HBS Recommender Questions for the Class of 2013

In this post I analyze the HBS Recommender Questions for the Class of 2013. For my analysis of HBS essays, see here.  For my analysis of HBS interviews, see here.

I like the HBS recommendation form best because it is short and sweet. Other MBA programs torture recommenders with a series of typically 6-10 questions, while HBS takes a recommender-friendly approach.   For more about recommendations in general see my previous posts, "10 KEY POINTS FOR WRITING AN EFFECTIVE RECOMMENDATION: WHAT EVERY RECOMMENDER SHOULD KNOW" and "Further Comments on Selecting the Right Recommenders."   Another thing that I like about the HBS recommendation questions is that they are found on the HBS website and don't require registering as a fake recommender to obtain.  It is really annoying to have to go through the process of a registering as fake applicant and then registering fake recommenders in order to look at recommendation questions! I try to avoid doing that.  Some schools seem to think that no one has figured out how to get access to these things or that there is something wrong in having applicants have easy access.  Applicants need to see the questions because there is a very good chance that they will need to advise recommenders on the questions, especially if their recommenders are not familiar with this process.   Why make something that should be so easy to obtain so difficult? 

"Recommender Questions for the Class of 2013"

Recommendations must be completed online. The form includes the following three essay response questions, along with other types of questions.

• Please comment on the context of your interaction with the applicant. How long have you known the applicant and in what connection? If applicable, briefly describe the applicant's role in your organization. (250-word limit)
• Please describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant's response. (250-word limit)
• Please make additional statements about the applicant's performance, potential, or personal qualities you believe would be helpful to the MBA Admissions Board. (250-word limit)

You will notice that HBS is asking for no more than 750 words spread through three questions.  With other schools your recommenders will likely need to write  1000-1500 words to answer the schools questions effectively.  Some schools, in fact, provide no guidance on word count, but HBS does.  Let's look at each question.

Please comment on the context of your interaction with the applicant. How long have you known the applicant and in what connection? If applicable, briefly describe the applicant's role in your organization. (250-word limit) 

Adam's Quick and Dirty Interpretation: HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW THE APPLICANT AND WHAT DO THEY DO?

As I emphasized in my 10 Key Points Post, "#2: YOU BETTER KNOW THE APPLICANT OR CREATE THE APPEARANCE THAT YOU REALLY DO," it is critical that the recommender establish the legitimate basis upon which they are making this recommendation.  A clear description  which is explicit about the time knowing, organizational relationship to, and extent of observation of applicant is critical.  In addition, this answer should, even though it is not stated, begin the act of advocating for the applicant (My key point #10: BE AN EFFECTIVE ADVOCATE FOR THE APPLICANT).  Given that HBS only provides a limited amount of word count for obvious praise (250 words in the 3rd question), begin doing that here.  A good way to do that is to, in the process of describing the applicant's role in your organization, highlight the ways they have added value to the organization.   It might also be useful to compare the applicant to his or her peers in the process of explaining the applicant's role in your organization.

Please describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant's response. (250-word limit)

Adam's Quick and Dirty Interpretation: IF YOU ARE QUALIFIED TO WRITE THIS RECOMMENDATION, YOU HAVE PROVIDED CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK TO THE APPLICANT!

I consider this to actually be the ideal question for determining whether a recommender actually knows an applicant well.  After all, casual acquaintances, your dad's friend, the President of your country,and other such personages that often take the form of bad VIP recommendations, cannot effectively answer this question. As this will be a situation where you are criticizing the candidate, Key Point #7: BE CRITICAL, BUT NUANCED applies. Clearly describe what the candidate did that resulted in you providing feedback.  Next describe how the applicant responded.  An effective and applicant friendly answer here will be one where the applicant learned from and was, ideally, able to implement your feedback.  Compare this question to my analysis of HBS Essay 2: What have you learned from a mistake? as clearly HBS wants to understand both from an applicant and recommenders' perspectives how the applicant responds to mistakes, errors, and failures.  Assume that HBS believes that great leaders learn from their mistakes and they are trying to gauge the extent to which the applicant has the potential to be such a leader.

Please make additional statements about the applicant's performance, potential, or personal qualities you believe would be helpful to the MBA Admissions Board. (250-word limit)

Adam's Quick and Dirty Interpretation: OK, SO WHAT ELSE SHOULD WE REALLY KNOW ABOUT THE APPLICANT? 

Other schools will often ask two questions or more to address this same issue as HBS does in this one question.  What I really like about this is that the recommender is not forced to fit the applicant into a specific category. Such attempts at fitting round pegs into square holes can certainly take much time for a recommender to address. Compare  this HBS question to the extremely specific Haas rec question, In the Berkeley MBA program, we develop leaders who have “confidence without attitude”(or confidence with humility). Please comment and provide examples of how the applicant reflects this Berkeley-Haas value, and  you can easily see that HBS makes it easy for recommenders to focus on what they consider most important to say about an applicant.  This space should be used to focus on the absolutely critical selling points about the applicant that the recommender really wants HBS to know.  Core accomplishments, interpersonal and/or professional skills, and future potential are the ideal topics to write about here.  

Finally, I just wanted to mention that given that HBS has the largest alumni network of any MBA program, it is not necessarily the case that one should prioritize obtaining recommendations from HBS alumni.  If you are fortunate to have such a person who can effectively recommend you, that is great, but selecting an HBS alumni simply because they are an alumni is not necessarily smart because there will be so many of them. The most important thing is to have a recommendation that will really standout and fully convinces HBS about your past accomplishments, suitability to enter HBS in 2011, and future potential.

Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my recent post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

-Adam Markus

アダム マーカス

 MBA留学 ビジネススクール カウンセリング コンサルティング  ハーバード

Further Comments on Selecting the Right Recommenders

This is a follow-up to my post, 10 KEY POINTS FOR WRITING AN EFFECTIVE RECOMMENDATION. I suggest reading that post first.

