UNC Kenan Flagler 2011 MBA Essay Questions

Some applicants seek the MBA as a career enhancing tool to accelerate advancement in their current field. Career switchers want the MBA to help launch new career paths. UNC Kenan-Flagler recognizes each of these motivations as legitimate reasons to pursue the MBA, and we encourage both types of candidates to apply.

UNC Kenan-Flagler encourages you to assess your known talents and potential skills, understand your personal style, and confirm your values and interests. If you do this prior to beginning your MBA studies, you will be better equipped to navigate the many options the MBA program will provide. There is not enough time to do all the activities and take all the courses that will be available to you. It is important, therefore, to make your choices based on your own development plan. Think of the UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA application as a first step toward uncovering the unique attributes and goals that will inform your development plan. Please be thoughtful and reflective in your answer

Essay One (Required)

What are the 2 or 3 strengths or characteristics that have driven your career success thus far? What are the other strengths that you would like to leverage in the future? (500 words maximum)

Rather than list Strength 1, Strength 2, and Strength 3, I recommend you start with an anecdote that illustrates ideally 2-3 or your strengths and then analyze how they have contributed to your career success. Remember to describe your achievement in terms of impact and to quantify as much as possible. Another approach: Describe the accomplishment anecdotally and then go into the characteristics that contributed to it.

In both cases, also include a paragraph about a trait that you would like to use in future projects and successes.

Essay Two (Required)

Please describe your short and long term goals post-MBA. Explain how: your professional experience has shaped these goals; why this career option appeals to you; and how you arrived at the decision that now is the time and the MBA is the appropriate degree. (500 words maximum)

What do you see yourself doing immediately upon graduation and what would you like to do ten years from now? Describe why this path attracts you. What experiences have convinced you to pursue it? Why do you need an MBA, especially one with UNC’s approach to business education, to proceed down your chosen path.

Essay Three (Required)

What personal qualities or life experiences distinguish you from other applicants? How do these qualities or experiences equip you to contribute to UNC Kenan-Flagler? (500 words maximum)

Everyone has a story. What’s yours? What makes you unique? What hobbies and experiences will differentiate you from the IT guy, consultant, real estate developer, or banker that the adcom just read about? How will your perspective contribute to the classroom and community at Kenan-Flagler?

Essay Four (Optional)

If your standardized test scores are low, or if you have not had coursework in core business subjects (calculus, microeconomics, statistics, financial accounting), please tell us how you plan to prepare yourself for the quantitative rigor of the MBA curriculum. (300 words maximum)

This is pretty straightforward. Just answer it. You may also want to highlight professional preparation that you have already had in quantitative areas.

Essay Five (Optional)

Is there any other information you would like to share that is not presented elsewhere in the application? (300 words maximum)

My favorite: The optional essay. A gift allowing you to give the adcom one more reason to admit you.

If you would like help with UNC’s Kenan-Flagler essays, please consider Accepted.com’s MBA admissions consulting and editing services or our UNC Kenan Flagler School Packages. All non-rushMBA essay serviceschool packageare 10% OFF with our Early Bird Special. End July 31.

UNC Kenan Flagler 2011 MBA Deadline

* Requests for admissions decisions before the decision release dates cannot be granted. You are urged to apply early and to submit the personal information and resume portion of the application. UNC Kenan-Flagler’s class size is small, and admission is very competitive.

The admissions office must also receive official GMAT or GRE (if applicable) and TOEFL scores by the application deadline in order to consider your application in that cycle.

Decisions are also posted online by 5 p.m. on the decision mailing dates.

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

Yes, the rest of the country is still plagued and angered by unemployment rates and bank bailouts, but b-school students are beginning to see the “light at the end of what is now a pretty short tunnel,” as Tracy Handler, a spokeswoman for the MBA Career Services Council, puts it.

For example, 20% more banks interviewed at UVA Darden this year than last, and so far, job offers from banks to Darden students have risen 33%. At Duke’s Fugua, investment banking internship offerings have doubled since last year, more banks are interviewing at Duke, and more students are attending the Wall Street field trip. UNC Kenan-Flagler has seen a 67% increase in investment bankers visiting the campus this year.

Jeff Fischer, Kenan-Flagler director of career management, explains the b-school job market well: “The MBA population is like the end of a whip. When cycles swing up and down, students are the ones who swing up and down the most in terms of employment.”

Related Accepted.com Resources:

• GMAC: MBA Employers Express Job Market Optimism
• Good News for MBAs: Job Opportunities Abound!

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Fortunately, assuming the FT is correct in its allegations, top MBA programs are addressing these criticisms and are cleaning up their acts. B-schools are tweaking their curriculums—with some changes as major as adding new classes—to transmit to their students lessons of the financial crisis. Classes on ethics and the history of financial crises are some of the new offerings at now conscientious b-schools.

Jake Cohen, dean of the MBA program at Insead explains how the economic crisis is achieving a goal otherwise overlooked in the past: the bridging of private and public sectors. Teaching MBA students about the impact of the public sector and its relationship with the private sector is now an integral learning point for current MBAs.

