In this post, I will provide some suggestions for how to develop a portfolio approach to graduate school application. Below you can find sample portfolios for MBA applicants. Similar types of portfolios could be developed for other graduate degree programs.
I have previously blogged about school selection in terms of general selection strategy, ranking, location, financing your education, academic fit, prestige, and career prospects. In addition, I have analyzed the difficulty of admission into top US LL.M. programs. And most recently, I have analyzed MBA program ranking through a series of posts. All of these posts, like the one below, have been written with the express purpose of helping applicants determine where to apply.
A PORTFOLIO APPROACH TO GRADUATE SCHOOL APPLICATION STRATEGY
Once you go through your own evaluation process, you will ultimately have to draw up a list of programs to apply to. To me there are ultimately two rules for determining that list.
Rule One: Decide how much risk you want to take.
Just as if one was selecting an investment portfolio, defining the level of risk is a central consideration. While past performance is no guarantee of future performance, it is often the primary basis upon which one can judge the risk involved. Since you are trying to assemble a winning portfolio- admission to one or more of the programs you are applying to- you need to define how much risk you are willing to take. Be sure to look closely at acceptance rates and yields to determine the relative level of risk in your portfolio.
Unless your possibility for admission is 100%, have a "Plan B" ready. Typical Plan Bs include (1) application to additional programs in later rounds or for later start dates, (2)reapplication, or (3) forgoing a graduate degree.
Applying to more programs can decrease your risk but that is only the case if you are a good candidate for those programs. Don't treat your applications like lottery tickets. Instead think about whether you meet the degree program's minimum criteria and if you do, assume that your chance of admission is equal to that of the school's official acceptance rate. Assume that most applicants who apply are qualified to do so.
Applying to only one program can be quite rational for some applicants. If the acceptance rate for your top choice program is 50% or more and you meet or exceed the program's minimum standards, applying only to that program makes sense. Such applicants just need to be certain that they have a "Plan B" ready if they are dinged.
Rule Two: Only apply to where you are willing to go.
While this might not seem to have a direct parallel to investment decisions, actually it does. While there are some who might invest in something just by looking at the numbers, some of the world's most successful investors such as Warren Buffet, make decisions based on a holistic analysis of the investment. Buffet himself is widely known for only investing in businesses he understands and finds a good fit with. In a similar way, you should only apply to programs you are comfortable attending. Whatever a school's rank, rate of acceptance, location, or other features, the ultimate consideration is whether you want to attend it.
I know that some applicants must get into school. In particular, company sponsored applicants are often in the position of needing to guarantee their admission somewhere. In such a situation, a safety school is almost always a necessary part of the portfolio. The good news is that such graduate schools exist in abundance and can be applied to fairly late in the admissions season. There is almost always a LL.M. or MBA program to go to, unless one is restricted to a very small list of programs, such as only "Top 10" according to US News. I will show below how a great level of safety for MBA applicants can be obtained by application to a full range of "Top 20" programs.
That said, for the majority of applicants, going to graduate program is a choice, not a necessity. The applicant needs to define what is minimally acceptable. Minimal acceptability for some applicants will be a "Top 10" schools, while for others even a low-tier online program might be fine. I think determining what is minimally acceptable means taking a close look at ROI as well as accounting for personal taste.
ROI
Treating a graduate education as an investment means that you consider:
1. The loss of income due to being in school.
2. The cost of being in school
3. The financial benefits of the graduate degree
4. The personal benefits of the graduate degree
The first three considerations go into a quantitative analysis of Return on Investment and are what used by tools like BusinessWeek's ROI Calculator. While you can look at these numbers to determine what your minimal financial expectations are and eliminate programs that don't meet those expectations because they result in a bad financial return, until you factor in the fourth consideration, you are not really doing a full analysis of your ROI.
The fourth consideration is about all of those reasons for pursuing a graduate degree that cannot be connected to income, but are still real benefits. The benefits of learning something new, fundamentally altering one's perspective, and/or opening oneself up to new opportunities that can't be quantified might outweigh more easily measured financial considerations.
PERSONAL TASTE
If you know Tuck's small town location will bore you, don't apply there. If you hate Madrid, forget about IE. If you know New York City is not for you, don't bother with NYU or Columbia. If you hate the rain, forget about LBS. Hopefully your tastes are not so narrow that there will be no place left to apply to. But seriously, take your personal tastes into account when selecting where to apply. Consider your tastes not just in terms of location, but also in terms of the school itself. Look closely at the program, not just the school's brand. When I meet with clients, I encourage them to take their personal tastes into account, but I also encourage them to investigate all highly viable options before narrowing to the four to ten schools that most will apply to.
COMING UP WITH THE LIST: SAMPLE MBA PORTFOLIOS
Below are some sample portfolios for MBA programs using the list of 39 "Top 20 Programs" that I have previously written about. These are Fall 2007 Acceptance Rates, so assume that Fall 2008 was even harder.
Here is the list of schools:
RANK ------------------------ BUSINESS SCHOOL
1. Acceptance Rate: 7.90% Stanford University GSB
2. Acceptance Rate:13.70% UC Berkeley: Haas
3. Acceptance Rate:13.80% Harvard Business School
4. Acceptance Rate:14.70% Yale School of Management
5. Acceptance Rate:16.30% Columbia Business School
6. Acceptance Rate:17.10% New York University: Stern
7. Acceptance Rate:17.30% U. of Pennsylvania: Wharton
8. Acceptance Rate:19.20% Dartmouth College: Tuck
9. Acceptance Rate:19.70% MIT: Sloan
10. Acceptance Rate: 20% HEC Paris, France
11. Acceptance Rate: 20.40% U. of Michigan: Ross
12. Acceptance Rate: 23.30% U. of Chicago GSB
13. Acceptance Rate: 23.40% UCLA: Anderson
14. Acceptance Rate: 24% IESE Business School
14. Acceptance Rate: 24% Northwestern U.: Kellogg
16. Acceptance Rate: 26% IE Business School
17. Acceptance Rate: 26.70% Cornell University: Johnson
18. Acceptance Rate: 28% IMD
19. Acceptance Rate: 28.90% U. of Virginia: Darden
20. Acceptance Rate: 29.00% York University: Schulich
21. Acceptance Rate: 29% USC: Marshall
22. Acceptance Rate: 29.60% Michigan State: Broad
23. Acceptance Rate: 29.80% Carnegie Mellon: Tepper, US
24. Acceptance Rate: 31.50% Duke University: Fuqua
25. Acceptance Rate: 33% McGill
26. Acceptance Rate: 34% U. of TX at Austin: McCombs
27. Acceptance Rate: 34.40% Indiana University: Kelley
28. Acceptance Rate: 37% SDA Bocconi Italy
29. Acceptance Rate: 39.20% UNC: Kenan-Flagler
30. Acceptance Rate: 42% U. of Toronto: Rotman
31. Acceptance Rate: 48% ESADE Business School
32. Acceptance Rate: 49.80% U. of Iowa: Tippie
33. Acceptance Rate: 53% Brigham Young: Marriot
34. Acceptance Rate: 54% UBC: Sauder
35. Acceptance Rate: 56% Cranfield S. of Management
36. Acceptance Rate: 59% RSM Erasmus University
37. Acceptance Rate: 62% HEC Montreal, Canada
38. Acceptance Rate: 65% Queen's School of Business
39. Acceptance Rate: 72.30% Thunderbird
(Looking for INSEAD, LBS, Oxford, or Cambridge? They don't report their acceptance rates.)
