MIT Sloan 2015-16 MBA Admission Essays Analysis

What follows is my analysis of the 2015-16 MIT Sloan essay topics.

The school's own instructions: We are interested in learning more about how you work, think, and act. In your response, please describe in detail what you thought, felt, said, and did. 

Essay 1: Tell us about a recent success you had: How did you accomplish this? Who else was involved? What hurdles did you encounter? What type of impact did this have? (500 words or fewer). 

This question seems to be a typical accomplishment story. However, you need to make sure that your accomplishment story contains the following things:

- the involvement of others

- at least one hurdle (challenge/difficulty/obstacle) faced along the way

- the resulting impact of this accomplishment on something and/or someone

- details about what you thought, felt, said and did

Note that the example can be personal or professional. In terms of selecting a topic, again the story you choose should contain all of these elements. In addition, to that, I’d also encourage you to consider choosing a story where your role was central, and one where the impact on a person or organisation is strong and clear. 

I’d also encourage you to choose a recent episode. In the past the instructions for MIT Sloan essays used to include the direction that you limit your story to one that has occurred within the past 3 years. This requirement is now gone, however I would encourage applicants to still consider a recent story. The reason for this is in the “thought, felt, said, did” details asked for.

The approach MIT takes to outlining their expectations of your essay is different from other schools. No other MBA program asks for the specifics about what you thought, felt, said and did within the context of a particular story. The reason why? I used to attend MIT information sessions, and whenever I did, I always heard that “we can evaluate your potential to contribute as a global leader based on the way you handled a recent episode”. In other words, by offering a detailed (and recent) example of how you dealt with others, how you communicated your ideas, how you reacted to difficulty, and how you managed to make an accomplishment, you are giving your reader a window into how you act, and act with others. They are then evaluating your potential to be successful in the future (and of course fit in well in their program) based on this.

Here’s some tips on organising that initial draft.

Begin by summarising the accomplishment. Not everyone will tell you to do this but I feel it is a good way to kick off your story. So offer a 1-sentence summary of the accomplishment and it’s impact. 

The next steps I would take is the organize your story use MIT’s own STAR model - advice they give / have given on how to tell a story (particularly for behavioral interview questions, but also for storytelling in general):

S - situation

T - task

A - action

R - result

This is a logical way to tell a story, and an easy way to organise your draft. After you have gone through these steps, add one more paragraph emphasising the learning or takeaway of this story for you. How did you develop from this experience? What did you learn? I think that a bit of reflection at the end of a story is a good thing, and shows your capability to grow from your experiences. 

Once you have finished these steps and have arrived at a first draft, read it. It doesn’t matter how long it is. I think that a first draft that is 800-1,200 words is perfectly acceptable. Cutting volume and achieving their word limitation will come later. As you read it, ensure that the details (what did you think, feel, say and do?) are coming through. The reader should be able to observe how you deal with situations and others through these details. 

Finishing this essay will involve making some tough choices about what contents need to stay and what can be cut. I’d encourage you to reach out and get help on this. A third party, objective perspective is crucial to a real understanding of just how successfully you are conveying what you intend to.

Optional: The Admissions Committee invites you to share anything else you would like us to know about you, in any format. 

An essay will likely be the most popular format, but don't let that stop you from trying something a bit more creative as long as it helps you to get across whatever message you are aiming for here.

In terms of that message, start by asking yourself if there are any weaknesses or other such things you feel may need to be explained here, such as a relatively low GPA across the undergraduate degree or during one year of university. If you do this, try to emphasize the positive. You could, for instance, describe what were doing at the time (a leadership role in an extra-curricular? working to pay off tuition? both?) and how the learning from the activity was relevant and important to you.

Other than that, look to your response to the essay above and anything you’ve already decided to put in this optional essay and ask yourself if you've offered a good balance between work and non-work examples. If you haven't, and for instance have emphasized professional experience, then consider introducing your extra-curricular activities here. MIT leans towards recent examples, and that's always good advice to follow, but the question here does offer a lot more freedom, so something from more than three years ago could be considered a topic as long as you detail the takeaway or impact or whatever makes the experience still relevant today.   

Finally, some may use this optional essay as an opportunity to detail the specific reasons they feel MIT offers the best fit for them, given their past and their future. If this is the route you have chosen, read my article on demonstrating fit with an MBA program to ensure your examples are as concise as possible.

If you do go with an essay to answer this question it appears there is no word limit - so use 500 words (their limit on other essays) as your rough guideline maximum here, while noting that shorter may in fact be better. MIT optional essays used to be about 250 words - so obviously conciseness is valued. This is not a hard-and-fast rule - I’ve read great essays that were longer - but is certainly worth considering.

Closing Thoughts: Mind and Hand

In closing, let me remind readers of the MIT slogan "MInd and Hand". In doing so I am not proposing that this theme be digested and then pasted all over your essays, nor am I saying that "because MIT is looking for this kind of thing, you need to write about it no matter what your background is".  In fact I often propose the opposite - rather than writing what you think they're looking for you're always better off representing what makes you exceptional on its own terms. Having said this, the concept of Mind and Hand is the ability to bring practical application to learned things, and to me, this defines what it takes to be successful not only during the MBA, but also in applying the experience to challenges you'll face in the future. Read here for an interesting (if slightly older) take on this, and go here for a deeper reading on this topic.

John Couke

john.couke@gmail.com

Harvard 2013-14 MBA Essay Analysis

Here is my advice on approaching Harvard's essay question for those aiming to enter their MBA program in the fall of 2014. 

First the essay question:

You’re applying to Harvard Business School.  We can see your resume, school transcripts, extra-curricular activities, awards, post-MBA career goals, test scores and what your recommenders have to say about you.   What else would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy?

And the school's own comments:

There is no word limit for this question.  We think you know what guidance we're going to give here. Don't overthink, overcraft and overwrite. Just answer the question in clear language that those of us who don't know your world can understand.

And here is my own analysis and advice, broken down into 4 sections:

1. You really should write this.

You're applying to spend two years of your life at this program. There must be something you can write that will help their admissions staff understand you a bit better.  

2. Follow their instructions.  

We can see your resume, school transcripts, extra-curricular activities, awards, post-MBA career goals, test scores and what your recommenders have to say about you.   What else would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy?

I think it is pretty clear that this is not the space for you to give a summary of your accomplishments at work and outside work, as this content will have been covered in other application elements. 

3. Don't give them answers to someone else's questions.

I imagine that 750 words on "what matters most to you and why" would be a pretty bad idea.

4.  The key is to provide some insight into you.

Clearly a persuasive answer will go beyond the other application elements you have provided, and so will involve a stronger degree of self-reflection in order to teach the reader something about who you are. What follows are four options, ordered in a very subjective way: from least appealing to most appealing. 

Option: write about why you need an MBA, how you'll contribute to their program, or why you are choosing to apply to Harvard in particular.

These options fit the question, as they're not in the list of information you've already provided them. However, for most why MBA detail is tied to the goals story, something they'll get information about. Detailing your contribution to the program might only be a simple extrapolation on detail already provided in the resume (my experience doing A will help me to run the A club..). Finally, I don't think Harvard really needs to assess your desire to go to Harvard - this school has a tremendous yield and so isn't overly concerned with weeding out those intent on enrolling in other schools.

