UCLA Anderson MBA Essays for Fall 2011

In what follows, I will analyze the UCLA Anderson School of Management's MBA Essay's for 2010-2011.

As a sponsor of the 2010 Japan Trek, I had a wonderful opportunity to meet with a cross section of Anderson students and I was impressed by their maturity, diversity, and warmth.  Visiting Anderson briefly this May, I could see how such a lovely campus would make for a great community.   

For Fall 2010, I had one client admitted to UCLA.  Actually, I had only two clients apply to UCLA last year, which was a huge change from the previous year. For Fall 2009 admission, I had the opportunity to work with five clients who were admitted to UCLA. You can find testimonials from three of them here.  Each year is different!

Here are the questions and instructions taken from UCLA's website:

We are interested in getting to know applicants on both a professional and personal level. We encourage you to be introspective, genuine, and succinct. Remember that we are more concerned with the content of your essays than their form or style.
All responses to essays must be on double-spaced pages that are uploaded in document form, except for the optional essays for first-time applicants, which may alternatively be submitted as an audio or video file instead. (Please note the word limits indicated in parentheses below.)
REQUIRED ESSAYS:
Please be introspective and authentic in your responses. Content is more important than style of delivery. We value the opportunity to learn about your life experiences, aspirations, and goals.
1. What event or life experience has had the greatest influence in shaping your character and why?   (750 words)
2. Describe your short-term and long-term career goals. What is your motivation for pursuing an MBA now and how will UCLA Anderson help you to achieve your goals? (750 words)
OPTIONAL ESSAYS:
The following essays are strictly optional. These essays are for individuals who would like to provide additional information. No preference is given in the evaluation process to applicants who submit optional essays.
1. You may respond to the following question via written essay, audio, or video clip: What is something people will find surprising about you?
Please limit your submission: audio response (up to 2 minutes), video response (up to 1 minute), or essay (250 words).
Supported File Types:
Audio:  .avi, .wmv, .wav, .mp3, .midi, .wma, .aiff, .au, .mp4
Video:  .avi, .wmv, .mov, .mpeg
Note: Please do not e-mail audio files to the admissions office.
2. Are there any extenuating circumstances in your profile about which the Admissions Committee should be aware? (250 words)

The first thing you should notice about this set of questions is that it begins with a very unique question that emphasizes personality.  It would indeed be possible to write UCLA's entire set of questions without including a standard "leadership" or "greatest work accomplishment" essay. It is worth considering what UCLA says about its admission criteria:The Admissions Committee evaluates applicants' prospects as leaders in management and their projected ability succeed in, benefit from and contribute to the UCLA Anderson MBA Program. Committee members carefully consider personal and academic background information, GMAT scores, TOEFL scores (for most international applicants), achievements, awards and honors, employment history, letters of recommendation, and college and community involvement, especially where candidates have served in leadership capacities. The Admissions Committee seeks to create a community of students who bring unique contributions from their diverse backgrounds and experiences and who will collectively enrich the educational experience.

UCLA is very focused on understanding your ability to make a contribution to their community. This very much at the center of the education they offer and how how they differentiate their program:
Student life at Anderson is exceptional, highlighted by:

• Challenges: Whether it?s tackling the intricacies of corporate strategy, leading a student initiative, or climbing a nearby mountain, students will be tested by both the academic rigors of UCLA Anderson and development activities outside of class.
• Values: The values of UCLA Anderson set it apart from other schools. By working with professors and administrators, students forge a community that values learning, teamwork and research-based practical knowledge
• Collegiality: The hallmarks of student life at Anderson are compassion, mutual respect and support, which students demonstrate toward one another. The UCLA Anderson community is built on the collective strengths of our diverse student body.
• Access: The network of personal relationships and industry contacts that students develop while attending UCLA Anderson and after they graduate is arguably as important as the academic degree they earn. Countless opportunities exist for students to connect with individuals, business and community outside the classroom, and for alumni to stay in touch with the school, faculty, fellow alumni and current students.

I mention all of the above because I think it is quite helpful in understanding what UCLA is looking for: Highly collaborative, community-oriented individuals, who are great at networking. The Anderson School is also very focused on entrepreneurship. If you are at all interested in entrepreneurship, pay special attention to  the Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies webpage.

