The following post is based on a workshop I did in Tokyo in September 2019. I needed to analyze and explain the essays for the M7 (HBS, Stanford, Booth, Columbia Business School, Wharton, Kellogg, MIT Sloan) in 3 hours. To do so, I structured key teaching points related to each school, which are often applicable to other schools. While this presentation is not intended to replace my longer school specific posts, which are highly detailed, it does provide a total overview to some of the ways I analyze essay questions and advise clients. While focused specifically on the M7, this analysis can be useful for a wide range of essay questions for other MBA programs. It was written as a presentation rather than a blog post, so it is an outline. I have edited it a bit and added some links but otherwise is what I presented over 3 hours.
This post consists of an Introduction followed by analysis of HBS, Booth, Stanford, Wharton, Columbia Business School, Kellogg, and MIT in that order. All essays for Class of 2022 admission.
THE M7: WRITING SUCCESSFUL ESSAYS FOR FALL 2020 ADMISSION
INTRODUCTION
-Before discussing specific schools I wanted to provide a few core assumptions I make about MBA school application essays.
Core Assumptions
Assumption I. You must find fit with the school so that the school will find fit with you!
- You must show why the school is right for you in terms of your goals, learning needs, and values. How you will do this will vary from school to school.
- Finding fit is about convincing those doing the admitting that you belong at their school.
- Your only audience is the admissions committee, everyone else including yourself and anyone you have reviewing your essays is not.
Assumption II. You are writing your essays for your reader, not for yourself. So keep these three rules in mind.
Rule #1 Your reader must understand you.
- Provide a clear interpretation of what you have done.
- Write in simple language, even about complex things.
- Assume your reader has a basic business background, but don’t assume any expertise. US admissions committees consist solely of admissions officers whose educational and professional background svaries greatly.
Rule #2 Your reader must believe you.
- If your reader is not convinced by your story, you are dead.
- I am all in favor of telling the best version of a story that you can, provided it is also believable.
- Bad self-marketing is frequently based on lies that can be seen through. I have met many admissions officers and while not all of them were brilliant, all the good ones had finely tuned “bullshit detectors.”
Rule #3 Your reader must be engaged.
- If a reader does not become interested in what they are reading, there is a problem.
- The problem may be that the essay is simply generic or the way a story is being told is boring or there is a lack of passion in the writing. Whatever the case, it needs fixing.
Assumption III. Essays are only piece of the application and you are being judged holistically.
We are focused on the essays but always remember other parts of the application are very important.
- I would argue that the resume is actually the single most important part of any application because it represents what an applicant has done overall.
- For some schools, extensive application form content is also important.
- Test scores and academic performance have a significant impact on an applicant's basic chance for admission.
- Recommendations can support an applicant but if they are don't appear as authentic, they can kill an application.
- Interviews play a critical role in the process, but it is (with just a few top US Schools exceptions, Kellogg (and on-campus at Tuck and Duke) most notably) part of a second stage selection process because interviews are by invitation only. Except for Kellogg, at the other M7 schools once you receive an invite your chances of admission have increased significantly (Most extreme is GSB where your chances just went from 6% to 50%).
Therefore, always look at your essays as part of the overall application process.
HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL
My full HBS Class of 2022 application analysis can be found
here.
CORE LEARNING POINT: Think Strategically
Overview: HBS is the world's most famous business school. Regardless of shifts in rankings and that Stanford is more difficult to get into, it is at the top of the US MBA ecosystem. HBS also has the biggest single class of any MBA program (INSEAD takes more annually but divided into 2 classes in the fall and winter) and the most applicants. What I mean by en ecosystem is just that. It is a dominant player and what it looks for in applicants is a good general guide to what all MBA programs look for. For that reason alone, it is a good school to start with
ESSAY: As we review your application, what more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Harvard Business School MBA program? There is no word limit for this question.
Based on the above, you should be asking yourself: Given the question, what do HBS admissions need to know in order to offer me an interview and then admit me? My answer would be to take a deep dive into HBS’ criteria for admission and consider how they can apply to you. HBS introduced this more open style of question for the Class of 2016.
