IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland, offers a 1-year MBA program focused on general management and leadership. While there are only 90 students in each class, the diversity among that class is wide: students hail from 45 countries: 43% from throughout Europe, 26% from Asia, 11% from the Middle East and Africa, 9% from North America, 8% from South America, and 3% from Oceania (Australia/New Zealand and the surrounding islands). Unlike programs in the US, which tend to build the bulk of their classes from students aged 26-28, IMD’s average student age is 31.

Graduates of IMD tend do very well in their careers after the program: the average graduate salary is over $142,000 per year. 75% of the class join industry (including Consumer Products, Industrial Products, Technology, Healthcare, and Energy) when they graduate, 20% enter Consulting, and 5% pursue Financial Services careers. IMD enjoys a global reputation that affords its graduates some flexibility in their career destinations: while 63% of the class remain in Europe after graduating, 23% find employment in Asia, 8% in the Africa or the Middle East, and 6% in North or South America. IMD is consistently ranked among the top programs in the world: BusinessWeek ranks it #9 among international programs, the Financial Times ranks it #19, and Forbes named it the best 1-year international MBA program.

Essay Questions:

1. What do you consider to be your single most important achievement and why? (1500 characters)

Your single most important achievement should ideally show impact, leadership, and cross-cultural and cross-functional savvy. If you can’t have all the above, make sure you have at least two.

You have room here (1500 characters is approximately 250 words) for a concise story but it must engage the reader and convey the “why” and not just the “what.”

You may want to review a few of these resources before writing:

• Five Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your MBA Essay
• Leadership in Admissions, a free special report.
• Insights into Common MBA Essay Topics

2. Please comment on a situation where your leadership skills proved to be inadequate and what you learned. (1500 characters)

Briefly describe the inadequacy – and make it a real one – a time when you really blew it. Take responsibility for your actions and show self-awareness. Discuss lessons learned and how you implemented those lessons successfully in similar, more recent situations.

3. IMD develops global leaders…what does global leadership mean to you? (1500 characters)

This essay is your opportunity to briefly summarize your ideas on what it takes to be a global leader and share an example of your own cross-cultural, cross-border leadership.

4. Give us four bullet points that clearly differentiate you, that identify your unique contributions to the program. (1500 characters)

Your MBA essays up to this point are probably very professionally focused. Several of the bullet points could be personal. IMD wants to know about you as a person, as well as you as a professional. This may be a great place to inform the reader of distinctive features in your background or personal life since your resume and the other essays will have already told them about unusual aspects of your professional life.

5. Give an example of the most unexpected thing that you’ve ever learned. (1500 characters)

I love a wild card question like this one: what a gift! Here’s your opportunity to talk about anything in your background that’s interesting as long as it highlights one of the seven qualities that the admissions committee wants to hear about. To make the essay interesting, you could start by describing the learning experience itself and then reflect on how this has changed your actions or methods since then.

6.
A. For people who are planning to consider new jobs and/or organizations after the MBA: Please give us your short term career goal post-MBA. Which function, industry and geography do you see yourself working in? Are these changes for you, and, if so, why? How will you approach your job search? (1500 characters)

This is a forward-looking, connect-the-dots MBA goals question with a twist. To answer this question, you need to know what you want to do after you complete IMD’s short, intense program, and you also need to explain how you plan to move into that position. You need to know what IMD career services offers and how you will use and supplement those services.

OR

B. For people who are company-sponsored, confirmed going back to their previous company, entrepreneurs planning to go back to their own firm, and/or members of a family who are planning to work for the family business after graduation: Please let us know your short-term career goals and plans after your MBA. (1500 characters)

Even when your future is “assured” with an offer or clear career path after the program, you need to demonstrate to the admissions committee that you have a purpose and a plan. In this essay, you need to explain what impact you hope to make on the company and how you plan to do that.

7. Additional Optional Essay: Is there any additional information that is critical for the Admissions Committee to know which has not been covered elsewhere in this application? (Optional essay). (1500 characters)

With IMD’s seven essays, this may be the one application where the optional essay is really unnecessary. Nonetheless, if you have something to explain – a low GPA, low GMAT, a gap in employment, etc. – or something to add, this is the place to do it.

If you would like professional guidance with your IMD MBA application, please consider Accepted’s MBA essay editing and MBA admissions consulting or our MBA Application Packages, which include advising, editing, interview coaching, and a resume edit for the IMD MBA application.

IMD 2014 Application Deadlines

February 1, April 1, June 1, August 1 and September 1.

*While you can choose any of our application deadlines, we encourage you to apply as early as possible.
Apply for the February 1st or April 1st deadline to have the option of being interviewed in Singapore.
Apply for one of the first four deadlines if you are a citizen of a country that requires a visa process of over 6-8 weeks. (We recommend that you check with your local embassy, especially if you are bringing your family with you as this can prolong the process.)