1. What event or life experience has had the greatest influence in shaping your character and why?   (750 words)
This question is new, but certainly is consistent with UCLA's emphasis on personality.  I strongly recommend that you think very carefully about what you write here and don't just try to jam an existing essay you have for another school to try and answer this very special question.

The following topics will probably not work well if treated as the event or life experience that has had the greatest influence on shaping your character:
1. A recent accomplishment.
2. A recent leadership experience.
3.  A recent world event.
The  problem with all of the above is that they are RECENT! Unless your character has just been recently formed such answers will prove to be very unconvincing. The first and second of these topics do have a place in this essay (see below).

The parental default option:  Surely the event of your conception and birth could be said to be the most singular event in determining who you are, but we can assume that this is probably not  an effective topic because it is common to all of us.  

WHAT WILL WORK
Let us assume that you were not born yesterday.  Let us further posit that somewhere between either birth (in the case of an event) or the age of full consciousness (say about six, but possibly younger in the case of a life experience) and not so recently (Yes, I am being ambiguous), you had a life experience or were subject to an event (possibly a world event) that has had significant impact on making you the person you are today.

Keep in mind that you are engaged in an after the fact rationalization of linkages between some event or life experience in the past and the person you are now.  In other words, you are telling a story about yourself, which may, in fact, be almost completely arbitrary.  Writer's block will develop if you begin worrying too much about all of the events and life experiences that have made you who you are.

If I were counseling a client on this topic,  I would start by asking, "What do you really want UCLA to know about you?"  After that has been established, the key issue is finding a way to connect that to this question.   Knowing where you end up, that is to say reverse engineering the topic, is likely to yield an effective answer in a fairly efficient manner.

The structure for this essay might look as follows:
1.  Discussion of the event or life experience.
2.  An explanation of the event or life experience's impact on your character.
3.  Results, that is to say more recent manifestations of the impact.  It is here where you could discuss a recent accomplishment, leadership experience, or some other important tangible demonstration of the manner in which the event or life experience continues to impact you.  It is also quite possible that this event or life experience relates to your goals.

Note:  It is entirely possible that if you are applying to Stanford, your answer to UCLA ‘s question and Stanford Essay 1 will be quite similar.

2. Describe your short-term and long-term career goals. What is your motivation for pursuing an MBA now and how will UCLA Anderson help you to achieve your goals? (750 words)
Rather than repeat much of what I have previously written about other versions of this question, I would suggest that you look at my analysis of Columbia 1 as it can be applied here.

A great Essay 2 will clearly answer the "Why now" aspect of the question without focusing too much on past experience. One core focus of this essay should be on how being a part of Anderson's Class of 2013, will contribute to your intended professional future. Make sure that your motivations for pursuing that future are clearly stated in this essay and perhaps explained further elsewhere in your essay set.

UCLA puts great emphasis on applicants demonstrating that they have become informed about The Anderson School, so I strongly suggest that you visit if you can, but at least attend one of their admissions events. Getting in contact with UCLA alums would also be helpful. At a minimum, learn as much as you can from their web page. You really need to convince adcom that you know what you need from UCLA for your future goals. If you have the word count do so, you may also want to address what you can contribute.

Japanese applicants should most certainly take a look at The Japan America Business Association (JABA) page. In addition, please see LA State of Mind ～UCLA MBA留学記 2009-2011～.

THE MANDATORY OPTIONAL QUESTION
1. You may respond to the following question via written essay, audio, or video clip: What is something people will find surprising about you?
Please limit your submission: audio response (up to 2 minutes), video response (up to 1 minute), or essay (250 words).
For its Fall 2009 application, the UCLA Anderson School of Business did something completely unique in the annals of MBA application history by introducing a recorded presentation. For Fall 2011, they now give applicants the option of providing an  audio or video response. While it is possible to opt out of this audio or video option, I can see no benefit for doing that.  At least write the essay!  Still my advice to own clients would be:  “WHATEVER YOU DO, MAKE An AUDIO OR VIDEO RECORDING!”

For  non-native English speakers, this is your best shot at showing you can say something meaningful in one or two minutes. Get a decent recording device, prep your answer intensively, and get this one right if you want to be part of the Class of 2011. If you are technologically challenged, get someone's help. Unless you lack vocal cords, I am not sure what excuse you could have. If you are shy on camera, just use audio. After all, no other school asks this question, so UCLA admissions will be able to judge how much time and effort you put into their application.

