Author name: LeapQuest

Tell Me About Yourself | 5 Tips for your MBA Elevator Pitch

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The most common start to an MBA admissions interview is a friendly, open-ended question: “Tell me about yourself.” It is the only interview question that is so famous as to have its own acronym, TMAYS. Furthermore, because it is often the very first question, answering it well puts your interviewer in a good mood and paves the way for the rest of your interview to go smoothly. This article will explain why admissions committees ask this question, some basic mistakes you can avoid, and what you should do if you want to deliver a great answer that helps you to really connect with your interviewer. Why do MBA Admissions Interviewers Ask This Question? The interviewer already has your resume, and at some schools, such as HBS, the interviewer has conducted a detailed review of your entire application package, including your essays, recommendation letters, and more. Because the interviewer already has this information in front of them, they aren’t looking for you to recap the basic facts. So why are they asking this question? The interviewer wants to make you feel comfortable. This is meant to be an easy question — it’s open-ended, and is a totally foreseeable question that you had plenty of time to practice again and again until you got it right. The interviewer wants you to connect the dots between the different areas of your background. Your resume shows where you attended college, where you work, and what you do outside of work, but it doesn’t explain why you chose those schools, employers, and activities. The interviewer is evaluating your soft skills. During an MBA, you’ll introduce yourself to hundreds of people — among others, classmates, alumni, employers, and professors. Will you make a good impression during those interactions? You might notice that none of these reasons have anything to do with understanding the facts of your background. Although a good answer will always include some facts about your education and work experience, this question is NOT primarily about memorizing the content of your resume, or figuring out a short way to cover every single experience you’ve ever had. It is about explaining your deeper motivations and making a personal connection with your interviewer. Mistake #1: A Chronological Summary The first big mistake would be giving a blow-by-blow chronological account of your life: So, I was born in Los Angeles, where I played football in high school, and eventually attended Notre Dame for college, where I majored in… By my junior year, I secured an internship with… Why would this be a mistake? First of all, how many times do you think your interviewer has heard this one before? For experienced interviewers, it may be hundreds of times. This type of story can bore the interviewer because every part is so predictable. Nearly every MBA applicant in the world: Went to high school and pursued some extracurricular activities there Attended a good undergraduate program Secured an internship, and then a full-time job (often in traditional areas like finance, consulting or technology) You do NOT want to bore your interviewer by giving an answer that is totally predictable, and similar to what hundreds of competing applicants will say. Second, this type of answer makes it very easy to fall into the trap of giving too much detail. During mock interviews, some applicants begin by telling me about two or three college internships before they even get to their first full-time job, at which point they’ll start talking about the details of several work projects per job. And this huge amount of detail leads them right into the second big mistake. Mistake #2: Too Long! There is a fundamental asymmetry in MBA admissions interviews: If you give short, clear answers, your interviewer will be happy to dig for extra details by asking follow-up questions. However, your interviewer is unlikely to cut you off if you ramble. It would be a violation of social norms to interrupt you and insist that you wrap up your answer quickly… so the interviewer will simply watch and wait until you finish, even if they are getting bored. This means that you want to give short, understandable answers, and trust the interviewer to dig for more detail if they want it. This enables the interviewer to get through all of their desired topics. The average MBA admissions interview lasts 30 or 40 minutes, and your interviewer probably wants to cover your career goals, your fit with the school, and a few examples of your previous experiences in which you succeeded, failed, or worked on teams. Taking too much time on any one question can prevent your interviewer from covering their full agenda. How to Answer the ‘Tell Me About Yourself’ Question If you treat your interviewer as a real human being, and the interview as a conversation — not an interrogation — you’ll do wonderfully with this question. The right answer should be interesting and memorable, but not too clever or overly engineered. You should take full advantage of the fact that there’s no prescribed structure, which allows you to frame your profile in exactly the way you want. We could never give a one-size-fits-all answer, but a few successful openings have looked like: Sometimes, I wondered how I ended up in private equity… for an applicant who was in a traditional PE job, but had a rather non-traditional background. You could say that I’m like a legal Walter White… for a medicinal chemist who was using the MBA to transition into a business-oriented role. Both of these examples offer an engaging start, while also getting directly to the practical point of explaining what the applicant does professionally, and setting them up to say more about that. The way you deliver your answer is equally important as the content — maybe more — and for this reason, Admitem’s MBA interview preparation service includes spending two hours with our professional experts on communications training. 5 Tips to Create Your MBA Elevator Pitch   1.