Four Ways HBS Evaluates Applicants We can summarize what HBS is looking for in terms of three stated values-
Habit of Leadership, Analytical Aptitude and Appetite, and Engaged Community Citizenship-plus
Diversity. These four core ways that HBS uses to evaluate applicants need to be communicated in your application and one or more of them should be used in your essay.
Habit of Leadership
Leadership may be expressed in many forms, from college extracurricular activities to academic or business achievements, from personal accomplishments to community commitments. We appreciate leadership on any scale, from organizing a classroom to directing a combat squad, from running an independent business to spearheading initiatives at work. In essence, we are looking for evidence of your potential .- HBS
If you think you are not a leader, you have not thought enough. -Adam
Some examples of leadership experiences that make for effective content in essays, recommendations, and interviews
- A time you convinced someone or some group
- A time you made a difficult decision
- A time you changed something
- A time you effectively negotiated with someone
- A time created something
- A time you managed or organized something
- A time you represented an organization in public
Analytical Aptitude and Appetite = INTELLIGENCE
- Well written essays regardless of topic can do this.
- Breaking down a complex problem that you solved and communicating it to non-expert readers
- Demonstrating great personal insight into weaknesses, failures, and/or mistakes EVERYONE CAN AND SHOULD DO THIS!
- Creative writing
Engaged Community Citizenship
Engagement in a community may take many different forms:
- Volunteer or social activities at work/school/extracurricular
- Participation in sports, debating, orchestra, band, drama or dance
- Serving as the leader, organizer, or active member of a team-based activity such as a seminar, project, or trip
Diversity
- What unique values and experiences will you contribute?
- Why admit you and not someone else?
Some ways of demonstrating diversity:
- Being the first person or kind of person to do something
- Being the youngest person to do something
- Coming from a minority group
- Having an unusual family, academic, personal, or professional background
- Unusual skills or talents
- Extensive international experience
THE BOTTOM LINE: WHAT MAKES YOU STAND OUT?
Everyone has their own unique life story and the point is to get your reader interested in your story.
When I am working with an applicant, especially in the initial stages of writing I am actually focused on this question because I know that great applications are based on great self-marketing campaigns and the heart of such campaigns is applicant differentiation.
Good differentiation will be based on good stories.
- Think about the hard and interesting moments in your life.
- What has challenged you in your life?
- How have you suffered and grown stronger?
- What has made you rethink your decisions or view or career?
- Why do excel at what you do?
- Who or what motivates you?
CHICAGO BOOTH
My latest Booth application analysis can be found
here.
CORE LEARNING POINTS: 1. Focus on Goals 2. Two Ways of Telling a Story
Overview: Booth is, like the University of Chicago as whole, a school that values intelligence and independence. Many consider the University of Chicago to be the single most academically rigorous school in the US (even compared to Harvard, Stanford, Yale, and MIT). Beyond its reputation in finance and economics, it is strong in analytics (including quantitative marketing, which it has long been dominant in) and entrepreneurship. Regarding entrepreneurship, the school is extremely well resourced. Most students live in downtown Chicago in the same buildings and commute to Hyde Park. Beyond taking classes on campus in Hyde Park, they can also take the same exact classes downtown with evening MBA program students, which is unique amongst the M7.
————————————————————————————
Note: Like most other M7 schools, the Booth app form contains short questions related to goals:
What is your immediate post-MBA career goal? (250 characters)
What is your long-term post-MBA career goal? (250 characters)
-In the two short answer questions state your goals as clearly possible. You can fully leverage the essay to explain your motivations in depth and elaborate further on such details as potential employers.
Short-term
- Be clear on your industry and job function.
- Provide specific examples of potential employers.
Examples:
- "After Booth, I want to join McKinsey or another management consulting firm with a strong healthcare practice."
- "After Booth, I will return to my employer where I hope to join as a manager in the Africa and Middle East Business Development Team.
Long-term:
Be ambitious!
Think about your wider impact beyond a short-term post-MBA role. Think about
What will be your legacy?