Basically they are asking you to deliver a one or two minute speech. Structure your answer so that you are clearly answering the question and that you make a clear point. If you think about it, this is a great way to test an applicant's ability to say something meaningful in the amount of time that one might typically make a comment in a class. My suggestion is that you practice enough so that it does not sound or look like you are simply reading a piece of paper. Record yourself until you are happy with the result. HINT: This may involve many recordings and alterations of your script.

What is something people will find surprising about you?
This question is a great opportunity to balance out the rest of your application. Is there something really important about you that would not be clear from your application form, essays, resume, and recommendations? Is there something you really want to emphasize about yourself? Here is the chance to do that. Unless a professional topic would reveal something surprising about you, I don't necessarily think this question lends itself well to most work-related topics. Otherwise, the options here are wide open. Just make sure that admissions understands why this issue is so important to you that you are using one of your precious essay questions for it. Finally, make it surprising! If it is obvious from your application, it will bore them.

THE OPTIONAL OPTIONAL QUESTION
2. Are there any extenuating circumstances in your profile about which the Admissions Committee should be aware? (250 words)
This is a nice open-ended version of the standard "anything negative" optional essay. If everything is good, you don't need to write this one. If it is not, I suggest doing so.
As with other school's optional questions, do not put an obvious essay for another school here, but 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 UCLA 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.



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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UCLA カリフォルニア大学ロサンゼルス校 のビジネススクール

THE LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL ESSAY MICROSOFT WORD FILE TEMPLATE

HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED ANY PROBLEMS WITH THE LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL ESSAY MICROSOFT WORD FILE TEMPLATE?

Two clients have sent files in the last couple of weeks using the LBS template that the school provides applicants. I think there is something really odd going on with this template's macros.  In the first case, the essays would not print out completely.  At the time, I did not think this was anything but a highly localized case.  Tonight, I reviewed a clients essays and noticed that the printed version and the version on my computer were not the same.  It appeared that the old version of the essays was showing up on my desktop while an updated version was printing out.  This is totally weird. Is it just me or..? 
Well back to reviewing my clients' stuff.

Adam

Guest Blogger: 河野太一のGMAT OG12解説 SC18

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


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


SC18
(A) efficient atのコロケーションはOK。good at「～が上手だ」という表現があるが、それと似たatの使い方。そこまで判断できない場合は、atがない選択肢が(E)だけなので、取りあえずOKとし ておいて、(E)がよほど良い選択肢であればまた考え直せばよい。than are fungiもOK。まずfungi（発音はファンジャイ）はfungus（菌類）の複数形。意外とTOEFLにも出てきたりするので、難しい単語だが覚え て置いたほうがよい。複数形なので、動詞がareなのはOK。動詞にisを用いている選択肢がないから、そこはポイントではないことがわかる。次に比較の 後ろのSV倒置だが、これは普通の語順でも、疑問文の語順の倒置でもOK。取りあえず目立ったキズはなし。

(B) (A)のare fungiがfungiになっているのが唯一の変化で、この時点でサヨウナラ。これでは比較対象がPlantsなのかcarbonなのかわからないから だ。(A)はareを入れることによって比較対象がPlants areであることを明示している。基本的な比較構文の問題であることが見えてきたように、この時点では思える。

(C) (A)が正解の可能性が高いかと思いきや、(C)も悪くない。fungiの後ろのareはなくなっているが、carbonが後ろに回ったことにより、比較 対象となる名詞がPlantsしかなくなるので、areは必要なし。at ...をefficientに隣接させたほうが良いとはいえ、間に2単語を挟んでいるだけで、この程度の挿入は十分にありえるし、定型表現的なものの間に 挿入を挟むこと自体も英語ではよくあること。また、逆にmoreとthanを近接させているとも受け取れるわけで、これでは差をつけにくい。そこで下線部 の後ろのつながりを見ると、後ろにin the form of carbon dioxideがあり、これはcarbonと近接させたほうがよい。さらに後ろにはand convertingがあり、acquiringが並列対象であるはずなので、これも近づいていたほうがよい。いずれの点においても(C)は問題な く、(A)は後ろの修飾関係が入り組んでしまっていることが見えてきた。(C)が正解。

(D)では主節のVがなくなるので即アウト。

(E)は(B)と同じ比較構文違反を犯している。

-河野太一


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

Wharton MBA Essay Questions for Fall 2011 Admission

In this post, I analyze the essay questions for Wharton for Fall 2011 admission.  You can find my post on Wharton Lauder Essays here.  My analysis of Wharton interviews can be found here. I updated my analysis of Essay Option 1 on 12/25.