Please note: For all of the portfolios below, I assume you have the minimum number of required years of work experience and are within the 80% age range for the programs you apply to.
SUPER HIGH RISK- US "Top 10"
Apply to 4-8 US programs with at least half having a less than 20% acceptance rate and remainder having less than a 25% acceptance rate. This portfolio is ideal for those with GPA, GMAT, and TOEFL (if required) at least at the middle of the 80% range who are willing to reapply or forgo an MBA.
HIGH RISK- US and/or Europe "Top 10"
Apply to 4-8 programs in the US and/or Europe with no more than half having a 20% or higher acceptance rate and one having a 25%-30% acceptance rate. This portfolio is ideal for those who have GPA, GMAT, and TOEFL (if required) within the 80% range and are willing to reapply or forgo an MBA.
MODERATE RISK- "Top 20"
Apply to 6-10 programs with a least two of them having a 30% or higher rate and no more than half having less than a 20% acceptance rate. This portfolio is ideal for those who have GPA, GMAT, and TOEFL (if required) within the 80% range and are comfortable with taking a little risk.
LOW RISK- "Top 20"
Apply to 6-10 programs with one program with a 40% or higher acceptance rate, two programs with a 30% or higher acceptance rate, and two programs with 20% or higher acceptance rate. This still allows you to apply for one or more programs with less than a 20% chance of admission. This is ideal for those have wide-latitude about where they are willing to apply, and have GMAT, GPA, and TOEFL within the 80% range.
VERY LOW RISK- "TOP 20"
Apply to Thunderbird, Queen's, HEC Montreal, RSM, and/ or Cranfield as your safety school(s), at least two more schools with a 40% acceptance rate (including the one's I have just mentioned), and at least three schools with a 30% acceptance rate. Feel free to apply to dream schools with a 30% or less acceptance rate. This is ideal for both individual and company-sponsored applicants with GMAT, TOEFL, or GPAs at the lower end or slightly below the 80% range.
For the record, the majority of my MBA clients for Fall 2008 admission fit into the very high, high, and moderate risk categories and they all made it. You can find their results here.
ONE FINAL SUGGESTION
Once you have determined where to apply, forget completely about your chances for admission or your competition. Instead, focus completely on putting together the best applications you can. Focus on making the best case for yourself.
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 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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合格対策
August 05, 2008
August 03, 2008
MIT Sloan Essays for Fall 2009 Admission
Before analyzing MIT Sloan School of Management MBA Essays for Fall 2009, I think it is important to take a look at MIT Sloan's core values:
Those in Tokyo, should most certainly attend, the Sloan event on September 4th at the Marubiru from 18:00-20:00. Click here for the full list of admissions events.
Sloan's application process is, in fact, very much focused on determining whether you share and can contribute, based on your own unique background, to their "core idea." This does not mean that there is only one way to write great essays for MIT Sloan. Nor does it mean that they are only looking for one type of student. That said, I think you can say that there are some right ways and wrong ways to approach their questions.
All questions are taken from the online application.
Cover Letter
Prepare a cover letter (up to 500 words) seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA Program. Describe your accomplishments and include an example of how you had an impact on a group or organization. Your letter should conform to standard business correspondence and be addressed to Mr. Rod Garcia, Director of MBA Admissions.
If you have attended SLOAN ON THE ROAD or visited the campus, you probably heard from admissions that MIT does not ask for the sort of standard goals essays that almost all other schools ask for. Honestly this one of the things I love about this school. Admissions knows applicants are going to figure out what they want to do after they start to an MBA program, so they think the question is absurd.
Having seen what happens to my clients once they graduate, I can say that MIT is often right about this: Many never do what they write in their essays. This is in no way intended as a criticism of my past clients. I tell this to all my clients so that they can relax and just simply concentrate on making sure that their goals are solid without having to think that these absolutely must be their goals. Just as long they are comfortable with their goals as one possible future, that is enough.
Still, goals questions are useful if you are trying to determine someone's vision and their ability to actually put together a plan (think business plan). Of course, a goals essay is simply the standard sort of essay that all kinds of graduate programs require. For other schools, think of them as a formal requirement that simply has to be met.
While I have written elsewhere about goals essays and recognize their importance, I have been wondering why other business schools don't simply copy MIT. In fact, HBS has done so. While an applicant to HBS would certainly need to say something about their motivations, they need not write a goals essay. Like MIT, HBS has recognized the standard short-term/long-term goals essay is simply a formal exercise that can be dispensed with unless someone has something really important to write about that topic.
Unlike HBS, MIT specifically requires that you write a 500-word essay in the form of a cover letter that will convince them why you belong at MIT Sloan. Goals in some way need to be there, but it is clearly not the focus, instead focus on your passions, values, and interests to show why you belong at Sloan. If you can answer the following questions in a convincing manner you will be on the right track:
1. Why do you fit at Sloan?
2. What do you want to learn at Sloan? Why? The more specific, the better.
3. What motivates you and how does this relate to what you can learn at and contribute to Sloan?
4. Can you briefly state what your values are? That is to say, what are your core beliefs that are likely to leave Rod Garcia and his colleagues with a better understanding about what kind of person you are?
These topics are not easy to get into 500 words, so don't put too much emphasis on the additional topic of professional goals.
Keep in mind that great cover letters result in job interviews. Assume the same about this one. How will your cover letter standout? If you don't know how to do a US-style cover letter, you need to learn. Here are two good sites for that purpose:
http://www.vault.com/nr/ht_list.jsp?ht_type=9
http://www.rpi.edu/web/writingcenter/cover_letter.html
BECOME A SLOAN EXPERT
I think it is critical that you really are well-informed about Sloan, so in addition to making full use of standard admissions information, please take a look at MIT Sloan Management Review and listen to the MIT Sloan Management School of Management Podcast (available on iTunes).
ESSAYS
We are interested in learning more about you and how you work, think, and act. For each essay, please provide a brief overview of the situation followed by a detailed description of your response. Please limit the experiences you discuss to those which have occurred in the past three years. In each of the essays please describe in detail what you thought, felt, said, and did.
This distinctive style of question that MIT asks is based on an interview method that I will discuss below. Before reading the rest of this post, I strongly suggest downloading a copy of MIT's excellent guide to behavioral interviews, The MIT Sloan Interview Guide, because reading it first will maximize the value of my comments below.