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Top Myths Of Indian Applicants To Top B-Schools

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My Recommender’s Grammar Will Ruin My Chances At Leap Quest, we emphasize the need for effective written communication. Indeed, gaining admission to your target business school involves no real “trick”—earning that coveted letter of acceptance depends on your ability to tell your story in a compelling way and in your own words. But is good grammar vital to good communication? And if so, will your recommender’s bad grammar be detrimental to your chances?   We can assure you that no MBA admissions committee will reject a candidate’s application because they incorrectly used a semicolon instead of a comma. The committee is seeking to learn about you as an individual to evaluate you and your potential, both as a student at the school and in the business world after graduation. What is most important in your application is that you convey your unique stories—and ideally captivate your reader—in your own voice. Of course, you should always strive to perfect your presentation, but in the end, the quality and authenticity of your content carry more weight than your verbiage and punctuation. And if you are not a native English speaker, you can certainly be forgiven for the occasional idiosyncrasy in your expression.   This is even truer for your recommenders. The committee is not evaluating these individuals for a spot in the school’s program, so their grammar is largely irrelevant to your candidacy. And again, if your recommender is not a native English speaker, the admissions committees can be even more forgiving. The school will not penalize you for having a recommender who grew up in another country or whose English skills are not very polished for any other reason. As long as your recommender can offer anecdotes about your performance that create a strong impression about you and complement the abilities and qualities you have presented elsewhere in your application, you should be just fine. The substance of the recommendation is always what matters most.   Leap Quest is planning to bust more MBA Application Myths. Continue Reading… Yes, Indian, IT, and male are probably the three most dreaded words in MBA admissions. In that order.   In fact, so huge is the category by itself, that it is the biggest of its kind at most global MBA programs. Sometimes, it even outnumbers the number of local (citizen) candidates. Despite the size, the commonality, and the competitiveness, this category is still sending plenty of students to top MBA programs every year. If you’re in this category, are you already doomed, or is there hope?   That’s not the only category of Indian MBA applicants looking at top business schools though, even if it is the largest by far. We also have doctors, lawyers, administrators, chartered accountants, merchant navy officers, and (a small but growing legion of) fashion designers, media professionals, and even artists applying to business school from the sub-continent. The number of Indian applicants to top MBA programs is rising every year. We should know – we work with hundreds of them every year, and by now, have worked with easily more than a thousand. The MBA is more than a degree for Indian applicants. For many, it is a life accomplishment, and even a life qualification. Most still view it as the transition from a job (usually an engineering one) to a career (of choice).   This is why we are focusing on the top myths that Indian applicants have about the MBA admissions process. Given the sheer numbers, this should help plenty of people get a better grip on MBA admissions, and even the journey beyond.   Myth #1: Business school prepares students to work in only a few fields. In the past, an MBA degree helped boost the careers of professionals primarily focused on banking and consulting. These days, people heading to b-school are interested in entrepreneurship, healthcare, technology, human resources, real estate, marketing, non-profits, entertainment, and much more. Even if you work in a field that doesn’t traditionally require an MBA degree, you may still benefit from it. This is especially true if your career goals include rising to senior management within your company or starting your own company. Seek out people who are pursuing your target career at any level. It’s a great way to understand what you need to do to accomplish your goals.   Myth #2: I won’t be successful because I don’t have a business background. This is one of the most common MBA admissions myths that we’d like to debunk permanently. Admissions teams continue to ramp up efforts to attract non-traditional applicants to their MBA programs, says the Graduate Management Admission Council. These prospective students bring unique experiences and skills to business school and the business world. Applicants with unconventional or less traditional work or academic experience before business school often worry about how admissions committees will assess their records. However, it’s more than okay to be different. No MBA program wants to fill an entire class solely with candidates from investment banking or consulting. In fact, non-traditional applicants often stand out in the MBA admissions process. Such applicants bring different perspectives to classroom discussions, which enhances the learning environment for all. Working in diverse teams is one of the most effective ways to learn essential soft management skills.   Myth #3: High rankings mean the school must be better for me. The majority of applicants fall for admissions myths such as this one. But, you should determine if a school is better in ways that suit your list of priorities. Job placement statistics and average salary post-MBA are the most important criteria for many MBA candidates. You may find that a smaller regional school, while not highly ranked nationally, has an excellent record of placing graduates in the industries of their choice. Ensure you’re looking at the data points necessary to your career path when determining a particular ranking’s value. Don’t worry about whether you’ll get into the best MBA program of all. Figure out which business school is

