MICHIGAN ROSS 2011 MBA ESSAY QUESTIONS

Although Ross’ questions may appear superficial or generic, don’t be fooled. Ross does not want generic answers. Your answers need to connect to Ross’ multi-disciplinary action projects and commitment to action-based learning. You need to show the admissions readers why you belong at Ross, not at Top B-School.

Required Questions:

1) Introduce yourself in 100 words or less.

What’s your elevator pitch? What do you want them to know first about you? I am not asking what do you think they want to hear, but what do you want the admissions committee members to know first?

2) Describe your career goals. How will the Ross MBA help you to achieve your goals? (500 word maximum)

The successful answer to this question will show fit with Ross. Your response to the last part of the question will make or break the essay and possibly your application. How is Ross going to help you achieve your short-and long-term goals? What aspects of the Ross program convinced you to attend? If you spoke to current students or recent alumni, say so. Let the reader know you’ve done your homework.

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

New question. Choose one experience where you can show growth and resilience after a difficult time. Please note that Ross is not asking for a general treatise on frustration or disappointment. It wants a specific example showing how you deal with hurdles and challenge. And of course, what did you learn?

4) Select one of the following questions:

New. Choose the one you can write most enthusiastically and sincerely. If you can wrote both with vigor, then choose the one that will allow you to show leadership and initiative.

• What are you most passionate about and why? (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.

• We expect that Ross MBAs will not only be effective leaders, but also effective
  teachers.  How will you contribute to the learning experience of your peers at
  Ross? (300 word maximum)

As you respond to this question keep in mind Michigan’s focus on action-based learning. How would help assist and help a teammate struggling with English, or with the math? If not through action-based learning, tie your actions into MAP or other specifics of the Ross program.

Optional Question:

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

Do not use this essay like a storage room, my son’s bedroom closet, or even a large salad: a place to put everything.  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. Write about it here.

You can of course also use this essay to “explain” a weakness, but I hate to end your application on that note if it can be avoided. So weigh your options. If you have something to explain, do so. If you can tuck the explanation somewhere else in the application, more power to you. If the  best place for the explanation is this last essay, so be it.

If you would like help with your Michigan Ross MBA application, please consider Accepted.com’s MBA essay editing and admissions consulting or a Michigan Ross School Package, a package of editing and consulting specific to Ross.

MICHIGAN ROSS 2011 MBA ESSAY DEADLINES

We encourage you to apply in the first two rounds since these are the only rounds in which applicants are considered for scholarships. In addition, only students admitted from the first two rounds will be able to attend Go Blue Rendezvous, our admitted student weekend in April. We also recommend international students apply in Round 1 or Round 2 because of visa requirements and to ensure consideration for scholarships. Deadlines follow:

By Linda Abraham, President and Founder of Accepted.com.

Several impressions and take-aways for applicants from the different events and sessions:

MIT Sloan Panels:

From the MIT panels it is clear that MIT is looking for demonstrated success academically and professionally.  The latter translates into success or professional progression that is better than the norm for your peers. In terms of those fuzzy attributes and personal characteristics that schools talk about, Sloan wants to see drive; an ability to build relationships and influence others;  and the establishment, pursuit and achievement of goals.  A few details about the individual programs:

1. 100% of the MFin grads have jobs this year, this program’s inaugural graduating class.
2. The EMBA is a program for those in mid-management with a demonstrated record of success who either want to advance in their career or make a slight career change without leaving their job.  Neither sponsorship nor the GMAT is required. (the latter may be requested if MIT has questions about the applicant’s quant skills.)
3. The LGO program focuses on managing the global production and distribution of goods and services. It is a joint, quant-heavy 24-month program between MIT Sloan and MIT’s School of Engineering. Participants earn both an MBA and an MS in Engineering.

We also heard two presentations by MIT Sloan professors. If you have any doubt that MIT Sloan is serious about innovation and global reach, abandon them. The creativity and global impact evident in just these two hours would force you to reshape your views.

Impressions from Conference Day 2 (Multiple presentations by various schools reps)

• Schools and admissions committee members look at different elements when they evaluate an application.  Pay attention to the nuances.
• Your informal and personally identifiable interactions with school admissions personnel are highly revealing. They COUNT! Arrogance at any point in time is a death knell for your application (and most relationships too.) Rudeness to a receptionist is a ding. What qualities impress positively? In your essays and interviews, reveal dignity, generosity of spirit, self-awareness, authenticity, and consideration of others. These qualities cannot be faked or “spun.”
• Regarding financial aid, merit aid tends to go to the top X% based on academic stats. Generally, when evaluating fellowship essays, the readers do not refer to your application essays. Poor credit can prevent you from obtaining the loans necessary for you to attend the school of your dreams if merit aid and your resources don’t cover the tab; get your credit in order before you apply.
• Regarding career development, the MBA employment picture improved throughout 2009-10. Read the employment reports for schools before you decide to apply and certainly before you decide to attend; you need to know school strengths as revealed in these reports. Understand the role of the career services staff (educating students about effective career planning and job search) and the limitations of that role. (They don’t create or find jobs for you.) Networking, which is about building relationships not the size of your contact list, is more important than ever. In order to build relationships, you must move beyond email.