The behavioral essay questions that MIT (and now Stanford) ask have their origins in behavioral interviewing. This method is not old:
“Bill Byham, CEO and founder of Development Dimensions International, originated the behavioral interviewing method in 1970.”
In fact, the STAR technique outlined in MIT’s guide was developed by Byham as THE WAY to answer behavioral questions:
Byham calls an example of past behavior a STAR, because a complete example consists of a situation or task, the specific action you took and the result of your action. The result you describe doesn't have to be positive; it could be that you learned a valuable lesson from doing something the wrong way.
In his book "Landing the Job You Want: How to Have the Best Job Interview of Your Life" (Three Rivers Press, 1997), Byham tells candidates how to identify the skills for a job; explore their own "behavioral dimensions" (the behaviors they use every day to get things done); and recognize and present a STAR with positive impact in an interview.
In addition to the MIT SLOAN Guide, I suggest also taking a look at the slightly different guide to the Star Technique that MIT Career Services provides.
The STAR technique is really the core method you need to use for answering behavioral questions in MIT essays. It is simply this (taken from the MIT Sloan Guide):
• Situation: define the situation or “set the stage.”
• Task: identify the task/project performed.
• Action: describe the action you took.
• Result: summarize the outcome
Just keep in mind that you need to be introspective as well, so write what you thought as well as what you did. Don’t just present “the facts” but actively interpret your actions. There is really nothing overly complicated about this as long as you understand that you need to tell a DETAILED story. Pure abstractions disconnected from a concrete set of action steps are highly likely to result in a weak answer. Similarly, grand actions not told in any depth are also likely to be weak. Identify specific actions that contributed to the result so as to establish a clear link between cause and effect.
As when answering any kind of question, another important consideration is to think very critically about what your story selection, understanding of the task, actions taken, and results say about you. Keep in mind that the whole point of asking behavioral questions is to determine how someone acts and thinks as a basis for selecting or rejecting that person. It is obviously critical to be aware of your own message.
MIT Sloan specifically requires that these experiences come from the last three years. This time constraint is important to remember. Also keep in mind:
1. You need to show the capacity for analyzing and acting in different ways, so, while both essays should utilize STAR, don’t tell them in the same way. Make sure you are presenting different sides to who you are by telling your stories differently.
2. If at all possible discuss different situations in these essays, not two different stories from the same situation because you are trying present as wide a spectrum of events and qualities about yourself as you can.
3. You should ask yourself “What does this essay reveal about me?” If you can’t answer that clearly, you need to clarify your message. When asking this question, think about both what you intend the reader to think and what you might also be revealing. Control for the possibility of sending out unintended signals. One of the best ways of handling this issue is to have a very careful and intelligent reader review these essays. If you are working with an admissions consultant, they should be able to do this. Getting multiple perspectives on what you wrote will help you better understand your likely impact on an admissions' reader.
LEADERSHIP STORIES
Depending on your selection of topics for Essays 1-4, you will be likely writing at least one, if not more, leadership focused essays. I have developed the following grid to help you outline leadership stories. The categories this grid employs may go beyond any particular school's essay requirements. Filling it out completely will help you write about your leadership in a way that will convince admissions of your leadership potential.
CLICK TO ENLARGE. EMAIL me at adammarkus@gmail.com if you want the original excel version.
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:
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, write your first draft.
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 that there are usually word limits, you will have to make some decisions about what to include.
Simply providing a description of your actions, is not enough. Think about what it signifies about you. Think about what your actions reveal 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 MIT interview.
Essay 1: Please tell us about a challenging interaction you had with a person or group. (500 words or less, limited to one page)
Clearly think about what “challenging” means to you. We have all had challenging situations that ended badly and that we wish we had handled better, but that is not necessarily what you should write about here. For most applicants, I suggest focusing on a difficult interaction that ultimately shows you positively. They are not asking for a failure story here, so don’t provide one unless by so doing you can demonstrate something very positive about yourself in the process.
Essay 2: Please tell us about a time when you defended your idea. (500 words or less, limited to one page)
MIT is about the joining together of Mens et Menus (Mind and Hand), so it should come as no surprise that they ask about your ability to champion an idea. I use the word champion because defending sounds merely reactive and ultimately you must show your ability to serve as the champion for an idea whether you were acting on the offensive or the defensive. The idea might be an abstraction (“honesty”) or a specific analysis (“My calculations were simply better because…”), but, in either case, it should be very specific about how you defended the idea. Clearly this question is tailor-made for showing linkages between thoughts, interactions with others, actions, and means of communication. You need to show MIT that you have the ability to get other people to accept your ideas. This may involve a compromise, but should not involve failure. Think about what this essay reveals about your ability to work with other students at MIT Sloan.
If you are a maverick, a risk-taker, or simply unconventional in your approach, you should think about using this essay for the purpose of demonstrating that because MIT values original thinking. This essay is likely to take either the form of a leadership essay or an accomplishment. If you write about it terms of an accomplishment, but are not necessarily focused on leadership, see my analysis of HBS Essay 1, but keep in mind that you are telling only one accomplishment and not three.
Essay 3: Please tell us about a time when you executed a plan. (500 words or less, limited to one page)
DO NOT WRITE ABOUT YOUR PLAN TO APPLY TO MBA PROGRAMS! Hopefully no one will do that, but I know someone will. If there is one essay in the MIT set of questions that is well suited for a big story, this one is it. You can, of course, tell a small story here, but if you want to write about your biggest accomplishment that involved a significant amount of planning that is great. This essay is clearly about the joining of mind (plan) and hand (implementation). Focus on the execution of the plan, not its initial conceptualization. While there are no hard and fast rules, I would try to expend at least two-thirds of your word count focused on showing how you realized your plan. Make sure that you clearly state the result. An effective answer here will most likely be about a plan that has been effectively executed and has clear results.
Essay 4: Please tell the Admissions Committee whatever else you would like us to know. (250 words or less, limited to one page)
Unlike Essays 1-3, Essay 4 is not stated as a behavioral question, but the same instructions apply to it as apply to the other questions. You still should not be writing about something that took place longer than three years ago. What part of you that Rod Garcia really should know about is missing from or not emphasized enough elsewhere? Use this essay to give him a more complete perspective on who you are. My suggestion is to make sure you are comfortable with the content for your other essays before deciding what should be discussed here. You should avoid using this as a typical optional question like Chicago GSB's optional essay. Instead use this question as another way to help MIT understand you and to become convinced that you belong there. I suggest reviewing MIT's admission criteria to help you determine what topic you should write about here.
Supplemental Information You may use this section to address any specific circumstances related to your academic background. (250 words or less, limited to one page).
This essay is an opportunity to explain the strengths and/or weaknesses of your academic background. You don't need a high GPA to get into MIT, but they are looking for applicants who have demonstrated intellectual curiosity, so utilize this space to help convince them of that. If you have to explain a weakness feel free to do so. It is better to provide an explanation for why you had a bad GPA in your second year of university than to make Rod Garcia and his team try to guess why. While you can use this space to explain something negative, the wording is such that I would try and use at least part of this space to write about something positive.