Option: connect one or more experiences and show how they follow a particular theme.

You could focus on a personal characteristic you have, how you developed it and how it relates to successful experiences in your working and personal life. You could write about how the choice of your post-undergraduate employer or the choice to change departments or even companies fits a particular theme related to your background or future. Alternatively, you could show how your experiences have prepared you to achieve your goals. Be careful: just lumping together experiences without a lot of thought will seem shallow, especially if the connections are weak or underwhelming to begin with.

Option: tell the story behind an accomplishment or a failure.

Don't write only what you did, but also how you did it, and how you learned from the experience.  Consider the failure option, as failures aren't in the resume and might not be in any other application element. Leaders make bold decisions and take big risks, and so leaders necessarily fail sometimes. Be careful: without self-reflection and a clear sense of how you developed from the experience, this will just be a story and that might not be enough. 

Option: give the "why" behind something you're particularly passionate about, and how you've benefitted from the experience.

Obviously the approach to the HBS essay will vary from one applicant to the next, but of the three options I've listed here this one to me has the most potential to really "draw back the curtain" and reveal something about yourself to HBS admissions. The resume only lists what you've done, not why you've done it, especially for the extra curricular activities. This last option, of the three, has in my opinion the most potential to be interesting and insightful.

Whatever you do, make sure it reveals something about you - your unique characteristics, your passions or interests, or how your experiences have contributed to a direction you're taking that you're passionate about continuing.

John Couke

john.couke@gmail.com

Dartmouth Tuck 2013-14 MBA Essay Analysis

Please respond fully but concisely to the following essay questions. There are no right or wrong answers. We encourage applicants to limit the length of their responses to 500 words for each essay. 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 fit for you and your goals and why are you the best fit for Tuck?

This is a standard goals essay, with an extra element: your contribution to the program.  The best way to organize your first draft is to address the following topics in turn: a) a brief introduction of who you are professionally now, b) your short-term goal, c) the long-term goal, d) a quick assessment of skills you have and skills you'll need to reach those goals, e) a few clear and specific examples of how studying at Tuck in particular will help you gain those skills you need and f) 1-2 examples of demonstrating how you will thrive in the particular environment offered by Tuck.  

Note the word "critical" in the essay prompt.  You need to show clearly that you truly need an MBA.  The way to do this is by having a specific post-MBA goal that requires an MBA, as well as clear examples in part d) of what exactly you need to get from an MBA to position you to achieve that goal.  Ensure the post-MBA goal is not something you can attain simply with more experience in your current role.  The post-MBA goal should instead be something you couldn't possibly do without all the benefits and learnings associated with an MBA.

Note as well both references to "fit". This program isn't for everyone. Is it for you? If so, and you feel strongly about this, then aim to demonstrate how this MBA in particular will give you the education you need to be successful, and also provides the right environment in which you can get that education. Read more about how I define and assess fit here. 

Feels like a lot for 500 words? You are correct.  I'd suggest the initial draft simply contain all the elements and details you hope to include.  As you pare it down to something shorter, be ready to retain the core ideas (a to f) mentioned above, and cut out additional elements or repetitious or unnecessary sentences not totally focused on the story you are trying to tell. 

2. Tell us about your most meaningful collaborative leadership experience and what role you played. What did you learn about your own individual strengths and weaknesses through this experience?

This may be a professional experience, or it may be a personal one. The choice depends highly on what topics you choose for other essays, as you want to ensure that the overall essay set is balanced.  Also, the experience needs to be meaningful - which means that you need to have learned something significant from it, and can demonstrate that you have applied that learning to future experiences.  Given this, it may be best not to choose something you did yesterday or last week - in other words, choose a leadership experience where the significance on you can be clearly shown. 

I think that using the STAR technique (situation, task, action, and result) is a great way to draft a story essay. Use it in organizing the elements of your initial draft.

Start with the situation; for instance - what was the project you were involved in, and why was it important to your company?  The situation could also be the days after your company released a weak earnings report, or it could be the fact that the NPO you volunteer with has just announced that their public funding would be cut off in 6 months. 

Next, detail what in particular you wanted to accomplish and what hurdles might be involved.  Did you decide to get a new product fast tracked or approach a new prospective donor?  In addition, be clear what the problem or difficulty was. It could have been reluctance among peers or members of another department towards your idea.  Whatever the case, be clear as to a) the goal you set and b) any difficulties that presented themselves in accomplishing that goal.  

The action part of your essay is easily the most important, because it shows how you work, act, and communicate with others, and also because it is likely to be the longest part of your essay. Show here what you did.  Include everything in the first draft, and be ready to focus in on just the key elements of your story in later versions.  

Finally, watt was the outcome of this experience? How was this outcome a success, and what did it mean to you, your colleagues, organization or industry? Be clear as to the significance of the accomplishment.  In addition to this, what was the significance of the experience to you - in other words, what did you learn? You may have learned something about yourself, or about how to manage or lead other people.  Be clear as to not only a strength you possess that you could recognize during this experience, but also a weakness. In defining a strength AND weakness, you'll want to show that not everything went smoothly, or that perhaps the outcome was good but could have been greater if there was something else you could have done, or another method you could have employed in getting the result you wanted.

The value in describing such an experience is that the reader can learn more about you, how you make decisions, how you take initiative, how you accept responsibility, how you communicate with others - and how you have impacted those around you, while also being reflective and learning something about yourself. 

This essay questions was modified by Tuck over the last year. The word "collaborative" was added, and "what role you played" was added too. These changes are important I think, and hopefully will encourage you to consider developing a story that shows you are able to work with others in the pursuit of goals. This is an important characteristic of leaders, and is also, to me at least, a determiner of your potential to be successful at Tuck as well.

3. Describe a circumstance in your life in which you faced adversity, failure, or setback. What actions did you take as a result and what did you learn from this experience?

While your reputation may be the result of your accomplishments, your inner strength and character may be a result of your failures.  In this case Tuck is asking for a time when everything wasn't going well for you, what you did as a result, and what you learned from the experience.  Like essay #2, this story may be personal or professional.  In terms of balancing work and non-work topics, you may choose to have one professional and one personal topic between essays 2 and 3, although this is not a hard and fast rule for everyone. 

Most people dislike writing about adversity, failure, or setback experiences for two reasons. 

1) It is hard to come up with a good topic.

Many of my former clients have told me that "they have never experienced failure".  I doubt this to be true, and usually get them to define failure to me to see if they have misinterpreted the word.  In this essay, there is not only failure, but additional options: setbacks and adversity. Let's take a close look at the meaning of each.

Adversity - a situation where someone or something is opposing what you want to do or preventing you from accomplishing what you want to accomplish

Failure - when you are unable to perform to the level others expect of you, and this prevents you from achieving a certain result

Setback - a reversal or check in progress (I took this from here) 

As can be seen clearly from the definition, there are a lot of choices here. You could write about when a great accomplishment was put at risk at one step along the way.  You could write about a failure where the result was truly negative, but the resulting learning allowed you to achieve something better later on.  You could write about a severe difficulty encountered along the road towards a victory.  The point is to consider all options when brainstorming possible topics. In the end, be sure your story fits one element from the question: adversity, failure, or setback.