In my previous post I provided some general guidelines for selecting the right recommender:
"It is important that you select recommenders who know you well enough to serve as effective advocates on your behalf.  Selecting someone  who has a big title or an MBA to the school you apply to is perfectly fine as long they know you and are an appropriate person to evaluate you.  That said, great recommenders need not have a super title, an MBA, or even be able to write in English! A great recommender is someone who can write convincingly of your abilities based on their experience of working with you.  A great recommender might need to have their recommendation translated into English.  A great recommender might not have the most beautiful writing style, but if they can communicate effectively, that is all that is required.  Most schools want a current direct supervisor or someone who can fill that role. Additionally senior colleagues and clients are also common choices.   All recommenders should know you in a formal professional or extracurricular context.  Causal friends and family members are not effective.  Senior colleagues are fine.  For some schools, like Stanford GSB, peer recommenders are required and should be someone who is really a peer and not a supervisor.  HBS is one of the few schools that will accept recommendations from your undergraduate or graduate school professors. Choose your recommenders carefully because who you choose is one basis on which you will be judged."

Here are some other criteria to keep in mind:

1. Select a group of recommenders who can best evaluate you.  Don't think about your recommenders in isolated terms, but rather as a group.  For most schools, your group will consist of two recommenders.  For Stanford and HBS, your group will consist of three recommenders.  The reason to think of recommenders as a group is because you are trying to maximize rather minimize their coverage of you.  In other words, you don't want recomenders who are going to say the same thing because their experience of you is essentially the same.  Sometimes such duplication is impossible to avoid, but, in most cases, there is always a way to differentiate between recommenders.

2.  Think about the period of time that the recommender can cover.  Try to pick recommenders who have long experience working with you.  Selecting your current supervisor who you just started working with would not be terribly effective.  In such cases, select a previous supervisor who can serve as a better evaluator of your abilities.  While schools want recommendations from current supervisors, if that supervisor's experience of you is too limited, they can't write an effective recommendation.    Unless someone's work with you was particularly intense, I can't see much point in getting a recommendation from someone who has only known you for six months or less.  One way to select recommenders is to write down all the recommenders and consider their period of coverage.  Here is an example for someone who has been working since 2006 at the same company:

1. John, previous supervisor, worked with me from 1/2006-11/2007.
2. Roberta, senior colleague, has worked with me from 2/2007-present.
3. Hugo, current supervisor, has worked with me from 1/2009-present.
4. Alex, project leader, has worked with  me from 1/2010-present.
5. Helen, previous supervisor, worked with me from 12/2007-3/2008. 

In the above mix, Hugo is an obvious choice (Current supervisor for to select regardless of whether you needed 1, 2, or 3 recommendations, but who to pick next?  Since Roberta and Alex are above you, that is, they are not peers, they both can be effective supervisor substitutes.  The advantage of Roberta is that she can cover you for a long period of time.  The advantage of Alex is that he lead a project you were recently on.  If your role in that project is something you really wanted to highlight you could use him.  While John would be an option, unless there was something about your work with him that you really wanted highlighted, he is an easy one to reject because he is not in a good position to speak to your current abilities.  Helen is not effective choice because the period of coverage is very short.

As you can see in the above there is no simple formula for selecting the right person, but if you evaluate your options you can probably narrow the choice down easily enough.

3. Think about diversity. It is always nice if you can select a diverse group of recommenders in terms of nationality, profession, gender, linguistic abilities, and/or education.  This sends a nice subliminal message to admissions about your willingness to be evaluated by very different kinds of people.  In the above example, selecting Roberta makes sense because she has worked with you for a long period of time, but also because she is a woman.  Especially for male applicants, such a selection shows your comfort with women in the workplace. For international applicants, having both native and non-native speakers of English as recommenders is a common way to add to the diversity of who you select.

4. The MBA factor.  It is valauble to have recommenders who have MBAs, especially from the school you are applying to, but not to the exclusion of other factors.  In other words, don't select an MBA simply because he or she is an MBA, but select them because they really can write an effective recommendation for you based on working with you. See also my comments about this issue in regards to HBS.

5.  The VIP factor.  Just like with the MBA factor, the important thing is that the VIP actually know you.  If you dad is friends with the Senator, President, famous writer, etc. who does not really know you and has not worked with you,  such a recommendation will not help you.

6.  The willingness factor.  The more willing the recommender is, the better.  It will not be great if you have to select someone who is not committed to helping you.  If someone says they can do it, but lack enthusiasm and are sending you mixed signals, you should really look for someone else.

I hope the above suggestions help you in your recommender selection process.

Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

-Adam Markus

アダム マーカス

ビジネススクール

Guest Blogger: 河野太一のGMAT OG12解説 SC21

This is another post from Taichi Kono, author of two textbooks on TOEFL and one on TOEIC and a highly experienced TOEFL, TOEIC, and GMAT instructor. Most of his posts will be in Japanese. This post is on GMAT sentence correction. His other posts can be found here.
-Adam


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河野塾代表の河野太一です。年来の友人であるAdam Markusさんのご厚意で、"The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition"の解説ブログの内容の一部をこちらにアップさせていただくことになりました。オリジナルは河野太一のGMAT OG12解説でご覧いただけます。なお、オリジナルのほうは予告なく内容を変更することがあり、ここに上げたものと相違があることがありますのでご了承ください。私のこれまでの記事やGMAT以外の話題についてはこちらをご覧ください。


SC21
(A) Neuroscientists, havingまでを見た時点で、Neuroscientists が主節の主語、havingは現在完了形のhaveをdoing副詞にしたものと考え、後ろにカンマと動詞を探す。すると, areがあって、複数受けなので数の呼応はOK。havingからカンマまでは特にキズは見当たらない。itsもthe brainを指していると素直に考えて問題なし。

(B)はareの前にandが入っており、これではNeuroscientistsに対する動詞がなくなるから、即アウト。

(C) amassingが直接Neuroscientistsにかかっているため、これは後置のdoing形容詞と解釈でき、意味は「今まさにamassしてい る」となる。SCに慣れてくればこの時点でダメだろうと予測がつく。後ろを見ると, and areとなっているから、やはりNeuroscientistsがなくなって、これで完全アウト。