As a matter of disclosure, I should indicate that I am a sponsor of the Wharton Japan Club. I don't think this unduly biases my perspective. You find testimonials from my clients admitted to Wharton in 2009 and 2010 here.

I must apologize for the delay in putting out my Wharton analysis. I have been working on it and playing with it in mind for a few months. In that time, I also worked on the essay set with one client, which was very useful in helping me think through these questions.  I especially wanted to mention my gratitude to my longtime colleague and friend, Vince Ricci, for discussing the Wharton questions with me.  We were joined by another experienced consultant who wishes to remain anonymous.  Vince videotaped our discussion of Wharton. You can find an edited version of that conversation below:

You might find it helpful to watch the video first before descending into what follows.  The video really is a good summary of some of key points that I will elaborate on below.

WHARTON:  A TIME TO CHANGE

I think Wharton's radically changed essay set reflects the fact that Wharton is de-leveraging itself from an over-reliance on placing its graduates into jobs on Wall Street.    As the financial crisis has shown, in such a market Wharton, more than Stanford or HBS (The only schools it really wants to compare itself with), found itself in a weak position. Also adding to the headache for Wharton, has been the rise of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business as real competitor to Wharton’s standing.   "Everyone" always assumed that the Chicago MBA was not as well balanced as PENN’s.  Of course, the job placement numbers and overall ranking at Chicago in recent years suggest that maybe this is not the case.  It did not hurt Chicago to have an admissions director who radically diversified who Chicago accepts and was also really, really good at marketing her program.  Of course, it also hurt Wharton that the person in question, Rose Martinelli, had been head of admissions at Wharton.  After Rose left Wharton, nothing really changed in the admissions office until they hired J.J. Cutler in 2009. For more about J.J. as well as my predication that he would shake things up in 2010, see here.  Now looking back on the staff changes, it seems J.J. was, indeed, brought in to clean house. J.J.  is a consumer marketing guy, not a finance guy.  His MBA is from Wharton.  For the first year of his tenure, he clearly studied what was going on and now he has acted: He blew up the old application that Wharton had been using with for years.  I have also noticed that some of the admissions team have changed.  You can find the admissions team here.  In sum, it is a new day at Wharton.  To add to this change, J.J. now oversees both admissions and career services.  BusinessWeek referred to this change as "a sharp reversal of traditional university administrator roles." The integration of admissions and career services under a single person is worth considering because what might mean is that the actual reality of the job market for Wharton grads is likely to be more directly communicated to admissions staff. Certainly it will be even more present in the thinking of J.J. It is therefore particularly important that one articulates goals in Essay 1 that are highly realistic.  

NOT SUCH A GOOD SET OF ESSAYS TO START WITH

If you ask generic questions, you get generic answers.  Wharton’s essays had always been one of the easiest for my clients to handle.  In fact, my advice, both in this blog and to my clients,  had been to start with Wharton, Kellogg, or Tuck, but not anymore in regards to Wharton.  Unless you are only applying to Chicago and Wharton, I would never start with Wharton because (1) You will have more word count for your goals for almost any other top MBA program and (2) it is advantageous to have a portfolio of content prior to selecting which of the optional questions to write.  In fact,  this year, I eliminated paragraphs in both my HBS and Stanford analysis about them being bad schools to start with.  Given that MIT (no goals essay), Wharton (as will discuss here), and Chicago (4 pages to do whatever you want with, so better already have some content in place) are such bad schools to start with, I could not possibly tell anyone that the very well formed set of essay questions that Stanford asks is not good to start with.  Even with HBS, the questions themselves provide a significantly greater amount of overall direction and structure than you get with Wharton. 

In the preface to the Fall 2010 Essay Questions (They mean for entering in Fall 2011), the following is stated:

The Admissions Committee is interested in getting to know you on both a professional and personal level. We encourage you to be introspective, candid, and succinct. Most importantly, we suggest you be yourself.