2) Even if a good topic is chosen, the first draft of the story usually fails to show any hint of adversity, failure, or setback.

When I read a weak first draft of a failure essay, the weakness can usually be traced to one of a few things:  a) the author uses "we" instead of "I", so it doesn't really look like they themselves failed at anything at all (instead it looks like the anonymous group, not the author of the essay, failed) or b) the author presents a terrific, big failure - but then fails to describe a clear learning from it that is applied later on.  Be sure to avoid both mistakes when choosing your story and writing initial drafts.  Be sure as well to write about yourself - it is okay to have a team story, as long as you personalize elements of the failure, setback or adversity, and are clear about what you learned from it.  

Once you're sure you've got a great topic, tell the story and personalize it as best as you can.  What was the situation, and what was your particular role?  What happened that was not desirable and to what extent was this your responsibility?  In other words, did you fail, or did you encounter adversity or a setback? Be clear about the next steps: how did you react, and what did you do?  Maybe you assessed the situation, or maybe you got advice.  In any case, be clear how you were proactive in turning the situation around.  Show what you did to make a positive outcome, and show also in the end that you are able to reflect by describing what you learned about the experience.

4. (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.

The example topics offered in this optional essay (unusual choice of evaluators, etc) are all examples of negative elements of your application that you feel may need to be explained.  And to be sure, if you feel your application has such a negative element, you should consider explaining it here.  But beyond this, if you can't think of anything bad that warrants explanation, I'd include another element, something positive, that reveals another strength or uniqueness about you.  Be sure though, as the question says, to not use this optional essay to simply repeat something that appears elsewhere in your application.

Many applicants ask me if it is a bad thing if they have to write here that their current supervisor cannot be their referee because they are self-sponsored and have not yet revealed to the co-workers that they are applying for an MBA. I advise that applicants should never be concerned about such a situation, and they should certainly use this space to mention that. The only thing to keep in mind is that the referees they do choose should still be well-positioned and capable of commenting on their performance as well as their professional/personal growth and skill development. 

5. (Reapplicants) How have you strengthened your candidacy since you last applied? Please reflect on how you have grown personally and professionally.

The key here is growth, and it is important if you were rejected previously that you be able to demonstrate improvement since that time.  Consider what weaknesses existed in your previous application, and what you have done to address them. Make sure those examples of improvement are clearly shown in this essay. Perhaps you took on a role of more significance or with more individual responsibility at work. Maybe you took a course in a subject that you were not strong at, or maybe you got involved in something outside of your work, where you had previously not done much at all. Whatever the case, demonstrate not only the activity, but also what you have learned, and how you have benefitted and grown, from the experience. I always think that the very best examples will be things you have initiated, or set out to do, rather than things that have happened to you.

Finally, you want to demonstrate not only improvement, but also how this improvement has strengthened your candidacy. How do these changes make you a better prospective MBA student? How will these new experiences help you to better contribute to your peers at Tuck? Be clear as to how the changes you have initiated have allowed you to position yourself as someone who can make a difference at Tuck.

John Couke

john.couke@gmail.com

Kellogg 2013-14 MBA Essay Analysis

What follows are my thoughts and tips on this year's version of the Northwestern Kellogg MBA admissions essay prompts.

Essay 1: What’s the greatest obstacle you’ve overcome (personally or professionally)? 

How has overcoming this obstacle prepared you to achieve success now and in the future? (350 word limit)

There are a few very distinct components to this essay question: (1) an accomplishment story in which you overcame a significant obstacle (2) the transferrable skills or strengths you gained from this experience, (3) how you are using these strengths now, (4) your career direction in the future and (5) how you will utilize those strengths to be successful in accomplishing those future goals.

The problem, of course, is that you only have 350 words to do all that.  The solution is to look at the essay set as a whole and realize that the detail on point 4 (your career direction in the future) can be a quick summary as you'll give more details on your goals in essay 3.

Beyond that, don't be intimidated by the small word count here. Write an initial draft that says everything you want to say, and then as you revise it, focus (a) on eliminating the elements that aren't absolutely necessary or impactful and then (b) look for places where your explanation is over wordy or could be more direct.  This will help you get this story down to the limitation, or at least close to it. 

When deciding the best topic to write about, there are three important decisions to be made. One is whether to choose a personal or professional topic. The answer, I think, lies in the approach you take to the entire set. Ensure you have a balanced approach between work stories and personal stories. If you don't, i.e. if the essay set is too skewed towards professional stories, ask yourself where you could substitute in a personal episode. It could be this essay.

The second decision is to figure out which of your experiences have involved a significant obstacle that you were able to overcome to achieve success. Note the importance of having a story in which you (not the team or others) achieved success. The obstacle should be "big" - i.e. the greatest you've ever faced. Be sure to show how/why in your essay.  

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you need to choose a story that allows you to demonstrate the acquisition of meaningful and relevant skills. If your obstacle story doesn't have such an outcome, you either need to brainstorm more effectively/strategically, or consider another topic. 

Essay 2: What have been your most significant leadership experiences?  What challenges did you face, and what impact did you have? This is your opportunity to explain how you Think Bravely. (500 word limit)

Leadership experiences is plural so I recommend writing about more than one experience in this essay. Two is ideal, as it may be difficult to put more than that into a single 500 word essay. Two is also ideal, as those who wish to emphasize that their leadership goes beyond their jobs can use one professional and one personal example in developing their answer to this essay.  

Significant experiences with challenges and impacts have two key factors: a) your could learn from them and b) you could make a difference on the people around you by accomplishing something.  I think it necessary to try and show both in the overall essay, and even in possible in each episode you choose to write about. Choose episodes in which you had an impact as a leader, and for each be clear about what you did, the impact of success, and what you learned (about leadership or about yourself) from each.  The goal is to paint a picture of who you are and how you lead today - as the result of your accumulated experiences and learning. Be careful - if the story contains a significant obstacle, you may choose it for essay 1.

The last part of the question references Kellogg's concept of Think Bravely. This appears to mean being able to envision major changes by thinking outside the box, taking the necessary steps towards implementing these changes, and importantly, encouraging/enabling others to join.  Watch this video here. Additionally, here is a brief analysis from Kellogg Dean Sally Blount here. 

Consider the leadership episodes from this perspective. While it is not advisable to copy the words and feelings from the videos into your leadership experiences in this essay, it is worthwhile to ask yourself if, after reading your stories, you feel that Kellogg would believe that you exemplify these ideals, or are capable of becoming the kind of transformative leader they wish to mould at the school.  Do your experiences help show that you have the potential to make amazing and significant changes in the future? If they don't, you may not be choosing the right ones.

Essay 3:

Part 1: What career/role are you looking to pursue and why?  (250 word limit)

Part 2: Why are Kellogg and the MBA essential to achieving these career goals?  (250 word limit) (Please answer Part 2 in terms of your program choice: One-Year, Two-Year, MMM, JD-MBA).

This - the combination of parts 1 and 2 - forms the standard goals - why MBA - why school essay. In order to prepare to write his essay, or any other goals essay for that matter, you need to deeply consider the following questions:

What are your current strengths and skills?

What are your short-term and long-term goals?

How will those current strengths and skills be useful in achieving those goals?

What additional skills or experiences do you need?

How (with specific examples) can you get these additional skills and experiences at Kellogg?

