you are applying for a joint or dual degree, please
explain how the additional degree will contribute to those goals.)

This is the standard goals question. Be sure to add some discussion of your career and how it relates to your goals. And remember to do extensive research on Tuck so you can explain specifically why their program is a good fit for you.

2. Tuck defines leadership as “inspiring others to strive and enabling them to accomplish
great things.” We believe great things and great leadership can be accomplished in pursuit
of business and societal goals. Describe a time when you exercised such leadership.
Discuss the challenges you faced and the results you achieved. What characteristics helped
you to be effective, and what areas do you feel you need to develop in order to be a better
leader?

Leadership can be interpreted quite broadly and here Tuck asks you to write a story of a leadership experience that captures their definition of leadership. Specifically, they would like to hear about a time in which you led, mentored, coached/and or guided team members to accomplish something great as a team. This means you should focus on not an independent achievement that you reached on your own efforts, but rather an experience in which the outcome resulted from the collected efforts of a team – a team which you helped inspire. As you write the essay be sure you describe how you guided your team members to deliver results. And don’t forget to conclude the essay by analyzing briefly your current developmental needs as a leader.

3. Discuss the most difficult constructive criticism or feedback you have received. How did
you address it? What have you learned from it?

In this essay you are asked to talk about a time when someone gave you negative feedback as an effort to educate or promote your growth. Had a boss or team member pointed out something that you could be doing better? If so, what was that “something” and how did you react and what did you learn from the experience of getting this feedback? The admissions committee wants to see how you respond when given constructive criticism. Some people get quite angry or defensive while others use the feedback as an opportunity to reflect and grow.

4. Tuck seeks candidates of various backgrounds who can bring new perspectives to our
community. How will your unique personal history, values, and/or life experiences contribute
to the culture at Tuck?

This is a fairly open-ended question that is meant to find out more about who you are as an individual. Of course, if you wish, you may address your career here since that is part of who you are. But be sure that you  convey the personal-side in you as well. This is an appropriate place to discuss life experiences that have shaped you. Appropriate stories include personal background information (like your family or upbringing), community activities, hobbies, sports…anything that is important to you. And while it is great if you have something very unique to talk about like a childhood growing up in different international cities or major achievements in a hobby, very often what makes the difference in this essay is how you tell the story, rather than what you talk about. Write from your heart and allow your personality and values to show through, and you will have done a good job with this essay.

5. (Optional) Please provide any additional insight or information that you have not
addressed elsewhere that may be helpful in reviewing your application (e.g., unusual
choice of evaluators, weaknesses in academic performance, unexplained job gaps or
changes, etc.). Complete this question only if you feel your candidacy is not fully represented by this application.

You may write an additional essay if you have another story that would add a valuable perspective to your essay set that you couldn’t include anywhere else. Otherwise, use this space only for explaining any potential areas of concern as listed above.

6. (To be completed by all reapplicants) How have you strengthened your candidacy since
you last applied? Please reflect on how you have grown personally and professionally.

Tuck, like most business schools, doesn’t want you to just recycle your old application if you are reapplying. There is a reason they denied your admission last year, so they want to know that you have made efforts to improve your candidacy since. When writing this essay, reflect on the time since your last application and discuss the ways that you have improved. Did you take on additional responsibilities at work or perhaps got promoted? Did you continue to work on and improve your test scores? Did you talk to more people about Tuck and perhaps found more reasons why it is the perfect fit for you? At the same time, make sure you are reflecting on your growth rather than simply listing a string of new achievements.

UCLA Anderson 2009-10 Essay Question Analyses and Deadlines

Deadlines are 21:00 Pacific time:

from the school website http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/x5794.xml

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:  Please be introspective and authentic in your responses. We value the opportunity to learn about your life experiences, aspirations, and goals.

All responses to essays must be on double-spaced pages that are uploaded in document form, except for Essay 4 for first-time applicants, which may be submitted as an audio or video file instead. (Please note the word limits in parentheses.)