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Are You An International Applicant? Top Frequently Asked Questions

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Each year, international applicants represent a sizable percentage of Leap Quest’s students Students often ask us if being an international student helps or hurts their chances of MBA application success and how they can maximize their chances of acceptance.  Business school applications are notoriously complicated. What makes them feel like ancient Chinese torture is the uncertainty of how big of a role is played by each application parameter viz recommendations, essays, GMAT score, extracurriculars (Best extracurricular activity for college admissions), work experience or the interview with the holy admission committee.   Subjective they may be, however, they provide a little bit of insight into the black hole of the admission process into an MBA program. One thing everyone can be certain about is that an MBA application process is not very cheerful. It is long, sometimes confusing and often designed to probe your brain until its grey matter starts spilling out, making your hair greyer through the process.   Yes, the process is grueling and the usual profile of an MBA applicant is one who already has a demanding job.   Leap Quest will answer a few of the most frequently asked questions about the MBA/MS applications and offer some tips that will help you make the most of this element of your MBA/MS application.   Q: Does Being An International Student Help My Chances? A: This varies considerably based on the country you are applying from. Business schools are looking to develop well-rounded classes, which means you are going to be evaluated not just on your own stats but on how you add diversity to the class.   Top US MBA programs receive a large number of applications from certain regions, and if you are coming from one of those regions, your chances of success do decrease. It should come as no surprise that India is one such area. Conversely, there are many countries in which applying to business school, particularly in the US, is not very common. In this case, your odds of success are higher than those of US applicants.   Q: How Can I Stand Out As An International Student? A: Regardless of where you are applying from, the best way to stand out is to develop a compelling and ownable personal story. Admissions committees want to know how you will improve the business world (and the world at large) when you graduate from their MBA program. They are also looking for evidence of how you will make your unique mark.   While doing something remarkable or overcoming a difficult situation can produce strong essay content, it is important to recognize that many applicants write successful essays without this type of material. The most important thing is that your essays fit with your story and paint a clear picture of who you are as a student, classmate, employee, and overall individual. It is also important that your application shows you are aware of the realities of job searching as an international candidate. For example, if you hope to work in the US post-MBA, be sure that your target industry frequently sponsors H1B visas.   Not sure where to begin? Leap Quest finds that personal story development is one of the areas in which students require the most guidance. Find out how we help candidates craft focused, logical, and unique personal stories via our comprehensive services.   Q: Which Business School Accepts The Highest Number Of International Candidates? A: Candidates applying to US schools from other countries often want to know the best MBA programs for international students. At the top US business schools, international students make up a significant portion of the student body.   Columbia Business School’s class of 2023 is composed of nearly 50% international citizens (48% in the latest reported data). Stanford GSB and Yale SOM also accept a high number of international candidates, with 47% and 44% international students in the class of 2023 respectively. MIT Sloan follows close behind (43%) and Booth’s latest class profile information reported 39% international students.   HBS and Berkeley Haas’s most recent class profiles reported 37% international citizens, followed by Wharton and Kellogg (both 36%). NYU Stern’s class of 2023 is close behind at 32%.   Please keep in mind that not all schools report class profiles the same way.   Q: What does an MBA admissions committee view as an applicant’s most important quality? A: There is no magic characteristic that will make you an easy admit for a program. Every school will be looking for different qualities based on the school’s values and in an effort to build a diverse community.   The committee will be considering several aspects of your candidacy when reviewing your application: Will you be successful in their academic environment? (This is typically evaluated using GPA and standardized test scores.) What qualities and expertise will you bring to the classroom and community, and have you expressed the inclination to share this with your peers? Business schools are looking for candidates with varying skill sets, but more importantly they are looking for candidates who understand how that will benefit the school’s community.   MBA admissions committees will also look at your work experience to determine whether you have demonstrated the potential for leadership. Some schools will explicitly ask you for your post-MBA goals. In this case, committees are often evaluating whether your previous experience, paired with the school’s resources, will get you to where you want to be professionally.   Q: What if I come from a non-traditional background? A: Top MBA programs (not to mention future employers) are increasingly recognizing the value of diversity of thought and expertise for the business school experience and the bottom line. This makes the MBA classroom a welcome place for those applying from less represented industries and functions.   When applying with less traditional work experience, you will still be expected to submit a competitive test score because schools do not want to set you up for failure in the classroom. However, your