This statement is really important because it provides some guidance as to what Wharton wants:

1.  Provide both personal and professional content.

2. Be personal and analytical, not merely descriptive.

3.  Make sure you are stating things as briefly and effectively as possible.  Don't waste your words.  Use them carefully. Keep your essays within the word count.  That is what "succinct" means! 

THE ELEVATOR PITCH

Required Question: What are your professional objectives? (300 words) 

You might think that 300 words is not enough to convey your professional objectives, but if you think that you don’t have to explain why you need an MBA in detail, it is not actually bad length.

If Columbia Essay 1 is an “Extended elevator pitch,” Wharton’s Required Question is an elevator pitch.  I suggest you read my analysis of CBS 1 now.  After you are finished, read the rest of this post.

WHAT CAN YOU SAY IN 300 WORDS?

1.     What do you imagine your professional future will look like?  You need to give Wharton admissions a very clear image of your future.  You may or may not include a chronological framework (Short, medium, and long term), but if you don’t, you better make sure that you are still presenting something that effectively combines both ambition and realism.  A purely abstract dream or visionary statement could easily come across as unrealistic or ungrounded if not handled carefully.  However you write this, have a strong first sentence that immediately answers the question.  For most applicants this probably means either stating your ultimate professional objective or a statement related to your professional vision.

2.     What motivates your professional objectives?  That is to say, why are these your objectives? While the question does not say “What are your professional objectives and why are they your objectives,” if you are going to be “introspective, candid” and “yourself,” as per Wharton’s overall instructions, you had better also explain “why.” Clearly a drawn-out explanation based on a detailed examination of your past experience cannot be conveyed here, so provide a clear analytical answer as why your goals are what they are.

3. SHOULD YOU MENTION WHARTON OR WHY YOU NEED AN MBA? Yes, if it helps to explain your professional objectives, but I would certainly keep such “Why MBA?” and “Why Wharton MBA?”  statements to mere logical argument and not focus on the details. Unless it is intuitively obvious why you need an MBA, it may very well make sense to briefly explain why in this essay.  For example, if you are already well on your way along a certain professional path and wish to stay on that path, it does make sense to explain why an MBA is necessary at this point in your career.  If you are changing careers, you might want to briefly mention that you view an MBA as necessary to make this change effectively. Of course a simple analytical explanation is all that I am talking about, not a full elaboration of all the possible benefits of an MBA in general or a Wharton MBA in particular.  Optional Essay 1 is the ideal place to discuss in detail why you need an MBA from Wharton.

Respond to 3 of the following 4 questions:

THE OPTIONAL MANDATORY QUESTION

Option 1: Student and alumni engagement has at times led to the creation of innovative classes. For example, through extraordinary efforts, a small group of current students partnered with faculty to create a timely course entitled, “Disaster Response: Haiti and Beyond,” empowering students to leverage the talented Wharton community to improve the lives of the Haiti earthquake victims. Similarly, Wharton students and alumni helped to create the “Innovation and the Indian Healthcare Industry” which took students to India where they studied the full range of healthcare issues in India. If you were able to create a Wharton course on any topic, what would it be? (700 words) 

IF YOU HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO WORK ON THIS ESSAY, I suppose you could treat this one as optional, but frankly I think that would be particularly stupid.  Here is why:

1. Unlike the other three optional questions, Wharton gives you up to 700 words for this one.  Why, I wonder?  For some reason, they think you will need more words for this one and consider it worth giving them to you.

2.  This is the only question where you can easily discuss why you want to go to Wharton in detail.  I suppose you could try doing that with another one of these options, but if you did, it would not certainly not be focused on the actual question being asked.

3.  This question is so unique that it is Wharton specific. That is to say, there really is no way you could have easily written this one for another school.   From my perspective, whenever a school asks such an optional question, it is always best to answer it if you really want to show your passion for the school.

4.  I can't think of a better question for actually demonstrating both why you want to attend Wharton and also what you can contribute.


WARNING IF YOU ARE PRESSED FOR TIME BECAUSE OF IMPENDING DEADLINES: THIS ESSAY OPTION IS A TOTAL TIME SUCK TO WRITE EFFECTIVELY.   THE OTHER OPTIONS ARE GENERALLY EASIER TO WRITE QUICKLY.