SHOULD I SUBMIT MY TOEFL SCORE?
Given that MIT does not require the TOEFL, it receives many applications from those with low TOEFL scores. Many international applicants can obtain a much better GMAT than iBT TOEFL score. If you have a strong iBT TOEFL, I suggest submitting it so that Rod and his team know you have strong speaking and listening skills. Especially anyone with at least 100 and a 25 in Speaking should submit their TOEFL score. While such a submission is optional, I think it can only help you. If your TOEFL speaking or listening is below 25, I would not suggest submitting your score.
Finally, given the difficulty of iBT TOEFL and the increasing difficulty of even having a valid CBT or PBT test score, I think it is safe to assume that the number of international applicants to MIT Sloan will increase. This is on top of any domestic increases in applications due to a slowing US economy and any international increases in applications due to slowing economies and/or the relative low cost of studying in the US. While it is never easy to get into MIT Sloan, assume that getting into the Class of 2011 will be statistically harder than ever before.
POSTSCRIPT: See my report on the MIT Tokyo event. Applications were up 30% for Fall 2008 entry!
Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to.
-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス
ビジネススクール カウンセリング MITスローン コンサルティング 大学院 合格対策 エッセイMBA留学
Mind and Hand
MIT is well know for transforming theory into practice and this is certainly true of its business school. In my experience those who can effectively demonstrate how and why they share this "core idea" are most likely to be accepted. (For those who can read Japanese, I suggest looking at http://web.mit.edu/sloanjapan/101/index.html and Kaz's MIT MBA留学日記 blog. My English language interview with Kaz is here).Those in Tokyo, should most certainly attend, the Sloan event on September 4th at the Marubiru from 18:00-20:00. Click here for the full list of admissions events.
Sloan's application process is, in fact, very much focused on determining whether you share and can contribute, based on your own unique background, to their "core idea." This does not mean that there is only one way to write great essays for MIT Sloan. Nor does it mean that they are only looking for one type of student. That said, I think you can say that there are some right ways and wrong ways to approach their questions.
All questions are taken from the online application.
Cover Letter
Prepare a cover letter (up to 500 words) seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA Program. Describe your accomplishments and include an example of how you had an impact on a group or organization. Your letter should conform to standard business correspondence and be addressed to Mr. Rod Garcia, Director of MBA Admissions.
If you have attended SLOAN ON THE ROAD or visited the campus, you probably heard from admissions that MIT does not ask for the sort of standard goals essays that almost all other schools ask for. Honestly this one of the things I love about this school. Admissions knows applicants are going to figure out what they want to do after they start to an MBA program, so they think the question is absurd.
Having seen what happens to my clients once they graduate, I can say that MIT is often right about this: Many never do what they write in their essays. This is in no way intended as a criticism of my past clients. I tell this to all my clients so that they can relax and just simply concentrate on making sure that their goals are solid without having to think that these absolutely must be their goals. Just as long they are comfortable with their goals as one possible future, that is enough.
Still, goals questions are useful if you are trying to determine someone's vision and their ability to actually put together a plan (think business plan). Of course, a goals essay is simply the standard sort of essay that all kinds of graduate programs require. For other schools, think of them as a formal requirement that simply has to be met.
While I have written elsewhere about goals essays and recognize their importance, I have been wondering why other business schools don't simply copy MIT. In fact, HBS has done so. While an applicant to HBS would certainly need to say something about their motivations, they need not write a goals essay. Like MIT, HBS has recognized the standard short-term/long-term goals essay is simply a formal exercise that can be dispensed with unless someone has something really important to write about that topic.
Unlike HBS, MIT specifically requires that you write a 500-word essay in the form of a cover letter that will convince them why you belong at MIT Sloan. Goals in some way need to be there, but it is clearly not the focus, instead focus on your passions, values, and interests to show why you belong at Sloan. If you can answer the following questions in a convincing manner you will be on the right track:
1. Why do you fit at Sloan?
2. What do you want to learn at Sloan? Why? The more specific, the better.
3. What motivates you and how does this relate to what you can learn at and contribute to Sloan?
4. Can you briefly state what your values are? That is to say, what are your core beliefs that are likely to leave Rod Garcia and his colleagues with a better understanding about what kind of person you are?
These topics are not easy to get into 500 words, so don't put too much emphasis on the additional topic of professional goals.
Keep in mind that great cover letters result in job interviews. Assume the same about this one. How will your cover letter standout? If you don't know how to do a US-style cover letter, you need to learn. Here are two good sites for that purpose:
http://www.vault.com/nr/ht_list.jsp?ht_type=9
http://www.rpi.edu/web/writingcenter/cover_letter.html
BECOME A SLOAN EXPERT
I think it is critical that you really are well-informed about Sloan, so in addition to making full use of standard admissions information, please take a look at MIT Sloan Management Review and listen to the MIT Sloan Management School of Management Podcast (available on iTunes).
ESSAYS
We are interested in learning more about you and how you work, think, and act. For each essay, please provide a brief overview of the situation followed by a detailed description of your response. Please limit the experiences you discuss to those which have occurred in the past three years. In each of the essays please describe in detail what you thought, felt, said, and did.
This distinctive style of question that MIT asks is based on an interview method that I will discuss below. Before reading the rest of this post, I strongly suggest downloading a copy of MIT's excellent guide to behavioral interviews, The MIT Sloan Interview Guide, because reading it first will maximize the value of my comments below.
The behavioral essay questions that MIT (and now Stanford) ask have their origins in behavioral interviewing. This method is not old:
“Bill Byham, CEO and founder of Development Dimensions International, originated the behavioral interviewing method in 1970.”
In fact, the STAR technique outlined in MIT’s guide was developed by Byham as THE WAY to answer behavioral questions:
Byham calls an example of past behavior a STAR, because a complete example consists of a situation or task, the specific action you took and the result of your action. The result you describe doesn't have to be positive; it could be that you learned a valuable lesson from doing something the wrong way.
In his book "Landing the Job You Want: How to Have the Best Job Interview of Your Life" (Three Rivers Press, 1997), Byham tells candidates how to identify the skills for a job; explore their own "behavioral dimensions" (the behaviors they use every day to get things done); and recognize and present a STAR with positive impact in an interview.
In addition to the MIT SLOAN Guide, I suggest also taking a look at the slightly different guide to the Star Technique that MIT Career Services provides.
The STAR technique is really the core method you need to use for answering behavioral questions in MIT essays. It is simply this (taken from the MIT Sloan Guide):
• Situation: define the situation or “set the stage.”
• Task: identify the task/project performed.
• Action: describe the action you took.