First-time applicants — 4 required essays:

1. Describe the ways in which your family and/or community have helped shape your development. (750 words)

This essay requires you to do a bit of self-reflection and self-analysis. You’ll need to think back and consider how your family and/or community impacted the person you are today – your personality, your values. Consider first the kind of person you are today. Are you someone who’s faced a lot of challenges but who’s always stayed strong before them? Do you have an unusually high ability to adapt? Do you have exceptional people skills and ability to understand others? Next, look back on your life and try to remember who and what had influenced the development of those characteristics and values. Many will write about their parents and/or other family members (grandparents, siblings). Others might want to write about a teacher, or a school or sports community. Perhaps you were influenced by a combination of people/groups. The important thing is to talk about how you were impacted by these early influences and then show examples of the person you’ve become.

2. Describe the biggest risk you have ever taken, the outcome, and what you learned in the process. (500 words)

The topic you choose for this essay could be personal or professional, but it should show your capacity for taking risks. Anderson focuses on entrepreneurship, and it will look for applicants who have the traits of an entrepreneur/innovator. Usually these people show higher levels of risk-taking than the general population.

When you write your story, remember that the focus is on what you did and what you learned. Don’t worry if the risk didn’t end up being a success (for example, you attempted to become an actor but you failed to get any parts); what UCLA is looking for is the mindset and courage that allowed you to try something new and to go outside your comfort zone.

3. Describe your short-term and long-term career goals.  What is your motivation for pursuing an MBA now and how will UCLA Anderson help you to achieve your goals? (750 words)

Another straightforward goals question. UCLA, too, has a distinctive MBA program so be sure you properly research the school before writing this essay. You want to make sure you can explain why Anderson’s collaborative and diverse community and innovation-based curriculum is a good match for you.

4. Select and respond to one of the two following questions. We would like you to respond to the question by recording an audio or video response, 1-2 minutes long (up to 5 MB maximum), for upload in the online application.  (Please note: The supported file types for audio files are:  .avi, .wav, .mp3, .wmv, .midi, .wma, .aiff, .au, .mp4; the supported file types for video files are:  .mov, .avi, .wmv, .mpeg). If you are unable to submit your response via audio or video, then please prepare a written response instead. (250 words)

While Anderson doesn’t require a spoken response, it is clear that they prefer it. Unless there is absolutely no way you can record your voice, you really should make the effort to send in a sound or video file. I suggest drafting a 250-word essay and then practicing reading it out loud before recording yourself. Have someone else listen to the recording to confirm that your pronunciation is clear and that your pace is appropriate.

a. Entrepreneurship is a mindset that embraces innovation and risk-taking within both established and new organizations.  Describe an instance in which you exhibited this mindset.

It is clear what UCLA cares about! Have you ever shown innovation or a risk-taking attitude? Talk about that time. You don’t need to have started your own business or organization to write this essay; any time that you created something new (even within an established organization), tried a new solution, etc. would qualify you as having an entrepreneurial mindset. They are mainly interested in how you think outside the box, beyond established norms.

b.  What is something people will find surprising about you?

This is an open-ended question and they’re giving you the chance to tell them something that they may not have thought to ask you about. When considering this topic, take a look at the rest of your essays, and see if there is something compelling or interesting about you that you have not been able to convey in your other stories. 

OPTIONAL: Are there any extenuating circumstances in your profile about which the Admissions Committee should be aware? (250 words)

Again, they’re giving you a chance to explain to them something that you feel they must know. As their essay set is pretty comprehensive, I would recommend using this essay only to discuss any areas of concern – e.g., lack of recommendation letter from a current supervisor, job gaps, low test scores and GPA, etc.