What morons who answer this question will do: They will simply not focus on the actual question, but on the extended explanatory preface. In particular, they will look at the first sample course provided, Disaster Response: Haiti and Beyond,  and feel the obligation to address a pressing political, social and/or environmental issue even though their own goals as stated in Essay 1 have nothing to do with that. (Of course, if your goals relate to such issues, you should most certainly focus on them).   If they think deeply about the second example, Innovation and the Indian Healthcare Industry, perhaps they will avoid this error. This second course, while taking place in India, actually really is focused on a core area of Wharton's curriculum, healthcare management, as well as one of the country's covered by the Lauder program (Actually the newest track at Lauder is Hindi).


The core question:  If you were able to create a Wharton course on any topic, what would it be? 


The short answer to this question: A course on a topic that would really relate to your goals as discussed in Essay 1.

The above sentence is my core strategic advice for this question.  What follows is just a discussion of mechanics.

Steps for Answering this Question:

1. Identify a topic that really relates to your goals.

2. Identify resources at Wharton (faculty, research activities, clubs) that would support this course.  If no such resources exist, ask yourself whether this is really a course that Wharton would or should offer?  Consider that your proposed course represents a really core academic need that you have, if admissions readers at Wharton can't see the connection between your needs and their school, you lose. I would treat this as an opportunity to explain what you want from Wharton, so if Wharton really has nothing to support your proposed class, find another class.

3.  Think about what research questions the course would address.  YOU DON'T NEED ANSWERS, BUT YOU DO NEED QUESTIONS.  In fact, if you have all the answers, you don't actually need to take the course.  Assume that the questions you wish to address are not only your questions, but ones that would appeal to other students.  If you ask your questions in such a narrow manner that they only relate to your goals,  there is good chance that the admissions reader will decide that you can't actually propose a viable course.  That would be a bad conclusion for the reader to come to.

4.  Be willing to do some background reading so you sound like you know what you are talking about.  You need not be an expert, but you must have sufficient command of the basic facts to explain what the course would be, why it is worth offering, why it is interesting to you, why it would be interesting to other students, what resources at Wharton could be utilized for it, what core issues would be examined, and what the expected impact of the course might be on the participants.  Here are some possible sources of information:


From the Business Schools: Feed your brain with cutting-edge ideas from the best business schools in the world. Start with Knowledge @ Wharton. Other great sources of information include Stanford Social Innovation Review, Harvard Working Knowledge, Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business School Publishing, University of Chicago GSB's Working Papers, The University of Chicago's Capital Ideas, and MIT Sloan Management Review.

You may also want to do a search on iTunes for podcasts: My favorites are Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders (from the Stanford School of Engineering, but totally relevant to MBA), Chicago GSB Podcast, Net Impact, and Harvard Business IdeaCast. INSEAD, IMD, LBS, and, of course, Wharton also has podcasts.


5. If appropriate, bring your own past experience into your discussion of the course.  This will show how you can contribute not only your perspective, but also your past experience to the course.  If you are selecting something where you don't think your past experience is particularly relavant, that is fine as long as the topic clearly aligns well with your goals, which it should do in any case.  

DECISIONS, DECISIONS...

Option 2: Reflect on a time when you turned down an opportunity. What was the thought process behind your decision? Would you make the same decision today? (600 words)

WARNING: DON'T QUOTE FROM ROBERT FROST'S THE ROAD NOT TAKEN. 
HERE IS THE POEM SO YOU CAN GET THIS POETIC CLICHE OUT OF THE WAY NOW:

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;         5 Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,         10 And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.         15 I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.         20

This must be the single most quoted poem in MBA essays. Don't use it.  Don't use any poems, unless you write it.  I have nothing against poetry. I like Robert Frost and even the sentiment expressed in this poem. You might be wondering why I am starting this, especially because the question is focused on an opportunity that you did take. The reason is very simple, if you did not take one opportunity, you had to have taken another. To connect to Frost, you either choose one road or your choose another.

This is really a great question because it can be used in so many ways.
Opportunities take many forms, so to help you focus your thinking about this one:

1. Think about a situation were you really did have a viable opportunity and choose not to take it.  I stress the word "viable." If the opportunity you turned down was not really viable, it will make for an effective topic.