Examples:
- "Given the pace of change in the finance industry, I hope to play a leading role in developing new services to meet the changing needs of consumers." -TREND
- "While still in the early stages of development, immense opportunities exist for extending the human lifespan, which I hope to support through the creation of a new venture fund." –MISSION/DREAM
- "I see myself taking on increasingly greater responsibilities not alone but building teams that can succeed." –LEADERSHIP ROLE
- "Empowering future generations of female corporate leaders is a critical part of my long-term vision." -ROLE/MISSION
REMEMBER: THE SOLE FUNCTION OF MBA APPLICATION CAREER GOALS IS TO GET YOU ADMITTED!!!!
Essay 1: How will the Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career goals? (250 word minimum)
Interpretation: This is a "Goals/Why MBA at this Program" question
- Explain how specific parts of Booth will help you reach your professional objectives.
What Booth cares about: What do you want from Booth?
- What your professional objectives and learning needs are
- Your knowledge of how Booth will help you
- Clearly this is an essay that requires knowing a lot about Booth
- Booth has the most flexible curriculum of any MBA program: There is only one required course (LEAD) and the five general subject requirements that can be filled by many courses
Essay 2: Chicago Booth immerses you in a choice-rich environment. How have your interests, leadership experiences, and other passions influenced the choices in your life? (250 word minimum)
Interpretation:
- This is really the BOOTH QUESTION as it relates directly to the core cultural values of the school
- Booth wants students who are strongly self-motivated to take advantage of this flexibility
- Booth cares about the choices you have made in your life
HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR ANSWER: TWO WAYS TO TELL A STORY
A chronological approach: A key early passion or interest leads to something you study or do (extracurricular) that leads to major choices in your life
Example: "Passionate about tennis since childhood, I played on my university team. On that team I realized that I really enjoyed organizing training sessions and recruiting, this led to my decision to study organizational behavior during university and to pursue a career in HR consulting. "
A thematic approach: Focuses on how an interest or passion leads to choices in your life
Example: "Caring about others is something I have been passionate about since childhood. I think this concern for others has effected my approach to many things I do. For example, while I loved competing on my university tennis team, I realized that I really enjoyed organizing training sessions and recruiting even more. I think wanting to really understand how I could positively impact others also is the reason I decided to study organizational behavior during university and pursue a career in HR consulting. "
- You may have multiple interests/choices in this essay
- Don't focus on just work but focus much of this essay on your personal and academic choices
- There is no specific maximum. My admitted clients typically write from 500-1000 words for this answer.
- If you have written the essays for Stanford or HBS already, you are likely to find that you have anywhere from 50% to 90% of the content for this essay
STANFORD GSB
My full Stanford GSB Class of 2022 application analysis can be found
here.
CORE LEARNING POINTS: 1. Expressing what you value 2. Believability in goals 3. Explaining why want to attend a program 4. Telling impact act story 5. Connecting your past to the present
There is a lot I could say about Stanford but if your objective is to get in, you need to do look into in depth. One thing I can say is that this year it involved writing up to 6 essays (3 are "optional")
Essay A: What matters most to you, and why? (750)
WHERE DO SUCCESSFUL ANSWERS COME FROM?
In my experience, answers to this question that result in acceptance come from the HEART and the HEAD. The two combined will allow you to tell your story about what matters most.
Heart: The admits I worked with found that what matters most to them by looking inside of themselves and finding something essential about who they are. Beyond the most basic things of survival, what motivates you? What do you live for? What do you care about? How do you relate to other people? Are you driven by a particular idea or issue? Where do you find meaning?
Head: Once you think you have identified that essential thing that matters most to you, begin analyzing it. What is its source? WHY does it remain important to you? How? How does it relate to the career goals you discuss in Essay B? The heart will tell what it is, but the head must explain it.
Some Common Types of What Matters Essays
I would like to discuss three common types of answers.
Abstract and metaphorical: Abstract and metaphorical answers can produce very creative responses. An example would be “What matters most to me are the doors in my life.”
-Using the whole concept of entering and exiting, this essay concept might work very well, but could easily generate a series of disconnected stories that don’t leave the reader with a really clear answer.