Reapplicants

Reapplicants who applied for the entering Fall 2008 or 2009 class have a different set of requirements than first-time applicants. Instead of submitting two letters of recommendation and the four regular essays, reapplicants are required to submit precisely one new letter of recommendation and the two essays below. The Admissions committee will refer to your previous application when considering your admission, but a complete new application must be submitted on-line. Begin your complete new application by creating a new PIN.

Reapplicants — 2 required essays:

1. Please describe your career progress since you last applied and ways in which you have enhanced your candidacy. Include updates on short-term and long-term career goals, as well as your continued interest in UCLA Anderson. (750 words)

This is the reapplicants’ version of the goals essay. The only thing that is different is that you’d need to focus on the year that has passed since you applied. What have you been up to this past year? What did you accomplish at work? As instructed, you should also address your goals, to either confirm the same ones from last year or to discuss how they have evolved since last year. You should also talk again about why UCLA is the best fit for you and it would be nice if you could update them with further research you have conducted on the school. In other words, you don’t want to just copy and paste the same text from your past application but talk about how you took steps to continue learning about UCLA.

2. Describe the biggest risk you have ever taken, the outcome, and what you learned in the process. (500 words)

See above.

3. OPTIONAL: Are there any extenuating circumstances in your profile about which the Admissions Committee should be aware? (250 words)

See above.

Reapplicants should also note that all standardized test scores (GMAT, TOEFL, IELTS, et cetera) remain on file for several years, so they should not be resent; we do indeed have them. Transcripts should only be resent if additional coursework has been completed since the first application has been submitted.

Columbia Business School 2009-10 Essay Question Analyses and Deadlines

Here are Columbia’s deadlines and essay questions. Please note that Columbia is one of the few business schools that uses a rolling admissions system, meaning they make their selection decisions on pretty much a first-come, first-serve basis. This explains why they have a separate date for their “application review;” this is the date on which they begin reading applications, and they will continue to do so until the deadline. However, in between these two dates they will be making offers, wait list decisions, and rejections, meaning they are forming the class with each passing day. If Columbia is a top choice, please be sure to submit your application as early as you can within your target application review period.

*Candidates wishing to be considered for merit-based fellowships must submit their applications by 11:59 EST on this date.

Below I have cut and pasted their instructions and essay questions from their on-line application. As usual, my comments are included beneath each question.

http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/mba/learnmore

**By the way, a word about the word limit: since Columbia provides a “recommended word limit,” I would take that to mean that you can write an essay that hovers around their given number. Their word limit is a target or guideline, and as long as you can come close to it, it’s fine.

Dual Degree applicants: Please address the following questions within your response to Essay 1: How will the Dual Degree enhance your short-term or long-term goals?

Reapplicants: If you have applied to Columbia Business School within the past year, you are required to submit only the reapplication essay [scroll down to the bottom of the list]. If your last application was more than one year ago, you must answer essays 1, 2, and 3.

Essay 1
What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals? How will Columbia Business School help you achieve these goals? (Recommended 750 word limit)

This is the standard goals essay in which you have to explain your plans for the future (and, in the process, a bit about your career/career progression) and your reasons in choosing Columbia’s MBA program. Be sure to do thorough research of their program. Columbia prides itself on its innovative and hands-on curriculum and philosophy of teaching students how to respond to rapidly changing circumstances. You should be able to explain how this kind of curriculum and atmosphere fit in with your goals.

Essay 2
Master Classes are the epitome of bridging the gap between theory and practice at Columbia Business School. (View link below) Please provide an example from your own life in which practical experience taught you more than theory alone. (Recommended 500 word limit)

View with Real Player: http://merlin.gsb.columbia.edu:8080/ramgen/video1/faculty/MasterClass-promo.rm

A number of applicants have some trouble with this essay, mainly because they don’t quite grasp what the question is really asking. I would recommend (of course) that you first check the link that they have included, as it will explain more about what they mean by theory vs. practice. Once you have done that, try to think of an experience in which the reality of implementing something differed from what you had assumed from pure study alone. Had you learned something in the classroom, only to realize it didn’t work perfectly once you actually tried to do it? Did you believe something about business, only to see that it didn’t include certain critical factors once you tried to apply the concept in real life? Talk about that experience and what it taught you.