Harvard Business School is an example of an institution that is taking specific measures to educate its MBA students about the impact of the financial crisis. HBS has added new courses, including “The Evolution of the US Financial System” and “Managing the Modern Financial Firm.” Risk management, until now, has been a relatively undervalued focus in an MBA course of study.

Anderson School of Management at UCLA is also making significant changes to its syllabi. A first-year finance class that used to focus on stocks and bonds now includes discussions on credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligations, and mortgage-backed securities.

Kenan Flagler’s Dean James Dean is taking a more conservative approach. He explains:

“We don’t want to make knee-jerk changes, we want to be thoughtful about it. It would be a bad mistake to throw out some of the fundamentals for something that looks important now but will not be as important three or four years from now.”

I think we can all agree with Dean in hoping that these crisis-related objectives will be irrelevant in a few years.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

The chat will take place in the Accepted chat room.

During Accepted’s most recent MBA admissions chat, we hosted a busy event with the Consortium. Here are a few excerpts from the transcript.

Linda Abraham (Oct 20, 2009 7:05:14 PM)
To all the school reps, does the applicant ranking influence the evaluation of the application?

WendyHuberUVA (Oct 20, 2009 7:06:22 PM)
Linda, applicants should apply as if the schools do not see the ranking. Rankings are only looked at when we are deciding fellowships, they are not used in the admission decision.

JacquelynnDayROCHESTER (Oct 20, 2009 7:09:08 PM)
Linda: While we do consider an individual’s rankings, we look at the application as a whole, therefore we encourage students to focus on submitting an overall competitive application

RTorres (Oct 20, 2009 7:05:50 PM)
What happens with applicants that apply to the Consortium and to the specific MBA programs at schools when they are not accepted into the fellowship? How are their MBA applications handled? Are they still considered by the schools?

ErinNicklesburgWISCONSIN (Oct 20, 2009 7:07:59 PM)
RTorres: Each applicant is evaluated independently by each school in terms of both admission and Fellowship decision. An offer of admission does not indicate a guaranteed Fellowship offer, as they are separate. The admission offer will stand regardless of the Fellowship offer. If a Fellowship offer is not given, the applicant will go into the general merit-based aid pool.

AmyPR (Oct 20, 2009 7:12:34 PM)
What is the difference between the November application date and the January application date? Do chances of acceptance increase one date vs. the other?

LaurieShunneyCORNELL (Oct 20, 2009 7:15:21 PM)
AmyPR- Competitiveness for admission and scholarship may increase in later rounds. In general, we recommend submitting the strongest application possible. If you are prepared to apply during the November round, it may help.

By Linda Abraham, founder and president of Accepted.com.

My comments are in red. The essay questions are identical to last year’s, as are my comments, with the exception of one new question for essay 4.

Some applicants seek the MBA as a career enhancing tool to accelerate advancement in their current field. Career switchers want the MBA to help launch new career paths. UNC Kenan-Flagler recognizes each of these motivations as legitimate reasons to pursue the MBA, and we encourage both types of candidates to apply.

UNC Kenan-Flagler encourages you to assess your known talents and potential skills, understand your personal style, and confirm your values and interests. If you do this prior to beginning your MBA studies, you will be better equipped to navigate the many options the MBA program will provide. There is not enough time to do all the activities and take all the courses that will be available to you. It is important, therefore, to make your choices based on your own development plan. Think of the UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA application as a first step toward uncovering the unique attributes and goals that will inform your development plan. Please be thoughtful and reflective in your answers.

Essay One (Required)

What are the 2 or 3 strengths or characteristics that have driven your career success thus far? Do you have other strengths that you would like to leverage in the future? (500 words maximum)

Rather than list Strength 1, Strength 2, and Strength 3, I recommend you start with an anecdote that illustrates ideally 2-3 or your strengths and then analyze how they have contributed to your career success. Remember to describe your achievement in terms of impact and quantify as much as possible. Another approach: Describe the accomplishment anecdotally and then go into the characteristics that contributed to it.

In both cases, also include a paragraph about a trait that you would like to use in future projects and successes.

Essay Two (Required)

Briefly describe the career path you intend to pursue immediately after b-school. Explain why this career option appeals to you and why an MBA is appropriate at this time. (500 words maximum)

What do you see yourself doing immediately upon graduation and for the first five years after you graduate? Based on UNC’s instructions, you need to have a clear direction and goal when you arrive or you will be lost. Describe why this path attracts you. What experiences have convinced you to pursue it? Why do you need an MBA, especially one with UNC’s approach to business education, to proceed down your chosen path.

Essay Three (Required)

What personal qualities or life experiences distinguish you from other applicants? How do these qualities or experiences equip you to contribute to Kenan-Flagler? (500 words maximum)

Everyone has a story. What’s yours? What makes you unique? What hobbies and experiences will differentiate you from the IT guy, consultant, real estate developer, or banker that the adcom just read about? How will your perspective contribute to the classroom and community at Kenan-Flagler?