-Remember that writing MBA essays is not primarily a literary exercise, so be careful with this approach.
Core value: A core value response might involve a very simple answer to the question, such as “What matters to me most is love.”
-Applicants frequently stress out about giving simple answers to the question because they worry that the answer will be too common.
-What is ultimately important is not the what, but the
why and how you explain that
why in the essay.
– I have had a number of clients who were admitted with one to three-word answers to the question.
The Mission: A mission version of the answer works exceptionally well if your stated mission is really backed-up by your resume and other aspects of your application. An example would be “What matters most to me is protecting the Earth’s environment for future generations.”
-I have seen many answers like this that were truly excellent and resulted in admission for candidates who could really prove they had the mission in the past and would be continuing it in the future.
-On the other hand, I have seen so many bad answers that lacked believability because the applicant’s biographical details did not align with the answer, and/or lacked a clearly stated mission with a scope that was clarified in Essay B.
Make a choice! All successful versions of this essay that I have read involve making a choice. That is to say, you must actually clearly indicate something that matters most.
Essay B: Why Stanford? (400)
THIS IS A FUTURE DIRECTED QUESTION
Unlike some other “Why MBA” questions, Stanford is not asking about the past. You have Essay A, your resume, and the application form to discuss the past. This essay is about who you want to become.
Stanford views itself as a change agent. Show in you essay how it will change you. In my experience, a good answer to Essay B will do the following;
1.Shows how the applicant intends to be an agent of change in whatever career he or she pursues after his or her MBA. Your answer should be consistent with Stanford’s mission to “Change lives, Change organizations, Change the world.” This really does matter.
2. Shows connectivity with Essay A.Whether the connection is extremely direct or relatively abstract, the reader should feel a sense of synergy between these essays.
– For those who have a mission (see above) type answers in Essay A, Essay B is an opportunity to explain how an MBA will help you carry out that mission.
–For those with other types of Essay A answers, the connectivity will be more indirect, but should still be intuitively obvious to the reader.
3. Consistent with the applicant’s biography.That is to say, applicants have facts in their past experience that must make their goals believable.
-WHAT WILL NOT WORK: Goals that have no connection to the personal, professional, or academic background of the applicant.
-WHAT WILL: Goals that seem connected with the applicant's personal, professional, and/or academic experience and interests.
4.
Does not just make a series of dumb lists of classes or tells Stanford about itself but explains what the applicant wants from Stanford.
By focusing on very specific learning needs and explaining those needs in relationship to one’s goals and/or past experience, the admissions reader will be learning about you.
An example of an explanation for why: “While I have been exposed to finance through my work at MegaBank of Joy, I presently lack the kind of comprehensive understanding of corporate finance that I will need to succeed as an investment banker.”
A complete explanation would include additional details about the kind of issues that the applicant is interested in learning about and/or specific ways the applicant intended to apply what he or she would learn at Stanford.
Avoid circular (tautological) reasoning: “I want to take
Accelerated Corporate Finance: Applications, Techniques, and Models because I am interested in learning advanced corporate financial techniques.” This kind of circular reasoning is so common. Usually, it takes place within a paragraph consisting of many such sentences. They actually convey nothing about the applicant. They are just abstract needs and will have limited impact on your reader. The admissions reader wants to learn about you, not about their own program.
Optional Short-Answer Question: Think about times you've created a positive impact, whether in professional, extracurricular, academic, or other settings. What was your impact? What made it significant to you or to others? You are welcome to share up to three examples. (Up to 1500 characters, approximately 250 words, for each example)
Effective answers to this question will clearly state the activity engaged in, identify the impact, and explain why it was significant (made a difference) to your yourself or others.
| Essay Outline | What was your role? | What does it mean? | Why will this essay sell them on you? |
Situation:
When?
Where?
Who?
What?
