By
MBA Admissions Studio
The key to getting the essays right is knowing what each question seeks – what Adcom expects
from your response in each case, and what bonus information can legitimately be
added. But schools each ask different questions. Or do they? They appear different
but if you look closely they are just variations on a few classics. Almost
every question is an adaptation of an archetype or a combination of two
archetypes. If you recognize and understand the archetype you will know what in
your answer information is relevant, what is additional, and what is
superfluous.
Archetype 1: "Why an MBA?"
1. Question Examples
"Briefly assess your career progress to date. Elaborate on your
future career plans and your motivation for pursuing a graduate degree at the Kellogg School"
"Think about the
decisions you have made in your life. Describe the following: Past: What
choices have you made that led you to your current position? Present: Why is a
Stern MBA necessary at this point in your life? Future: What is your desired
position upon graduation from the Stern School?"
"Why do you want to do an MBA at London Business School at this point in your life?
What will you do if you are not offered a place on the London Business School MBA or any other MBA?"
2. How to recognize this archetype
Keywords: progress, past, present, future, career, goal, plan, aspiration, ambition,
decision, position, objective, aim, intention, purpose, life,
short-term, long-term.
3. The underlying issue the committee is asking you to address
Stripped of its verbiage this question always asks you: why do you need an MBA, why now,
and why from us? Your response forms the backbone of your essay set and your
whole application.
Notice that there are five parts to the question, covering three time periods:
- Past – What experiences have led you to this point and this ambition?
- Present – Why an MBA right now, at this point in your career?
- Future – What do you want to do with your degree, in the short and long term?
- Why an MBA from this school particularly?
- Why an MBA at all? (Why not another kind of Masters, or a PhD?)
You should touch on all five topics somewhere in your complete
essay set, but be careful to answer this and all questions exactly as posed. If
the question is broadly posed, as will Kellogg above, all topics can be fully
addressed. Notice, however, that Stern does not ask for long term goals and LBS
has a particular sub-question. In general, shape your "Why an MBA" answer
carefully to whether the question asks more about your past ("What has led you
to want an MBA?") or about your future ("What will you do when you graduate?
How will an MBA help you?")
4. How to tackle it
This essay should be done in a clear and straightforward way. You can be creative in
your answers to many other questions, but here it is too risky. Here the
committee is looking above all for unequivocal evidence of your professional
maturity, as shown by your clarity of purpose.
Show due diligence: The "Why an MBA"
question is one of the best places to prove you have done your homework on the
school, and to argue that there is a specific match between your agenda and
what's on offer. Mention the school's features, courses, or extra-mural
opportunities, and say which are relevant to you and why.
Have definite goals: The admissions
committee is looking for an organized career strategy that rests on solid
self-understanding. They want to know why you have made the decisions you made,
how they have brought you to this point in your life, and where you are going
from here. Goals can include broader, non-career and personal or community
aspirations – but your first priority is to establish a clear professional
path.
Connect past to future: The committee
is asking how your past connects to your future via business school. You must
show that the MBA is the bridge between you yesterday and you tomorrow. Paint a
picture of a future that rests naturally on your past, assuming the MBA from the school in question.
Past, present and future can be presented in any order. What
works will depend on the details of your situation. A generally versatile
template is:
- Start with your direct goal on graduation
- Then give a sense of your long-term (major) goals
- Show why an MBA is relevant to these goals, and why now
- Bolster this with what in your past has led you to this point
- Finish with the particular aspects of the target school that are relevant and attractive, given your stated goals.
Communicating future aspirations
a. Dream and be real: You have to walk a fine line here. On the one hand you must
think big. Whether you want to manage a billion dollars, or create new brain technology industries, or fix
Africa – whatever it is, you should communicate high aspirations and a potential
career worthy of an MBA graduate in 20 years time. On the other hand you must
demonstrate career-path realism: your dreams will take a lifetime to mature,
and even then they may not. You should sound like you understand how careers
evolve in your field and the ways you might have to "do your time" (even if
highly paid) before you become a true titan of your industry.
b. Show first steps: The best don't wait
for acceptance of their b-school application before getting on with their
dreams. You raise you stock immeasurably if you can show you have already taken
steps towards the goal you claim to aspire to. Have you done the certifications
you need for your career move? Do you have a plan for attracting investors to
the business you hope to set up? Convince the committee that
you will make it happen no matter what – even if you
don't get
into their school, or any school.
c. Have a worthwhile future: Faced with applicants who have equivalent grades and GMATs, the admissions
committee will promote those who are on a unique, interesting, worthwhile career
mission. You may have to work hard to polish up whatever dullness or omissions
lurk in your past, but your aspirations are safely ahead of you where no
committee can verify them. So don't hesitate to project yourself into valuable,
distinctive roles.
d. Don't hedge on your aspirations: Applicants sometimes say something like: "I want to go to
Silicon Valley and create a startup using my
knowledge of XPF-Bio data mining. If that doesn't work out I may go back to my
old job at Bear Stearns, or join the family business." Adcom prefers to bet on
candidates who have a single-minded focus and who will do anything (legal) to
realize their dream. If you don't back yourself 100 percent the committee won't
either.
e. Differentiate yourself: A common question is: "Should I include a family and kids in my stated life
goals?" The problem in doing this is
not that you will appear a less
serious candidate if you want a family; it is that you will spend precious
space talking about a very common goal. You benefit most by focusing your
reader on the aspirations that set you apart.
5. How to flunk the "why an MBA" question
- You don't answer parts of the question asked, or you answer parts not asked
- Your style for this essay is flippant or frivolous
- You fail to talk about the specific attributes of the program you are applying
- to, and why they are relevant to your education and your future
- You have aspirations that are too low, too dull, or you are uncertain of them
- Your career goals don't require an MBA, or the role of an MBA is not clear
- You have goals that are unrealistic, or you fail to explain a realistic path to
them
- Your goals are illogical or an extreme stretch given your past – suggesting
career flakiness. (You're a Kurdish linguist: you want to be a Wall Street
analyst.) The committee will ask: "Is this aspiration logical? Will s/he be
recruited?"