• Result: summarize the outcome
Just keep in mind that you need to be introspective as well, so write what you thought as well as what you did. Don’t just present “the facts” but actively interpret your actions. There is really nothing overly complicated about this as long as you understand that you need to tell a DETAILED story. Pure abstractions disconnected from a concrete set of action steps are highly likely to result in a weak answer. Similarly, grand actions not told in any depth are also likely to be weak. Identify specific actions that contributed to the result so as to establish a clear link between cause and effect.
As when answering any kind of question, another important consideration is to think very critically about what your story selection, understanding of the task, actions taken, and results say about you. Keep in mind that the whole point of asking behavioral questions is to determine how someone acts and thinks as a basis for selecting or rejecting that person. It is obviously critical to be aware of your own message.
MIT Sloan specifically requires that these experiences come from the last three years. This time constraint is important to remember. Also keep in mind:
1. You need to show the capacity for analyzing and acting in different ways, so, while both essays should utilize STAR, don’t tell them in the same way. Make sure you are presenting different sides to who you are by telling your stories differently.
2. If at all possible discuss different situations in these essays, not two different stories from the same situation because you are trying present as wide a spectrum of events and qualities about yourself as you can.
3. You should ask yourself “What does this essay reveal about me?” If you can’t answer that clearly, you need to clarify your message. When asking this question, think about both what you intend the reader to think and what you might also be revealing. Control for the possibility of sending out unintended signals. One of the best ways of handling this issue is to have a very careful and intelligent reader review these essays. If you are working with an admissions consultant, they should be able to do this. Getting multiple perspectives on what you wrote will help you better understand your likely impact on an admissions' reader.
LEADERSHIP STORIES
Depending on your selection of topics for Essays 1-4, you will be likely writing at least one, if not more, leadership focused essays. I have developed the following grid to help you outline leadership stories. The categories this grid employs may go beyond any particular school's essay requirements. Filling it out completely will help you write about your leadership in a way that will convince admissions of your leadership potential.
CLICK TO ENLARGE. EMAIL me at adammarkus@gmail.com if you want the original excel version.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
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, write your first draft.
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 that there are usually word limits, you will have to make some decisions about what to include.
Simply providing a description of your actions, is not enough. Think about what it signifies about you. Think about what your actions reveal 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 MIT interview.
Essay 1: Please tell us about a challenging interaction you had with a person or group. (500 words or less, limited to one page)
Clearly think about what “challenging” means to you. We have all had challenging situations that ended badly and that we wish we had handled better, but that is not necessarily what you should write about here. For most applicants, I suggest focusing on a difficult interaction that ultimately shows you positively. They are not asking for a failure story here, so don’t provide one unless by so doing you can demonstrate something very positive about yourself in the process.
Essay 2: Please tell us about a time when you defended your idea. (500 words or less, limited to one page)
MIT is about the joining together of Mens et Menus (Mind and Hand), so it should come as no surprise that they ask about your ability to champion an idea. I use the word champion because defending sounds merely reactive and ultimately you must show your ability to serve as the champion for an idea whether you were acting on the offensive or the defensive. The idea might be an abstraction (“honesty”) or a specific analysis (“My calculations were simply better because…”), but, in either case, it should be very specific about how you defended the idea. Clearly this question is tailor-made for showing linkages between thoughts, interactions with others, actions, and means of communication. You need to show MIT that you have the ability to get other people to accept your ideas. This may involve a compromise, but should not involve failure. Think about what this essay reveals about your ability to work with other students at MIT Sloan.
If you are a maverick, a risk-taker, or simply unconventional in your approach, you should think about using this essay for the purpose of demonstrating that because MIT values original thinking. This essay is likely to take either the form of a leadership essay or an accomplishment. If you write about it terms of an accomplishment, but are not necessarily focused on leadership, see my analysis of HBS Essay 1, but keep in mind that you are telling only one accomplishment and not three.
Essay 3: Please tell us about a time when you executed a plan. (500 words or less, limited to one page)
DO NOT WRITE ABOUT YOUR PLAN TO APPLY TO MBA PROGRAMS! Hopefully no one will do that, but I know someone will. If there is one essay in the MIT set of questions that is well suited for a big story, this one is it. You can, of course, tell a small story here, but if you want to write about your biggest accomplishment that involved a significant amount of planning that is great. This essay is clearly about the joining of mind (plan) and hand (implementation). Focus on the execution of the plan, not its initial conceptualization. While there are no hard and fast rules, I would try to expend at least two-thirds of your word count focused on showing how you realized your plan. Make sure that you clearly state the result. An effective answer here will most likely be about a plan that has been effectively executed and has clear results.
Essay 4: Please tell the Admissions Committee whatever else you would like us to know. (250 words or less, limited to one page)
Unlike Essays 1-3, Essay 4 is not stated as a behavioral question, but the same instructions apply to it as apply to the other questions. You still should not be writing about something that took place longer than three years ago. What part of you that Rod Garcia really should know about is missing from or not emphasized enough elsewhere? Use this essay to give him a more complete perspective on who you are. My suggestion is to make sure you are comfortable with the content for your other essays before deciding what should be discussed here. You should avoid using this as a typical optional question like Chicago GSB's optional essay. Instead use this question as another way to help MIT understand you and to become convinced that you belong there. I suggest reviewing MIT's admission criteria to help you determine what topic you should write about here.
Supplemental Information You may use this section to address any specific circumstances related to your academic background. (250 words or less, limited to one page).
This essay is an opportunity to explain the strengths and/or weaknesses of your academic background. You don't need a high GPA to get into MIT, but they are looking for applicants who have demonstrated intellectual curiosity, so utilize this space to help convince them of that. If you have to explain a weakness feel free to do so. It is better to provide an explanation for why you had a bad GPA in your second year of university than to make Rod Garcia and his team try to guess why. While you can use this space to explain something negative, the wording is such that I would try and use at least part of this space to write about something positive.
SHOULD I SUBMIT MY TOEFL SCORE?
Given that MIT does not require the TOEFL, it receives many applications from those with low TOEFL scores. Many international applicants can obtain a much better GMAT than iBT TOEFL score. If you have a strong iBT TOEFL, I suggest submitting it so that Rod and his team know you have strong speaking and listening skills. Especially anyone with at least 100 and a 25 in Speaking should submit their TOEFL score. While such a submission is optional, I think it can only help you. If your TOEFL speaking or listening is below 25, I would not suggest submitting your score.
Finally, given the difficulty of iBT TOEFL and the increasing difficulty of even having a valid CBT or PBT test score, I think it is safe to assume that the number of international applicants to MIT Sloan will increase. This is on top of any domestic increases in applications due to a slowing US economy and any international increases in applications due to slowing economies and/or the relative low cost of studying in the US. While it is never easy to get into MIT Sloan, assume that getting into the Class of 2011 will be statistically harder than ever before.
POSTSCRIPT: See my report on the MIT Tokyo event. Applications were up 30% for Fall 2008 entry!
Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to.