How? | Effective answers to when, where, who, what, and how should all relate directly to your role in the situation. You are the hero or heroine of your story. | Your reader should have a clear understanding of the situation. They are not reading a mystery story, a poem, or some other form of writing where withholding information will be valued. | The situation needs to be one that the reader will believe, consider to be important, and hopefully be impressed by. |
Action Steps:
What actions did you take?Action Step 1:
Action Step 2:
Action Step 3: | Stories break down into steps. For each step, make sure you are clear about what you did. | Each action step should be meaningful and demonstrate your potential. This is the core of the story and it is important the rationale for your actions be stated as clearly as possible. Effective essays involve both description and interpretation. | If you are actions are clear and their value is clear in terms of your leadership, analytical, engaged community citizenship, or unique background, you will be on a firm basis for selling your story to admissions. |
| Result | Results should be stated as clearly as possible. Your relationship to the results should be clear. | Explain the significance of results clearly. | Make your results meaningful so that they will be impressive. |
THE ESSAY IN THE APPLICATION: Give them a new perspective on you!
“More About You: Tell us about a time within the last two years when your background influenced your participation at work or school.” (1200 characters)
Summary Examples:
-Learnt the importance of proactive communication during university as a result of specific activities engaged in and applied it to specific kind of activity at work.
-Benefitted from growing up in an extended family which created a highly collaborative environment. At work saw a lack of engagement amongst employees and proposed ways to overcome the problem.
WHARTON
My full Wharton Class of 2022 application analysis can be found here.
CORE LEARNING POINTS: 1. Transactional Essay Sets 2. Contribution questions 3. Optional questions
Overview: America's biggest business school if you combine undergraduate and MBA students. It has more courses on more different subjects than any other M7 school. A general characterization of Wharton- data driven, but also a place with a commitment to experiential learning, East Coast focused but with a San Francisco campus that is now become integrated into the MBA program, highly international, highly flexible with strengths in a large number of areas, including healthcare, finance, real estate, and marketing- is helpful to keep in mind when writing this essay.
Wharton is a huge program with so many strengths that the point is not to think about some big overall image of the school, but to focus on what you want to get out of it.
Wharton’s essay set is transactional in the most basic sense because Essay 1 is about what Wharton can give you and Essay 2 is about what you can give Wharton. This reflects the core pragmatism of the school’s culture and specifically the culture of the admissions office.
Wharton Essay 1: What do you hope to gain professionally from the Wharton MBA? (500 words)
Interpretation: This is a "Goals/Why MBA at this Program" question
- Explain how specific parts of the Wharton program will help you reach your professional objectives.
What Wharton cares about: What do you want from Wharton?
- What your professional objectives and learning needs are
- Your knowledge of how Wharton will help you
- You need to give Wharton admissions a very clear image of your professional objectives for attending their MBA program.
Wharton Essay 2: Describe an impactful experience or accomplishment that is not reflected elsewhere in your application. How will you use what you learned through that experience to contribute to the Wharton community? (400 words)
Interpretation: This is a Contribution Question
- You must focus on a single story not covered elsewhere in your application and must have learned something from the experience/accomplishment that will be the basis for one or more contributions at Wharton
What Wharton cares most about: What can you give to the Wharton community?
- What makes you distinct in terms of your experience and/or accomplishments that demonstrates your ability to add value
- Your knowledge of how you could make impact at Wharton
- You should know enough about the Wharton community to show specific ways you might contribute.
Wharton also cares about what you learned
- One requirement for this essay is that the contributions be based on something you learned from the experience or accomplishment.
- Learning means discovering something new about yourself, other people and/or the world. It is about gaining a new perspective, insight into to how things work, possibly becoming more mature. It is about growth.
- BEWARE OF FALSE LEARNING: False learning is any situation when you indicate that you learned something but actually it was something that you already knew or others are likely to assume that you know.
Outlining contribution questions
ACCOMPLISHMENT
LEARNING
CONTRIBUTION AT WHARTON
Led tennis team to victory for 1
st time ever
How to build a successful team
Win at case competitions
How to overcome team conflict
Solve problems in my learning team
As you can see from this example a specific experience’s learning lessons are applied to specific ways of contributing to Wharton.
Wharton Additional Question: First-time applicants may use this section to address any extenuating circumstances. (250 words)
What Wharton cares about: Any problems or concerns?