By Jennifer Bloom is a Certified Professional Resume Writer and is available now to create an easy-to-read document that highlights your exceptionality. Creating this document now will help you see where you need to generate more content – i.e., take more action – before the fall deadlines .

Accepted.com’s experienced admissions consultants can help you create the most impressive application possible with comprehensive packages, or provide targeted assistance from picking perfect programs to designing a dazzling resume, constructing engaging essays, or preparing for intense interviews…and more! Accepted.com has guided thousands of applicants to acceptances at top MBA programs since 1994 – we know what works and what doesn’t, so contact us to get started now!

This article originally appeared on the Accepted Admissions Consulting Blog, the official blog of Accepted.com.

It’s been an interesting few weeks.

Starting with the day of the Boston Marathon a little over two weeks ago, I have seen and heard amazing stories of resilience and fortitude. And no, I was not in or even near Boston. As a city, it has demonstrated those qualities, and those injured in the bombing and grieving for lost loved ones will need even more strength in the weeks, months, and years to come.

Coincidentally that night I went to see the movie, No Place on Earth. It is a documentary narrated by the people who lived it: six elderly Holocaust survivors who hid in a cave for over a year and a half. Actors act out the scenes. The elderly people, who have since lived seemingly normal lives, raised children, and enjoyed the privilege of seeing grandchildren and in some cases great–grandchildren, relate an amazing story of fortitude and resilience brilliantly presented in this outstanding movie.

Then two weeks later, I traveled with my 83-year-old mother, herself a Holocaust survivor, and attended the 20th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Holocaust Museum. Here we again heard stories of courage and heroism as the conference honored survivors, veterans who liberated Europe, and rescuers who saved the persecuted. We heard from Nobel laureate, Elie Wiesel, President Bill Clinton, aged veterans, survivors, and rescuers. Most of the honorees are in their 80’s and 90’s. Almost all were accompanied by their children and grandchildren. The younger generations’ attendance evidenced their elders’ resilience – their ability to move forward and rebuild their lives.

Former Buchenwald prisoner, Elie Wiesel, represented the survivors and spoke movingly of how he and 400+ orphans freed from that hell on earth and sent to a children’s home in France after World War II, should have been emotional cripples. All 400+ became doctors, lawyers, teachers, tradespeople, rabbis, leaders, businesspeople, and writers. Despite the scars, they moved on. Despite the pain, they picked up the pieces of their lives. Refusing to be victims, they became survivors.

Similarly the Stermer family from No Place on Earth emerged from their cave, literally dusted themselves off (layers of dirt), and began their lives anew. They moved to the U.S. and Canada, built businesses, and had families. They moved on.

On some level the people of Boston demonstrated that same strength after their week of horror as they resumed their lives.

From the depths of my heart I hope that none of you have been tested in the way that those whose lives were torn apart by World War II were tested, but I know that’s not true. Some of you have been persecuted. Some of you are vets. Some are heroes. Your ability to recover despite the pain or the scars defines the difference between a tragic victim and a resilient survivor.

For the rest of you — the lucky ones who haven’t endured the horrors of war or genocide, lived in a cave for a year and a half, or been under lock-down in a city in the grip of a murderous terror attack – you too can demonstrate that endurance.

What does resilience mean for applicants leading blessed lives with more pedestrian challenges, frustrations, and aggravations and having to answer questions either in an essay or interview about failure, setbacks, or mistakes? It means showing through examples that you have the ability to come back, learn, and move forward. It means that after your leg, broken in a skiing accident, heals, you return to the slopes. It means that after your first “patient” dies, you continue with your plans to be a doctor. It means that after your start-up fails, you resolve to get an MBA so that you can successfully manage your next business.

When asked about failures, setbacks, and mistakes, you just have to show that you have the strength and courage to deal with events within and beyond your control, to recover from disappointment and failure, and to pick yourself up, hopefully learn from the experience, and yes, move on. That’s resilience.








By Linda Abraham, president and founder of Accepted.com and co-author of the new, definitive book on MBA admissions, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools.

Accepted.com’s experienced admissions consultants can help you create the most impressive application possible with comprehensive packages, or provide targeted assistance from picking perfect programs to designing a dazzling resume, constructing engaging essays, or preparing for intense interviews…and more! Accepted.com has guided thousands of applicants to acceptances at top MBA programs since 1994 – we know what works and what doesn’t, so contact us to get started now!

This article originally appeared on the Accepted Admissions Consulting Blog, the official blog of Accepted.com.

The current Duke MBA – Cross Continent Program essay questions cover broad ground potentially, although there are just two required. They give you leeway to identify and describe the experiences, skills, and other factors that will most advantageously represent your candidacy. Moreover, the fact that both questions invite you to discuss personal as well as professional points indicates the program’s holistic perspective and its interest in well-rounded applicants.

These MBA essay questions thus present a great opportunity for you to distinguish yourself. However, such openness also poses the challenge of effective decision-making – choosing the right topics and experiences to discuss carries all the more weight and is not necessarily easy. It requires you to take a strategic view of your candidacy.