Harvard Business School

At Harvard, we enjoyed an interactive two-hour presentation that was stimulating and engaging. To the extent it reflected the dynamism of the Harvard educational experience, I was extremely impressed.

This visit clarified for me that Harvard’s unparalleled brand is not just a matter of US News Rankings or smoke-and-mirrors branding.  At the same time, HBS is not for everyone, but like any top graduate program, it can be a fantastic experience for the right individuals.

Before the conference started my husband and I met with an acquaintance who is a professor at HBS. The professor was curious about my work, and I was curious about his. He asked me what I believe distinguishes Harvard students from the rest of the applicant pool. I thought for a moment and replied, “Leadership and impact.” He smiled, and the conversation moved on. Just before leaving, I asked him, “From your perspective as an HBS professor, what is a common quality shared by HBS students?” He replied, “I smiled when you answered my question because the students come from incredibly diverse backgrounds. However, if I have to identify a common thread, it would be leadership and impact.” If you are serious about attending Harvard Business School, make sure you demonstrate leadership and impact.

Reflections and Thank yous

It is our job as admissions consultants to help you choose the best target programs and show that you  belong at your chosen schools. The candor and graciousness shown by the hosting schools as well as by the presenting admissions directors will help Accepted’s staff do exactly that.

I am proud to report that Accepted’s staff was well represented at  the conference. In addition to myself, Jennifer Bloom, Paul Bodine, Judy Gruen, Tanis Kmetyk, Cindy Tokumitsu, and Robbie Walker attended.

Profound thanks to the hosts and presenters as well as to AIGAC, led by Graham Richmond of Clear Admit, and specifically to Maxx Duffy of Maxx Associates and Anna Ivey of Ivey Consulting who co-chaired the event. Thanks also to the sponsors: Veritas Prep, Clear Admit, Hult International Business School, Manhattan GMAT, MBA Podcaster, and Zoom Interviews

Learn More: Best MBA Programs: A Guide to Choosing the One for You.

By Linda Abraham, President and Founder of Accepted.com.

• Harvard Business School, Yale SOM, Northwestern Kellogg, Chicago Booth, and Michigan Ross are all either in the midst of searching for or have just hired new deans. B-schools around the country are trying to revamp their programs, ramp up fundraising, and freshen the face of leadership in an effort to restore “the tarnished reputations of business schools,” states an article in the Wall Street Journal, “B-Schools Try Makeover.” We’ve discussed the MBA makeover quite a bit in this blog; see the following articles for more information: “The MBA Oath: Where Business and Ethics Meet…Maybe,” “B-Schools Implement Reform Long in the Making,” “Haas’ New Image: ‘Developing Innovative Leaders,’” “Chicago’s Ted Snyder To Become Dean of Yale SOM in 2011,” “Kellogg Names NYU Stern’s Sally Blount New Dean,” “HBS News: Dean Light to Retire,” and “Ross Sad to See Dolan Go.”

• A related article (”Changing Course” in The Economist) also highlights changes b-schools have made to heighten ethical awareness, modernize and make more relevant curricula, and to churn out good people, as well as good businessmen. HBS’s MBA Oath has taken a front seat in this discussion, as well as Berkeley Haas‘ curriculum reform. Haas’ Dean Lyons says, “This feels like exactly the time for a business school to take values seriously—not just post them on the wall, but to really go for it.” Lyons explains that the MBA Oath, while a good idea, needs to be transformed from a b-school conversation into an integral part of universal culture. Enforcing the important role of strong, innovative leaders is also at the forefront of Dean Lyon’s evolving strategy.

Related Accepted.com MBA Resources:

• B-School Zones
• Submit a Stellar Application: 42 Terrific Tips, an instantly downloadable ebook
• Navigate the MBA Maze, a free email course

Want our news sent directly to your inbox? Subscribe to the Accepted Admissions Almanac by clicking here



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Robert Dammon, CMU Tepper associate dean and professor, explains the price-wage connection: “The kinds of students that the best schools attract are going to get the highest-paying jobs.”

Paul R. Dorf, managing director of the consulting firm, Compensation Resources, adds, “The cream-of-the-crop companies hire the cream-of-the-crop grads.”