Examples: Low TOEFL/IELTS/GMAT/GRE test scores or GPA, something odd in your university transcript, long gaps in employment or schooling, lack of extracurricular activities and no recommendation from a direct supervisor, something important that really must be told but cannot be accounted for anywhere else in the application.
What
Wharton does not want: Another essay. Don’t do that! It really is totally optional.
-Many MBA programs have this kind of question. The length varies from 500 characters (HBS) to unlimited (Stanford). This type of question is really for only discussing something negative, complicated, or otherwise significant but it is not something every applicant needs to write.
-This question-type is in contrast to more open ended optional questions where positive content could be written about. This type of question is much more common for non-US programs such as London Business School.
Columbia Business School
My full Columbia Business School Class of 2022 application analysis can be found here.
CORE LEARNING POINTS: 1. Intensive Goals Focus 2. Leadership Values
Overview: CBS is the M7 school in the best location with the worst campus amongst this group. Given Columbia’s overall rank as well as the unique nature of both January (J-Term) and Early Decision for August (ED), it has been very common for me to work with clients who apply only to it.
Rolling Admission: The first thing to keep in mind about admission to both January Term and August Term (ED and RD) is that Columbia uses a rolling admissions system unlike the fixed deadline system used by most other schools
– I do recommend before or by the January Merit Fellowship deadline for RD.
-While you can consider the Merit deadline to be kind of a “Round Two Deadline,” I recommend you apply as soon as you are ready to do so.
Immediate Post-MBA Goals Statement:
What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 characters maximum)
Examples of possible responses: "Work in business development for a media company." "Join a strategy consulting firm." "Launch a data-management start-up."
-Remember this is 50 characters, not words! This would be about 5-10 words. The question itself, fortunately, includes the above examples to make it clear what Columbia is looking for here.
-Being clever is not critical here, being clear is.
Essay 1: Through your resume and recommendations, we have a clear sense of your professional path to date. What are your career goals over the next 3-5 years and what, in your imagination, would be your long-term dream job? (500 words)
THIS ESSAY IS COMPLETELY FUTURE FOCUSED. That is why they say they “have a clear sense of your professional path to date.”
-Any statements you make about your past experience should be analytical rather than descriptive and for the sole purpose of explaining what you want to do in the future and why.
Example: "As a consultant I have worked a wide range of engagements but became most excited by those involving analytical operations, which is my post-MBA goal is to take on an operations heavy role in a b-to-b or b-to-c firm such as…."
We can break this essay up into two main parts:
Part 1. 3-5 years = Immediate Post-MBA Role = Short-Term Goal
-Specific role, give company examples, possibly involving companies that recruit at CBS
-Discuss what you would do and learn during those first couple of years in your new role.
– How would this relate to your long-term dream job?
Part 2. Long-term Dream Job= Long-Term Goal = More than 5 years from now, Could be 10, 20, etc.
-This dream is not a fantasy, it should reflect your reflect your ambitions and values
-What kind of an impact do you want to make through your career?
Essay 2: Why do you feel Columbia Business School is a good fit for you? (250 words)
CBS is a school for people who know what they want to do. You need to clearly specific aspects of this program that will help you achieve your goals.
-If your goals are not showing themselves to be particularly well supported by Columbia, you may need to either change your goals or decide to apply elsewhere.
– Given the limited length, I suggest you organize this essay in terms of your learning needs and identify 2-4 such needs with paragraphs from 50-125 words in length.
Essay 3: Who is a leader you admire, and why? (250 words)
I have Three Rules for answering this question
RULE 1: ANY QUESTION IS REALLY ABOUT YOU.
While this question certainly requires writing about someone else, whoever you discuss and why you discuss them is a reflection on you.
-Bad answers to this question take the form of mini-biographies that fail to connect the writer to the leader they admire.
-Bring in your own values and/or experience to make this an effective answer.
RULE 2: TRY TO COME UP WITH SOMEONE INTERESTING
The leader need not be famous to be interesting.
-The obviously famous and frequently mentioned, like CBS alumnus Warren Buffett or Steve Jobs, is BORING AND CLICHE.