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How to Get Into Stern School of Business: NYU Stern Essay Tips and Examples

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One of the prompts for the New York University (NYU) Stern School of Business is strictly traditional, but the other two task candidates with tapping into their personalities and attitudes more profoundly and offer opportunities to convey their creative side. First, the school poses a straightforward question about applicants’ short-term professional aspirations and limits the response to a succinct 150 words. The first full essay prompt then requires candidates to develop a personal tagline in the style of NYU Stern’s (“Change: Embrace it.”), discuss its significance, and explain how they would act on it as an NYU Stern student. For the second required essay, applicants must tackle the school’s challenging but very revelatory “Pick Six” submission, which might be less intimidating for today’s applicants than it was when it was first introduced in 2017, given the ubiquitousness of social media. Together, Stern’s essay questions should allow you to present a good balance of your professional and personal sides for the admissions committee, though the optional essay is also on the table if you feel strongly that a vital part of your candidacy has not been covered by one or the other. Short Answer: Professional Aspirations  What are your short-term career goals? (150 word maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font) With this rather no-nonsense query about your motivation to earn an MBA and expectations as to where you will go with it after graduation, NYU Stern simply wants you to spell out what you have in mind as you approach this phase of your life and career. With just 150 words, you do not have any space to waste here, so focus on presenting your answer as directly and thoroughly as possible. Keep in mind that the rest of your application needs to provide evidence that your stated goals align with your existing skills and interests, especially once they have been augmented by an MBA education. This will show that your professed objectives are achievable and thereby lend credibility to your statement. The school does not ask specifically about past experiences or what about its program in particular makes it the best one for you, though brief mentions of either would be acceptable if they are particularly important to conveying your main points. Essay 1: Change: _________ it  In today’s global business environment, the only constant is change. Using NYU Stern’s brand call to action, we want to know how you view change. Change: _____ it. Fill in the blank with a word of your choice. Why does this word resonate with you? How will you embrace your own personal tagline while at Stern? (350 word maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font) Examples: Change: Dare it. Change: Dream it. Change: Drive it. Change: Empower it. Change: Manifest it. Change: [Any word of your choice.] If your first instinct when you read this prompt is to immediately start brainstorming catchy, cool-sounding slogans and trying to find something that will “wow” the admissions committee, you need to pump the brakes. To craft the most effective response to this unique new essay prompt, you will most likely need to work backward. The slogan is obviously the centerpiece of this essay, but you must be able to persuade the school that it is truly meaningful for you personally and is the basis of something you expect to do at the school and/or how you anticipate engaging with the NYU Stern community. So if you do not choose an authentic idea (word) that will position you to write compellingly and convincingly on these two points, you will have probably wasted your time, not to mention this interesting opportunity to share more about yourself with the admissions committee. Start by thinking at length about what change really means to you personally and professionally. How has it played a role in your life and career to date? What is your reaction to change? How do you tend to navigate it? Do you enjoy creating change, or do you resist it? Why? Let your mind really roll with these kinds of questions so that you uncover as many options as possible, and rest assured that there is no “right” answer that the admissions committee is expecting you to guess. Choosing a word that is genuinely important to you and reflective of your attitude with respect to change is what will make your essay powerful and memorable—not a word you are hoping no one else will use or that forces the admission reader to reach for the dictionary because it is so obscure. And keep in mind that you do not necessarily have to frame change as something that should always be indiscriminately pursued merely for change’s sake. For example, something like “regulate change” could be an appropriate and even compelling choice if the candidate has strong personal reasons for this mind-set and can clearly express how it could be an additive or useful one at Stern. Again, in asking how you expect to “embrace your . . . tagline while at Stern,” the admissions committee wants to know how you envision yourself participating in, and perhaps influencing or contributing to, the school’s greater community. For you to offer your strongest possible ideas on this point, you really need to know the school well, because if what you describe or propose is just not possible at Stern or does not align with its values and culture, this will definitely not be a point in your favor. As you do your research, look for specific niches and opportunities that correspond not only with your proposed slogan but also with your personality, strengths, knowledge, and/or experience. Read student blogs, peruse discussion boards, catch up on the past year or more of press releases from the school, spend some time on Stern’s YouTube channel—these are all good places to start (or better, continue!) educating yourself about what life at the school is really like, beyond the course work. Essay 2: Personal Expression (a.k.a. “Pick Six”) Describe yourself to the Admissions Committee and to your future classmates