-Adam Markus
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August 01, 2008
GMAC Scoretop Investigation Narrows
If you have been following the Scoretop story, the recent Businessweek online chat with the Graduate Management Admission Council's Peg Jöbst (GMACPegJ) is worth a look. According to the chat, GMAC is not investigating all Scoretop users:
GMACPegJ: GMAC is limiting its investigation to those individuals who a) posted GMAT questions they saw on their GMAT exam, and b) posted a message on Scoretop confirming that they saw items from the Scoretop Web site on their GMAT exam. In these instances, GMAC will cancel GMAT scores and notify schools to which those scores were sent.
However those that fit into category a or b might not only find their scores canceled, but find themselves barred from taking the GMAT again:
GMACPegJ would not state how many applicants were under investigation.
-Adam Markus
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GMACPegJ: GMAC is limiting its investigation to those individuals who a) posted GMAT questions they saw on their GMAT exam, and b) posted a message on Scoretop confirming that they saw items from the Scoretop Web site on their GMAT exam. In these instances, GMAC will cancel GMAT scores and notify schools to which those scores were sent.
However those that fit into category a or b might not only find their scores canceled, but find themselves barred from taking the GMAT again:
GMACPegJ would not state how many applicants were under investigation.
-Adam Markus
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July 31, 2008
One year of blogging
I started blogging on graduate admissions in July of last year. Some told me that I should not use my own name as the blog name, but I told them that since I was presenting my own views and my consulting service, there seemed little value to coming up with the kind of clever brand name that many of my competitors use. Such brand names frequently obscure rather clarify the service that is being offered. And since I believe that I am my own brand, I have acted on that basis. So even with my slightly counterintuitive url, http://adam-markus.blogspot.com/, my readers have found me. No fancy tricks have been utilized to do so. My advanced method of "Search Engine Optimization" has simply involved having content that applicants want to read. I have also greatly benefited by links to my site from my fellow bloggers.
I would especially like to thank:
-Steve Green, my guest blogger and colleague
-ET, for valuable advice
-My wife, Akiko, for her support
I look forward to continuing to provide a unique perspective on admissions issues. By the way, I am sorry that I did not get my Kellogg post out this month, but it will be coming soon. I have had a busier off-season than I anticipated. Over the next week, I hope to get Kellogg, MIT, and INSEAD up. In addition, Duke, Tuck, Haas, Oxford, and Cambridge are also likely prospects for August.
-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス
I would especially like to thank:
-Steve Green, my guest blogger and colleague
-ET, for valuable advice
-My wife, Akiko, for her support
I look forward to continuing to provide a unique perspective on admissions issues. By the way, I am sorry that I did not get my Kellogg post out this month, but it will be coming soon. I have had a busier off-season than I anticipated. Over the next week, I hope to get Kellogg, MIT, and INSEAD up. In addition, Duke, Tuck, Haas, Oxford, and Cambridge are also likely prospects for August.
-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス
July 30, 2008
Columbia Business School September Term 2009 Essays
You can find my comments on Columbia's interviews here.
You can find my post on who should apply for Early Decision here. I will not repeat that information below.
Before analyzing Columbia Business School’s September Term Essays for 2009, which are greatly changed from the September 2008 questions (see my earlier post) and even modified from the January 2009 questions, I would like to point out that the DEAN IS GONE FROM THE QUESTIONS! NO MORE OVERLAP! Well Dean R. Glenn Hubbard is still the Dean of the Columbia Business School, but references to him and his ideas no longer are part of Essays 2 and 3. As my clients found, writing Columbia for September 2008 admission was particularly hard because of possible overlap between questions. Columbia has now provided a set of questions with no overlap.
NO "PERSONAL ESSAY TOPICS"
I should also point out that Columbia has eliminated any questions that would likely involve writing about a non-professional topic. Specifically they eliminated Essay 4 on what are you most passionate about. Those applying for January 2009 will still have to write on that topic. I think applicants for September 2009 should refrain from feeling obligated to write on such personal topics because Columbia is clearly indicating that they don't care very much about them. That does not mean that you should not write on such topics if doing so will allow to write your most effective version of Essays 1, 2, and 3 below. Also, given the wording for Essay 4, don't feel obligated to write on this if you truly have no real concerns. I would not treat 4 as anything other than an optional essay.
THE SHORTENED LENGTH TREND: CBS, HBS & STANFORD
Eliminating essay 4 also means that the recommended word count for Columbia is 1750 words. That is 50 words less than Stanford and HBS. All three schools have shortened the total word count for their applications. Given the high likelihood of a record number of applications because of a bad US economy, which will likely increase the number of domestic applications, and a cheap US dollar, which will likely increase the number of international applications, reducing the total word count is a sound survival strategy for these admissions offices. While the word counts for all three of Columbia's required questions are "recommended" and not required, I would suggest following those recommendations unless absolutely necessary to do otherwise. And always remember: If admissions did not ask about it (even indirectly), they don't care about it.
I have taken the September 2009 questions from the online application:
1. What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals? How will Columbia Business School help you achieve these goals? (Recommended 750 word limit)
Over the years, Columbia has been very consistent in the way they ask this question. At first glance, it does seem pretty straightforward and common, but if you have looked at other schools' essays, you will likely notice that something is missing from it. Compare it to Wharton and you will see that there is no reference to the past. While one must certainly address one's past when answering this question, there should be no extended analysis of your career progress to date and you need not emphasize how your past experience will contribute to your future goals. Instead focus this essay on showing how Columbia will help you achieve your goals. The resources available at CBS and Columbia University are vast, so figure out specifically what you want from the school. The program is flexible, so identify your needs from Columbia as specifically as possible. Also keep in mind that CBS recently changed its core curriculum. After all, you want to show them you love and need them (See my post on Early Decision for an analysis of Columbia's acceptances rate and yield in comparison to other top programs). For learning about what is hot at Columbia, I suggest taking a look at their blog: Public Offering. You may also want to write about taking a Master Class, so see the next question. Japanese applicants should most certainly visit http://columbiamba.jimdo.com/index.php.
Making a clear case why your goals are best achieved at CBS should be at the core of the essay. To make sure that they can see that, be very specific about what you need to learn at CBS to achieve your goals. I suggest reviewing some of the full course descriptions that you can find on their website.
If you are having problems clearly articulating your goals, I suggest using my GAP, SWOT, AND ROI TABLE FOR FORMULATING GRADUATE DEGREE GOALS f (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 the Businessweek MBA ROI calculator. Click here for a GMAC report on MBA ROI. )
(To best view the following table, click on it. For a word version, please email me at adammarkus@gmail.com)
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.
ARE YOUR GOALS HOT?
Making career goals exciting requires thinking 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..."), communicating aspirations requires going beyond the typical.
Be informed. Columbia Admissions 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. Additionally I suggest 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 Columbia Adcom as someone who is not only well informed, but has CUTTING-EDGE knowledge. Some great general sources for learning what is hot: Harvard Working Knowledge, Harvard Business Review, University of Chicago GSB's Working Papers, The University of Chicago's Capital Ideas, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Knowledge @ Wharton, 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) Net Impact, Chicago GSB Podcast Series, and Harvard Business IdeaCast. INSEAD, IMD, LBS, and Wharton 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.
