Discuss the factors that
influenced your career decisions to
date. Please describe your professional
goals for the future. How will the M.B.A.
experience influence your ability to
achieve your goals? (Wharton)
Discuss your career progression
to date. Why do you want an M.B.A.?
How do you envision your career progressing
after receiving the M.B.A.? (Tuck)
Specifically address your
post-M.B.A. short- and long-term professional
goals. How will Darden assist you in
attaining these goals?
Briefly assess your career
progress to date. Elaborate on your
future career plans and your motivation
for pursuing a graduate degree at Kellogg.
What are your post-M.B.A.
career plans? (Harvard)
This is the most common
type of essay question, asked on virtually
every business school application. This
question asks you to present, clearly
and coherently, your all too familiar
reasons for wanting an M.B.A. The questions
usually consist of a few distinct parts.
Most will ask about your past (How has
your career progressed to date? What
has motivated you thus far?), your future
(How do you envision your career progressing?
What are your goals for the future?),
or both. All of them expect you to relate
the information to your present desire
to attain an M.B.A.
Since this is usually the
first question asked, this essay will
be the first one the officers see when
they get your file. Let it create your
first impression. It is similar to the
moment in an interview when you shake
the interviewer’s hand and smile. Similarly,
your first essay needs to be confident,
direct, and to the point. The admissions
committee uses this question to ascertain
your motivation, maturity, and focus.
While undergraduate application essays
are understandably fuzzy about career
choices and goals, graduate essays should,
in contrast, be crystal clear. If you
have vague reasons for pursuing an M.B.A.,
you need to reconsider your decision
to apply. Giving a vague response to
this question is akin to having a weak
handshake and not looking the interviewer
in the eye.
You must accomplish a lot
in this essay, so pay special attention
to structure. You can tackle the question
by dividing your answer into three separate
pieces. The first can be about your
past professional experience. The second
can discuss your future career goals.
The third can be about the school’s
particular program. At each step, demonstrate
why and how these experiences, goals,
or attributes motivate you to get your
M.B.A.
Limiting yourself to one
career goal is best, if it is general.
If you have a couple of different jobs
in mind, that is all right, too. However,
your reasons for them should be easily
inferred or specifically stated. If
you are truly unsure of what your goals
are (and we cannot talk you out of applying)
always admit so honestly rather than
make up something. At the very least,
though, give credible reasons for your
indecision, and explain why you believe
that this school’s program will help
you overcome your ambivalence.
Even if the question does
not specifically ask for it, articulate
why the particular program makes sense
for you given your unique professional
and personal goals. To do this well,
you must spend the necessary time in
introspection and also research the
school. When you understand the school’s
program and positioning, use what you
have uncovered only if you can apply
it to yourself. Do not write what you
think they want to hear. Admissions
officers can spot this kind of insincerity
from a mile away. They also seek a heterogeneous
mix of backgrounds and experiences.
Therefore, trying to fashion yourself
after your conception of a typical applicant
can hurt you even if you do it well.
The truer you are to your real motivations
and desires, the better your essay will
be.
SAMPLE ESSAY:
Discuss the factors that
influenced your career decisions to
date. Please describe your professional
goals for the future. How will the M.B.A.
experience influence your ability to
achieve your goals? (Wharton)
“Stop foolin’ around, old
boy. How would an M.B.A. help you? Better
get on with your career.” That’s what
they say. Friends, colleagues, others.
I ‘ve heard it all before.
“If I were you, I would not do it. Don’t
waste your time, get ahead with your
studies as quickly as possible”, my
professor for experimental physics told
me. That was back in ’88, and of course
he was not talking about my M.B.A.,
but about my intention to go to China:
Take a special scholarship and go-for
a year, to study Chinese, and physics,
in China. Get in line, professor. He
was just one of many who did not approve
of my idea.
But for me, my plan clearly
was: A chance, a challenge, and a choice.
A chance to open my intellectual door
to the world Europeans consider the
(psychologically) most distant one from
Western culture, and to broaden my view
well beyond the usual. A challenge to
learn a language Westerners see as one
of the most difficult in a compressed
timeframe and to adapt to a completely
unfamiliar environment-while not letting
this impact my overall physics studies
timeline. A choice to diverge from the
mainstream path to exclusive specialization
in a single intellectual realm, not
just on a spare time basis-but with
serious commitment.
Looking back after seven
years, I could not feel more assured
that at that time, I made the right
choice. My unusual combination of experiences
sets me worlds apart from my physics-only
ex-fellow students. Working for (Big
Consulting Company), (so far) exclusively
on international assignments in high
tech industries, is the kind of job
I had envisioned at that time. I could
not have come here without that choice
I made back then.
Now I am-on a higher playing
field, though-back to square one: Once
again, about to make an academic detour
form the prescribed path. An unnecessary
delay for my career progression.
But stop! Is that at all
true? Getting an M.B.A. makes perfect
sense for a consultant-after all, most
consultants are M.B.A.s. Getting an
M.B.A. makes even more sense in my particular
case: it is the perfect academic supplement
to my physics background-the one I need
to become a leading edge high tech consultant.
Detailed technology understanding plus
profound business and group skills,
that is a rare combination which really
gets the career rocket roaring. This
is certainly true for me, and I think
that this is one of my most important
and convincing reasons for an M.B.A.