-Your boss, a famous general from your country, your great grandmother, the head of a political or other organization, living or dead, could make a good topic.
-The key point is that whoever you select, you make it clear what aspect of their leadership you admire.
RULE 3: CLEARLY EXPLAIN WHY
-Your admiration is based on something about this person. What is it? If relates to specific act they performed, briefly describe it and then explain why you admire it. If relates to their leadership style, define it
-Part of the why is explaining the impact of this leader's ideas or actions on you.
-Whatever the case, focus your answer on the WHY and not on the leaders’ personal details.
Kellogg
My full Kellogg Class of 2022 application analysis can be found here.
CORE LEARNING POINT: Appealing to a school with a strong focus on leadership, teamwork, initiative, and community
Kellogg’s Teamwork Culture and its Campus Community If you go to Kellogg, chances are extremely high that you will live in Evanston. Social life in Evanston is not limited to campus. Kellogg is filled with people who are great communicators, friendly, outgoing, and able to thrive in a socially intense environment. If you are not that kind of person, don’t apply there. If you are, it will be heaven. At Kellogg,
We offer an environment that requires teamwork and encourages risk-taking, among colleagues who are as supportive as they are ambitious.
THE ESSAYS
“The essays let you explain, in your own words, why you think Kellogg is right for you. Take some time to think through the experiences that led you here and how they have shaped where you want to go.”
I think it is important to keep these overall instructions about the essays in mind. In particular, Kellogg’s application essays are designed, along with the rest of the application and interview, to help admissions determine whether you demonstrate that you meet the following
criteria:
- "Can motivate a team to drive impact
- Are not afraid to question the status quo and seek the non-obvious solutions
- Approach business problems with a mix of intellect, energy, and creativity
- Seek diversity in their networks and teams
- Are eager to dive in and collaborate with an engaged, ambitious community of peers"
The two essays give you a chance to show why you fit this criteria.
Essay 1: “Kellogg's purpose is to educate, equip and inspire brave leaders who create lasting value. Provide a recent example where you have demonstrated leadership and created value. What challenges did you face and what did you learn? (450 words)”
Structure: Very similar to Stanford Impact Essays but with more word count to discuss your learning and challenges.
-I suggest focusing on a recent example where you go beyond a simply defined leadership role and add specific value.
-You might question a plan, build something new, intervene in a situation where you didn't have to, take charge, or otherwise do what others didn't do.
-Show you have courage, an innovative spirit, a capacity for leading others beyond the previous limits of the organization, or otherwise going beyond the status quo.
What kind of a leader are you?
I think it is useful to analyze the kind of leader you are showing through this and other leadership essays. There are many ways to think about leadership. This is one I like. It was developed by the founder of
the Executive Masters program I attended at INSEAD.
Eight Types of Leadership
- The strategist: leadership as a game of chess
- The change-catalyst: leadership as a turnaround activity
- The transactor: leadership as deal making
- The builder: leadership as an entrepreneurial activity
- The innovator: leadership as creative idea generation
- The processor: leadership as an exercise in efficiency
- The coach: leadership as a form of people development
- The communicator: leadership as stage management
– Professor Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries, INSEAD and regular HBR contributor
Essay 2: “Values are what guide you in your life and work. What values are important to you and how have they influenced you? (450 words)”
-For anyone writing essays for Stanford, HBS or Booth, it should be easy to repurpose some of your content
– Given that there is no Why Kellogg essay in this essay set and given the previously quoted instructions above about explaining why Kellogg is right for you, this is the essay where I would recommend making that very clear.
– The key thing about values for this essay is that be ones you have acted on. In other words, a value maybe important to you but unless it reflects actions you have taken, it is not a good topic.
-Strong answers here will help the reader understand how your ideas/beliefs/perspectives have effected both your personal and private choices.
-Be sure to write about something that is outside of work here as well as writing about something professional.
MIT SLOAN
My latest MIT Sloan application analysis can be found here.
CORE LEARNING POINTS: (1) Making a pure fit argument (2) Making a strong first impression
Overview:
MIT’s motto, “Mens et Manus” (Mind and Hand) fosters an attitude of excellence that transforms a career path into a lifetime of exploration, innovation, and leadership.
