How To Approach Your MBA Admissions Essay Questions

by Stacy Blackman Consulting, May 17, 2011

The following are four MBA admissions questions that all refer to the same information:

Kellogg Wharton Question #1:

Describe your work progression and your short-term and long-term goals. How do you see an MBA from Kellogg helping you achieve these goals and why at this time?

Harvard Business School Question #6:

What are your career aspirations and how can an MBA help you to reach them? Why now?

Northwestern Kellogg Question #1:

Talk about your career progress to date. Detail your future career plans and your motivation for pursuing a graduate degree at this program.

Columbia Question #1:

What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals? How will Columbia Business School help you achieve your goals?

All of these MBA admissions question ask for the same information, and yet all of them are very specific regarding what they are looking to find. Most admissions questions in the career goals category have a number of steps to them. Looking at the Wharton question above, the question is essentially asking you five parts.

1. Describe your work progress
2. Discuss your short-term goals.
3. Discuss your long-term goals.
4. How do you believe an MBA from this program will help you achieve your goals?
5. Why an MBA at this point in time?

These steps for answering all parts of the admissions question are often not considered. Actually, I rarely read a first Wharton draft that clearly answers, Why now? On the other hand, I often review Harvard Business School drafts that spend far too much time explaining, Why Harvard Business School. Harvard Business School asks why you are looking for an MBA degree, but not why specifically from Harvard.

An easy way to lose points on these essays is to not follow directions exactly as written. When you forget to answer parts of the admissions question or when you answer pieces that are not being asked, you are not providing the information that is specifically being asked for. This is a large mistake. You should ignore your desire to reuse identical essays from MBA program to MBA program. An admissions team can tell when you do this. When answering an admissions question, make sure that you are focusing your answers to each question being asked. As you approach an MBA admissions essay question, go through this exercise:

Break down the question as done above.

1. As you create ideas for the essay, check off which part of the question is being responded to.
2. Make sure all parts are checked off in the end.
3. If your response does not answer exactly what question is being asked, do not include it.
4. These questions will change from year to year, but the approach to answering them will always remain the same.

For more robust guidance on your MBA application essays, check out the Stacy Blackman Consulting Essay Guide Series school specific guides with essay tips, sample essays, information on what your target schools value and more.

Visit http://www.stacyblackman.com/essay-guides/ to learn more.