2. Master Classes are the epitome of bridging the gap between theory and practice at Columbia Business School. View link below. Please provide an example from your own life in which practical experience taught you more than theory alone. (Recommended 500 word limit) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4698876883776961370&hl=en
Before doing anything, watch the Master Class video. If, at the end of the video, you are not highly motivated by what you have seen, don't apply to Columbia and reconsider whether you really want an MBA. From my perspective, the video does an excellent job of selling Columbia, of differentiating it from other top schools (see the HBS Case Study video for an interesting contrast), and of informing the viewer about exactly what practice is. The message is clear: Columbia will teach you how to do business, go elsewhere (HBS for case studies and Chicago GSB for lectures, perhaps) if you primarily want to learn business theory.
At first glance, some might find this essay question difficult, but actually it is rather simple:
1. Pick an experience in your own life where you learned more from practice than theory.
2. State what the theory was.
3. Show how practice was a better teacher.
4. Describe what you learned.
5. Describe the outcome. This is not stated, but the proof of practice is in the result.
6. Keep in mind that you do not need to talk about the video or the Master Classes when answering this question. It is, of course, worth mentioning the Master Classes in Essay 1. You can view the Master Class Course Descriptions on the Columbia website.
Given that essay three is about team failure, I suggest you select an accomplishment for essay two and not a team story. It might be personal or professional. Obviously it should only be academic if the point is to show how you had to go beyond theory. Many applicants will probably write on a professional accomplishment story where they had to think and act outside of the box. This is quite a reasonable choice. Some applicants might write on something personal and it is possible for this topic to work but if that is the case, then you should be sure that what you learned and what the story reveals about you are both very significant.
3. Please provide an example of a team failure of which you've been a part. If given a second chance, what would you do differently? (Recommended 500 word limit)
This question combines two common topics- failure and teams.
I think the reason that business schools ask about failure is because they want to see that you have the ability to learn from errors and/or problems. Some readers will find reviewing my analysis of Wharton's failure question helpful.
Clearly, teams play an important role both in most professionals lives and at most business schools. Assessing your potential as a team leader and a team player is an important way for admissions to determine whether you will fit in their program and have the kind of predisposition to succeed professionally afterwards. It is quite a change for Columbia to be asking about teamwork ability per se, but as you look at Columbia's curriculum you will see that teamwork plays an important part in the classroom.
I think it is important that we read what is written here very closely as it will help you see that there are multiple correct ways to answer this question.
First, keep in mind that you may not necessarily have been the cause of the failure because it just simply says you are a part of a team that failed. Therefore the team will be one where you are the team leader or a team member.
Second, given that they are asking specifically about a team failure, your failure should be one where the team itself was at fault. This might seem like an obvious point, but many weak answers to this question will focus on a failure and then focus on the team as at best a secondary consideration. Make sure that your essay is one where the team aspect of the story is strong.
Third, the team could be a failure in one of two ways. One option is that the team could simply have failed to complete its external objectives due to a problem or problems relating to the composition, actions, and/or dynamics of the team itself. For example, a team fails to create a new business model due to the fact that the team leader cannot effectively manage the diverse perspectives of her team members. Another is that the team could have succeeded at its external objectives, but you might perceive it as failure due to a problem with the team. For instance, you successfully led a team to complete a project, but by the end of the project, the team members complain that you did not effectively share project responsibilities. In either case, the basic structure for this essay would most likely be:
1. Clearly state what kind of team you were on.
2. Clearly state your role on the team.
3. Explain how the team failed.
4. Explain what you learned from the failure.
5. Explain what you would do differently if you were in the same situation.
Fourth, when you think about what you learned and what you would do differently think deeply about it because you will be revealing the depth of your thinking (perhaps your EQ) about teams. Assume that the reason Columbia is asking this question is because they are looking for more students who will be effective team leaders and team players.
4. (Optional) Is there any further information that you wish to provide to the Admissions Committee? (Please use this space to provide an explanation of any areas of concern in your academic record or your personal history.)
As with other school's optional questions, do not put an obvious essay for another school here. If you have negative issues of concern, see my post on the Chicago's optional essay. You can certainly write on something positive here if you think its omission will be negative for you, but before you do, ask yourself these questions:
1. If they did not ask it, do they really need to know it?
2. Will the topic I want to discuss significantly improve my overall essay set?
3. Is the topic one that would not be covered from looking at other parts of my application?
4. Is the essay likely to be read as being a specific answer for Columbia and not an obvious essay for another school?
If you can answer "Yes!" to all four questions, it might be a good topic to write about, but my suggestion is to keep it brief so as to be consistent with the length for the other essays, ideally around 100-500 words.
Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to.
-Adam Markus
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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 コロンビア・ビジネス・スクール エッセイ
You can find my post on who should apply for Early Decision here. I will not repeat that information below.
Before analyzing Columbia Business School’s September Term Essays for 2009, which are greatly changed from the September 2008 questions (see my earlier post) and even modified from the January 2009 questions, I would like to point out that the DEAN IS GONE FROM THE QUESTIONS! NO MORE OVERLAP! Well Dean R. Glenn Hubbard is still the Dean of the Columbia Business School, but references to him and his ideas no longer are part of Essays 2 and 3. As my clients found, writing Columbia for September 2008 admission was particularly hard because of possible overlap between questions. Columbia has now provided a set of questions with no overlap.
NO "PERSONAL ESSAY TOPICS"
I should also point out that Columbia has eliminated any questions that would likely involve writing about a non-professional topic. Specifically they eliminated Essay 4 on what are you most passionate about. Those applying for January 2009 will still have to write on that topic. I think applicants for September 2009 should refrain from feeling obligated to write on such personal topics because Columbia is clearly indicating that they don't care very much about them. That does not mean that you should not write on such topics if doing so will allow to write your most effective version of Essays 1, 2, and 3 below. Also, given the wording for Essay 4, don't feel obligated to write on this if you truly have no real concerns. I would not treat 4 as anything other than an optional essay.
THE SHORTENED LENGTH TREND: CBS, HBS & STANFORD
Eliminating essay 4 also means that the recommended word count for Columbia is 1750 words. That is 50 words less than Stanford and HBS. All three schools have shortened the total word count for their applications. Given the high likelihood of a record number of applications because of a bad US economy, which will likely increase the number of domestic applications, and a cheap US dollar, which will likely increase the number of international applications, reducing the total word count is a sound survival strategy for these admissions offices. While the word counts for all three of Columbia's required questions are "recommended" and not required, I would suggest following those recommendations unless absolutely necessary to do otherwise. And always remember: If admissions did not ask about it (even indirectly), they don't care about it.