(D)はhave amassedが主節の動詞となっており、これはOKというか、むしろ好感度は高い。後ろはどうか。adulthood,までは他の選択肢と変りなく、問 題なし。下線部の後ろはnow drawing ...となるので、(A)とは逆に、今度は後ろがdoing副詞になる形だ。doing副詞というのは、-ingの「同時感」を基本とした表現なので、主 節と副詞句が示す物事がほぼ同時に起こっているというのがコアの感覚。ただし、もちろん主節のほうが主体であり、副詞句のほうはサブ情報的な扱いになる。 したがって(A)と(D)の比較では、どちらが主体的な情報になるべきかを考えなければならない。ここはやはり「多くの情報を集めたので、今や結論を導き 出そうとしている」と考える、すなわち前の情報がサブで、後の情報がメインと考えるのが自然であろう。(D)では「今や結論を導き出そうとしていて、多くの情報を集めた」となってしまう。また、doing副詞が「同時感」を基調とする以上、「過去から現在までをひとわたり見渡す」時制である現在完了形と一 緒には使われにくい。主節には（現在が基準時であれば）現在形か現在進行形が来るのが普通だ（OG解説が言いたいのはおそらくこのこと）。ここは「多くの情報をすでに集めたという状況が同時的にあり、それで今は結論を導き出そうとしている」→「多くの情報を集めたので、今や結論を導き出そうとしている」の ように、「同時感」から派生して「理由」を表すようになったdoing副詞と見ることができる。

(E)は基本的に(D)と同じ構造なのでアウト。over the ... yearsがamassed,の次に来ている理由がわからないので、違和感が増している。

こ の問題は結果的にhavingを含む選択肢が正解であった。ここで「havingは正解にならない」という「ルール」について一言。以前にも書いたとおり、この「ルール」は実際には「正解になりにくい」であり、正解になる可能性も現にこのようにある。そのことはこの「ルール」を教える人も知っているので、ちゃんと「正解になりにくい」と表現しているはずだ。しかし、習っている側の頭では、必ずしもそのようには処理されないことがある。どんなに講師が正確な発言を期しても、多くの生徒の頭には「havingを見かけたら即切るべし」と刷り込まれてしまう。習う側に「時間を節約しなければ」という強迫観念 があり、また「苦しまずに楽に解きたい」という欲求もあるからだ。この問題では、「havingルール」を教えられた人は(A)を即座に切ってしまい、振り返りもせず、(D)あたりを正解にするだろう。(A)を見て、「待てよ、このhavingは大丈夫そうだぞ」と思える人はほとんどいないだろう。なにせhavingを見たら切るようにバイアスがかかっているから、havingの違いを見抜こうなどという意識は働かないはずだ。筆者には、このあたりが「一 発切りルール」の限界に思える。正攻法で、ひとつひとつの選択肢をニュートラルに見て、不自然なものを切っていくという姿勢のほうが、結局正解率が高く、 時間も短縮できるのではないか。完了形をdoing副詞にする用法があり、しかもそれほど珍しいとまでは言えない表現である以上、このSC21ではその可能性を考えるべきであるし、そうすれば簡単には(A)を切れないはずだ。もちろんhavingの正解率が低いのは事実なので、「ルール」が間違っているわけではない。しかしなぜ正解率が低いかといえば、haveを-ing形にする必要がないところを無理矢理にhavingにした選択肢が多いからだ。 havingが何でもかんでもダメとGMATが考えているわけではなく、一定のレシピに則って間違い選択肢を作る結果そうなっているだけなのである。そし て、そのような無理矢理感のあるhavingは、「ルール」によらずとも大抵の場合は容易に見抜けるのである。

もちろんこのSC21のような問題を仮に落としたとしても、「ルール」に頼ったほうが総合的に時間節約、点数アップにつながるのだ、という見方もあろう。それはその人の考え方次第だ。筆者も、「ルール」という表現はちょっと強すぎると思うが、「こういう表現は正解になりにくい」という「傾向」は大いに知っておくべきと考える。 GMATに慣れてくると、正解も間違いもある程度ニオイが感じられるようになるので、「ニオイでわかるでしょ」と解説することすらある（そして一部から非難を浴びる）。ただ、それが問題を解く際に前面に出てくるのではなく、あくまで正攻法を基調とし、「傾向」は知識として脇に携えておく、ぐらいの感覚がよいのではないかと思うのだ。「ニオイ」も、あくまで正攻法で多くの問題を解いていった結果体得されるものであって、最初から知識として詰め込むようなものではない。生徒と話していると「どうもルールに振り回されているなあ」と感じることがある。「ルール」を絶対視し、「効率的に解こう」と焦るあまり、何でもかんでもルールでぶった切ってしまって、思わぬ誤答をしたり、正解がなくなってしまって最初から考え直すハメになったり。そうして何だかワケがわからなくなっているGMAT学習者は、潜在的にかなり多いのではないかと筆者は疑っている。そのような人は、選択肢を正面から見て、文法的に間違っているものと、表現として適切でないものを切る、という姿勢に戻したほうがスッキリするのではないか。もちろんそのためには正確な文法知識と、大量のインプットによる「正しい英語の感覚」を身につけなければならないのは確かだ。結局は、その苦しみを受け入れて乗り越えようとするか、苦しみを避けて姑息な手段に逃げ込もうとして「策におぼれる」か、という姿勢の問題に還元されるのではないか。

-河野太一


河野塾ではTOEFL/IELTS/GMATの個人授業を提供しております。なかなかスコアが上がらずにお悩みの方、きめの細かい効果的な個人指導をお求めの方は、ぜひinfo@konojuku.comまでお気軽にお問い合わせください。

Wharton's100% Behavioral Interviews: A Change Badly Implemented

WHY NOT OFFICIALLY TELL APPLICANTS WHAT TO EXPECT?

Any school has a right to change its policies and procedures.  Wharton certainly had the right to change its interview style.  That said, moving to 100% behavioral interviews without letting applicants know is just particularly mean and nasty for those unlucky enough to have been unprepared for the change.  Now that the cat is out of the bag,  whether Wharton writes about it or not, applicants who look at sites like mine and GMAT CLUB's will know.  So basically it means that those who look for unofficial information will have a vast informational advantage over applicants who just read what is on Wharton's site and have expectations for a standard interview.  Wharton's site says only "Interviews may include behavioral questions." This is an outright deception as reported interviews are now 100% behavioral.

From my perspective, it is a pity that the Wharton MBA holders who now manage admissions at Wharton could not grasp the basic unfairness of their approach.  This is particularly bizarre given that MIT SLOAN has been using behavioral interviews for years and much to their credit, provides a guide about what to expect from a behavioral interview. It is a pity that no one at Wharton could not have bothered to ask Rod Garcia how to effectively prepare applicants for what is, after all, a very specific and non-standard form of interviewing.