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How to Get Into Goizueta Business School: Emory Goizueta Essay Tips and Examples

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Emory University’s Goizueta Business School demands three relatively brief written essays and a one-minute self-introduction video essay from its applicants. The school’s first essay question asks candidates to discuss their short-term career goals and why the choices are fitting ones. For the second essay, applicants need to discuss a past leadership experience—perhaps one that relates to or demonstrates one or more of the qualities of the school’s namesake that the prompt extols, though this is not explicitly requested. In the third essay, candidates must explain why they are interested in earning a Goizueta MBA degree in particular and the give-and-take relationship they anticipate having with the program overall. The school’s video essay might cause some applicants a bit of anxiety because Goizueta provides no advance information about what the questions will be. Candidates must therefore be ready to respond extemporaneously. If needed, applicants can use the optional essay to provide clarification or explanation about elements of their candidacy, but with only 200 words maximum, they will need to do so very succinctly. POST-MBA CAREER GOALS: Define your short-term post-MBA career goals. How are your professional strengths, past experience, and personal attributes aligned with these goals? (300 word limit) Like most business schools, Goizueta wants to learn the reasons behind its applicants’ decision to pursue an MBA, but unlike many programs these days, it still asks candidates to actually write a full essay on the topic. Very simply, the admissions committee wants to know that you have given serious thought to your professional trajectory and have identified where you want to go, how equipped you already are to get there, and how an MBA will help you move forward. The specific goal you present is less important here than showing that you understand what is involved in progressing toward your objectives and recognize the qualities and abilities you currently possess that will help position you for success. LEADERSHIP IN BUSINESS: The business school is named for Roberto C. Goizueta, former Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, who led the organization for 16 years, extending its global reach, quadrupling consumption, building brand responsibility, creating unprecedented shareholder wealth, and demonstrating a commitment to values and positive impact on society. Roberto Goizueta’s core values guide us in educating principled leaders to have a positive influence on business and society. Please provide a specific example of your leadership and explain what you learned about yourself through the experience. (300 word limit) Goizueta Business School clearly appreciates the leadership abilities and professional success of the former trustee after which it is named. The leadup to this second essay prompt mentions the business leader’s core values and lists some of his most impressive accomplishments at Coca-Cola’s helm. However, the prompt itself neither references values outright nor requests that applicants discuss a comparable or related achievement. The idea, perhaps, is simply that the school