General Advice
• The essays are open-ended; different lengths are appropriate for different stories. Our first essay is meant to let us know who you are and what you care about. The second focuses on the usual business school stuff: what do you want to do, and why. We want to see whether you have thought through why you want an MBA—and whether our program is right for you. We want to be sure you know that this is a graduate program, with a very serious, academic, social science underpinning to it. We want to know why you are choosing to pursue such a rigorous, academic program. SHARON HOFFMAN, STANFORD
• Too many people try to impress us. Better that you should move us instead. Let us get to know you. We want to know what you’ve learned, not just what you’ve accomplished. The bottom line for me is your motivations and pas-sions, not just your
accomplishments. ROSE MARTINELLI, CHICAGO
• We want to see how well you understand yourself and whether you are able to communicate this understanding. We want you to shine a mirror onto yourself. We want to know the person behind all those achievements, who you are and what you care about—
what motivates you, what you are passionate about. (We’re not here to judge what it is specifically, as long as it is not immoral or illegal.) We do care about how well you can communicate this, in writing (surely a lost skill), because communication is an important aspect of management. SHARON HOFFMAN, STANFORD
• It’s compelling to read the application of someone who clearly knows how Haas will help her reach her goals. People who don’t know this are likely to be less committed to the academic needs of our program. PETER JOHNSON, HAAS
• It’s important to demonstrate why you want to attend this school. We’re trying to assess credentials and fit with the school. The more [you] can show there’s a good fit, the more confident we can be about it. DAWNA CLARKE, TUCK
• We place tremendous emphasis on the essays; they really make a difference to us. We look to find the person behind the achievements. At two o’clock in the morning, when you’re taking a break in the midst of a project, you don’t want to talk to a résumé who speaks polysyllabic business jargon; you want to talk to someone who’s real and compelling. SHARON HOFFMAN, STANFORD
• Being able to talk about how your past and current professional experience will be useful during your two years here is important.
So is a discussion of how the ramping up of one’s skill set on the program will help propel you professionally. SALLY JAEGER, TUCK
• Brainstorm with other people, but think about your own strengths and try to give us insight into who you are, not who someone else (such as a consultant) tells you to be. You’ll write much better if you talk about yourself rather than someone you aren’t familiar with. It’s easy to see when people aren’t being themselves, and it hurts them. Being made to look like everyone else is not helpful to your chances. LINDA MEEHAN, COLUMBIA
• Don’t give us a list of activities or accomplishments. Think instead about an activity, project, or experience that you can describe to illustrate your strengths. To show leadership in the workplace, for instance, I’d like to see you discuss a project, work group, etc., and use it as an example through which I can see your strengths and skills. This will be more memorable and unique, too.
Ask your family and friends what they know about your work. Whatever you’ve told them about is probably a good essay topic.
SARAH E. NEHER, DARDEN
• Think before you write. Map out your responses before you start. It’s great to get advice from people, but in the end you need to write it in your own voice so we can get a good sense of who you are. THOMAS CALEEL, WHARTON
• The last thing we want is to see you quoting our brochures or our website. I always tell applicants that they’re much more interesting than anything I can write because it’s their lives, which are compelling and unique. There’s some passion burning within you because you want to do something profound, you want to make a profound change in your life—personally, professionally, intellectually. That’s why you’re applying. So there’s some passion there: get it out. Shape it, hone it, but get the story out. It’ll be completely unique to who you are. And after looking at thousands of essays, the ones that pop off the page are those that are personal and passionate. ISSER GALLOGLY, STERN (NYU)
• It’s a bad idea to write what you think we want to hear. PETER JOHNSON, HAAS
• We read the application essays along with the GMAT AWA essays. We dislike formulaic approaches to essays, whether on the AWA or on the application form. When you’re looking at hundreds of essays, those shine through as somewhat superficial. DR.
SIMON LEARMOUNT, JUDGE (CAMBRIDGE)
• Applicants are welcome to converse with us about the essays before they apply. They can understand we’re not looking for another “I admire Jack Welch” essay. If I have to read one more of those I’ll go crazy. Instead, I really want to know who inspires you, who you are as an individual, what makes you unique, what is your true motivation. KIRT WOOD, ROTTERDAM
• We give a limited amount of space for responding to our questions, so differentiating between the essential and blah-blah-blah is critical. KATTY OOMS SUTER, IMD (SWITZERLAND)
• Essays are important, so don’t rush them. Think carefully about what point or points you want to get across and how you might best express them. When completed put it aside for a day or so and then reread it to (a) ensure it is saying what you intended and (b) there are no typos and other errors. SÉAN RICKARD, CRANFIELD (UK)
• Too many essays are the same. See if you can step outside yourself and really look at yourself. The worst thing is trying to tell us what you think we want to hear. I love a funny essay, but I also love essays that show what you think and what makes you tick.
JOELLE DU LAC, INSEAD Should You Submit an Optional Essay?
• By all means write an additional essay if something important cannot be addressed elsewhere. A typical example might be someone whose academic career had real peaks and valleys and who consequently needed to discuss the reasons for this. We do not, however, want repetitive information, nor do we want to see essays written for another school (which happens all too often). SALLY JAEGER, TUCK
• It’s appropriate to submit an additional essay to discuss an important issue not covered elsewhere. One example would concern explaining a career path prior to business school that does not appear to make any sense. It would be valuable to show why you chose the positions you did and how this relates to getting an MBA. PETER JOHNSON, HAAS
• It’s appropriate to explain a prior mistake, but it’s critical to show what is different now. If you got poor grades before, what has changed to suggest that you’ll do better now? ANNE COYLE, YALE
• There’s no chart laying out the answer to this. It’s a matter of judgment. For instance, are you including something that couldn’t fit in answer to another question? THOMAS CALEEL, WHARTON
• You should address something that is missing in your application or that raises questions. If you fail to address it or try to hide it, we’ll assume the worst. KATTY OOMS SUTER, IMD (SWITZERLAND)
Should You Send Additional Materials?
• Don’t send additional materials unless they are crucial to understanding who you are, what you do, and what you think. Few people are helped by the additional materials they give us. So think long and hard before sending something in. SALLY JAEGER, TUCK
• It’s OK to submit a newspaper article about you, but almost surely a bad idea to submit a videotape of yourself. ANN W.
RICHARDS, JOHNSON (CORNELL)
• When considering whether to submit additional materials, applicants need to consider what this says about how they’ll come across to recruiters later on: whether they’ll be seen as able to market themselves well or as annoying. ANNE COYLE, YALE
• Don’t go overboard—no wedding pictures or high school yearbooks. JOELLE DU LAC, INSEAD
• This is a big no-no. Candidates should only send what has been asked for in the application. ANNA FARRÚS, SẠD (OXFORD)
• We tend not to look at extra materials. We want a perfectly level playing field. DR. SIMON LEARMOUNT, JUDGE (CAMBRIDGE)
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