This program by its nature benefits students who are focused, self-aware, and self-directed. Moreover, the program is looking for people who are “standouts” in their roles and organizations. Ideally your essays will reflect those qualities.

Note specs: each essay is to use 1.5 line spacing and a font size of 10 or larger; maximum 2 pages each.

Prepare your essays carefully. The Admissions Committee considers your responses to the essay questions important in the selection process. Please respond fully and concisely using 1.5 line spacing. Please avoid using a font size smaller than 10-point. Please limit your response to two pages.

Essay 1

We find that our students apply to our programs for a variety of personal and professional reasons. What do you hope to gain from The Duke MBA and how will it support you in your personal and professional goals? If you are interested in a specific concentration or the HSM Certificate, please discuss in this essay.

To make this MBA goals essay a grand-slam success, develop a theme or message that resonates (directly or indirectly) throughout the main points. Often such theme can be found in your motivation and vision for your goals.

I suggest using a straightforward structure for this essay. You can introduce the professional goals with a little context (perhaps the above-mentioned motivation/vision) and then detail those goals and the need for the Duke Cross-Continent MBA in light of those goals. Avoid the common tendency to summarize your career and your current role, which the question doesn’t ask for. You can bring in relevant career points as part of a brief summary of your motivation for your goals, but overall keep the focus on the goals, including what you’ll do, how you’ll advance, and what you want to accomplish short term and long term. Your discussion of how the Duke MBA will support your goals should be concrete and specific; avoid generalities and stock phrases (e.g., “renowned professors”). Also, target this discussion to the unique nature and qualities of the Cross-Continent program as well as the core MBA content.

The personal goals can be discussed in a separate paragraph or interwoven with your professional goals, whichever is more natural for you.

Essay 2

A significant amount of the learning takes place through students sharing both inside and outside the classroom. Describe how your overall experience, both personally and professionally, will benefit your classmates.

Selecting excellent topics is the key to optimizing the opportunity this essay represents. It’s true, the question says “overall experience” – but what does that mean? Obviously you can’t describe everything, or you’d have a multi-volume biography. It means you have to be selective; you have to choose representative points. Therefore, select topics based on what they reveal about you as a person that (a) is relevant to future classmates and the program, (b) complements the theme and topics in the first essay, and (c) rounds out your profile.

And convey the points through anecdote and story. A discussion about something as common as playing basketball can become a memorable statement with an engaging, illuminating anecdote.

Do try to discuss a mix of personal and professional topics. The topics need not be given equal weight and space. If you can find an overarching theme or message, great, but don’t strain for it – better to focus on rich detail and content.

Optional Essay

If you feel there are extenuating circumstances of which the admissions committee should be aware, please explain them here (e.g. unexplained gaps in work, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, significant weakness in your application). Note that you should NOT upload additional essays nor additional recommendations in this area. The Optional Essay is intended to provide the admissions committee with insight into your extenuating circumstances only.

This optional essay should focus on matters that warrant explanation; it does not invite you to further market yourself generally. There are a range of issues that fit in such an essay, as indicated.

All reapplicants are also required to complete the Reapplicant Essay below. Please limit your response to two pages.

Reapplicant Essay

Write an essay describing how you are a stronger candidate for admission compared to the previous year’s application.

This essay should present concrete points of growth since the previous application. These points can relate to your goals, developments at work, and developments outside of work. Essay 1 addresses your goals, but if your goals have changed, you could spend a little time in this essay discussing how and why that change happened, and then explain how clearer, firmer goals, or goals that are a better fit for you, strengthen your candidacy. Most of this essay will likely talk about professional developments that are relevant and show growth. Obvious developments would be a promotion, a new responsibility or project. But there are many other potential topics, some counterintuitive, e.g., a project that didn’t turn out well might have yielded valuable learning, exposure to a new industry or type of problem, or other things that are germane to your growth and mature you as a business professional. Whatever you discuss, after presenting the facts, explain how it’s made you a stronger candidate. You can also discuss non-work developments as long as you can clarify how they strengthen your candidacy.

Cross Continent Admission Deadlines for 2012 – 2013

By Cindy Tokumitsu, co-author of The EMBA Edge, and author of the free special report, “Ace the EMBA.”

Accepted.com’s experienced admissions consultants can help you create the most impressive application possible with comprehensive packages, or provide targeted assistance from picking perfect programs to designing a dazzling resume, constructing engaging essays, or preparing for intense interviews…and more! Accepted.com has guided thousands of applicants to acceptances at top MBA programs since 1994 – we know what works and what doesn’t, so contact us to get started now!

This article originally appeared on the Accepted Admissions Consulting Blog, the official blog of Accepted.com.

What will you gain from your two years at USC Marshall, and what will the school gain from you

Essay Questions:

1) What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals? How will USC Marshall help you achieve these goals? (750 words)

This is a straight-forward MBA goals question. As always with this type of question, connect the dots. Let the reader see that your goals grow organically from your experience and are achievable given your experience and an MBA from Marshall.