Hopefully Wharton admissions will take into account that many 1st round interviewees were not informed about their policy change.  It certainly is odd to have a situation where some applicants will know exactly what to expect and while others are caught completely off-guard because of the faulty implementation of something as basic as testing logistics.
 

-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス

ビジネススクール カウンセリング コンサルティング 大学院 合格対策 エッセイ MBA留学

Guest Blogger: 河野太一のGMAT OG12解説 SC20

This is another post from Taichi Kono, author of two textbooks on TOEFL and one on TOEIC and a highly experienced TOEFL, TOEIC, and GMAT instructor. Most of his posts will be in Japanese. This post is on GMAT sentence correction. His other posts can be found here.
-Adam


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

河野塾代表の河野太一です。年来の友人であるAdam Markusさんのご厚意で、"The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition"の解説ブログの内容の一部をこちらにアップさせていただくことになりました。オリジナルは河野太一のGMAT OG12解説でご覧いただけます。なお、オリジナルのほうは予告なく内容を変更することがあり、ここに上げたものと相違があることがありますのでご了承ください。私のこれまでの記事やGMAT以外の話題についてはこちらをご覧ください。


SC20
(A) as contrasted withは「〜と対照して」の意味の熟語。主節の主語はthe yellow jacketであるから、比較対象はOK。表現として少し古臭くゴテゴテしている（wordy）感じがするが、この時点でダメとは決めつけられない。他の 選択と比較してから。the honeybeeがになっているのは学術的な文章などで「種」を表す言い方でOK。the yellow jacketも同じ。

(B) In contrast toは取りあえず通過。the honeybee’sと所有格になっている時点で比較関係が壊れているからアウト。

(C) Unlikeは良いが、the sting ofが入ってしまってますます比較が壊れており、アウト。本文のstingの前にはcanが置かれていて、こちらは動詞であることを示しているのがシブイ・・・というのは読みすぎか。

(D) that ofが不要。


-河野太一


河野塾ではTOEFL/IELTS/GMATの個人授業を提供しております。なかなかスコアが上がらずにお悩みの方、きめの細かい効果的な個人指導をお求めの方は、ぜひinfo@konojuku.comまでお気軽にお問い合わせください。

Update on Wharton Interviews: 100% Behavioral

As I indicated in my previous post on Wharton interviews, they have totally changed.  Reported interviews now consist of 100% behavioral questions.  See reports at http://gmatclub.com/forum/calling-all-wharton-2011-applicants-95623-900.html.

Clear Admit now has a a full report up.  See http://www.clearadmit.com/wiki/index.php?title=WhartonInterview.
-Adam

Joint Wharton MBA/MA–Lauder Applicant Essays for Fall 2011 Admission

If you are applying for the Joint Wharton MBA/MA-Lauder Program, you will find yourself, not only writing the Wharton essays (See my previous post), but also writing up to an additional 2000 words.  I have not worked on too many Lauder applications. Three actually, resulting in an admit for 2010 (See his testimonial here) and two that resulted in interviews and sadly in dings (Don’t cry for the applicants as they were admitted to Columbia and Chicago).  My first suggestion about Lauder is to take the whole process, including interviewing seriously.   I am confident about my essay advice on Lauder, though clearly it based on a really small pool of clients.  While Wharton’s MBA questions have changed significantly for 2011 entry, that is not the case with Lauder. The two questions you will have to integrate into your overall Wharton essay portfolio are below in bold:


1. Describe a cross-cultural experience in your adult life that was challenging to you. How did you meet this challenge and what did you learn from the experience? (1,000 words)
While a cross-cultural experience in your adult life, the key situational constraint of the question, might occur in your home country, I would advise you to write on an experience that occurred overseas, though not necessarily in the language/region you intend to focus on at Lauder.  A core function of this essay is demonstrate your ability to function well internationally and to cope with differences in culture. It is generally the case that those factors can best be measured by an international experience.
What kind of topic will work here?  A challenging situation is pretty wide open.  It might be a professional situation involving team, leadership, and/or communication issues.  It might be a complicated situation because of the location.  Whatever it is, it must involve a cross-cultural aspect: You will need to write about the meeting of two or more unique cultures and the need to resolve or at least factor in differences between those cultures in your handling of the challenge you faced and how you overcame it.

I don’t suggest writing on a topic where you negatively stereotype another nation: Martians are always argumentative, so negotiating with them proved very challenging, but based on my ability to master their language, I was able to sell them more laundry detergent than they would ever need. Instead, I suggest you find a topic where actual differences in culture are explained a carefully nuanced and culturally sensitive way.

Given the necessity to actually learn something, avoid topics where you don’t: This situation taught me the importance of human communication. Sorry, but I think that lesson should have bean learned prior to becoming an adult. Successful versions of this topic must involve real learning. This may lead to a new career decision, a new way of looking at oneself, a new way of interacting with other people, or a myriad of other possibilities.

An effective answer will consist of the following:
1.  A clear statement of what the challenge was.
2.  A clear explanation of the cross cultural aspect.
3.  A discussion of the steps you took to overcome the challenge.
4.  An analysis of what you learned, possibly including an example of how you applied what you learned to a new situation.


2. Please explain why you are currently applying to Lauder. How do you expect the Wharton/Lauder joint-degree experience to benefit you on both a professional and personal level? (1,000 words)

Unlike regular Wharton MBA applicants, Lauder applicants will still have plenty of room to write about their goals and why they want to attend Wharton.  While I have suggested that all applicants try to write Optional Essay 1 (Creating your own course), I don’t think this is necessary for Wharton/Lauder applicants as it is possible that the content of Lauder Essay 2 will really prove more than sufficient for explaining all you need to about Wharton and Lauder.  That said, I still think Optional Essay 1 is great question to write on.

An effective answer here will consist of a clear explanation of why you are applying to Lauder. This explanation should be connected to the goals you discuss in Wharton Essay 1 and to the specific nature of the Lauder program.  Don’t worry about overlap between this answer and Wharton Essay 1 because some will be necessary in order to explain the connection between Lauder and your goals.  Given the importance of the linguistic, cultural, and experience  in-country aspect of Lauder, you should certainly explain how those and other aspects of the program have motivated your application.  You should discuss both what you hope to gain professionally (goals, career opportunities, networking, etc.) and personally (academic interest, expanded perspective, improved language skills, etc.) from the program.  I highly recommend that you use this space to connect personally with the Lauder program and show your passion for it.  Don’t just recite brochure content, but show how Lauder will transform you both professionally and personally.

Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

-Adam Markus
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10 KEY POINTS FOR WRITING AN EFFECTIVE RECOMMENDATION

10 KEY POINTS FOR WRITING AN EFFECTIVE RECOMMENDATION: WHAT EVERY RECOMMENDER SHOULD KNOW

In this post, I have provided some advice for recommenders (AKA “referees”).  While this advice is focused on MBA recommendations (“recs”), much of what is here would apply to recs for other graduate programs.

While this post is meant for your recommenders, I think it also provides key points for you to consider both in terms of who you select for recommendations and also what of role you will have in the process. My post on HBS recommendation questions can be found here, but is best read after reading this post.

A brief note on selecting recommenders:  It is important that you select recommenders who know you well enough to serve as effective advocates on your behalf.  Selecting someone  who has a big title or an MBA to the school you apply to is perfectly fine as long they know you and are an appropriate person to evaluate you.  That said, great recommenders need not have a super title, an MBA, or even be able to write in English! A great recommender is someone who can write convincingly of your abilities based on their experience of working with you.  A great recommender might need to have their recommendation translated into English.  A great recommender might not have the most beautiful writing style, but if they can communicate effectively, that is all that is required.  Most schools want a current direct supervisor or someone who can fill that role. Additionally senior colleagues and clients are also common choices.   All recommenders should know you in a formal professional or extracurricular context.  Causal friends and family members are not effective.  Senior colleagues are fine.  For some schools, like Stanford GSB, peer recommenders are required and should be someone who is really a peer and not a supervisor.  HBS is one of the few schools that will accept recommendations from your undergraduate or graduate school professors. Choose your recommenders carefully because who you choose is one basis on which you will be judged. For more about recommender selection, please see here.


THE 10 KEY POINTS
For Applicants:  Feel free to distribute this document to your recommenders or use it as a basis for your discussion with them.

For Recommenders:  Below I have tried to provide you with some advice on how to write an effective recommendation (“rec”) that will help the applicant you are writing for gain admission.   My advice is based on my work, since 2001, as an MBA admissions consultant.

#1: RECS MATTER. It is that simple.  What you will be writing will have an impact on the admissions outcome of the applicant.  Take this responsibility seriously.  Take the time to craft effective answers, get input from the applicant if you need it, translate your rec into English if necessary, have someone proofread your rec if necessary, and, whatever you do, submit it on time!  If you can’t handle this responsibility, admit that, and save the applicant from being damaged by your inability to fulfill your role.

#2: YOU BETTER KNOW THE APPLICANT OR CREATE THE APPEARANCE THAT YOU REALLY DO.  Schools (Business Schools or otherwise) get recommendations all the time from VIPs who don’t really know the applicant and can only write really vague things about the applicant or merely report that someone else said something good about the applicant.  This is not effective.  One reason most MBA recommendation forms ask such specific questions like “Discuss a time you provided feedback to the applicant” or “What are the applicant’s strengths and weaknesses” is that they can use such answers to measure the extent to which you know the applicant.   While it is possible, on a long list of questions, to not answer a particular question, generally speaking, you should anticipate the necessity to provide detailed answers to all major recommendation questions.  If you have agreed to do this and find you lack sufficient content to answer the questions effectively, please discuss that issue with the applicant.

#3: UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE, USE THE (ONLINE) FORM.  While some MBA programs are quite happy with a letter that addresses their questions, most of the top programs in the US and Europe require specific answers to specific questions as part of a rec form.  I know that this means that you will have to answer different questions for different schools and that this whole process is a bigger burden than you imagined, especially if the applicant is applying to multiple programs, but that is part of the responsibility you have agreed to take on.

#4: TRY TO WRITE THE LONGEST MOST INVOLVED RECOMMENDATION FIRST. If you have to write recommendations for two or more schools, I suggest reviewing the questions and determining which one looks like the most burdensome in terms of the number of questions asked and length.  By tackling this one first, you will find that it will be easier handling subsequent recommendations.  If the applicant is applying to Columbia Business School, chances are pretty good that it will be the most burdensome one.

#5: HOW LONG?  THIS WILL VARY GREATLY.  Some schools like HBS (3 questions, 200 words each, and on 1 page) and MIT (6 questions, 2 pages maximum) provide you with very clear guidelines, but others don’t.  In general, I think you can assume that you need to write answers that are somewhere between 100 and 300 words long and that a typical recommendation of 5-6 questions will be about 600-1800 words long. There is a huge variation in what is acceptable. The key issue is not length, but the quality of your response.

#6:  GOOD RECS CONSIST OF DETAILS AND ANALYSIS. A good recommendation answer will consist of both your analytical perspective on the applicant as well as specific detailed examples that support that perspective. If you say the applicant is an “X” explain why and, at least in some cases, provide a specific example. “X”= smart, innovative, global, etc.  A detailed example is a brief anecdote or story.  Some questions will ask that you provide examples, but even if they don’t you really need to provide the admissions committee with enough information so that they can fully understand your support for the applicant.

#7: BE CRITICAL, BUT NUANCED. You will likely be asked to provide a critical perspective on the applicant. Questions about areas for future growth, weaknesses, or characteristics about the applicant you would change are very common on MBA recs.   The objective of such criticism is to help the admissions committee understand the applicant and also the extent to which you are relatively objective.  Still, make sure that your criticisms are not fatal ( Examples: “The applicant loses his temper easily and has been disruptive on teams.”  “The applicant lacks the ability to analyze complex issues.”  “She is too aggressive to work effectively with some people.”), but are measured and nuanced. Be honest about the applicant, but when you answer such questions think carefully about the answer and provide a full and complete answer that  explains (and hopefully delineates) the extent of your criticism.