has high expectations for its graduates and community members and seeks individuals who aspire to make a real impact on the world around them. They are guided by their values and seek to create positive outcomes for others as well as themselves. The admissions committee is not expecting you to be able to claim an accomplishment on the level of Roberto Goizueta’s, but you should strive to identify a story that illustrates both your leadership style and your long-term potential. Because you have only 300 words for this essay, we recommend responding in a straightforward manner. Launch directly into the story of your leadership experience, detailing the specific actions you took in directing others to achieve your result. Although we often note that not all great leadership stories end in success, in this case, you should discuss a situation that had a positive resolution. The key here is to show you shared a valuable experience with colleagues, extracted the most from your team members, and attained a desired outcome. We recommend using a narrative approach for your story, but be sure to include the thought process and motivation(s) behind your actions. This way, the admissions committee will take away both a clear picture of what you accomplished and the aspects of your character that inspired you and helped enable your success. Lastly, do not forget or neglect to explain what you learned from the experience—the admissions committee specifically requests that you do so! Omitting this element from your essay could be viewed as an indication that you are not good at delivering what is asked and/or at engaging in constructive self-reflection, and you definitely want to avoid this. You also want to avoid sharing that you learned a specific skill or business truth, because the prompt specifically says, “learned about yourself” (italics ours). To craft a compelling response, you will need to give serious thought to how the situation made you aware of a facet of your character that you had not previously perceived.   WHY GOIZUETA? What are you looking to gain from Goizueta’s MBA degree and how do you see yourself contributing to the Goizueta community? (200 word limit) With this rather straightforward and traditional essay prompt, the admissions committee is requesting fundamental information that will help it understand your motivation for pursuing an MBA from Goizueta specifically and why you believe its program is the right one for you. By asking this question separate from its request for your short- and long-term goals, the school leaves the decision of how to frame your motivation(s) up to you. Briefly explain why you are inspired at this point in your life and career to earn this advanced degree. To illustrate how Goizueta can help you, you must demonstrate a thorough understanding of what the program offers and a well-thought-out game plan for engaging with these offerings. Effectively doing this and subsequently writing a reasoned, nuanced essay requires that you familiarize yourself with Goizueta’s various resources and pinpoint those that truly pertain to you and the direction in which you hope to head. Go the extra mile in learning about the school.

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How to Get Into Kellogg School of Management: Northwestern Kellogg Essay Tips and Examples