2) How will other USC Marshall MBA students benefit from your background, experience, leadership and teamwork skills? (500 words)

What can you contribute to your class? Where at Marshall do you want to contribute. In which clubs and organizations do you want to invest your talents?

I suggest you choose 1-3 examples from your past where you contributed to your school, club, church, or company and show how the very qualities you utilized then you intend to use at Marshall. Is Social Enterprise calling your name? Then perhaps Marshall Net Impact is where you intend to have impact? Perhaps you are a vet. Can you contribute to the Marshall Military Veterans Association. How will you contribute?

3) Select three from the following and describe: (250 words each)

a) A challenging international business experience

b) How would you contribute to the “Trojan Network.”

c) Your most significant accomplishment.

d) A personal or professional setback.

e) Introduce yourself to your future Marshall classmates in 100 words or less

First question: Which to choose? Those three that you can write most easily and enthusiastically and which complement the other essays and information found elsewhere. If you don’t have much international experience, don’t choose A. If you have been very active either as an undergrad or perhaps in your company’s CSR initiative and you would like to continue to contribute in that way, then you should choose B.

While the question only asks you to describe the situation, go beyond that instruction. Do describe and then analyze. Why is this event important to you? What was your impact? What did you learn? And try to stay away from the cliched, “I learned that if I try hard enough I can do anything.” You can’t, and we all know it. Go deeper, and be real.

4) Optional Essay: Please add any additional information that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider in evaluating your application. Also, if you are applying to a dual-degree program, please address that in this essay.

Please see ”The Optional Essay: To Be or Not to Be.”

Re-applicant Essays:

1) What steps have you taken to strengthen your application since your last submission? Please reiterate your post-MBA goals. (750 words)

The first part of this question is the key question for any MBA applicant. What’s changed? What’s improved. Please tie your MBA goal into your essay. Have the year’s experiences changed it? Better prepared you for it? Strengthened it? And of course, state clearly what it is.

2) Select three from the following and describe: (250 words each)

a) A challenging international business experience.

b) How would you contribute to the “Trojan Network.”

c) Your most significant accomplishment.

d) A personal or professional setback.

e) Introduce yourself to your future Marshall classmates in 100 words or less

Please see response to #3 for first-time applicants above.

3) Optional Essay: Please add any additional information that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider in evaluating your application. Also, if you are applying to a dual-degree program, please address that in this essay.

Show that you have grown since your last application. Reveal that you have addressed weaknesses. Demonstrate increased leadership. Present evidence that you have improved enormously since your last application. For more information, please see:

• Take 2: How to Reapply Right to Business School
• Re-applicants

Deadlines:

*We must receive your application by 11:59 p.m. PST on this day.
**GMAT or GRE, TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE
***Notifications/Decisions: Admit, Deny, Waitlist, or you may be invited to interview

By Linda Abraham, president and founder of Accepted.com and co-author of the new, definitive book on MBA admissions, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools.

 Accepted.com’s experienced admissions consultants can help you create the most impressive application possible with comprehensive packages, or provide targeted assistance from picking perfect programs to designing a dazzling resume, constructing engaging essays, or preparing for intense interviews…and more! Accepted.com has guided thousands of applicants to acceptances at top MBA programs since 1994 – we know what works and what doesn’t, so contact us to get started now!

This article originally appeared on the Accepted Admissions Consulting Blog, the official blog of Accepted.com.

Required Essays:

1. Describe how your professional and personal experiences have led you to pursue an MBA at this time. Please share with us your short and long term goals and why the Texas MBA at McCombs is the program best positioned to help you achieve them. (Limit: 800 words)

This question is a classic MBA goals question — with a Longhorn twist. How have your past experiences molded your goals? The response should highlight achievement while illuminating your clear, realistic goals, which happen to require an MBA.

The Longhorn twist is “how will a Texas MBA help you achieve [your goals]?” McCombs’ location in Texas puts it in the midst of one of the fastest growing economies in the US and at a gateway to Latin America. Does its location have anything to do with you wanting to attend UT? Say so! Perhaps location is not the driver for you, and its elements of McCombs program that appeal. Reveal how those elements will help you achieve your goals. Finally McCombs is very proud of its four core principles: Knowledge and Understanding; Responsibility and Integrity; Communication and Collaboration; and a Worldview of Business and Society. How are they a part of your reasons for applying to UT Austin?

2. At the University of Texas at Austin, our motto is “What starts here changes the world.” Here at McCombs, we are looking for students who share this vision. We believe that the MBA experience is a transformative one and that our students are able to have a positive impact, not only on their own lives, but also in their workplaces, their local communities, their professional industries and/or the world generally.

• In your life to date, please tell us about an instance when you felt that you had the most positive impact and why you believe it to be significant? (Limit: 200 words)
• How do you intend to positively impact the MBA community while you are an MBA student at McCombs? (Limit: 200 words)
• After graduation from business school, what kind of positive impact would you like to have? (Limit: 200 words)

With these three short essays you can share three different arenas of your life where you have had or would like to “have impact.” Obviously don’t repeat the material you used in #1, but do elaborate on achievements mentioned in other part of the application.