Your answers to these questions and the alignment that comes as they are put together will become the building blocks of this essay. Note that there is overlap with essay 1. Identifying these points of overlap should help you to develop a consistent message across your essay set and even help you achieve the tight word limit on some essays.

In terms of the goals, be ready to detail clear and specific goals, and why it this a desirable and important move for you. Lastly, to address the why Kellogg part, be specific and give several examples that demonstrate, beyond a doubt, that this school is the ideal destination for you. A strong essay will incorporate examples of classes, extra-curricular activities, and even the "intangibles" such as what you learned from alumni or a school visit.

Additional Information (Optional): If needed, briefly describe any extenuating circumstances (e.g. unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, etc.) (No word limit)

This additional essay is intended to address possibly negative elements of your application.  The content (and decision as to write it or not) should be decided and then developed on an individual basis - but certainly if you have failed a course in university or had a bad term or semester in terms of your GPA, for instance, you'll want to aim to highlight all the great and meaningful things you were doing at that time, or offer up something else as an explanation.

There's no word limit but I doubt most careful writers would exceed the maximum length of the longest essay in the set (500 words) as an absolute maximum limit. 

Many applicants ask me if it is a bad thing if they have to write here that their current supervisor cannot be their referee because they are self-sponsored and have not yet revealed to the co-workers that they are applying for an MBA. I advise that applicants should never be concerned about such a situation, and they should certainly use this space to mention that. The only thing to keep in mind is that the referees they do choose should still be well-positioned and capable of commenting on their performance as well as their professional/personal growth and skill development. 

John Couke

john.couke@gmail.com

MIT Sloan MBA Admissions Essay Analysis 2013-14

What follows are my brief comments on this year's MIT Sloan essay topics.

The school's own instructions: We are interested in learning more about how you work, think, and act. For each essay, please provide a brief overview of the situation followed by a detailed description of your response. Please limit the experiences you discuss to those which have occurred in the past three years. In each of the essays, please describe in detail what you thought, felt, said, and did.

Essay 1: The mission of the MIT Sloan School of Management is to develop principled, innovative leaders who improve the world and generate ideas that advance management practice.  Discuss how you will contribute toward advancing the mission based on examples of past work and activities.   (500 words or fewer, limited to one page)

MIT has removed their cover letter this year, however in its place some remnants of what it asked for are now here, in essay 1. At first glance this question only seems to be asking for 2+ examples from your past. I think in reality it gives you the chance to address a slightly wider story, while also focusing in on those examples.

This question is asking for examples of your past work and non-work activities. Ensure that the examples you choose demonstrate your ability (and therefore potential) to innovate and generate ideas that have impacted those around you in a positive way. Space may be at a premium, however still take care to ensure your examples include detail related to what you thought, felt, said and did.

Notice how there is no mention of what your specific career goals are in the essay question. This is likely because MIT admissions pride themselves on their ability to see your potential to achieve great things in the future based on how you have approached and dealt with situations in the past. Make that the recent past - as MIT requests that your examples be from within the past three years. Despite this, I do recommend that clients at the very least mention the career direction they envision for themselves post-MBA, as well as why that is important or meaningful to them, in this essay. Doing so allows you to demonstrate the gap between those goals and your current skill set, in order for you to then show clearly your plan for your studies while at MIT. This is important, and is referred to in the question when you are asked "how you will contribute towards advancing the mission". 

In summary, after a brief introduction move into a quick assessment of your future plan and what you plan to get from MIT to get you there. Then, show through detailed recent examples (perhaps one work-related and one non-work related) that you have the initiative and principles to achieve these goals and add value while at MIT. Walking through these steps should - if you've brainstormed contents effectively - help you put together a strong initial draft towards this essay question.

Essay 2: Describe a time when you pushed yourself beyond your comfort zone. (500 words or fewer, limited to one page)

I mentioned "detailed examples" in my treatment of essay 1. Detail is important - and perhaps more important to MIT than to just about any other program. Note the instructions that proceed these essay questions: We are interested in learning more about how you work, think, and act. For each essay, please provide a brief overview of the situation followed by a detailed description of your response. Please limit the experiences you discuss to those which have occurred in the past three years. In each of the essays, please describe in detail what you thought, felt, said, and did.

The idea here is that MIT can evaluate your actions, thinking and methods from recent experiences to assess your potential to be successful in the future. In order to help your reader do this effectively, you need to ensure that your essays are sufficiently detailed and therefore revealing about how you think and how you react to different situations.

In this essay you need to describe a time when you dealt with a situation that may have been new to you, or "over your head" or beyond what was your typical level of responsibility within your organization (or equivalent if you are dealing with an extra-curricular activity). The idea that you pushed yourself most likely means that you made decisions that forced you into a situation as described above. 

To tell this story properly, you need to include each of the following elements: the initial situation and what was at stake for you and/or the organization, the decision(s) you made, and the result. The latter means the result on the project or situation involved, the company itself, and finally, the result on you - literally the impact this experience had on you and the takeaway(s) you gained from the experience. This is a lot of detail, but really all of it is necessary to give your story the level of context required. I've modeled this approach after the STAR storytelling approach. Read here for more on this highly logical method of storytelling.

Within these "high-level" details, however, you must focus in on the specifics of the push you gave yourself that moved you out of your comfort zone. This could have been a reaction to a particular decision made by someone else, the result of a quick brainstorming session done after a key meeting on a project, or as part of your preparation for leading a team on a certain day. Whatever the case make sure that when you detail the thoughts and words that went into your actions, you focus in on the moment in which they occurred. In other words, don't generalize about how you usually react to situations. Instead offer one clear episode and be specific. 

Optional: The Admissions Committee invites you to share anything else you would like us to know about you, in any format. 

An essay will likely be the most popular format, but don't let that stop you from trying something a bit more creative as long as it helps you to get across whatever message you are aiming for here.

In terms of that message, start by asking yourself if there are any weaknesses or other such things you feel may need to be explained here, such as a relatively low GPA from university or from one year of university. If you do this, try to emphasize the positive (i.e. for this example what you were doing at the time and how the learning from it was relevant and important to you). 

Other than that, look to your responses to the two essays above and ask yourself if you've offered a good balance between work and non-work examples. If you haven't, and for instance have emphasized professional experience, then consider introducing your extra-curricular activities here. MIT leans towards recent examples, and that's always good advice to follow, but the question here does offer a lot more freedom, so something from more than three years ago could be considered a topic as long as you detail the takeaway or impact or whatever makes the experience still relevant today.   

Finally, some may use this optional essay as an opportunity to detail the specific reasons they feel MIT offers the best fit for them, given their past and their future. If this is the route you have chosen, read my article on demonstrating fit with an MBA program to ensure your examples are as concise as possible.

If you do go with an essay to answer this question it appears there is no word limit - so use 500 words (their limit on other essays) as your absolute maximum here, while noting that shorter may in fact be better. MIT optional essays used to be about 250 words - so obviously conciseness is valued. 