#8: NOT SURE ABOUT A QUESTION? ASK THE APPLICANT. If you don’t understand a question, the applicant should be able to.  It is better to provide effective answers to the questions than just guessing.  There are times when the rec wording may confuse you, but as the applicant has been focused on the admissions  process, they should be able to figure it out
.
#9: GETTING INPUT FROM THE APPLICANT. I think it is fine to get input form applicant when formulating your answers. This may take the form of a conversation, a review of the applicant’s resume and/or essays, and/or written notes from the applicant.  Especially if you have not worked with the applicant recently, it is especially helpful to have some reminders. In any event, it is certainly helpful to know what the applicant would like you to discuss.  That said, it is critical that the recommendations not appear to be written by the applicant!  Even if the applicants sends you sample answers or highly detailed notes that amount to the same thing, you really must alter these regardless of how effectively they represent your viewpoint.  The applicant is relying on you to provide your distinct voice and perspective, so at minimum restate in your own words whatever inputs the applicant provides you with.  Ideally you should craft your own answer and only use such inputs from the applicant as a starting point. Finally, IF YOU ARE NOT COMFORTABLE WRITING IN ENGLISH, USE A TRANSLATOR AND WRITE IN YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE!

#10: BE AN EFFECTIVE ADVOCATE FOR THE APPLICANT. This is my tenth and last point because it is the bottom line.  If you can’t be an effective advocate for the applicant, don’t write a recommendation.  The applicant needs your full support based on your ability to demonstrate to the admissions committee that you have an important and positive perspective on the applicant.  The admissions committee must be able to not only understand and believe what they are reading about the applicant, but they must also think, based in part on your recommendation, that the applicant is someone who will succeed in their program and afterwords.

Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my recent post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

-Adam Markus

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UC Berkeley Haas MBA Essays for Fall 2011 Admission

The University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business is along with HBS, MIT Sloan, and Stanford GSB, one of the hardest programs to get into. The program is small and attracts a very diverse group of students. The objective of Haas admissions is to find the best applicants in order to put together a diverse group of students who will thrive in a program that values innovation, collaboration, and a high level of participation both in and out of the classroom.


CHANGES TO THE CURRICULUM:
Haas has made much of its changes to its curriculum. See here and here. To listen to the Deans of Haas, HBS, and Kellogg discuss their curriculum, go here.
IT IS CRITICAL TO CONSIDER  CHANGES TO THE CURRICULUM  IN TERMS OF YOUR  APPROACH TO SHOWING FIT WITH HAAS. The key component of this change is the Berkeley Innovative Leader Development (BILD):

"BILD is the connective theme that runs through the entire Berkeley MBA curriculum to ensure that every student develops the skills required of innovative leaders.
Infused with BILD's innovative leadership perspective, the Berkeley MBA's rigorous general management curriculum teaches you to become a leader who can harness new ideas to create value for your firm. You acquire skills and qualities that enable you to drive growth to ensure your organization thrives."

For more about BILD, including an interactive of the concept, see here. The interactive map actually provides a complete overview, so I suggest reviewing it closely.

My Interactions with the Haas Community

I experienced the energy of Haas students when I attended the end of the Japan Trek Party (For English, see http://groups.haas.berkeley.edu/japan/Haasweek0904p1.pdf) in April 2009. I saw great diversity and real sense of enthusiasm amongst the participants. You can find my Q&As with Haas students here (MBA) and here (MBA/MPH).

Haas has always asked a large number of questions and (lucky for me),  the only change from last year is Short Answer 3. I have taken the questions from the website:

Short Answer:


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


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


3. At Haas, our distinctive culture is defined by four key principles — question the status quo; confidence without attitude; students always; and beyond yourself. Give an example of when you have demonstrated one of these principles. (250 words maximum, Review Berkeley-Haas’ Defining Principles)


4. There are many ways to learn about our program, what steps have you taken to learn about the Berkeley MBA? (250-word maximum)

Required Essays:

1. Give us an example of a situation in which you displayed leadership. (500 word maximum)
2. What are your post-MBA short-term and long-term career goals? How do your professional experiences relate to these goals? How will an MBA from Berkeley help you achieve these specific career goals? (1000 word maximum)

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)

GENERAL COMMENTS ABOUT THE QUESTIONS

From my perspective, unless you really believe that you have nothing else important to say about yourself, there are no optional questions here. Needless to say, you should not treat the Short Answer Essays with any less seriousness than the Required Essays.

REALLY ANSWER THEIR QUESTIONS!

I can that my clients who have been admitted there, all had one thing in common: They took time to craft answers specific to Berkeley's questions. There is a natural human tendency towards laziness that results in many applicants not taking the time to do that. If your objective is to get into Berkeley take the extra time required to craft truly excellent school-specific answers to their questions. Once you write the essays for Haas, you will have significant amount content for writing other school's essays.

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

This is the only completely new question for Fall 2010 admission. It replaces a question on regret, which was a rather depressing question.

Passion is about emotion, it is about motivation. It is not rational and hence is in contrast to the very rational questions that make up the rest of the Haas application. In past years, when Columbia asked this question (and they did for many many years), I have seen successful essays on this topic on a variety of subjects, but the only common thing was that no one wrote about work or their career goals. Given, the 1000 words you have for the Haas goals essay, writing about your career goals here would be highly redundant. Whether it is your committed involvement in an organization, an issue that you care deeply about, a hobby/interest that you have long been engaged, your personal relationships, or your deepest beliefs, provide Haas with some insight into who you are as a person through this essay. Whatever it is that you do write about, passion has to be there. Also, since it is the very first essay, you certainly want to get them engaged and interested in you as an applicant.

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

Please see my analysis of the similar HBS question. Given that you can only write on one topic, for most applicants, I suggest making it your most significant professional accomplishment. Of course, significance is really the issue and it is important that you explain why it is significant. If you truly believe you have a personal or educational accomplishment that is your most significant, just make sure that admissions will not only understand why you believe that to be the case, but be able to view your accomplishment as a basis for admitting you.

Short Answer 3. At Haas, our distinctive culture is defined by four key principles — question the status quo; confidence without attitude; students always; and beyond yourself. Give an example of when you have demonstrated one of these principles. (250 words maximum, Review Berkeley-Haas’ Defining Principles)

This question has changed from last year.

While some will write about a work-related topic here, I don't think that everyone must. The key thing is to fully connect yourself with one of the four key principles that underlies the BILD curriculum.
I think it is best if we examine each of these principles.
The basic structure for this essay:
1. State clearly which key principle you will be connecting yourself with. Only focus on key principle.