For the first question, what was the situation you were addressing? What did you do? What was the result and why was that important? The incident could be important because of its impact on an individual, an organization or group, or on you. A combination is also possible.

For the second question, do you homework on McCombs. Connect with current students or alumni. Attend school receptions. Read admissions and student blogs. Comb the website so that you know what is available to you and where you may want to have impact. Then lay out in a focused way two to three programs you would like to launch or events you would like to enhance or organizations you would like to contribute to. Remember it’s only 200 words. You probably don’t have room for more than a total of three and that could even be pushing it. If you have one really great idea that you want to explore more fully and perhaps tie back to a previous experience, that could work well too.

And for the third part of question #2: What is your greater vision for yourself in the future? Yes, I know you want professional advancement and a wider network, but for what purpose? How would that purpose lead to a greater good and demonstrate the wider impact that UT would like its alumni to have. For more on the concept of vision, please see “The Parable of the Three Stone Masons.”

Optional Essay

Please provide any additional information to the admissions committee that you believe is important and/or will address any areas of concern that will be beneficial to the committee in considering your application. (For example, if your standardized test scores are low or if you have not had coursework in core business subjects (i.e. calculus, microeconomics, statistics, financial accounting), please tell us how you plan to prepare yourself for the quantitative rigor of the MBA curriculum.) (Limit: 200 words)

I encourage you to write the optional essay. Just make sure you are submitting an informative optional essay that complements the required essays and adds to the reader’s knowledge of you and your qualifications. If you do not have “an area of concern to address,” this optional would be a great place to explore in depth a non-professional interest or commitment of yours not addressed in your application. As always, if you have nothing to say, don’t say anything.

Deadlines:

*Round 3 is the final application deadline for international applicants.
**Round 4 is the final application deadline for domestic applicants.

By Linda Abraham, president and founder of Accepted.com and co-author of the new, definitive book on MBA admissions, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools.

Accepted.com’s experienced admissions consultants can help you create the most impressive application possible with comprehensive packages, or provide targeted assistance from picking perfect programs to designing a dazzling resume, constructing engaging essays, or preparing for intense interviews…and more! Accepted.com has guided thousands of applicants to acceptances at top MBA programs since 1994 – we know what works and what doesn’t, so contact us to get started now!

This article originally appeared on the Accepted Admissions Consulting Blog, the official blog of Accepted.com.

The following essay questions give you the opportunity to more fully present yourself to the Admissions Committee and to provide insight into your experiences, goals and thought processes. Your essays must be written entirely by you. An offer of admission will be revoked if you did not write your essays. Please note the following:

• Essays 1, 2 and 4 must be typed and submitted using the standard U.S. 8 1/2” x 11” format, double-spaced, in 12-point font.
• Please adhere to the essay word limits provided for each question.
• Word limits apply to the total question. For example, your response to Essay 2 should answer both part (a) and part (b) with a maximum of 250 words.
• Label the top of each essay with the following: Name, Date of Birth (month, day, year), Essay Number and Page Number (e.g.: Joe Applicant, January 1, 1982, Essay 1, Page 1)

Essay 1. Professional Aspirations (250 word maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font)
What are your short and long-term career goals?

First, don’t even think about how to get everything you want into this MBA essay. You can’t. Rather, ask yourself, “What are the few, key points I must have in this essay to both answer the question effectively and stand out?” First, you need the details of your short- and long-term goals: positions and titles, company, industry, a sample of likely responsibilities you’ll hold. Beyond that, to make the essay compelling, in one or two sentences convey your vision for your goals (the broader impact you’ll have) and your motivation for your goals – these elements are often intertwined.

One way you can fit in pertinent career information is to start the essay with your current position and weave it into your short-term goals. After all, you will have goals within your current position while you’re earning your MBA – it doesn’t require a promotion or change of position to have a goal.

A simple structure works best: the first paragraph covering your short-term goals (possibly starting with where you are now); second paragraph long-term goals. With this short essay you don’t need intro and concluding paragraphs, intro and concluding sentences will do.

Essay 2. Fit with Stern (250 word maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font)

(a) Why have you chosen to pursue your MBA on a part-time basis?
(b) Earlier in your application, you indicated your Langone program preferences in rank order from among the choices below. Please explain your preferences.

• Manhattan – Weeknights
• Manhattan – Weekends
• Westchester – Weeknights

I suggest more depth and content for part A, and a straightforward, factual explanation for part B.