Closing Thoughts

In closing, let me remind readers of the MIT slogan "MInd and Hand". In doing so I am not proposing that this theme be pasted all over your essays, nor am I saying that "because MIT is looking for this kind of thing, you need to write about it no matter what your background is".  In fact I often propose the opposite - rather than writing what you think they're looking for you're always better off representing what makes you exceptional on its own terms. Having said this, the concept of Mind and Hand is the ability to bring practical application to learned things, and to me, this defines what it takes to be successful not only during the MBA, but also in applying the experience to challenges you'll face in the future. Read here for an interesting (if slightly older) take on this, and go here for a deeper reading on this topic.

John Couke

john.couke@gmail.com

Wharton 2013-14 MBA Essay Analysis

What follows is a summary of my thoughts on the Wharton essay prompts for the 2013-14 admissions season.

Required Essays:

1. What do you aspire to achieve, personally and professionally, through the Wharton MBA? (500 words)

This question is asking about two specific things: (1) your future goals, and (2) how experiencing Wharton will help you to achieve those goals. "Goals" here are defined by the question as including both personal and professional elements, and so ideally you'll aim to include both in your vision for your future. It's not enough to detail how you'll be successful. Instead, professional success should be accompanied by personal growth and making a positive impact on the people around you and you should do your best to incorporate both in your answer. You can include example of this growth and success at and after the MBA. Think of the question as containing BOTH of these elements: what do you hope to achieve DURING the Wharton MBA, and what to do hope to achieve USING the Wharton MBA after you've graduated? Both are important here. 

Start this essay with an introduction by detailing the skill set you have now. Move from here to your career goals - and be as specific as you can about what you aim to accomplish and why accomplishing this is important or meaningful to you.  After introducing what you've learned and done up to now and what you aim to do in the future, you're ready to define the "gap" - i.e. what you need to learn to  position yourself to achieve your future goals. Ideally this short list will include things you can learn from an MBA, and in particular from the Wharton MBA. To show that Wharton is your ideal destination, be sure to give specific examples demonstrating how this program is the best for you. Read my blog entry titled "How to Find and Show Fit with an MBA program" for a short list of examples of how to do this. 

2. Academic engagement is an important element of the Wharton MBA experience. How do you see yourself contributing to our learning community? (500 words)

Each applicant will bring different abilities to the program - what will you offer? Don't make the mistake of only considering examples from your professional experience. The learning community at Wharton extends from the classroom to extra-curricular activities to experiences in other countries, and for each you can give an example of how a work or non-work activity will help you to add value to the experience of your classmates in the program.

Base your answer on examples and try to cover each of classroom-based learning, extracurricular learning (such as a student club) and international learning via one of the several overseas opportunities Wharton offers. When detailing your contributions, think of your work and non-work interests as possible examples. Remember: setting up a friendly international soccer competition for Wharton students and family members is just as important as offering insight in supply chain management in a particular course: both will help you to add value to those around you. 

Optional Essay:

If you feel there are extenuating circumstances of which the Committee should be aware, please explain them here (e.g., unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, or questionable academic performance, significant weaknesses in our application). (250 words)

The wording of this question seems to make it ideal only for addressing weaknesses in your application. The goal of any MBA essay is to reveal something positive about you - ask yourself how you might be able to do this as a part of shedding light on that particular weakness you choose to write about. A weak GPA for instance could be an opportunity to detail a strong extra-curricular activity and the learning that came from that.

John Couke

john.couke@gmail.com

Cambridge Judge MBA Essay Analysis 2012-13

One of the clearest trends in MBA admissions over the past year has been the decreasing amount of space applicants are given to tell their story in the form of essays.  Many programs have either cut the number of required essays, or decreased the word limitation for them, or both.  One thing to keep in mind when considering the amount of writing a school allows you to provide about yourself is that some applications have essays within the application, beyond the main application essays, and that overall, there's a lot of space to tell your most important stories. One great example of this is application for the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge.

A quick look at the Judge MBA admissions pages reveals the main application essays required as a part of their application, and this is a good place to begin.

Main Application Essays:

1. What did you learn from your most spectacular failure? (200 words)

Two things need to be considered here - you need to write about a real, actual failure that is your own, and in addition to that, you need to show a significant learning from this experience, as well as how you applied and benefitted from that learning. Some may consider a non-work related episode if only because the entire set of Cambridge application essays tends toward encouraging stories about working experiences.

2. What are your short and long term career objectives? What skills/characteristics do you already have that will help you to achieve them? What do you hope to gain from the degree and how do you feel it will help you achieve the career objectives you have? (please do not exceed 500 words)

This is a standard goals essay where you need to state what you wish to do in the future. skills you already have that are relevant to these goals, areas in which you need to focus on in an MBA program and how Cambridge is the best choice for you. You may be writing similar essays for other schools, but be sure to be specific as to what it is about Cambridge that is relevant to the gap between your current skill set and the one needed to attain the goals you've set out for yourself.

3. If you could change one thing about your current organisation, what would you make different? How would you overcome obstacles to this change, and what impact would this change have in the short-term and long-term? (300 words)

If you plan to return to your organization upon completing the MBA, you may consider writing about a topic that is close to your goals, or even the detail behind your actual short-term.  Be clear about what you would do and how your company would be impacted as a result. What to do then if this is an organization to which you don't plan to return? Don't use this essay as an opportunity to complain. Instead, use it as an opportunity to show your analysis ability and potential to make change in the future. Maybe for instance your current organization has struggled with the idea to expand globally, despite declining domestic business opportunities. Be clear as to how you could overcome this challenges, as well as how you'd leverage your strengths (and those of your company) to grow overseas business.

One last note on essay 3 - for most "your current organization" is the company for which you work. But freelancers or others who may divide their time between a job and a significant volunteer activity (for instance) there may be some leeway in interpreting this question.

Additional Essays:

These three essays give the applicant 1,000 words about a failure, one thing you'd change about your organization, and a personal statement.  This is, relatively speaking, a significant amount of writing space given the shrinking applications of other MBA programs.  A close look at their application however reveals that there are a lot of other opportunities to tell your story. In fact, the entire application contains about 1,900 words of space you can use to reveal all that is great about you.  I use "about" here because some of the additional essays offer a character limit in addition to the word count limit.  Let's take a look at the additional application essays. They can be found in two places: the work experience and the additional information sections of the Cambridge MBA application.

Work Experience section:

Previous Roles/Promotions and Dates within your current company (1000 character limit)

Find space to show the nature of former positions, as well as reasons for any promotions, particularly for ones based on your accomplishments. Offer a brief translation for job titles that may be confusing or vague in order to ensure that you are demonstrating to the fullest the work you were responsible for.

Describe your primary job responsibilities; 1) type and size of internal and external teams with which you work or supervise 2) type and number of clients or projects you manage; 3) size of budget or revenue for which you are responsible; 4) international experience or exposure (150 word limit)  (1000 character limit)

This is an opportunity to describe your current role within your organization and, importantly, the scope of what you do and how it affects others in your organization. I'd include project-based supervision in #1, rather than only "official" subordinates for whom you are responsible. In addition, for the international experience section, aim to be as inclusive as you can, rather than leaving this part blank or assuming that your examples are not significant. If you aren't sure, list anything that comes to mind and then get someone to check and give you feedback on your experiences.

What is your most significant challenge within your current company?  (1000 character limit)

This should not be a re-write of main application essay 2, although thematically it may be similar. To rephrase the question, consider this: what is the biggest difficulty or roadblock towards the successful completion of your current goals? A good essay will include examples of how you are currently attempting to address this roadblock or difficulty. 