2. Think about why choose not to take this opportunity. You must be able to explain your reasoning very clearly. I would say that a least a third of the essay should focus on explaining your reasoning at the time.

3.  Think about whether you made the right decision.  The interesting thing about this question is that you may or may not have made the right decision.  This essay, can, in fact, be used to discuss a bad decision. If you do so, I don't suggest also writing on Essay Optional Three (Failure) as your overall set would perhaps not necessarily provide you with sufficient opportunity to focus on your accomplishments.  If you think you made the right decision, explain why.  If you think your decision was both right and wrong, be careful because you may find it difficult to provide an effective response in the space provided.

This topic lends itself well to employment, academic, and personal opportunities (I can't suggest covering romantic opportunities that you turned down).  Your answer may very well have an ethical dimension to it.  Also, depending on the situation, it might very well focus on your leadership abilities.

I think Wharton is asking this question so that they can really asses the way you think.  Help them understand that you posses the capability for both explaining your past thought process as well your present perspective.

THE OLD CLASSIC WHARTON FAILURE ESSAY WITH A TWIST

Option 3: Describe a failure that you have experienced. What role did you play, and what did you learn about yourself? How did this experience help to create your definition of failure? (600 words) 

The only part of this entire essay that I could really utilize from my analysis of Wharton from prior years was part of the following. The last part of the question is the twist.

EVERYTHING BUT THE TWIST: Describe a failure that you have experienced. What role did you play, and what did you learn about yourself? 



It is critical that you learned something meaningful about yourself. And your learning about yourself has to have been be important, otherwise why tell admissions about it? Here is a standard definition of failure:


FAILURE: 1. The condition or fact of not achieving the desired end or ends: the failure of an experiment. 2. One that fails: a failure at one's career. 3. The condition or fact of being insufficient or falling short: a crop failure. 4. A cessation of proper functioning or performance: a power failure. 5. Nonperformance of what is requested or expected; omission: failure to report a change of address. 6. The act or fact of failing to pass a course, test, or assignment. 7. A decline in strength or effectiveness.

The key constraint of this question is that whatever the failure is, you have learned something important about yourself from it. While not stated, you may very well find that one way of showing what you learned is to discuss how you applied your lesson to a new situation. I would, in fact, argue that the heart of any sort of "failure question," whether it is an essay question or an interview is what you learned. Also depending on what your role was, how you reacted to the failure or mistake is also very important.
The basic components of an answer: 1. Clearly state what the failure was.
2. Clearly state your role. 3. Explain how you reacted to the situation. 4. Explain what you learned about yourself.

THE TWIST: How did this experience help to create your definition of failure?
I have intentionally separated out this part of the question because it actually stands apart.  It is a reflection on the prior part of the question. In essence, they are asking you to consider not only learned from this particular failure, but what you learned about failure in general. Now, why would they do that?

I think the twist can actually looked at as product of our times. The financial crisis that began in 2008, the Lehman Shock, as it is sometimes known, really was a massive failure that we all, to a greater or lesser extent are living in the shadow of.  Such generational business traumas necessarily reflect themselves in the kind of questions that schools ask.  Consider that Enron and similar scandals involving MBAs lead to a rise in ethics questions both in MBA applications and interviews, not to mention in curriculum. We are living in a time of failure. Hence it is reasonable to ask you to reflect on your own definition of failure. 

The twist can also be looked at as another way for Wharton to determine the depth of your thinking. It is easy to enough for almost anyone to explain what the learned from a failure, but it requires a further level of reflection to actually explain how that failure impacted your overall definition of failure. 

BUT I DON'T HAVE A DEFINITION OF FAILURE!  Well there are two options:
1. Don't write on this topic because you avoid it by selecting the other three.
2.  Come up with definition of failure that aligns well with the failure story and learning that you will discuss in the first part of this essay. 

ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?

Option 4: Discuss a time when you navigated a challenging experience in either a personal or professional relationship. (600 words)

After the failure bummer question I just discussed, I think it is time for a musical interlude.


