APPLYING TO MPA/MPP PROGRAMS

This is the first of two posts on MPA/MPP Programs by Steve Green. The second post is here, but read this one first. To learn more about Steve's graduate admission counseling services, please click here.
-Adam

This post is for anyone who is interested in applying to MPA (Master of Public Administration) or MPP (Master of Public Policy) programs. Among applicants to graduate programs, I have probably worked with more aiming at MPP and MPA programs than any other single degree besides the MBA. The content of this post is based on my experience with successful applicants to MPA/MPP programs at Syracuse, Harvard, Columbia, UCLA and UC-Berkeley, and other top schools.

I will discuss the differences and similarities between the two degrees, and offer advice on what you should know before you begin the application process. In my next posts I will provide strategies for school selection, and for writing the statement of purpose essay that most MPA/MPP programs require.

Throughout my posts I provide links to online resources to help you begin your search for information about degrees and careers in public policy.

WHO APPLIES TO MPA/MPP PROGRAMS?

• People who seek careers in public service at the local, state/provincial, national or international level, such as in government, a non-profit organization (NPO), a non-governmental organization (NGO) or an international organization (IO) or:
• People who already have a career in public service but want to develop the credentials necessary for management- and other leadership level positions,

WHAT ARE THE MPA/MPP?

Many of the successful applicants to MPA/MPP programs with whom I’ve worked have been sponsored officials of the Japanese government. In my experience of working with them and with other successful MPA/MPP candidates, applicants do not always understand the difference between the two programs when they first come to me for admissions consultation. While there has been some convergence between the two types of degrees, important differences still exist and you should know what these are before you select a program.

In general, if you want to play a leadership role in analyzing and creating public policy then the MPP may be the best degree for you. If you seek to oversee implementation of policies and to manage public offices, then the MPA may be your best choice. However, the two areas often converge, as recognized by two leading associations in the field of MPA/MPP studies.

GlobalMPA.net, which was created by the U.S.-based National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) to promote MPA/MPP education internationally, surveys programs in the United States and notes that:

“the MPA programs place more emphasis on management and implementation techniques / approaches, while MPP programs emphasize policy analysis, research and evaluation. Over the years the curricula of MPA and MPP programs have blended and converged as it has become obvious that familiarity with policy analysis would benefit the implementation process and vice versa.”

NASPAA links to a Wikipedia entry on the subject, which states that:

“In recent years, there has been a gradual convergence between the MPA and the Master's in Public Policy (MPP). Today, the course offerings of most MPA and MPP programs overlap to some degree, but MPP programs tend to provide more focused training in policy analysis and policy design, while MPA programs usually still provide more focused coursework in program implementation and public management.”

With the above distinction and convergence in mind, you should learn what comprises the degree programs at particular schools BEFORE you begin the application process. For example, the number one school in the field, according to US News & World Report, Maxwell School at Syracuse University does not offer an MPP program but includes policy design and analysis as part of its MPA, which actually stands for Master of Public Administration.

The MPP program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (number two on the USN&WR ranking) offers an MPA as well as an MPP, but the former combines curricula for policy design and management into one program while the latter is a specialized executive-level program for people who have already established careers in public service.

Furthermore, when you begin researching schools you’ll find that most programs offer specialized MPP/MPA degrees that combine core requirements with coursework and even fieldwork or internships in another field, such as urban planning, international development, or environmental policy.

GETTING STARTED

Before even selecting a school you have a lot to do!

First, as I always tell my clients, the search for a graduate school program that fits you begins within: Know your own particular intellectual and professional strengths.

One of the best ways to actually itemize your strengths is to MAKE A RESUME OR CV. Making a resume/CV allows you to prioritize your accomplishments and catalog your strengths. Your resume becomes a reference guide as you begin your school search. Since 2001, I have assisted numerous applicants on how make a resume or CV. For more about making a resume or CV, please see my earlier post.

Second, no graduate program will accept you unless you present a specific post-graduation career goal and demonstrate the potential to succeed in graduate school. So, before you begin your school search you should have detailed answers to these questions:

1. What are your career goals? What type of organization do you seek to work at after graduation and at what level do you believe you can realistically begin? For information about the many different careers in the US and international non-profit sector, I recommend you take a look at PublicServiceCareers.org and at the career-resources page of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA).

Having a clear idea of the kind of career you seek will help you find the program that best fits your needs, and help you write a strong application essay. You may even find the Alumni Stories at NASPAA inspiring and helpful

Of course, you should also visit the website, or even the actual offices, when possible, of any organization in which you are interested in starting your career. Find out what specific positions are available for newly minted MPA/MPPs and what the career trajectories of these positions typically are.

All program websites will have a link to career resources and or to employment data of alumni. These are excellent sources for information about career options especially as you can see the kinds of jobs people typically obtain from different programs.

For example, The Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley provides a detailed list of the employment of each graduating class. While there is no salary information here is a useful guide to career options for new public policy degree holders.

2. What specific skills do you need to reach those goals, beyond a generic need for "knowledge of public policy design and/or administration"? The skills and knowledge you need to obtain from a graduate program will depend upon your current strengths. My clients often are surprised when I advise them to BE SPECIFIC! I will say more about this topic in my next post, but you should write in detail about the specific strengths you already have and what particular skills you need to obtain from a grad program. To describe these meaningfully, you will need to examine the curricula of different MPA/MPP programs as well as review your own academic and professional record honestly.

Specific skills my successful clients to MPA/MPP programs have sought from their target schools include: advanced skills in quantitative analysis, advocacy skills, leadership skills management skills, and knowledge of the interface between a specific field and public policy (e.g. health care management, public policy around the development of IT) among others.