Essay 3
Please provide an example of a team failure of which you’ve been a part. If given a second chance, what would you do differently? (Recommended 500 word limit)

This is a twist on the traditional failure essay. Here you are asked to talk about a team failure, something that your group as a whole did not do well in. When talking about this story, though, be sure to discuss both the team failure and your contribution to that failure. What role did you play? Remember that you are the only person the admissions committee is interested in, so don’t dwell on the mistakes of others but rather analyze what you didn’t do. Even if other team members played a bigger role in the failure, think about what you could have done to have prevented the outcome. Perhaps you could have communicated better with your team mates, or have provided more training or support.

Optional Essay
Is there any further information that you wish to provide to the Admissions Committee? (Please use this space to provide an explanation of any areas of concern in your academic record or your personal history.)

If there is anything unusual or that may be of concern (no recommendation from a current supervisor, poor grades or test scores, employment gaps, etc.) to the admissions committee, be sure to explain that here. Otherwise, if you have a compelling story that you wish to share but were not able to include in the essay set, you may use this space to write your essay. For example, if you wrote only work-related stories above, you may want to use this essay to talk about something more personal.

Reapplication Essay

How have you enhanced your candidacy since your previous application? Please detail your progress since you last applied and reiterate your short-term and long-term goals. Explain how the tools of the Columbia MBA will help you to meet your goals and how you plan to participate in the Columbia community . (Recommended 750 word limit).

This is a straightforward question that wants to see how you have reflected on your growth and candidacy since your last application. Perhaps you took on more responsibility at work or improved your test scores. If you won any award or honors or promotion (etc.), be sure to discuss that too. Be sure you are not just copying and pasting last year’s goals essay, but take the time to write a new one based on who you are at this point in your career and life.

UC Berkeley Haas School of Business 2009-10 Deadlines and Essay Question Analyses

Haas is a great option for those of you interested in learning about innovation within a general management program at a top university. It’s also well known for its diversity and small and collaborative student body. To top it all off, Berkeley is in one of the greatest cities in America! No, Haas is not paying me to say all this but I decided to write something when, talking to some of my new students, I realized that there are a number of people unfamiliar with the Haas MBA program. Some of my most impressive students have gone on to Haas over the last few years (and love it and have done well) and so I have a pretty good impression of the school.

Below, please find the deadlines and essay questions along with my comments in orange:

http://mba.haas.berkeley.edu/fall.html

**The on-line application will be available mid-August, according to their website.**

Deadlines (before midnight Pacific time)

Round 1:     October 20, 2009   (decision date: January 27, 2010)

Round 2:    December 10, 2009   (decision date: March 17, 2010)

Round 3:    February 2, 2010   (decision date: April 28, 2010)

Round 4:    March 10, 2010   (decision date: May 19, 2010)

Fall 2010 Essay Questions

Listed below are the supplemental questions, short answer questions, required essays, and optional essays for the fall 2010 application.

Supplemental Questions:  [ I will not provide any comments to the Supplemental Questions as they should be self-explanatory; brief answers and lists are fine here.]

1. If you have not provided a letter of recommendation from your current supervisor, please explain; otherwise, enter N/A.
2. List in order of importance all community & professional organizations and extracurricular activities in which you have been involved during or after university studies. Indicate the nature of the activity or organization, dates of involvement, offices held, & average number of hours spent per month.
3. List full-time and part-time jobs held during undergraduate or graduate studies, indicating the employer, job title, employment dates, location, and the number of hours worked per week for each position held prior to the completion of your degree.
4. Please explain all gaps in your employment since earning your university degree.
5. Beyond the courses that appear on your academic transcripts, please discuss other ways in which you have demonstrated strong quantitative abilities.
6. If you have ever been subject to academic discipline, placed on probation, suspended or required to withdraw from any college or university, please explain. If not, please enter N/A. (An affirmative response to this question does not automatically disqualify you from admission.)