I have taken the September 2009 questions from the online application:
1. What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals? How will Columbia Business School help you achieve these goals? (Recommended 750 word limit)
Over the years, Columbia has been very consistent in the way they ask this question. At first glance, it does seem pretty straightforward and common, but if you have looked at other schools' essays, you will likely notice that something is missing from it. Compare it to Wharton and you will see that there is no reference to the past. While one must certainly address one's past when answering this question, there should be no extended analysis of your career progress to date and you need not emphasize how your past experience will contribute to your future goals. Instead focus this essay on showing how Columbia will help you achieve your goals. The resources available at CBS and Columbia University are vast, so figure out specifically what you want from the school. The program is flexible, so identify your needs from Columbia as specifically as possible. Also keep in mind that CBS recently changed its core curriculum. After all, you want to show them you love and need them (See my post on Early Decision for an analysis of Columbia's acceptances rate and yield in comparison to other top programs). For learning about what is hot at Columbia, I suggest taking a look at their blog: Public Offering. You may also want to write about taking a Master Class, so see the next question. Japanese applicants should most certainly visit http://columbiamba.jimdo.com/index.php.
Making a clear case why your goals are best achieved at CBS should be at the core of the essay. To make sure that they can see that, be very specific about what you need to learn at CBS to achieve your goals. I suggest reviewing some of the full course descriptions that you can find on their website.
If you are having problems clearly articulating your goals, I suggest using my GAP, SWOT, AND ROI TABLE FOR FORMULATING GRADUATE DEGREE GOALS f (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 the Businessweek MBA ROI calculator. Click here for a GMAC report on MBA ROI. )
(To best view the following table, click on it. For a word version, please email me at adammarkus@gmail.com)
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.
ARE YOUR GOALS HOT?
Making career goals exciting requires thinking 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..."), communicating aspirations requires going beyond the typical.
Be informed. Columbia Admissions 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. Additionally I suggest 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 Columbia Adcom as someone who is not only well informed, but has CUTTING-EDGE knowledge. Some great general sources for learning what is hot: Harvard Working Knowledge, Harvard Business Review, University of Chicago GSB's Working Papers, The University of Chicago's Capital Ideas, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Knowledge @ Wharton, 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) Net Impact, Chicago GSB Podcast Series, and Harvard Business IdeaCast. INSEAD, IMD, LBS, and Wharton 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.
2. Master Classes are the epitome of bridging the gap between theory and practice at Columbia Business School. View link below. Please provide an example from your own life in which practical experience taught you more than theory alone. (Recommended 500 word limit) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4698876883776961370&hl=en
Before doing anything, watch the Master Class video. If, at the end of the video, you are not highly motivated by what you have seen, don't apply to Columbia and reconsider whether you really want an MBA. From my perspective, the video does an excellent job of selling Columbia, of differentiating it from other top schools (see the HBS Case Study video for an interesting contrast), and of informing the viewer about exactly what practice is. The message is clear: Columbia will teach you how to do business, go elsewhere (HBS for case studies and Chicago GSB for lectures, perhaps) if you primarily want to learn business theory.
At first glance, some might find this essay question difficult, but actually it is rather simple:
1. Pick an experience in your own life where you learned more from practice than theory.
2. State what the theory was.
3. Show how practice was a better teacher.
4. Describe what you learned.
5. Describe the outcome. This is not stated, but the proof of practice is in the result.
6. Keep in mind that you do not need to talk about the video or the Master Classes when answering this question. It is, of course, worth mentioning the Master Classes in Essay 1. You can view the Master Class Course Descriptions on the Columbia website.
Given that essay three is about team failure, I suggest you select an accomplishment for essay two and not a team story. It might be personal or professional. Obviously it should only be academic if the point is to show how you had to go beyond theory. Many applicants will probably write on a professional accomplishment story where they had to think and act outside of the box. This is quite a reasonable choice. Some applicants might write on something personal and it is possible for this topic to work but if that is the case, then you should be sure that what you learned and what the story reveals about you are both very significant.
3. Please provide an example of a team failure of which you've been a part. If given a second chance, what would you do differently? (Recommended 500 word limit)
This question combines two common topics- failure and teams.
I think the reason that business schools ask about failure is because they want to see that you have the ability to learn from errors and/or problems. Some readers will find reviewing my analysis of Wharton's failure question helpful.
Clearly, teams play an important role both in most professionals lives and at most business schools. Assessing your potential as a team leader and a team player is an important way for admissions to determine whether you will fit in their program and have the kind of predisposition to succeed professionally afterwards. It is quite a change for Columbia to be asking about teamwork ability per se, but as you look at Columbia's curriculum you will see that teamwork plays an important part in the classroom.
I think it is important that we read what is written here very closely as it will help you see that there are multiple correct ways to answer this question.
First, keep in mind that you may not necessarily have been the cause of the failure because it just simply says you are a part of a team that failed. Therefore the team will be one where you are the team leader or a team member.
Second, given that they are asking specifically about a team failure, your failure should be one where the team itself was at fault. This might seem like an obvious point, but many weak answers to this question will focus on a failure and then focus on the team as at best a secondary consideration. Make sure that your essay is one where the team aspect of the story is strong.
Third, the team could be a failure in one of two ways. One option is that the team could simply have failed to complete its external objectives due to a problem or problems relating to the composition, actions, and/or dynamics of the team itself. For example, a team fails to create a new business model due to the fact that the team leader cannot effectively manage the diverse perspectives of her team members. Another is that the team could have succeeded at its external objectives, but you might perceive it as failure due to a problem with the team. For instance, you successfully led a team to complete a project, but by the end of the project, the team members complain that you did not effectively share project responsibilities. In either case, the basic structure for this essay would most likely be:
1. Clearly state what kind of team you were on.
2. Clearly state your role on the team.
3. Explain how the team failed.
4. Explain what you learned from the failure.
5. Explain what you would do differently if you were in the same situation.
Fourth, when you think about what you learned and what you would do differently think deeply about it because you will be revealing the depth of your thinking (perhaps your EQ) about teams. Assume that the reason Columbia is asking this question is because they are looking for more students who will be effective team leaders and team players.
4. (Optional) Is there any further information that you wish to provide to the Admissions Committee? (Please use this space to provide an explanation of any areas of concern in your academic record or your personal history.)
As with other school's optional questions, do not put an obvious essay for another school here. If you have negative issues of concern, see my post on the Chicago's optional essay. You can certainly write on something positive here if you think its omission will be negative for you, but before you do, ask yourself these questions:
1. If they did not ask it, do they really need to know it?
2. Will the topic I want to discuss significantly improve my overall essay set?
3. Is the topic one that would not be covered from looking at other parts of my application?
4. Is the essay likely to be read as being a specific answer for Columbia and not an obvious essay for another school?
If you can answer "Yes!" to all four questions, it might be a good topic to write about, but my suggestion is to keep it brief so as to be consistent with the length for the other essays, ideally around 100-500 words.
Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to.
-Adam Markus
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