Just as the title of this classic Jimi Hendrix song, Wharton is asking "Are you experienced?"  If you have never experienced navigating a challenging personal or professional relationship, you are not actually a human being. Which is it to say, that anyone can answer this question.  To be human is struggle in our relationships with other people.  The topics for this one are too numerous to mention, but here are a few likely themes: trust, empathy, courage, ethics, emotional maturity, stress management, teaching others, learning from others, negotiating, ending a relationship, establishing a relationship, repairing a relationship, working in a team, leading a team, interacting with a subordinate, interacting with a supervisor, and disagreeing with someone.  As with Essay Option 2, I can't recommend writing about a romantic personal challenge. If you select this topic, it is important that if you write Essay Option 3 (Failure), you don't make this challenging relationship a failure story.

This question is  a behavioral question.  For a full discuss of such questions as well as some other examples of such questions, please see my analysis of MIT and Stanford Essay 3.

This really essay is a great way of focusing on how you interact with other people.  It is perfect designed to highlight soft skills.  Keep the focus of the essay on the relationship itself.  How did you work through whatever personal or professional challenges you faced when dealing with a particular individual or group?  Effective answers will provide a sufficient explanation about who you were interacting with and explain exactly why you found this situation so challenging.

Given the available word count, there really is sufficient space here to provide a very detailed analysis of the challenging interaction you experienced.   While not applicable to all stories, the leadership grid that discuss in my MIT and Stanford 3 analysis is highly to be applicable to this essay.  While you must explain the challenge you encountered, it is equally important that you explain how you worked through the experience.

Finally, while it is not necessary to explain what you learned  from the experience, since the question does not ask that, make sure you are providing a strong interpretation and not just a description.


In my next Wharton post, I will deal with the Lauder questions, after that, I will update (as necessary), my previous post on the Wharton application form.

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

-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス

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

Guest Blogger: 河野太一のGMAT OG12解説 SC17

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


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


SC17
選 択肢の短さを見る限り簡単な問題で、下線部の前後だけ見れば解けそうに思えるが、筆者はそのような問題でも大きな文構造を、ラフにでもよいから把握するこ とをおすすめする。この問題で言えば、一見して並列がポイントとなっているが、その並列部分が本文のどこと対応するのかを探さなければならない。下線部か ら前に遡って対応箇所を探していくやり方で簡単に解けることもあるが、それは結果論だ。焦りや思い込みのせいで、もっと前のほうに対応箇所があるにもかか わらず、そこにたどり着く以前に他の部分を対応箇所と勘違いをしてしまうこともある。文を前からたどって大きな構造だけでも把握しておけば、そのような間 違いを減らすことができ、かつ結局のところ速く解けることが多い。

ここではThe commission (S) has directed (V)が主節であること、その後はずっと修飾要素で、that節は動詞がdo not containと複数受けであることと「含む」という意味から、直前のfoodsにかかる関係詞節であることが見抜ければよい。そこまで見れば、下線部が 主節またはその一部と並列されているのではなく、that節の中で働いている可能性が高いことがわかる。

では何が並列されているのかの検 討に入る。ヒントはカンマ2つに挟まれたchemical preservatives。これで名詞が並列されていることがわかり、containの後ろから始まって、... additives, chemical preservatives, and/or N、というA, B, and Cの構造になることが想定できる。この時点で(B)はアウト。ちなみにcolorの後ろのorはcolorとflavorを結び、「名詞の形容詞化」で後 ろのadditivesにつないでいるだけ。つまり細かくは、1 or 2A, B, and Cという構造。このように大きな並列構造の中に小さな並列構造が含まれていることはよくあるので、どれがどこまでを結んでいるのかを見極めなければならな い。

残りの選択肢ではnothingかanythingかを選ばなければならないようだ。この2つを選ぶときのコツは下線部以外の部分 に否定語を探すこと。ここではcontainの前にdo notがある。nothingでは二重否定になってしまうので、(A)と(C)はアウト。

(D) と(E)の選択はやや難しい。andとorは文法的には同じ働きであり、意味もどちらでも通じるように思えるからだ。that has beenの有無がポイントかとも考えるが、(E)はanythingの後ろにdone形容詞が置かれている形と考えれば文法的にはあり得る。逆にthat has beenを不要とする理由もない。やはりandとorの意味的差異がポイント。andだと並列されているすべての要素をfoodの中にcontainする ことになるが、orなら一個だけでもよいことになる。意味的にもorのほうがしっくりくるし、color or flavor additivesの部分にorが使われているのもヒント。

-河野太一


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