Part A probes your decision-making regarding the part-time option. The adcom wants to know that the reasons are affirmative and that the part-time program is your program of choice. This section also gives you a chance to further elaborate on your current work and its distinguishing aspects – presumably one reason you are pursuing the part-time program is because you are engaged in your work. In this section, focus on the key 2-3 reasons for a part-time MBA and discuss each briefly but thoughtfully. Don’t worry about having “unique” reasons – you won’t – it’s your specific work and the insights you’ll bring from it that are unique. Caution: state positive, affirmative reasons; avoid reasons like can’t afford a full-time MBA, afraid to leave job, can’t get into a top-tier full-time program, etc. Positive reasons include wanting to stay in fascinating job/industry, excitement about applying learning in real-time, valuing studying alongside peers who are immersed in diverse industries and functions, etc.

Part B should be short and sweet; a couple of sentences will suffice, simply explaining in concrete, practical terms why you are choosing the particular program.

Essay 3. Personal Expression

Please describe yourself to your MBA classmates. You may use almost any method to convey your message (e.g. words, illustrations). Feel free to be creative.

If you will submit Essay 3 via mail, please provide a brief description of your submission and its relevance to your MBA application.

Please note the following guidelines and restrictions:

• Your submission becomes the property of NYU Stern and cannot be returned for any reason.
• If you submit a written essay, it should be 500 words maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font. If you submit a video or audio file, it should be five minutes maximum.
• If you submit a non-written piece (i.e., artwork or multimedia), please provide a brief written description of your submission and its relevance to your MBA application.
• If you prepare a multimedia submission, you may mail a CD, DVD or USB flash drive to the Admissions Office. Please do not submit a link to a webpage.
• Mailed materials must be postmarked by the application deadline date. Please follow our mail and labeling instructions.
• The Admissions Committee reserves the right to request an alternate Essay 3 if we are unable to view your submission.
• Do not submit anything perishable (e.g. food), or any item that has been worn (e.g. clothing).

Please note that mailed Essay 3 packages are subject to size restrictions. Submissions that exceed the stated size restrictions will not be accepted for review by the Admissions Committee. Please see the table below for the maximum package size guidelines:

First, a comment about “feel free to be creative”: don’t strain to do something you think represents “creative” if it doesn’t flow naturally. Plenty, perhaps most, of admitted applicants write an essay. If you are inspired and have a great idea, fine, go with it. If not, write the absolute best essay you can. The key here is to help the adcom get to know you in ways that are relevant to Langone, that distinguish you, and that reflect your life beyond your job in some way. Langone, and more broadly NYU, relish involvement with the community, intellectual and/or artistic engagement, a sharp ability to self-reflect on one’s life and circumstances, a willingness to assert and/or question one’s values, a willingness and ability to ask questions that you don’t have answers to… There are many inviting avenues to consider in selecting a topic for this essay – and that selection is the key to hitting a home run with it. There really isn’t a formula. I have seen successful essays that focus solely on the applicant’s passionate hobby, that discuss some aspect of one’s family life, one’s regional culture, one’s religious or political evolution… And I’ve also seen successful essays that discuss a couple of things. With the 500-word limit, you can’t really do justice to more than two points though.

Don’t worry about discussing things that are “impressive” or about finding things that are unusual – this essay’s effectiveness rests on how vividly you present your topic(s), how you personalize it with anecdote and detail. A discussion about something as common as cooking or learning a language or playing basketball can become a memorable statement if done vividly with stories and experiences.

Admissions Tips:

• The Essay 3 is first and foremost a personal expression. We want to get to know you as an individual, beyond your college transcripts and professional achievements. This essay is not a creativity test, but rather an opportunity for you to describe yourself to your future classmates in whichever medium you feel most comfortable. Creative submissions are welcomed, but so too are written essays.
• Proofread your essays carefully.
• Make sure you have fully answered the essay questions.
• Be genuine in your essays – tell us about the real you.
• Follow the essay instructions, including word limits and font size.

Essay 4. Additional Information: (optional)

Please provide any additional information that you would like to bring to the attention of the Admissions Committee. This may include current or past gaps in employment, your undergraduate record, plans to retake the GMAT, GRE and/or TOEFL or any other relevant information.

If you are unable to submit a recommendation from a current supervisor, you must explain your reason in this essay, even if you are a re-applicant.

If you are a re-applicant from last year, please explain how your candidacy has improved since your last application.

This doesn’t explicitly limit the essay to extenuating circumstances or application-specific issues, but the topics it suggests are such issues. Moreover the phrase “bring to the attention of” doesn’t really invite you to continue marketing yourself with any new material that you think might enhance your application. I therefore suggest addressing the types of issues the question presents, or other information that has a direct bearing on the adcom’s ability to understand your candidacy. There is no word limit, but given the other word limits, keeping it short will align with the other essays.

If you are a re-applicant from last year, please explain how your candidacy has improved since your last application.

Uploading Formats

You may upload documents into the standard online application in the following formats: .doc, .wpd, .rtf, .xls, .pdf, .docx, .xlxs, .txt

Application Deadlines for the Part-time MBA program

http://www.stern.nyu.edu/programs-admissions/part-time-mba/admissions/deadlines-process/index.htm

Online applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time on the day of the deadline, and any mailed application material must be postmarked by the deadline date to receive your notification by the date below.