What is your most significant accomplishment within your current company?  (1000 character limit)

This is a "top of the resume" line item that demonstrates the biggest impact you have had in your organization. Make sure the impact is clear and substantial, and make sure too that this is truly your accomplishment - not someone else's. If you are torn between more than one option and are wondering which one might be best, one thing to consider is the transferable skills (i.e. strengths that are relevant to your goals) that you noted in the second of the main application essays. If leadership is something you've got that you'll be relying on in the future, then the story that best shows that might work well here.

Additional Information section:

Please provide information on any aspect of your candidacy that requires further explanation, or information that you would like the Admissions Committee to know (300 word limit). (and 2,000 character limit in the box)

I divide optional essays into two types: ones for which you should only address glaring weaknesses in your application, and others that allow you to address another strength to your application you couldn't mention in other essays. This essay definitely falls into the latter category, offering you a valuable chance to delve into a new area. As most of the application is heavily work-related (note that 4 of the 8 essays are included in the working experience section) this will be for many a good opportunity to write about a significant extra-curricular activity. If you choose this route, choose something to which you have shown a strong level of devotion to, otherwise it may be difficult for the reader to learn much about you. In addition, be clear as to why you enjoy this activity, and how you have benefitted from your experience with it.

The Entire Essay Set:

One thing that I always do, and I encourage anyone out there to do as well, is clear the desk, turn off the phone, and read through your completed essay set and application from start to finish.  Do this and then ask yourself what you've learned about this applicant to b-school. Is their future direction clearly laid out? Do they have what it takes to be successful in the future? Do you know what they do at work, and outside of it? Are they interesting?  These are the questions I ask myself when I read a finished application.  I encourage you to do the same, or at the very least seek out someone who'll do this for you.

John Couke

john.couke@gmail.com

UC Berkeley Haas 2012-13 Essay Analysis

Here's a short write-up on the Berkeley Haas essay prompts for the application for the class entering in the fall of 2013.

Essays:

(the school's own instructions) 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).

1. If you could choose one song that expresses who you are, what is it and why? (250 word maximum)

Most will be intimidated by this question, and probably because they are approaching it the wrong way.  The key is not to figure out a song, and then ask yourself what it says about you.  Instead, the key is to forget about a song while you determine what you want to say about yourself in this essay. Only once you have figured that out should you consider what song to use. Doing this - and in this order - will make the task of finding a song that expresses who you are and writing this essay easier.

You may choose a song with lyrics that mean something significant to you, a song that reminds you of (or was even playing during) an important time in your life, or a song with cultural or social meaning for you. No matter what you choose, I think they key is what you say about yourself in this essay. 

2. What is your most significant accomplishment? (250 word maximum)

This may be personal or professional, and it is wise to keep in mind the word "significant" as you choose the topic.  Be clear in your response how this particular accomplishment was significant to you. Did you learn from it, did it allow you to then move onto a bigger challenge, or was it in some other way memorable and/or important to you?  The "biggest deal" might not be enough here: there should be a measurable take-away that has a strong impact on your strengths or skills, your leadership or teamwork ability, or the way you communicate with others or even view challenges. 

Writing in a typical story order (introduction - what was at stake - your particular role - the steps you took - the eventual result - the impact of that result on others - the impact on yourself) is probably appropriate if you are writing out a first draft, but for the finished product, you may need to rework or reorder some of the story details in order to fit it into the school's tight 250 word limit while also maximizing the impact of your story.

3. Describe a time when you questioned an established practice or thought within an organization. How did your actions create positive change? (250 word maximum)

A quick read through Berkeley's Defining Principles is all it takes to see the emphasis Berkeley places on innovation.  Read as well (Executive Director of Admissions) Stephanie Fujii's comments on the Berkeley essay set, and as well this interview with the school's dean,  Rich Lyons and you'll see that Haas values people who are willing to take risks to achieve something big that'll have a considerable impact on those around them. 

To answer this question, you need to cite a time when a) you had an idea that involved something new - a new way of doing things, or a new way to approach an existing problem, b) implementing that idea would require changing something already established, c) you did in fact take concrete steps towards realizing that idea and d) the steps you took produced a measurable outcome.

Size or scope is not necessarily the defining factor of a great story here - you don't need to have changed the world through the actions you took. Instead, what is important is that you could create a new idea, and follow through on implementing it. Once again, just as you did in essay 2, show here that your actions resulted in making your division, department, company or industry better in some way - hence the "positive change" part of the question.  

4. 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)

Let's break down the first sentence into a few important parts.  "Your own failure" means you need to write about a time when you were unable to accomplish a goal, or something you or others expected you to be able to do. "Were a student of X" means that you learned something demonstrable from the experience.  Now let's turn to the second part of the question.  "Specific insight" means that you learned something specific about yourself or your surroundings, and "shaped your development" means that you were able to internalize and apply this learning, in such a way that you could be more effective in a future situation.  All of these elements should be present in this essay, which may involve a personal or professional topic, so while you have a lot of options, be careful in choosing the episode which best answers to all the parts of the question and shows your learning and development in the best possible way.

A few things to consider as you approach this essay.  1) Don't write about someone else's failure, or a team failure to which you were only loosely connected. Instead, write about a time when you genuinely could not do what you set out to. It'll make the resulting learning that much more effective.  2) Once you find your own failure, when you writer about, don't try to blame it on someone else.  

Finally, when brainstorming possible topics, it is probably better to think about the second part of the question first, rather than trying to come up with a failure at the start. In other words, ask yourself what strengths, skills and characteristics you have now that may be worth presenting.  Where did these things come from, or how did you learn them? In more than one case I am sure, you will find you have developed significantly from learning something - and a period of learning often follows a period of failure.  Some reverse engineering may help you to arrive at a good topic, which - importantly, allows you to show off what makes you special and unique today.

5. 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.)

This is a typical goals essay, with a generous word limit (750 words total). Although this amount is actually reduced from previous years (where applicants had 1,000 words) it is big enough that some may consider this the landing spot for their first goals essay, even if the other questions aren't done until after other schools have been finished, due to the topics and tight word constraints presented in them.

When drafting out your first attempt, start with a) who you are now professionally, b) the short-term and longer-term goals, c) the strengths and skills you have gained up to now that are relevant to these goals, d) the strengths or skills you need to gain, and e) how an MBA is needed and in particular f) how Berkeley is the best place for you to get the education you need.

Most of my other MBA essay analyses have some detail on the goals essay, so I won't go into too much additional comments here, save for two.  1) In terms of the goals, think big.  Berkeley embraces innovation and people who have the spirit to accomplish big world-changing things.  So, if you have big goals, show them. Be sure at the same time to show how their MBA will help you to accomplish them, and also be sure to show that these goals are something you can achieve based on strengths and skills gained up to now.  2) Give specific reasons as to why you are attracted to the Berkeley Haas MBA in particular.  You have the word count to do it - so don't skimp when it comes to giving clear and well-thought out examples of how Berkeley is a better fit for you, and a necessary step to where you want to be in the future.