MIT is well known for transforming theory into practice and this is certainly true of its business school. Amongst all the M7, MIT Sloan has long been the leader in experiential learning and the use of multiple classroom methods. It has long been the anti-HBS (flexible, collaborative and not high pressure, practical not case-based). If anything, HBS is now trying to be more like MIT Sloan.
MIT has the shortest essay set of the M7, a 300-word cover letter and a one-minute video.
THE COVER LETTER
"MIT Sloan seeks students whose personal characteristics demonstrate that they will make the most of the incredible opportunities at MIT, both academic and non-academic. We are on a quest to find those whose presence will enhance the experience of other students. We seek thoughtful leaders with exceptional intellectual abilities and the drive and determination to put their stamp on the world. We welcome people who are independent, authentic, and fearlessly creative — true doers. We want people who can redefine solutions to conventional problems, and strive to preempt unconventional dilemmas with cutting-edge ideas. We demand integrity and respect passion."
Taking the above into consideration, please submit a cover letter seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA Program. Your letter should conform to a standard business correspondence, include one or more examples that illustrate why you meet the desired criteria above, and be addressed to Mr. Rod Garcia and Ms. Dawna Levenson, Assistant Deans of Admissions (300 words or fewer, excluding
address and salutation)."
Keep in mind that great cover letters result in job interviews. The purpose of a cover letter is to accompany a resume and get you an interview! How will your cover letter standout?
If you don’t know how to do a US-style cover letter, you need to learn. Use Google to see the format.
-My suggestion is that you tell a story about yourself and why you fit at MIT Sloan that incorporates some of your key accomplishments.
-If you can touch on about 3-4 key selling points while actually making an argument for why you belong at MIT Sloan, you will have done a good job.
Paragraph structure: Relate one specific aspect of Sloan culture or values to something you have done. In the process of doing this include important details about your professional and/or academic experience.
Cover letter structure: Make 3-4 such paragraphs.
You will notice that I have specifically not included post-MBA career goals in the above questions. That is because your cover letter should not focus on such goals. MIT makes it clear in all their events that they don't want that here.
VIDEO STATEMENT
Please take a minute to introduce yourself to your future classmates via video. Include a bit on your past experience and why MIT Sloan is the best place for you to pursue your MBA. Videos should be a single take (no editing) lasting no more than one minute and consisting of you speaking directly to the camera. We recommend using an application such as QuickTime or iMovie to record yourself.
This video has a few different purposes:
- It is a great way to get an overall first impression of an applicant.
- The question itself is a very good way to see who is actually paying attention to who the intended hypothetical audience is. This is useful for getting rid of social idiots who cannot construct even a one-minute appealing statement to their future classmates.
- Since MIT Sloan does not require TOEFL, it is an easy way to get an impression of English ability even prior to an interview.
- Briefly explain the applicant wants to come to Sloan.
What all successful versions of this video do:
- Help the viewer understand why they would like the applicant as a person and as a classmate
- Highlight a few key characteristics about the applicant not covered in the cover letter.
- Showcase what makes someone special.
- Why they want to be at Sloan.
How to make the video:
- Write a script. It will mostly likely be too long. (Once you add in breathing, facial expressions, in acting you might do, and speaking a speed to heard effectively, your script should be 90-120 words long most likely)
- Have your script reviewed by whoever you are sharing it with.
- Make an initial video. If your script is too long at this point, edit it down again.
- Have your video reviewed, taking feedback into consideration, alter the script as needed.
- Record until you have an acceptable take.
- As the instructions say, don't edit it. They don't want a well-produced TV commercial.
-Adam Markus
I am a graduate admissions consultant who works with clients worldwide. If you would like to arrange an initial consultation, please complete my intake form. Please don't email me any essays, other admissions consultant's intake forms, your life story, or any long email asking for a written profile assessment. The only profiles I assess are those with people who I offer initial consultations to. Please note that initial consultations are not offered when I have reached full capacity or when I determine that I am not a good fit with an applicant.