After the application deadline, applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until July 1 (for Fall 2012) and December 1 (for Spring 2013).

By Cindy Tokumitsu, co-author of The EMBA Edge, and author of the free special report, “Ace the EMBA.”

Accepted.com’s experienced admissions consultants can help you create the most impressive application possible with comprehensive packages, or provide targeted assistance from picking perfect programs to designing a dazzling resume, constructing engaging essays, or preparing for intense interviews…and more! Accepted.com has guided thousands of applicants to acceptances at top MBA programs since 1994 – we know what works and what doesn’t, so contact us to get started now!

This article originally appeared on the Accepted Admissions Consulting Blog, the official blog of Accepted.com.

1. Start with a story or anecdote. Launching your essay with brief story or anecdote will do wonders to draw your readers in and propels them to read on. Never start an essay with something drab like, “I was born in a small town” or “My name is X” or “I want to go to Top B-School X because.” These will make your readers snooze; and if they snooze, you’ll certainly lose. Jumping right into a story is a much more engaging way to start.
2. Don’t rehash your resume. You may be tempted to talk about your extensive job history, but your essay is really not the spot for that; your MBA resume is. In general, don’t waste precious essay space on material that’s located elsewhere in your application. Use your essays to describe and analyze important activities, interests and events that you want the admissions committee to know about.
3. Use fresh material for each essay. Choose different experiences to highlight in each of your application essays. Overlapping experiences are a) a waste of space and b) really boring.
4. Let your personality shine. Take your warm and witty personality and infuse it into your essay. Your essay is your vehicle to introduce yourself to your readers. Make sure they’re getting to know the very best of the authentic YOU possible.
5. Use vivid language. Your essays should use sensory language that will transport your reader through your story. Use details that help your readers see, hear, smell, taste, or touch what you experienced.

Need more tips on how to keep the adcom engaged and excited while reading your essays? See How to Write and Edit MBA Essays 101 now!

Michigan Ross

Essays

Essay 1: Introduce yourself to your future Ross classmates in 100 words or less.

What’s your elevator pitch? What do you want them to know first about you? That’s not what do you think they want to read, but what do you want your classmates (and yes the admissions committee readers too) to know?

Essay 2: Describe your career goals. How will an MBA from Ross help you to achieve those goals? (300 word maximum)

How is Ross going to help you achieve your MBA goals? First of all, relate them in terms of industry and function. What aspects of the Ross program convinced you to attend? How will they help you achieve your career goals. You need to do your homework about Ross before you answer this question.

Essay 3: Describe a time in your career when you were frustrated or disappointed. What did you learn about yourself from that experience? (500 word maximum)

Choose one experience where you revealed resilience and growth in response to disappointment or frustration. How did you react when things didn’t go the way you wanted them to go. Please note: Ross is not requesting general discourse on frustration or disappointment. It wants a specific example showing how you respond to challenges and hurdles. And of course, what did you learn about yourself?

Essay 4: What are you most passionate about and why? How will this passion positively impact Ross? (300 word maximum)

If you are passionate about something, you must have acted on that passion and shown commitment to it. Passive passion is an oxymoron. Tell a story illustrating your enthusiasm and commitment for whatever it is. It does not have to be professional. This could be an excellent essay to reveal a non-professional side of you.

Optional question:

Is there anything else you think the Admissions Committee should know about you to evaluate your candidacy? (500 word maximum)

Optional questions aren’t junk drawers or shoe boxes in which to jam “stuff.” Focus on one facet of your life or an experience that is important to you, reveals the human being you are, and isn’t described in other parts of the application.

Of course, you can also use this essay to provide context for a weakness, but I prefer not to end your application on that note if possible. So weigh your options. If you have something to explain, do so. If you can slip in the explanation somewhere else (perhaps #4?), great. If the best place for the explanation is this last essay, so be it.

Michigan Ross 2013 Deadlines:

Round I: October 10, 2012

Round II: January 3, 2013

Round III: March 4, 2013

*Please note that all deadlines are 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time.

If you would like help with your Michigan Ross MBA application, please consider Accepted’s MBA essay editing and MBA admissions consulting or our Michigan Ross MBA Packages.

By Linda Abraham, president and founder of Accepted.com and co-author of the new, definitive book on MBA admissions, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools.

This article originally appeared on the Accepted Admissions Consulting Blog, the official blog of Accepted.com.

Penn Campus

The Wharton 2013 MBA application essays are out. My tips are in blue below.

Wharton 2013 MBA Essay Questions

First-time applicants and reapplicants are required to complete the same set of essay questions.

Required Question:
How will the Wharton MBA help you achieve your professional objectives? (400 words)

Thoughtful professional objectives will include a function and an industry. Sometimes geographic location is important and then it should be included.