2. Provide an example that demonstrates your connection to this key principle.  Only focus on one example.


I suggest you discuss a specific example that is not covered elsewhere in your essay set or if it is mentioned elsewhere is discussed in a very different way from this version.  It is easy to imagine the example here overlapping with essays Short Answers 1 and 2 and Essay 1, so be careful.

The four principles are discussed at http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/strategicplan/culture/. I suggest reviewing that page.  I have reproduced the content below.

Question the Status Quo

"We lead by championing bold ideas, taking intelligent risks and accepting sensible failures. This means speaking our minds even when it challenges convention. We thrive at the world's epicenter of innovation."

Please see my analysis of  Stanford Essay 3 Option D and MIT Essay 1 as my analysis of those two questions would apply here.

Confidence Without Attitude

"We make decisions based on evidence and analysis, giving us the confidence to act without arrogance. We lead through trust and collaboration."

This is the perfect place to highlight your skills as team member and team leader and/or as a leader who makes decisions based on reason and evidence.  Please see my analysis of MIT Essay 2, Tuck Essay 2, and Stanford Essay 3 Option A as any of these might apply here.  Given that you have to write a whole 500 word essay highlighting your leadership, I suggest you select the topic for Essay 2 before choosing to write on this option because the last thing you need are two leadership stories that tell admissions very similar things about you.  That said, many applicants will find that have very distinct and effective stories that can be used here.

Students Always

"We are a community designed for curiosity and lifelong pursuit of personal and intellectual growth. This is not a place for those who feel they have learned all they need to learn."

Haas values curiosity and lifelong learning.  This is a good place to tell a story that highlights your academic and/or intellectual strengths.  Unlike HBS's very restrictive Undergraduate Experience Essay, Haas is really giving you the opportunity to discuss not only academic achievement, but personal growth.  While I suppose a professional topic is possible here,  most would use this to write about something academic or personal either in their present or past.

Beyond Yourself

"We shape our world by leading ethically and responsibly. As stewards of our enterprises, we take the longer view in our decisions and actions. This often means putting larger interests above our own."

This is the perfect essay for the many social entrepreneurs, environmentalists, and sustainable enterprise champions who apply to Haas.  It is also for anyone who has been passionately focused on a cause greater than their own self-interest. I suspect that if you have such an example, you don't need me to help you understand it.  The question aligns well with the interests and passions of many who apply to Haas, so I suggest only writing on it if you have a topic you are particularly confident about. 

Short Answer 4. There are many ways to learn about our program, what steps have you taken to learn about the Berkeley MBA? (250-word maximum)

You need to try to separate what you say here from what you discuss in Required Essay 2. You should mention changes to the curriculum (BILD), here and/or in Required Essay 2. There may be some overlap, but there is a distinction. In Required Essay 2, you should specifically explain why you need an MBA now from Haas and how doing so relates to your goals. In Short Answer 4, you need to show you have become informed about the Berkeley MBA program and why there is a good fit between you and the program. Haas provides online resources to help you, but in addition, if possible I suggest you visit, meet alums, and/or communicate with current students to become informed about the program. While it is important to show what steps you have taken, it is equally important to make a clear case for why Haas is the right school for you. See the Berkeley MBA Student Blogs.  Also take a look at the various institutes and centers connected to Haas. Those who read Japanese should most certainly visit the Haas Japanese website and Haas Japanese students/alumni blogs.

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

This is the most generic form of a leadership question there is.  I have already made some comments about taking account of overlap between Essay 1 and Short Answers 2 and 3.   While you need to focus on a single situation, you cannot just describe it, but also need to analyze it.  You should explain very clearly what aspects of leadership you are highlighting.


I have developed the following grid to help you outline leadership stories. The categories this grid employs may go beyond any particular schools essay requirements. Filling it out completely will help you write about your leadership in a way that will help convince admissions of your leadership potential.CLICK TO ENLARGE. 

How to use the grid:
1. Decide on a specific story.
2. Identify the most significant things you did in the situation, these are you action steps.
3. For each action step identify:

• What skills or qualities you demonstrated to complete this step.
• The strengths you demonstrated to complete this step.
• The kind of leadership you demonstrated.
• What you still need to learn about leadership.

4. Think about the results and identify how they relate to your action steps. So, at minimum, you should be able to state the impact on others and/or yourself.

5. After completing the chart you will see that some aspects of your action steps may be repeated. If there is a total duplication and nothing new is shown, either you need to redefine the action step or you may decide not to focus on it very much.

6. Once you think you have two to four fully worked-out action steps for two to three stories, start writing your essay.

7. Next start re-writing. Eliminate duplicate points made between action steps. Make choices about what parts of each action to step to highlight. Given the word limits, you will have to make some decisions about what to include. Simply providing a description of your actions, is not enough. Consider what it signifies about you. Consider what your actions reveals about your leadership potential.
 
Finally, thinking and writing about leadership is an important part of preparing for interviews because you can be certain that you will have to talk about leadership. So, you might find that the parts of the outline you jettison now will become valuable when you will want to have alternative stories for your Haas interview.

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

I should point out that there is a difference between this version of the question and questions like Kellogg's that ask for a career summary. Berkeley does not ask for such a summary and its inclusion especially at the beginning of your essay will be a sign that you did not customize your answer for Berkeley. Berkeley instead asks for you to explain how your professional experiences relate to your goals. Therefore discussion of your past experience should be made as a part of an explanation of your goals. For those who have already written Kellogg (or essays like them), if your essay begins with a career development section, I suggest beginning with goals instead. Take your career development section and use parts of it to support your reasons for your goals and why you need an MBA now. For many applicants this will not be so much about writing new content as editing it to better answer Berkeley's version of the question.

Regarding the third part of the question, keep your Berkeley specific content focused on explaining why you need an MBA now and how it will help you with your goals.

BEFORE YOU WRITE
Before writing this essay, if you have not done a similar essay for another school, I suggest going through a formal process of goals analysis because it will really help you determine the most important things you need to tell Haas. You can use my GAP, SWOT, AND ROI TABLE FOR FORMULATING GRADUATE DEGREE GOALS for this purpose (see below). I think Gap, SWOT, and ROI analysis are great ways for understanding what your goals are, why you want a degree, and how you will use it. (Click here for a GMAC report on MBA ROI. )
To best view the following table, click on it.