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Applicants to the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University must provide two required written essays. The first deals with a leadership experience that resulted in some form of ongoing merit, while the second focuses on candidates’ guiding principles. Interestingly, both essays center on “value(s)” but in very different ways, according to two separate definitions of the term. Kellogg’s questions thereby seem to address two key aspects of business today, and candidates will need to demonstrate their awareness of both and their potential to fulfill them. In addition, the admissions committee requires that applicants submit three brief video essays, but thankfully, it gives candidates some information in advance as to what the questions are (or at least are about) as well as significant opportunities to practice before recording their official responses.  Required Essay 1: Kellogg’s purpose is to educate, equip, and inspire leaders who create lasting value. Provide a recent example where you have demonstrated leadership and created value. What challenges did you face, and what did you learn? (450 words)  This is a fairly straightforward essay prompt, and we recommend responding in an equally straightforward manner. Launch directly into the story of your leadership experience, and detail the specific actions you took in directing others to achieve some kind of enduring result. The key here is to show that you shared a valuable experience with colleagues, extracted the most from your team members, and attained a desired outcome. Although we often note that not all great leadership stories necessarily have to end in success, Kellogg’s request for evidence of “lasting value” certainly implies that the school wants to hear about a situation that had a positive resolution. You will need to convey not only your role in spearheading a group to achieve what you did but also how that achievement has persisted. Note that Kellogg does not specify that the experience you share must be related to your workplace or career. Leadership does not need to have an official title attached to it, and it can be expressed in a community service or even family life setting just as much as in a workplace, so explore all the different areas of your life for possible stories. We recommend using a narrative approach to present your story, but be sure to also share the thought process and motivation(s) behind your actions. This way, the admissions committee will take away a clear picture not only of what you accomplished but also of the aspects of your character that inspired you and helped enable your success. That said, the school acknowledges within the prompt that even endeavors that have a positive result are rarely smooth sailing from beginning to end—hence the question about challenges faced. A mistake applicants often make in writing this kind of essay is presenting a strong narrative in which they are incredible leaders, and then near the end, making a brief (and typically disjointed) reference to a hardship or conflict encountered along the way, meant to fulfill the “challenges” element of the essay query. To be effective and believable, your ups and downs must be woven intrinsically into your narrative, rather than simply acknowledged at the end. Clearly explaining how you approached and prevailed over the challenge at hand is crucial, so go beyond simply describing the roadblock itself and ensure that you detail your response and the inner workings of your decision making at that point. Lastly, do not forget or neglect to explain what you learned from the experience—Kellogg specifically asks you to do so! And keep in mind that for your takeaways to be “meaningful,” they have to be profoundly connected to your narrative. The admissions reader should be able to easily understand the connection between the situation you describe and your subsequent learnings. Required Essay 2: Values are what guide us in our life and work. What values are important to you and how have they influenced you? (450 words) Kellogg offers another very no-nonsense essay question here, so not a lot of interpretation is needed. In its explanation of what it looks for in applicants, the admissions committee states that it “takes everything into account, including your values,” so a frank query on the topic only makes sense. Kellogg wants to know how your values influence your decisions and actions, and in particular, which ones tend to guide you the most often or the most intensely. Simply stating that you embrace certain values is easy, so the admissions committee is understandably asking for illustrations of this phenomenon to better gauge this for itself. Having an idea of how you tend to incorporate your core beliefs into your life will help the school better envision how you might fit into its classrooms and the business world after you graduate. Perhaps at the most basic level, Kellogg wants to know that you understand how values come into play in “life and work.” This final phrase seems to open the door to stories from your personal life or from your career, with no particular emphasis on either, so consider all your options to identify the most fitting and revealing one. Although in theory, describing a situation from your personal or community activities would provide a nice balance if you chose a professional story for the school’s first essay (and vice versa), what is more critical is sharing the experiences that best convey the concepts you wish to highlight. Given the 450-word maximum for this essay, you should skip or at least minimize any preamble and dive into your response, clearly identifying your selected core values and describing specific situations that illustrate them in action. Your ultimate goal is to clearly illustrate for the admissions committee how you have been (and are) guided by your fundamental beliefs.  Believe us when we say that Kellogg does not have a set list of values that it expects applicants to demonstrate and that by not choosing the “right” ones, you will not be accepted to the school. As always,

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How to Get Into Fuqua School of Business: Duke Fuqua Essay Tips and Examples