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)

Balance across the essay set is important, and considering that this is a very open-ended optional essay, some applicants may use it to round pout their self-presentation, after reviewing the contents of all the other essays they wrote.  I'd advise something slightly different: that the wise applicant should have a balanced presentation (i.e. personal and professional) across essays 1-5, and this optional essay can then be used to point out a problem (choice or recommenders, etc) or better yet an additional strength that comes from a professional or personal experience that couldn't be fit into any other essay.  Remember this last point, and don't just repeat something that is already well-developed elsewhere in your Berkeley application.

2. (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)

Clearly evident quant skills would, for most, come from your GMAT quant score or university transcript.  If this is the case for you, you may not need to write anything here.  But, if neither shows strong quant skills, you may emphasize work experience or additional courses you have taken. There is an option to write about something you will do.  If you need to take this route, be specific as possible, to make your answer feel like more than just a vague promise. 

Good luck on your Berkeley application!

John Couke

john.couke@gmail.com

Dartmouth Tuck 2012-13 Essay Analysis

Here's a quick analysis of the Dartmouth Tuck essay questions for those aiming to enter their MBA beginning in the fall of 2013.

Instructions:

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. We encourage applicants to limit the length of their responses to 500 words for each essay. There are no right or wrong answers. Please double-space your responses.

This year Tuck is asking that essays be limited to 500 words each, while in the past they only used to state that on average most applicants use 500 words per essay. This change shows the school is trending towards a preference for shorter and tighter essays.  So when writing, be clear and concise, and ensure your essays stay under their 500 word limit for each.

Essay Questions:

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, and what will you uniquely contribute to the community? (If you are applying for a joint or dual degree, please explain how the additional degree will contribute to those goals.)

This is a standard goals essay, with an extra element: your contribution to the program.  The best way to organize your first draft is to address the following topics in turn: a) a brief introduction of who you are professionally now, b) your short-term goal, c) the long-term goal, d) a quick assessment of skills you have and skills you'll need to reach those goals, e) a few clear and specific examples of how studying at Tuck in particular will help you gain those skills you need and f) 1-2 examples of what you can offer to your fellow students at Tuck.  

Note the word "critical" in the essay prompt.  You need to show clearly that you truly need an MBA.  The way to do this is by having a specific post-MBA goal that requires an MBA, as well as clear examples in part d) of what exactly you need to get from an MBA to position you to achieve that goal.  Ensure the post-MBA goal is not something you can attain simply with more experience in your current role.  The post-MBA goal should instead be something you couldn't possibly do without all the benefits and learnings associated with an MBA.

In terms of your contribution, this could be what you can offer to a specific class and could be based on an element of your professional experience. But don't limit yourself when brainstorming possible ideas here: it could be that the best examples of what you'll offer is related to activities outside the class, and your own personal passions, rather than professional experiences.  Be clear how an element of your background, engagement in a sport or other activity, or contribution to a volunteer or other organization will help you contribute in turn to your fellow Tuck classmates.

Feels like a lot for 500 words? You are correct.  I'd suggest the initial draft simply contain all the elements and details you hope to include.  As you pare it down to something shorter, be ready to retain the core ideas (a to f) mentioned above, and cut out additional elements or repetitious or unnecessary sentences not totally focused on the story you are trying to tell.  

2. Discuss your most meaningful leadership experience. What did you learn about your own individual strengths and weaknesses through this experience?

This may be a professional experience, or it may be a personal one. The choice depends highly on what topics you choose for other essays, as you want to ensure that the overall essay set is balanced.  Also, the experience needs to be meaningful - which means that you need to have learned something significant from it, and can demonstrate that you have applied that learning to future experiences.  Given this, it may be best not to choose something you did yesterday or last week - in other words, choose a leadership experience where the significance on you can be clearly shown. 

I think that using the STAR technique is generally a great way to draft a story essay.  STAR stands for situation, task, action, and result.  

Start with the situation; for instance - what was the project you were involved in, and why was it important to your company?  The situation could also be the days after your company released a weak earnings report, or it could be the fact that the NPO you volunteer with has just announced that their public funding would be cut off in 6 months. 

Next, detail what in particular you wanted to accomplish and what hurdles might be involved.  Did you decide to get a new product fast tracked or approach a new prospective donor?  In addition, be clear what the problem or difficulty was. It could have been reluctance among peers or members of another department towards your idea.  Whatever the case, be clear as to a) the goal you set and b) any difficulties that presented themselves in accomplishing that goal.  

The action part of your essay is easily the most important, because it shows how you work, act, and communicate with others, and also because it is likely to be the longest part of your essay. Show here what you did.  Include everything in the first draft, and be ready to focus in on just the key elements of your story in later versions.  

Finally, watt was the outcome of this experience? How was this outcome a success, and what did it mean to you, your colleagues, organization or industry? Be clear as to the significance of the accomplishment.  In addition to this, what was the significance of the experience to you - in other words, what did you learn? You may have learned something about yourself, or about how to manage or lead other people.  Be clear as to not only a strength you possess that you could recognize during this experience, but also a weakness. In defining a strength AND weakness, you'll want to show that not everything went smoothly, or that perhaps the outcome was good but could have been greater if there was something else you could have done, or another method you could have employed in getting the result you wanted.

The value in describing such an experience is that the reader can learn more about you, how you make decisions, how you take initiative, how you accept responsibility, how you communicate with others - and how you have impacted those around you, while also being reflective and learning something about yourself. 

3. Describe a circumstance in your life in which you faced adversity, failure, or setback. What actions did you take as a result and what did you learn from this experience?

While your reputation may be the result of your accomplishments, your inner strength and character may be a result of your failures.  In this case Tuck is asking for a time when everything wasn't going well for you, what you did as a result, and what you learned from the experience.  Like essay #2, this story may be personal or professional.  In terms of balancing work and non-work topics, you may choose to have one professional and one personal topic between essays 2 and 3, although this is not a hard and fast rule for everyone. 

Most people dislike writing about adversity, failure, or setback experiences for two reasons.  

1) It is hard to come up with a good topic.

Many of my former clients have told me that "they have never experienced failure".  I doubt this to be true, and usually get them to define failure to me to see if they have misinterpreted the word.  In this essay, there is not only failure, but additional options: setbacks and adversity. Let's take a close look at the meaning of each.

Adversity - a situation where someone or something is opposing what you want to do or preventing you from accomplishing what you want to accomplish

Failure - when you are unable to perform to the level others expect of you, and this prevents you from achieving a certain result

Setback - a reversal or check in progress (I took this from here) 

As can be seen clearly from the definition, there are a lot of choices here. You could write about when a great accomplishment was put at risk at one step along the way.  You could write about a failure where the result was truly negative, but the resulting learning allowed you to achieve something better later on.  You could write about a severe difficulty encountered along the road towards a victory.  The point is to consider all options when brainstorming possible topics. In the end, be sure your story fits one element from the question: adversity, failure, or setback.

2) Even if a good topic is chosen, the first draft of the story usually fails to show any hint of adversity, failure, or setback.

When I read a weak first draft of a failure essay, the weakness can usually be traced to one of a few things:  a) the author uses "we" instead of "I", so it doesn't really look like they themselves failed at anything at all (instead it looks like the anonymous group, not the author of the essay, failed) or b) the author presents a terrific, big failure - but then fails to describe a clear learning from it that is applied later on.  Be sure to avoid both mistakes when choosing your story and writing initial drafts.  Be sure as well to write about yourself - it is okay to have a team story, as long as you personalize elements of the failure, setback or adversity, and are clear about what you learned from it.  