How to use this table:

Step 1. Begin by analyzing your "Present Situation." What job(s) have you held? What was/is your functional role(s)? What was/are your responsibilities?

Next, analyze your present strengths and weaknesses for succeeding in your present career. REMEMBER: WHEN YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESS DON'T ONLY THINK ABOUT WORK, THINK ABOUT OTHER ASPECTS OF YOUR LIFE. In particular, some of your greatest strengths may have been demonstrated outside of work, so make sure you are accounting for them.
Strengths: What are you good at? Where do you add value? What are you praised for? What are you proud of?
Weakness: What are you bad at? What are you criticized for? What do you try to avoid due to your own limitations? What do you fear?

Next, analyze the environment you work in right now. What opportunities exist for your growth and success? What threats could limit your career growth?

Step 2. Now, do the same thing in Step 1 for your "Post-Degree" future after you have earned your graduate degree. IF YOU CANNOT COMPLETE STEP 2, YOU HAVE NOT SUFFICIENTLY PLANNED FOR YOUR FUTURE and therefore you need to do more research and need to think more about it.

Step 3. If you could complete step 2, than you should see the "Gap" between your present and your future. What skills, knowledge, and other resources do you need to close the gap between your present and future responsibilities, strengths, and opportunities?

Step 4. After completing Step 3, you now need to determine how an MBA will add value to you. It is possible that an increased salary as a result of job change will be sufficient "ROI" for the degree to justify itself, but you should show how a degree will allow you to reach your career goals. How will the degree enhance your skills and opportunities and help you overcome your weaknesses and external threats? If you can complete Step 4 than you should be ready to explain what your goals are, why you want a degree, and the relationship between your past and future career, as well as your strengths and weaknesses.

The above table will also help you answer such common interview questions as: Where do you want to work after you finish your degree? Why do you want an MBA (or other degree)? What are you strengths? What are your weaknesses? What are your goals? Thinking about these issues now will help you to develop a fully worked-out strategy for how you will best present yourself both in the application and in an interview.

WHY HAAS?
See my comments above regarding Short Essay 4 and changes to the curriculum (BILD).

GOALS
You need to make admissions excited about your future. To do so, you should think about whether your goals are compelling. Admissions committees ask applicants to write about their goals after graduate school, but can applicants actually know what will be on the cutting-edge in two or three years? While many applicants will be able to successfully apply with relatively standard goals ("I want to be a consultant because..."), try to go beyond the typical answer to make your goals compelling.
Be informed. Haas needs to believe you know what you are talking about. If you are changing careers, no one expects you to be an expert, but you should come across as having a clear plan based on real research into your future. If you are planning on staying in your present industry, you should be well informed not only about the companies you have worked for, but about the industry as a whole. If you are not already doing so, read industry related publications and network.
Those who are changing fields should most certainly read industry related publications in their intended field. Think about conducting informational interviews with at least one peer-level and one senior level person in that field.Conduct a peer-level interview to get a good idea of what it would be like to actually work in that industry. Conduct a senior-level interview to get the perspective of someone who can see the big picture and all the little details as well. 
Don't know anyone in your intended field? Network! One great way to start is through LinkedIn. Another is by making use of your undergraduate alumni network and/or career center.

LEARN WHAT IS HOT. No matter whether you are changing fields or not, learn what is hot now and try to figure out what will be hot by the time you graduate. Now, of course, this is just a plan and chances are that what is hot in your industry or field now may very well be cold in the future. The point is to come across to Haas as someone who is not only well informed, but who has CUTTING-EDGE knowledge related to their goals. Some great general sources for learning what is hot:
From the Business Schools: Feed your brain with cutting-edge ideas from the best business schools in the world. Start with California Management Review.Other great sources of information include Stanford Social Innovation Review,Harvard Working Knowledge, Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business School Publishing,Knowledge @ Wharton, University of Chicago GSB's Working Papers,The University of Chicago's Capital Ideas, and MIT Sloan Management Review.

You may also want to do a search on iTunes for podcasts: My favorites are Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders (from the Stanford School of Engineering, but totally relevant to the GSB), Chicago GSB Podcast, Net Impact, and Harvard Business IdeaCast. INSEAD, IMD, LBS, and, of course, Haas also have podcasts.
LinkedIn Answers: I would suggest that everyone join LinkedIn and make use of LinkedIn Answers. LinkedIn Answers is a great way to tap into cutting edge expertise (including my admissions advice!) Follow LinkedIn's rules and you will often be able to obtain excellent information.
Hoovers: For information about specific companies, Hoovers is just a great way to learn about key facts including competitors (a very useful way of knowing who else you might want to work for and to learn about an industry). While primarily focused on the US, Hoovers does have listings for companies worldwide.
Vault: For scope of coverage, this site is a must. Vault includes both career and admissions information. It includes both company specific and industry-wide information.
Other sources: Read magazines, websites, and books that relate to your intended field.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: YOUR STORY

When you initially write Essay 1, you might find that it does not seem to be coming together as a single essay. If that is the case, you might simply not be telling your story in the right way. The way you tell your story will depend on your situation. Applicants with extensive experience whose goals connect directly to their past experience will be telling a story based on continuity, while applicants looking to change careers will be telling a story based on discontinuity. A story based on continuity is often easiest to tell in a fairly linear way because the future is based directly on what happened in the past. By contrast, a story based on a discontinuity should be told to emphasize the need for the change In either case, it is critical to explain why you want an MBA from Haas.

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

This is a completely open question. While you might very well need to tell Haas something negative, such as an explanation for a low GPA, I would suggest using at least part of it to tell them something positive about you. Feel free to write on any topic that will add another dimension to admissions' perception of who you are. I would not treat it as optional unless you truly feel that the rest of your essays have fully expressed everything you want Haas to know about you. I don't suggest writing about something that would be obvious from reviewing your application, instead tell Haas that one story that will give them another reason to admit you. And whatever you do, please make sure that you write on a topic that is not obviously for another school.

Finally, if you interview with Haas, please see my earlier post.

Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my graduate admission consulting services, please click here.


-Adam Markus
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ビジネススクール エッセイ 大学院入学 カウンセリング コンサルティング 合格対策 MBA留学 カリフォルニア大学バークレー ハース