3. First, since you are applying to an academic program, you will need to highlight your intellectual strengths, which can include:

• Overall good-to-excellent grades as an undergraduate or graduate
• Excellent grades in university classes in or related to public policy, such as political science or economics courses
• Scholarships or awards based on academic excellenct
• A high GRE score

Next, you will need to demonstrate strengths related to advocacy, organizational skills and leadership. NOTE: You do not need to have had any actual formal leadership experience to do this. Rather, ask yourself when you took the initiative or organized a group toward completing a shared goal. The following may indicate your potential in the three areas listed above:

• Individual or shared leadership of a team, club or charity organization, e.g. captaining your university baseball team, co-chairing a debate society, or organizing a charity event
• Internships that utilized your analytical and/or communication skills
• Leading a work-related project
• Any supervisor-level position at a job

For both sets of strengths, you should prioritize the ones that you consider to be your greatest (and be sure you know why you consider them as such) and be able to provide specific examples for each. You should also try to select different types of strengths to present a well-rounded view of yourself.

I will say more about this important topic in a future post on writing graduate school statements of purpose.

4. What is your knowledge of statsistics and economics? Since any policy maker or policy manager must be able to understand, and produce, advanced quantitative analysis, many programs will expect that you have basic understanding of statistics BY THE TIME you enter the program. Here is what the Maxwell School of Public Affairs says on the subject: “[I]t is assumed that applicants will have a strong quantitative background. Applicants lacking a solid background in mathematics, economics and statistics are encouraged to remedy this deficiency prior to application.”

If you have not had any university-level coursework in economics or statistics, and if you have not acquired skills in these fields elsewhere, such as on the job, then how will you prepare yourself for the rigors of work based on these fields in graduate school? At some schools, you will have the option of learning this subjects without any prior knowledge, but at other programs such as Syracuse above, you will have to already have mastered the basics before you apply.

Third, you need to answer the next two questions about the costs of graduate school and the salary you expect to earn after graduation.

1. How will you pay for your graduate education? Are you prepared to leave the workforce and an income stream for 1-2 years? Are you prepared to pay for graduate school now or to go into debt? Master degree programs typically provide few scholarships. Of course, you should apply for any scholarships that are available, but you should also be ready to bear the burden of most or all of your costs. These include:

• Tuition: Top programs often charge more than $20,000. Of course, this figure does not include:
• Cost of living: You should budget approximately $15,000-20,000 for rent, utilities, food and books.

A good place to start collecting information about tuition and cost of living is GlobalMPA Web Portal’s online Database of MPA/MPP programs in the United States. You will need to enter the name of a school to begin your search.

I will write about school selection in my next post, but for now it may be a good idea for you to examine the tuition and costs of living of various programs around the United States in order to get an idea of the financial obligation you face.

2. Do you know what the average salary is in your field? In most cases, especially at any level below chief executive, public service salaries are lower than they are for similar job positions in the private sector. Have you considered what that means for your own expectations regarding standard of living and financial security? How will this affect your financial planning, especially in terms of paying off any student loans you may take to pay for your MPA/MPP degree?

For information about salary levels, look at Global MPA Net’s list of average salaries by job type average salaries by job types in NGOs, IOs, NPOs, MPAs/MPPs from GlobalNetMPA.org.

To its credit the School of International & Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University provides excellent and detailed information about the post-graduation career paths and salaries of SIPA alumni.

The Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley provides a detailed list of the employment of each graduating class. While there is no salary information here is a useful guide to career options for new public policy degree holders.

For questions regarding this post, please contact me at h.steven.green@gmail.com. To learn more about my graduate admissions consulting services, please click here.
- H. Steven ("Steve") Green, グリーン・ハロルド・スティーブン

大学院留学 カリフォルニア大学バークレー校 マクスウェルスクール シラキューズ大学 ハーバード大学ケネディスクール コロンビア大学の国際関係・公共政策大学院（通称SIPA)

"Business-school applications pick up as the economy slows"

I was just about to leave for my vacation when I saw this in The Economist:

ANYONE wanting further proof that the world economy is in trouble need look no further than the nearest business school. Many schools are hailing a bumper year for their full-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) programmes, which are popular with executives looking to hone their moneymaking skills while sitting out a downturn. Worryingly for those betting on a swift economic recovery, business schools reckon that next year could yield an even bigger crop of applicants.

If you want to know why, then read the whole article.


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, then please click here.
-Adam Markus
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Summer Vacation, August 8-12

I will be on vacation from the 8th to the 12th of August. Look for more blog posts from the 14th. It is hot here in Tokyo, so I am happy to be going up north where it is a bit cooler. My wife and I will be traveling by local train to Sendai (for Tanabata), Hiraizumi, Yamadera, and Morioka (Wanko Soba!). If anyone has suggestions for good places to visit, please let me know at adammarkus@gmail.com.

Finally, for those of you in the midst of test prep hell, I wish you the best of luck.

Cheers,
Adam
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The Portfolio Approach to Graduate School Application Strategy

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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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:

Mind and Hand

The moment you step onto the MIT Sloan campus, you feel the palpable sense of energy and opportunity that is fueled by MIT's credo of mens et manus — mind and hand. At MIT, we believe that you must understand foundational topics at a deep level (mens) and be able to execute the practical application of these concepts (manus).

The concept of mens et manus percolates through the MIT culture and inspires a shared ethic. It says: let's look at the problem, invent the solution, and do something about it. Mens et Manus is the core idea that powers everything we do at MIT Sloan. Generations of students, faculty, and alumni have built their careers on it.

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

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

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

6. Once you think you have two to four fully worked-out action steps, 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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