Having spent considerable
time and energy studying Chinese and
traveling in Asia (and the rest of the
world), an exclusively German career
certainly is the opposite of what I
am interested in. No cozy, warm place
in an easy, totally predictable environment.
Guaranteed career progression when the
guy above me retires. Getting a dog
at 35 and the BMW and house that go
with it. No thanks.
So what is it I am interested
in? I want to be where the guerilla
wars of business are fought (the shoestring
traveller resurfaces). Where global
language and intercultural/personal
skills make the difference. Where intelligence
translates into quantum leaps (courtesy
of the physicist). This is where I can
make my best contribution. In short,
I want to be where the action and the
challenges are.
For the late 20th and early
21st century, this means, in terms of
topic, clearly one industry: High Tech
(just watch the stock market). I am
well equipped for this with my physics
background. In terms of region, it clearly
means Asia. Through language study and
travel exposure, I have come a long
way in getting myself prepared. In terms
of function, it clearly means strategy
consulting. If there is any place better
for this than (Big Consulting Company),
please let me know.
Thus the reasons why I
want to go back to university and do
a dual degree in business and East Asian
studies are: Get myself a thorough business
background to put all the pieces of
case experience I have accumulated during
my (Big Consulting Company), life in
their right places and understand their
context. Do the same with all my pieces
of Asian studies and travel experiences.
Get ready for the real action I want
to be a part and a driver of-and satisfy
academic ambitions lurking beneath the
surface of the “hands-on” consultant.
The knowledge I will gain
should help facilitate a career change.
After extensive work in European High
Tech industry, I want to transfer to
Asia. Completion of my desired academic
program should give me perfect preparation,
some initial contacts, and, through
a summer internship in Asia, a clear
idea of what to expect from working
there (in contrast to studying and traveling).
Of at least equal importance,
the Lauder/Wharton dual degree program
will also give me a clear view on all
the options that I have with my very
special combination of skills. While
I currently cannot imagine going anywhere
else but to one of the Asian offices
of (Big Consulting Company), after my
graduation, I am also realistic enough
to understand that there certainly is
a number of other opportunities out
there which I would be attracted to,
but just know nothing about at this
time. I am a firm believer in having
many options and in exploring quite
a few in detail-whatever position you’re
in, there may always be one which is
an even better fit with your ambitions
and capabilities.
I think it is obvious why
I apply to the Wharton School. Among
all the leading business schools, Lauder/Wharton
is one of the very few offering a serious
joint-degree program that makes sense.
With its strong international orientation,
Lauder/Wharton offers the type of courses
I am looking for. With my diverse set
of unusual ideas, experiences and capabilities,
I would make a most valuable and colorful
addition to the student body of Wharton.
So what are my concrete
plans for the time after my graduation?
Where in Asia can I be a driver the
way described above? One extremely attractive
option for me would be helping to set
up the (Big Consulting Company), office
in (Asian Capital). Or one in (Other
Asian Capital). Or in Saigon (Cantonese
and Vietnamese are no more different
than Swedish and German). But frankly,
these are just a few options I can pinpoint
now-and I am sure that many more will
become apparent during my Wharton experience.
After all, my desire to
come to Wharton is just another manifestation
of the characteristics that made me
go to China a couple of years ago: Take
the chance to widen your scope. Accept
the challenge that goes with replacing
narrow security by broad uncertainty.
Make the choice to put all your effort
into fully developing and playing out
your talents.
So I am not going to take
my friends’ advice. They have their
dogs already, and the BMW is ordered.
Sorry-I am not ready for that.
COMMENTS:
The writer of this essay
begins painting a picture of himself
by discussing his trip to China. The
fact that he took the trip instead of
heeding all the advice others gave him
shows determination, maturity, and character
without him ever having to say the words.
He clearly demonstrates why an M.B.A.
makes sense for him generally (as a
consultant) and specifically (to supplement
his technical background). He pointedly
bucks the usual stereotype of, “Getting
a dog at 35 and the BMW and house that
go with it.” Instead, the essayist makes
his reasons personal and unique by relating
them directly to his professional goal
of high-tech consulting in Asia. He
then spends a paragraph specifically
addressing the Wharton program. To demonstrate
the sincerity and focused nature of
his goals further, he lists a few very
specific options that will be available
to him once he graduates.
Certainly, his background
and experience make him unusual. However,
his style makes him stand out. The essayist
consistently uses questions to transition
to each new point without being distracting.
He begins with a question. “Stop foolin’
around, old boy. How would an M.B.A.
help you?” Then he carries the theme
throughout, “But stop! Is this all true?”
and “So what is it I am interested in?”
Finally, he writes, “So what are my
concrete plans for the time after my
graduation? Where in Asia can I be a
driver the way described above?” To
every question he asks he gives a succinct
and pointed answer. He concludes by
subtly reiterating his main points of
chance, challenge, and choice. His last
sentence adds the final stylistic touch
by referring back to the question posed
in the first sentence. In doing this,
he effectively nails down the impression
we have formed about his character-without
him ever having to espouse his own virtues
directly.
From
ESSAYS THAT WILL GET YOU INTO COLLEGE,
by Amy Burnham, Daniel Kaufman, and
Chris Dowhan.
Copyright 1998 by Dan Kaufman.
Reprinted by angement with Barron's
Educational Series, Inc.
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