In a recent posting to their blog, the UC Berkeley Haas admissions team announced that they have released their essay questions for applicants to their MBA program starting in the fall of 2013.
The new essay topics include one about a song that expresses who you are, replacing their greatest joy essay from last year. Be sure to read the blog post to get some information about why they made this particular change (last year's prompt resulted in some over-thinking) as well as some general tips on the essays themselves.
Essays:
At Berkeley-Haas, our distinctive culture is defined by four key principles — Question the status quo; Confidence without attitude; Students always; and Beyond yourself. We seek candidates from a broad range of cultures, backgrounds, and industries who demonstrate a strong cultural fit with our program and defining principles. Please use the following essays as an opportunity to reflect on and share with us the values, experiences, and accomplishments that have helped shape who you are.(Learn more about Berkeley-Haas' Defining Principles).
- If you could choose one song that expresses who you are, what is it and why? (250 word maximum)
- What is your most significant accomplishment? (250 word maximum)
- Describe a time when you questioned an established practice or thought within an organization. How did your actions create positive change? (250 word maximum)
- Describe a time when you were a student of your own failure. What specific insight from this experience has shaped your development? (250 word maximum)
- a. What are your post-MBA short-term and long-term career goals? How have your professional experiences prepared you to achieve these goals?
b. How will an MBA from Haas help you achieve these goals? (750 word maximum for 5a. and 5b.)
Supplemental Information:
- If you have not provided a letter of recommendation from your current supervisor, please explain; otherwise, enter N/A.
- List in order of importance all community and professional organizations and extracurricular activities in which you have been involved during or after university studies. Indicate the nature of the activity or organization, size of the organization, dates of involvement, offices held, and average number of hours spent per month.
- 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.
- Please explain all gaps in your employment since earning your university degree.
- 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.)
Optional Essays:
- (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)
- (Optional) If not clearly evident, please discuss ways in which you have demonstrated strong quantitative abilities, or plan to strengthen quantitative abilities. You do not need to list courses that appear on your transcript. (250 word maximum)
The application will be available in August. Please double-check all essay questions within Berkeley's official admissions site here.
John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com