Top-ranked b-schools generally offer the most expensive programs and generally churn out the highest paid graduates. Harvard Business School, for example, has the most expensive MBA program, and the best paid alumni.

PayScale, a salary-comparison company, recently evaluated salary data of 23,000 MBA graduates from Bloomberg Businessweek’s top 45 American business schools.

Their data shows that on average, MBAs from top programs make $2.5 million (base-pay plus bonuses) over the course of 20 years in a single industry. HBS alumni make closer to $4 million, while alumni from lower ranked programs (but still in the top 45) like Iowa Tippie, make less than half of that.

Another interesting comparison between the higher ranked and lower ranked programs was the growth of salary over the two-decade period. Graduates from Yale SOM, for example, were awarded with extremely high starting salaries, but then experienced only small increases over the following 20 years. Grads from University of Connecticut’s business school, on the other hand, received lower starting salaries that more than doubled over that same 20-year period.

Below are the top median salaries earned after less than 2 years out of b-school and then the estimated career total for a 20-year long career:

Related Accepted.com Resources:

• B-School Zones
• The Rankings: An Accepted.com Special Report
• Forbes ROI MBA Rankings for 2010
• BusinessWeek’s Top 10 Undergraduate Business Schools with the Best Returns on Investment

Want our news sent directly to your inbox? Subscribe to the Accepted Admissions Almanac by clicking here!

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

The First Prize ($200 Amazon gift certificate) goes to BizWiz for his shot of Stanford GSB’s Oval Park:

Second Prize ($100 gift certificate) goes to Matt Thieleman for his picture of Tappan Street and Michigan Ross amidst some stunning fall foliage.

Third Prize ($50 gift certificate) goes to Jennifer Lu for her picture of UVA Darden’s central grounds and amphitheater:

This contest wouldn’t have been possible without our hard-working judges:

• Xlick, author of A New Yorker’s MBA Journey blog.
• Ameya, author of Unraveling Mystery blog.
• Rocky, author of Rocky’s Journey to an MBA blog.
• Mad Bubbles, author of Madalogue – A Young Gal’s Dreamroll blog.
• 2012 MBA Applicant, author of 2012 MBA Applicant blog.
• Hari, author of Memoirs of a MBA Aspirant blog.
• MBAJourney, author of My Journey to an MBA Class of 2012 blog.
• TheDreamChaser, author of The DreamChaser’s Journey blog.
• Braveheart, author of Illuminati’s MBA Quest blog.
• Djveeder, Djveeder from Twitter.
• ErinBerin, ErinBerin from Twitter.

To view more 2010 Beautiful B-School photos, visit our photo album on Facebook or the Accepted.com B-School Zones pages.

Thanks again to all participants, winners, and judges—we hope you had as much as we had!

2011 applicants: You could be on one of these lists next year, so get those cameras out and start snapping away for next year’s Beautiful B-School Photo Contest!

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

“I work hard and I work quickly,” Prahalad told Adi Ignatius, Harvard Business Review blogger, when asked how a single man could create so much literature. “But once I’m done with a project, I like to move on to a new one, and leave it to my collaborators to deal with the legacy of the last one.”

C.K. Prahalad was known as a management guru around the world and was perhaps made most popular by his theory about “the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid,” a concept that is followed by many emerging market corporations. His book, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits was a New York Times bestseller and was what catapulted him to management fame.

In “C.K. Prahalad: Thoughts and Remembrances,” a Wall Street Journal article dedicated to “one of the world’s best-known management experts and authors,” the dean of the Indian School of Business, Ajit Rangnekar, says of his experience with Prahalad: “He has always been a close friend and inspiration for the school. We have been motivated by his philosophy to reach out and make a difference to the people who have remained untouched by the fruits of economic growth.”

Prahalad was a graduate of Harvard Business School class of ‘72. He spent much of his career on the faculty at Michigan’s Ross School of Business.

Prahalad was a man widely respected and appreciated. “He had the rarest of combinations: deep insights coupled with compassion and practical relevance,” explains Morten T. Hansen on the Harvard Business Review’s special memorial website. “His path was not one filled with trivial academic articles but one of big ideas that moved leaders, academics and the world.”



Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Dunn has been serving as dean of Tepper since 2002.

“I accepted the position of dean because I wanted to give back to the place that has been so influential in my life and career,” said Dunn. “Without question, the Tepper School is one of the world’s best business schools and I was honored to be invited to lead such a great institution.”

According to Tepper administration, faculty, and students, Dunn has contributed significantly to the top b-school, including leading the $55 million naming donation from David and Marlene Tepper and implementing infrastructure, facility, and academic upgrades.

According to Mark S. Kamlet, CMU executive vice president and provost, “The next dean will have a very solid foundation, indeed, upon which to advance the school.”