Essay Four (Required)

Kenan-Flagler has five core values: excellence, leadership, integrity, community and teamwork. If you could add one value what would it be and why? Be sure to explain how you have lived this value.
(300 words maximum)

New Question. This excellent question gives you the chance to show what is important to you. The question is very clear. What do you value that is not listed as one of Kenan-Flager’s core values? Why do you feel it is important. And finally, when have acted — invested time and toil– as a result of this value you hold dear. Feeling and opining strongly are not enough. Action counts.

Essay Five (Optional)

If your GMAT quantitative score is low, or if you have not had coursework in calculus, microeconomics, statistics and financial accounting, please tell us how you plan to prepare yourself for the quantitative MBA curriculum. (300 words maximum)

This is pretty straightforward. Just answer it. You may also want to highlight professional preparation that you have already had in quantitative areas.

Essay Six (Optional)

Is there anything else you think the Admissions Committee should know about you in order to evaluate your candidacy?
(300 words maximum)

My favorite: The optional question. A gift allowing you to give the adcom one more reason to admit you.

If you would like help with UNC’s Kenan-Flagler essays, please consider Accepted.com’s MBA admissions consulting and editing services or our UNC Kenan Flagler Comprehensive Packages.

UNC Kenan Flagler 2010 MBA Deadlines

*Parts I and II must be received by midnight EST

• Dean Robert Bruner of Darden on April 5 wrote on Twitter “Controversy over the role of B-schools in the crisis. Did they warn strongly enough about the risks of toxic assets? Probably not.”
• Joel Podolny, formerly a professor at Harvard Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business and previous dean of Yale’s School of Management, asks “Are Business Schools to Blame?” He critiques schools for 1) Dividing the “challenges of management and leadership in a dysfunctional way.” 2) Communicating the idea that applicants should “measure the MBA degree’s benefit in terms of the additional salary they can earn.” 3) Lacking contrition and failing to make changes in response to fallout from the crisis. My $.02: While #1 makes sense, I disagree with #2 and #3. Applicants should expect professional advancement from a professional degree and see if the degree will pay for itself. Basic business concept. It’s a little too early for the programs to make meaningful changes in response to a crisis that really blew up in September.
• Steve Kerr, former Chief Learning Officer at Goldman Sachs and at GE, disagrees vehemently in “Don’t Blame the Business Schools.”
• Henry Mintzburg blasts the business schools (as usual) in “America’s Monumental Failure of Management.”
• Stefan Stern defends them in “Why MBA bashing is unfair”
• President of Thunderbird Dr. Ángel Cabrera has been vocal in saying the business schools are culpable.

Additionally, there are a slew of articles in the Harvard Business Review about the responsibility of MBA programs for the financial crisis.

I would like to highlight today’s excellent piece on The Wall St. Journal editorial page by Dr. Michael Jacobs of UNC’s Kenan Flagler School of Business entitled “How Business Schools Have Failed Business.”

His main points:

1. Misaligned and dysfunctional incentive programs rewarded short-term gain instead of long-term value creation. Most business schools do not systematically address compensation systems.
2. Corporate boards were “AWOL.” Schools don’t require courses in board structure, composition, and processes. Courses in “ethics”are not enough and are not the same as governance.
3. The investment community failed to accurately evaluate risks. Jacobs argues that “as the gulf between the provider and the user of capital widens, the risks involved with selecting and monitoring the participants in the portfolio increase.” 

As a member of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC), we are conducting a survey to help us better understand MBA applicants’ goals and needs.  If you are or will be an MBA applicant, we invite you to share your priorities and views on the MBA application process.

This online survey should take just 10 minutes to complete.  We would love to receive as many responses as possible before the closing date of Friday, March 20, 2009 - and AIGAC will be giving away an iPod Touch and two iPod Shuffles as a token of our gratitude!

Thanks in advance for your participation!

Simply click here to begin.

The chat takes place tomorrow Thursday February 19 at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/6:00 PM GMT in the Accepted Chat Room.

• Late Season Special. Accepted’s own modest contribution to the Porkulus, I mean Stimulus, Plan: $100 off all orders over $1,000. Use coupon code SAVE100 during checkout to get the discount. Ends March 12.
• Beautiful B-School Photo Contest Let the artist in you emerge through the lens of your digital camera. share your pictures from your b-school visits. And enter our contest to win prizes worth up to $250 in value. Check out last year’s winning photos and the rules for this year’s contest.
• UNC Kenan-Flagler Chat with Sherry Wallace Ask questions about this year’s admissions at UNC, applying third round, or your waitlist status. Sherry and her team will have the answers.
• Save the date: Accepted’s first 2010 MBA admissions telethon is scheduled for March 4, 2009 from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM PT/4:00 PM – 6:00 PM ET / 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM GMT. Details and registration info to follow.

And ongoing: It’s a 10! MBA Interview Feedback contest and our featured ebook of the month: The Nine Mistakes You Don`t Want to Make on a Med School Waitlist