Berkeley Essay Questions 2012

[MBAchamp]

Hello everyone,

This week Berkeley published updated essay topics for 2012.
I'm a bit confused, since in the past I thought they were all about leadership, and now all of a sudden they ask: "what brings you the greatest joy?"

I noticed they put great emphasize on their 4 principles, and I saw here https://aringo.com/Berkeley_MBA.htm that they value leadership but also innovation and creativity, which is more in line with their principles.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Which character they value most and how should it affect the essays?

[samuel]

Hi there,
maybe you can combine the principles, and find stories which demonstrate both leadership and creativity. looks like the best solution to me...

[PrepMBA.AlexLeventhal]

Hi MBA Champ,

I feel the Berkeley application is one of the most comprehensive, and it's perhaps my favorite client school each year for that reason. What makes it particularly challenging are the very short word limits.

But with regards to your specific questions:

The question regarding the biggest joy is what Stanford has been asking applicants for a while. It is an attempt to get away from the objective/empirical side of telling your stories and listing your accolades, in favor of a more self reflective request. For every top school, you must connect emotionally with the admissions group, and that is what really wins you acceptances beyond gpa and gmat. They want to fill their classes with folks who are aware of their weaknesses, who are passionate about causes larger than themselves, who are also motivated by non financial rewards, who have made life decisions based on world events or the influence of mentors......This question asks you what brings you the most happiness, and then requests you make your differentiation argument through that prism. Very demanding but very telling.

Keep in mind that they also list the guiding principles so that you weave them into the questions. Haas is particularly high on challenging the status quo. Don't feel the need to argue that you embody all of them.

Regards,

Alex

[money9111]

do not worry about what you think they value the most as that won't yield a genuine response. which one of the characteristics do YOU value the most and/or can relate to or that resonates with you. if they valued one characteristic over the other or wanted people to write about what they deem the most important characteristics then they would have simply asked that you respond to THAT question.

[MBAchamp]

do not worry about what you think they value the most as that won't yield a genuine response. which one of the characteristics do YOU value the most and/or can relate to or that resonates with you. if they valued one characteristic over the other or wanted people to write about what they deem the most important characteristics then they would have simply asked that you respond to THAT question.

THANKS!

[arun@crackverbal]

Haas has clearly articulated what it defines as the culture of the school:
https://www.haas.berkeley.edu/strategicplan/culture/

As Alex mentioned earlier - it is perhaps one of the most difficult application essays in the top 10. Last year they had one which asked the applicant to write what research they had done about the school. It is tough to answer that one if you picked Haas just over the last month after a quick check on the BW rankings.

Arun

[PrepMBA.AlexLeventhal]

Haas is a fabulous school still on the rise and the application is very demanding. I had a lot of ivy league clients last season targeting the school versus say 3-4 years ago. They tend to pick bold folks who can give concrete examples of individual initiative and mold breaking. Don't go down the middle safe for this application but highlight your pathfinding.

Alex

[MBAchamp]

Many thanks to everyone!