First research the curricular options at Wharton, which has increasingly flexible requirements. Wharton has always had an incredibly rich and varied curriculum. What aspects of Wharton’s broad program do you intend to take advantage of to prepare yourself for your chosen career path? What extra-curricular activities do you want to participate in and contribute to, but keep your focus on those clubs and events that will help you achieve your career goals.

You can start this essay with a vision of achieving your goals and then back up to how you will do so. Or, you can start with that special moment when you realized what you wanted to do, define that goal, and then quickly move into the aspects of Wharton’s program that will help you attain it.

Respond to 2 of the Following 3 Questions:

Which two questions should you choose? Easy. Choose the ones, that when added to the other elements of your application and each other, add insight into you. Minimize overlap.

1. Select a Wharton MBA course, co-curricular opportunity or extra-curricular engagement that you are interested in. Tell us why you chose this activity and how it connects to your interests. (500 words)

You don’t want this essay to merely repeat #1 so only select it if you can write it in a way that complements essay #1. Maybe you have a community service or extra-curricular interest that you have not written about in #1. What Wharton club or event relates to it? Illustrate your interest by drawing on past commitments and achievements and then connect to Wharton’s course, co-curricular opportunity or extra-curricular engagement.

2. Imagine your work obligations for the afternoon were cancelled and you found yourself “work free” for three hours, what would you do? (500 words)

Oh! You could have so much fun in those three hours! You could accomplish so much for a favorite cause! What would you love to do with those three hours? This is an essay that call for your non-professional side. Use it to show another dimension in the individual that is you.

Paint a written picture for the readers of how you would spend that time. Tell a story.

3. “Knowledge for Action draws upon the great qualities that have always been evident at Wharton: rigorous research, dynamic thinking, and thoughtful leadership.” – Thomas S. Robertson, Dean, The Wharton School

Tell us about a time when you put knowledge into action. (500 words)

First watch this Wharton video. To respond to this question, tell a story about a time you acted on a something you had learned. It could be something learned in a class or research project, but it doesn’t have to be. It could be something that reflects an innovative process. What was the lesson you were acting on? What was the problem you were solving? If you can be in a leadership role, all the better. What was the impact of your actions on you and on others?

Reapplicant Question: All reapplicants to Wharton are required to complete the Optional Essay. Please use this space to explain how you have reflected on the previous decision on your application and to discuss any updates to your candidacy (e.g., changes in your professional life, additional coursework, extracurricular/volunteer engagements). You may also use this section to address any extenuating circumstances. (250 words)

The key part of this question is the update part. Don’t ignore reflection on your previous decision, but focus on the new and improved you. For more suggestions for your reapplication, please see MBA Reapplication 101.

Optional Section for All Applicants: If you feel there are extenuating circumstances of which the Committee should be aware, please explain them here (e.g., unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, or questionable academic performance, significant weaknesses in your application). (250 words)

Why isn’t your current boss writing your recommendation? Why is there a eight-month gap between your first and second job? Why did your grades dip during the last semester of your junior year? What are your responsibilities while working for a family business after having left a prestigious consulting firm, and why did you decide to go into the family business? Your optional essay can respond to any of those questions (but not all).

If you would like help with Wharton’s essays, please consider Accepted.com’s MBA essay editing and MBA admissions consulting or our Wharton School Packages which include advising, editing, interview coaching, and a resume edit for the Wharton’s application.

By Linda Abraham, president and founder of Accepted.com and co-author of the new, definitive book on MBA admissions, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools.

This article originally appeared on the Accepted Admissions Consulting Blog, the official blog of Accepted.com.

We all know that MBA admissions is highly competitive and that outstanding essays are a key part of an effort to gain admission to the top business schools, many of which admit only 15% of all applicants. But, don’t be tempted to plagiarize! Also, if you are using an admissions consultant, make sure that YOU write your essays, not the consultant. You don’t want to question where the content came from.

I agree with Anderson: plagiarism is wholly unacceptable. Indeed, when I was a professor at Harvard, I had a student kicked out of graduate school for turning in a plagiarized paper to me. I have zero tolerance for such matters, and I affirm any graduate school that also has a zero tolerance policy.

Happily, it is believed that only 1-2% of applicants to business school might be plagiarizing content for their essays. But if you are found by a business school to be in that number, you will not likely have another viable shot for admission to the particular business school in question. Business schools take your ethics seriously, and one particular weakness most candidates cannot work around when applying to a top business school is a disciplinary mark on their record for cheating or plagiarizing. A business school does not want to think that in a few years they will open the Wall St. Journal to read that one of their graduates was caught for some egregious business scandal. That is damaging to their brand. They will seek instead to weed out any candidate they think has questionable ethics. So, take care as you compose your MBA admissions essays: don’t plagiarize! If you use someone else’s words, like a quote, use quotation marks and attribute the words to the relevant person.

Here is the link below to the article about this:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-plagiarism-20120129,0,2954802.story

Good luck in your admissions process!

Best wishes,
Dr. Shelly Watts (“Dr. Shel”)
MBA Admit.com
Email: mbaadmit@aol.com

http://www.mbaadmit.com