Once you're sure you've got a great topic, tell the story and personalize it as best as you can.  What was the situation, and what was your particular role?  What happened that was not desirable and to what extent was this your responsibility?  In other words, did you fail, or did you encounter adversity or a setback? Be clear about the next steps: how did you react, and what did you do?  Maybe you assessed the situation, or maybe you got advice.  In any case, be clear how you were proactive in turning the situation around.  Show what you did to make a positive outcome, and show also in the end that you are able to reflect by describing what you learned about the experience.

4. (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.

The example topics offered in this optional essay (unusual choice of evaluators, etc) are all examples of negative elements of your application that you feel may need to be explained.  And to be sure, if you feel your application has such a negative element, you should consider explaining it here.  But beyond this, if you can't think of anything bad that warrants explanation, I'd include another element, something positive, that reveals another strength or uniqueness about you.  Be sure though, as the question says, to not use this optional essay to simply repeat something that appears elsewhere in your application.

5. (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.

They key here is growth, and it is important if you were rejected previously that you be able to demonstrate improvement since that time.  Consider what weaknesses existed in your previous application, and what you have done to address them. Make sure those examples of improvement are clearly shown in this essay. Perhaps you took on a role of more significance or with more individual responsibility at work. Maybe you took a course in a subject that you were not strong at, or maybe you got involved in something outside of your work, where you had previously not done much at all. Whatever the case, demonstrate not only the activity, but also what you have learned, and how you have benefitted and grown, from the experience. I always think that the very best examples will be things you have initiated, or set out to do, rather than things that have happened to you.

Finally, you want to demonstrate not only improvement, but also how this improvement has strengthened your candidacy. How do these changes make you a better prospective MBA student? How will these new experiences help you to better contribute to your peers at Tuck? Be clear as to how the changes you have initiated have allowed you to position yourself as someone who can make a difference at Tuck.

John Couke

john.couke@gmail.com

Kellogg 2012-13 MBA Essay Analysis

What follows is a quick analysis of the application essays included in the Kellogg application for those aiming to enter the program in the fall of 2013.

Required Essays:

1. Discuss moments or influences in your personal life that have defined who you are today. (500 word limit)

As the question asks, this is to be a non-work related story.  What to choose? Certainly topics that reveal the strengths and characteristics you have today. The question asks for moments or influences - meaning that first of all more than one topic can be used, and in addition to that you may consider a story or even a person or experience that has helped to shape who you are today.  Be careful to avoid work topics, and also be careful to always show the relevance of any topic you do develop to who you are now.  It is likely possible to include 2-3 separate elements as you weave together a picture of who you are now.

2. What have been your most significant leadership experiences? What challenges did you face, and what impact did you have? This is your opportunity to explain how you Think Bravely (personally and/or professionally). (500 word limit)

Leadership experiences is plural so I usually recommend people to write about more than one experience in this essay. Two is often ideal, as it may be difficult to put more than that into a single 500 word essay. Two is also ideal, as those who wish to emphasize that their leadership goes beyond their jobs can use one professional and one personal example in developing their answer to this essay.  

Significant experiences with challenges and impacts have two key factors: a) your could learn from them and b) you could make a difference on the people around you by accomplishing something.  I think it necessary to try and show both in the overall essay, and even in possible in each episode you choose to write about. Choose episodes in which you had an impact as a leader, and for each be clear about what you did, the impact of success, and what you learned (about leadership or about yourself) from each.  The goal is to paint a picture of who you are and how you lead today - as the result of your accumulated experiences and learning.

The last part of the question (Think Bravely) s a new addition for this year. Think Bravely appears to mean being able to envision major changes by thinking outside the box, taking the necessary steps towards implementing these changes, and importantly, encouraging/enabling others to join.  Watch this video here. Additionally, here is a brief analysis from Kellogg Dean Sally Blount here. 

Consider the leadership episodes from this perspective. While it is not advisable to copy the words and feelings from the videos into your leadership experiences in this essay, it is worthwhile to ask yourself if, after reading your stories, you feel that Kellogg would believe that you exemplify these ideals, or are capable of becoming the kind of transformative leader they wish to mould at the school.  Do your experiences help show that you have the potential to make amazing and significant changes in the future? This is the type of person who may be successful at Kellogg.

3. Imagine yourself at your Kellogg graduation. What career will you be preparing to enter, and how have the MBA and Kellogg helped you get there? (Please answer in terms of your program choice: One-Year, Two-Year, MMM, JD-MBA) (500 word limit)

This is the standard goals - why MBA - why school essay. In order to prepare to write his essay, or any other goals essay for that matter, you need to deeply consider the following questions:

What are your current strengths and skills?

What are your short-term and long-term goals?

How will those current strengths and skills be useful in achieving those goals?

What additional skills or experiences do you need?

How (with specific examples) can you get these additional skills and experiences at Kellogg?

Your answers to these questions and the alignment that comes as they are put together will become the building blocks of this essay.

In terms of the goals, because the subject of this essay is you at graduation, you should probably be able to write very clear and specific short-term goals.  Identify the challenge you are moving onto next, and why it is a desirable and important next step for you. So imagining yourself with no idea what your next step will be (may be true and realistic for some but) will not be an effective way to showcase yourself effectively here.  Add detail as well on your long term goal, and where you envision your career going 5-10 years after graduation.

The twist here is that you are imagining yourself after completing our 2 years at Kellogg, so naturally you will need to reflect on the courses that were most memorable and useful to you now - even before you have enrolled in the program! It would be ineffective this essay ambiguously, i.e. to only write that there were "various" or "several" courses that had an impact on you. What strengths do you need to gain at Kellogg and which courses or experiences may help you to gain them? Do your homework, and try to come up with 3-4 concrete examples of courses or experiences at Kellogg that may help you position yourself to achieve the goals you have for the future. 

4. What one interesting or fun fact would you want your future Kellogg classmates to know about you? (25 words or less)

There is no do this and don't do that set of rules with a short essay.  Aim for surprise, color, and a memorable finish to your essay set here.

Those that feel a 25-word essay is easier than a 100-word essay will likely change their opinion as they try to put this one together. This content should be memorable, surprising, not developed in detail anywhere else in your application, and should reveal something (else) special and different about you that is appealing to admissions at Kellogg and/or shows how you will add value to your future colleagues. Did you lead your university soccer team to a national championship? Is your passion cooking Italian food?  Take your unique strength or skill and try to show it in a way that demonstrates the contribution you'll have at Kellogg. In so doing, you can use this last essay to make a colorful and memorable conclusion to your Kellogg essay set, offering one extra thing that'll show your potential to contribute to the Kellogg experience. 

Additional Information (Optional):

If needed, use this section to briefly describe any extenuating circumstances (e.g. unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, etc.) (No word limit)

This additional essay is intended to address possibly negative elements of your application.  The content (and decision as to write it or not) will be done on an individual basis - but certainly if you have failed a course in university or had a bad term, for instance, you'll want to aim to highlight all the great things you were doing at that time in your life, or offer up something else as an explanation.

John Couke

john.couke@gmail.com