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In a 2020 blog post, Allison Jamison, the assistant dean of admissions at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, noted that the COVID-19 pandemic had complicated the admissions process, stating that as a result, “We learned the importance of keeping things simple.” Reflecting this mind-set, the admissions committee’s demands are on the minimal side, which most candidates likely appreciate. Applicants must respond to only one short-answer “essay” question in a mere 100 words, and the maximum length for the program’s one required traditional essay is just 500 words. Lastly, the school’s distinctive “25 random things” prompt might give some candidates pause at first, but we love it for the freedom it gives applicants to get creative and paint a well-rounded picture of themselves, and it should therefore be approached with more enthusiasm than fear. (Plus, Jamison noted in the aforementioned blog post that the admissions committee enjoys reading these essays the most.) Our detailed analysis of all Fuqua’s prompts for 2022–2023 follows.  Required short-answer question: Answer the following question in 100 words. What are your post-MBA career goals? Share with us your first-choice career plan and your alternate plan.  With this question, Fuqua is essentially asking for a standard element of a traditional personal statement—one’s short-term career aspirations—with the addition of one rather nonstandard component—the suggestion of an alternative path. Candidates often feel they must be totally unequivocal in their career goals to impress the admissions committee, but in this case, Fuqua is directly instructing applicants to speculate on and articulate multiple options. The school knows that sometimes the best-laid plans do not play out as expected or may even yield unintended results, and it wants to know that you are prepared to switch gears and recommit to a different path, if necessary—and that you are fully capable of doing so. The key in answering this question is showing that your backup goal is just as connected to your skills, interests, and ambitions as your original plan and does not come “out of left field,” so to speak. For example, you would probably have a difficult time convincing the admissions committee that your short-term goal is to work in technology consulting while your alternate goal would be to work in human resources, because these industries, for the most part, require entirely different skills and personalities. Just be mindful that both goals you present must be plausible and achievable. First required essay: 25 Random Things About Yourself The ‘Team Fuqua’ spirit and community is one of the things that sets the MBA experience apart, and it is a concept that extends beyond the student body to include faculty, staff, and administration. Please share with us “25 Random Things” about you. The Admissions Committee wants to get to know YOU—beyond the professional and academic achievements listed in your resume and transcript. Share with us important life experiences, your hobbies, achievements, fun facts, or anything that helps us understand what makes you who you are. Your list will be limited to 2 pages (750 words maximum). Please present your response in list form, numbered 1 to 25. Some points may be brief, while others may be longer. Be prepared to have fun creating this list for your Fuqua application! Before you start scribbling down random things, though, stop and take some time to thoroughly brainstorm. You cannot simply draft a list of “typical” accomplishments—remember, the school is asking for a random list, and keep in mind that your reader should learn more about you as an individual with each item presented. Make sure that every new story or tidbit of information you share gives the admissions committee a different window into your personality, into what really makes you tick and makes you you. Most important is that you own all the points on your list—that your final list could apply to no one but you. For example, a statement such as “I love the movie Goodfellas and have watched it multiple times” could easily be made by many applicants—therefore, it could not be considered truly yours. However, if you were to instead write, “At least once a year, my friends and I get together to watch our favorite movie, Goodfellas, all wearing dark suits, eating fresh pasta with homemade sauce, and reciting the dialogue line-for-line,” you would present an experience that is unquestionably yours, because few—if any—other candidates would be likely to say this exact same thing. Although Fuqua does not want you to rehash your professional and academic accomplishments in this list, and you should certainly avoid repeating facts that already appear elsewhere in your application, you can of course still touch on significant moments that occurred in these spheres. Use detail and a narrative style (keeping things brief!) to give these elements life and ensure that they are personal. For example, rather than saying that you “won a creative thinking award for implementing an innovative training solution,” you might write that you “once won an award for instructing trainees to flip their desks upside down and face what was previously the back of the room—thereby creating an exercise to introduce new hires to the concept and value of new perspectives.” Second required essay: The Fuqua Community and You Fuqua prides itself on cultivating a culture of engagement. Our students enjoy a wide range of student-led organizations that provide opportunities for leadership development and personal fulfillment, as well as an outlet for contributing to society. Our student-led government, clubs, centers, and events are an integral part of the student culture and to the development of leaders. Based on your understanding of the Fuqua culture, what are 3 ways you expect to contribute at Fuqua?  Your response will be limited to 1 page (500 words maximum). With this essay prompt, Fuqua clearly wants to see evidence that you have done your research on the school’s culture and community and developed a true and thorough understanding of it. Ideally, your essay will convince the admissions committee that you are eager to take advantage

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