Short Answer:

1. What are you most passionate about? Why? (250 word maximum)

Haas wants to learn more about you through this question. There is no right or wrong response, and the answer could be something concrete like a hobby or it could be completely abstract, like a life philosophy or belief. Whatever you choose, it should be something that will allow the admissions committee to understand you better. I do have this piece of advice, though: choose something that will balance out the rest of your essays, and it is great if you have something personal to talk about. If you look at the rest of the essay question set, you’ll see that most of the questions ask about career-related experiences. I would avoid saying things like “I am most passionate about working hard” or “I am most passionate about my career”; you want to show that you have some balance in your life!

2.    Tell us about your most significant accomplishment. (250 word maximum)

When choosing a topic for this question, be sure you don’t overlap with the innovation question below (#3) or the leadership question (Required Essay 1). You can select a non-work experience to discuss as well. For example, if you feel that your greatest accomplishment is overcoming a long-term illness or some other personal obstacle, you can certainly use that story for this essay.

3.    At Haas, we value innovation and creativity. Describe a time when you created positive change in a group or an organization. (250 word maximum)

They changed this essay question slightly this year (in the past they asked for a creative problem-solving/solution example); the question seems a bit more open-ended now. Haas is a school that prides itself on innovation, and so likewise they are looking for applicants with the same mindset. What is an example of a time when you took initiative to introduce something new? They are looking for examples of new and creative solutions or ways of doing things. Try to think of a time when you changed something, created or invented something, thought of a new solution (etc.). Discuss how you thought of this and implemented it and briefly what the impact was. 

4.    What steps have you taken to learn about the Berkeley MBA program, and what factors have influenced your decision to apply? (250 word maximum)

Quite frankly, a number of applicants apply to Haas with a personal preference for Stanford. The two schools share many similar qualities, including an innovation-based curriculum, small community, and location near Silicon Valley. Haas needs to be sure that you are sincere about your interest in their school, that you are not considering it simply as a safety net in case you don’t get accepted to Stanford! This is why you are asked here to write a separate essay simply discussing how you have researched their program and how you decided to apply. (Please note this is different from the goals essay in which you explain in more detail how you will use the resources at Haas.) Be sure to mention any campus visits, conversations with Haas students, alumni/ae, and/or staff, attendance at Haas events, etc. And be sure you sound sincere and specific.

Required Essays:

1. Give us an example of a situation in which you displayed leadership. (500 word maximum)

This is a straightforward question in which you have to talk about a time when you took initiative to create a positive impact. The best example should be a recent experience from work, although the most important thing is to look at the rest of your essay set to see what examples you have already used. Make sure that whatever example you use that you show balance and sufficient professional leadership experience.

2.    What are your post-MBA short-term and long-term career goals? How do your professional experiences relate to these goals? How will an MBA from Berkeley help you achieve these specific career goals? (1000 word maximum)

This is also a straightforward question asking about your goals, how your experiences have led you to your goals, and how you believe you will use the resources at Haas to help you reach those goals. Since Haas has a relatively unique curriculum and philosophy, make sure that you convey well the fit between their program and your professional and academic goals.

Optional Essays:

1. (Optional) Please feel free to provide a statement concerning any information you would like to add to your application that you haven’t addressed elsewhere. (500 word maximum)

This is a very open-ended question and you may write another essay here. Look at the rest of your essay set; if there is another compelling story which you have not had a chance to tell, please use this space to write it. If you feel the regular essays already represent you fully, then don’t feel obligated to write this optional essay. It is better to leave it blank than to write another essay that doesn’t add significant value to your candidacy.

Reapplicants: Please read the specific instructions on Haas’ website regarding materials to update.

http://mba.haas.berkeley.edu/fall.html