For more information on b-school deans stepping down, please see:

• HBS News: Dean Light to Retire
• Chicago Booth Dean Announces Resignation
• Ross Sad to See Dolan Go
• Kellogg Names NYU Stern’s Sally Blount New Dean

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Ross’s Multidisciplinary Action Projects, the real world program that Dean Dolan cultivated, has become “sort of the signature element of the school…[a]nd it’s the way we differentiate ourselves to say that we really think in terms of developing leadership capabilities,” explains Dolan about the program’s success.

“He’s really solidified our identity in a way, as being a school that is really grounded in this idea of leading in thought and action and action-based learning,” says Kathleen Sutcliffe, associate dean for research and faculty at Ross.

According to Dolan, the construction of the new facility is also representative of Ross’s improved action-based learning philosophy.

Ross administrators and faculty say that they are sad to see Dolan step down and move on.

Dolan is following in the footsteps of Dean Edward Snyder from Chicago Booth and Dean Jay O. Light from HBS who also stepped down from their posts after a ten-year stint. “Well, ten years is time for you to execute your vision,” says Dolan, “and maybe it’s better for somebody else with a new view on the world to come along and have their chance to mold the school.”

Related Accepted.com Blog Posts

• Sitting Down with Ross’ Dean Dolan
• Chicago Booth Dean Announces Resignation
• Chicago’s Ted Snyder To Become Dean of Yale SOM in 2011
• HBS News: Dean Light to Retire; Director’s Update
• Interview with HBS Dean Jay Light

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

The best business schools according to FT:

1. London Business School
2. University of Pennsylvania: Wharton
3. Harvard Business School
4. Stanford GSB
5. INSEAD
6. Columbia Business School
7. IE (tied with Columbia)
8. MIT Sloan
9. Chicago Booth
10. Hong Kong UST Business School

I have long argued that far more valuable than the overall rankings are the specialty rankings. Here are FT’s specialty rankings:

Top for international business
1 Thunderbird School of Global Management
2 University of South Carolina: Moore
3 Georgetown University: McDonough
4 Insead
5 George Washington University
6 Hult International Business School
7 IMD
8 Manchester Business School
9 University of Southern California: Marshall
10 London Business School

Top for finance
1 University of Chicago: Booth
2 New York University: Stern
3 University of Pennsylvania: Wharton
4 Rice University: Jones
5 University of Rochester: Simon
6 London Business School
7 Columbia Business School
8 Macquarie Graduate School of Management
9 University of Iowa: Tippie
10 University of Toronto: Rotman

Top for accountancy
1 Brigham Young University: Marriott
2 University of Chicago: Booth
3 University of Texas at Austin: McCombs
4 New York University: Stern
5 Macquarie Graduate School of Management
6 University of Rochester: Simon
7 Cornell University: Johnson
8 University of Pennsylvania: Wharton
9 Rice University: Jones
10 Texas A & M University: Mays

Top for entrepreneurship
1 Babson College: Olin
2 Stanford University GSB
3 Imperial College Business School
4 UCLA: Anderson
5 University of California at Berkeley: Haas
6 MIT Sloan School of Management
7 University of Cambridge: Judge
8 IMD
9 Wisconsin School of Business
10 Insead

Top for economics
1 University of Chicago: Booth
2 Cranfield School of Management
3 MIT Sloan School of Management
4 Yale School of Management
5 University of Rochester: Simon
6 Imperial College Business School
7 Melbourne Business School
8 University of Pennsylvania: Wharton
9 IE Business School
10 New York University: Stern

Top for corporate social responsibility
1 University of Notre Dame: Mendoza
2 University of California at Berkeley: Haas
3 Yale School of Management
4 Ipade
5 University of Virginia: Darden
6 Brigham Young University: Marriott
7 Esade Business School
8 University of Michigan: Ross
9 University of North Carolina: Kenan-Flagler
10 Thunderbird School of Global Management

Top for general management
1 University of Virginia: Darden
2 Harvard Business School
3 Ipade
4 Dartmouth College: Tuck
5 IMD
6 University of Michigan: Ross
7 University of Western Ontario: Ivey
8 Northwestern University: Kellogg
9 Stanford University GSB
10 Duke University: Fuqua

Top for marketing
1 Northwestern University: Kellogg
2 Duke University: Fuqua
3 Indiana University: Kelley
4 Ipade
5 Esade Business School
6 Wisconsin School of Business
7 Imperial College Business School
8 University of Michigan: Ross
9 HEC Paris
10 Cornell University: Johnson

Rather than list all my important caveats for using rankings, I’ll simply refer you to our MBA Rankings Report.

By Linda Abraham, President and Founder of Accepted.com.