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Notre Dame Mendoza 2010 MBA Essay Questions
My comments are below in red.
Your responses to the essay questions are extremely important in the selection process. Please use separate sheets of paper for each essay question and include your name on each sheet. Your essays should be typed and double-spaced. Each essay should be no longer than 2 pages each.
Please complete the following essay.
I. What are your career plans immediately after graduation? Explain how your past experiences prepare you for your desired position. What are your long-term career aspirations?
Translation: What are you short-term and long-term goals? How have your past experiences prepared you for your short-term goal?
Note: This question does not ask "Why Notre Dame?" You do not need to explicitly answer that question, but the excellent response to this question will reflect Notre Dame's four dimensions of leadership: An integrated mind, broad perspective, heart (a guiding set of core values), and tenacity (the role of communication, motivation and mobilization). In addition, the long-term objective will be much more plausible if it flows organically from the short-term one.
II. Additionally, please complete any one of the following six essay questions.
This year, Mendoza provides more options from which to choose, but only let's you submit one. Think carefully and choose the one that will allow you to best present yourself as a multi-dimensional human being who shares Notre Dame's focus on ethical general management.
1. The MBA Values Statement is an important guide for our students and the bedrock of our shared community values. Please review the MBA Values Statement and then choose the one value you believe has had the most impact on your professional career to date. Be sure to give a specific example of how you have lived out that value in your professional experience.
The key part of this question is the last sentence. Choose the value in the statement that allows you to demonstrate that you not only believe in this principle but live and breathe it. Ideally it will also complement -- not duplicate -- experiences discussed elsewhere in your application.
2. What do you view as your greatest professional failure to this point? How do you feel that a Notre Dame MBA would change the outcome of a similar situation in the future?
New Question - Write about a real failure or disappointment. You can use this essay to bring out another side of you, perhaps a teamwork experience or something that happened a few years ago. Your response to the situation is probably the most important part of the question. Please see:
The last part of this question is an interesting twist on a fairly common type of MBA essay question. In order to anwer it well, you will have to know Mendoza's program inside and out. The solid response will reveal that inside knowledge.
3. How has trust played a role in your professional experience? Give a specific example of how trust, or a lack of trust, has impacted your professional experience.
New and unusual Question. It reflects Notre Dame's focus on values and ethics. Think about one experience probably professional where trust or the lack of it played a role. Did lack of trush prevent a deal. Did you see two people working comfortably and with tremendous efficiency because they trusted each other. Either type of example, and countless others, could work.
4. Describe a time when you were given a project or assignment in an area that was not well defined or where you had little expertise. Please explain exactly what you did and what the result or outcome was.
New Question. If your example shows the kind of leadership and integrity that Notre Dame is interested in, so much the better. If you demonstrate measurable impact, again, your essay and application will be that much stronger.
5. What brand would you most like to manage? Why? How would you improve it?
New Question, and another challenging one. Write about a brand you are familiar with. Then discuss what you would do to increase sales, customer satisfaction, price, time to market or other aspects of the brand that are of interest to you. You don't have to discuss them all. Don't forget to explain why you are interested in this brand.
6. Walter B. Wriston, the storied late CEO of Citibank, wrote a book titled “Risk and Other Four Letter Words” in which he postulated that society's greatness is commensurate with its ability to take risk and, thus, to reward risk takers. Given the financial crisis of 2008-2009, do you feel that banks took on an acceptable or unacceptable level of risk? Why or why not? In either case, has the financial crisis changed your view of careers in finance? If so, how?
New Question. It's fairly clear and straight-forward, if you follow the financial markets. In fact I recommend that only applicants interested in pursuing a career in investment a and finance respond to this question.
If you would like help with your Notre Dame MBA application, please consider Accepted.com's MBA essay editing and admissions consulting or one of our Notre Dame Mendoza Comprehensive Packages.
Slide Presentation
Effective business communication is a central skill for managers and visual presentations are an important and frequent method of communication.
I. Demonstrate your ability to clearly, concisely and persuasively communicate important information by telling us about yourself using a short slide presentation.
- Please consider the following guidelines when creating your presentation. You are free to cover any material about yourself that you think would be of value to the Admissions Committee. Please use whatever software programs you like to develop your presentation but note that the only acceptable format for upload in the online application system is Adobe PDF.
- There is a strict maximum of four slides, though you can provide fewer than four if you choose.
- The slides that you submit will be printed and added to your application file for review by the Admissions Committee. As a result, only text and static images will be seen. Videos, music, hyperlinks, etc will not be conveyed and should not be included. Color may be used.
- Your goal is to clearly, concisely and persuasively convey key information. Slides will be evaluated on these dimensions and not on graphic or presentation elements.
- Notes pages will not be accepted. You should plan to convey your entire message on the actual slides themselves.
- To assist MBA Applicants with the development of their slide presentation, please consult this PowerPoint Guide.
Notre Dame Mendoza 2010 MBA Deadlines
Deadlines are noted below. Decisions will be announced on a rolling basis with an average response time of less than four weeks depending on volume. Applications received after the final deadline will be reviewed pending available space. Applications are considered complete and ready for review when all materials (including GMAT/TOEFL scores) are on file in the MBA Admissions Office.
| Deadline | Received By: | Decisions Sent By: |
| Early | Nov. 16, 2009 | Dec.18, 2009 |
| Preferred | Jan. 18, 2010 | Feb.18, 2010 |
| Third | Mar.15, 2010 | Apr. 16, 2010 |
| Final 1 | Apr. 5, 2010 | Apr. 26, 2010 |
| Final 2 | May 17, 2010 | Jun. 7, 2010 |
* The April 5 deadline is for One-Year Program applicants only. Applications received or completed after this date will be evaluated for the One-Year class on a space available basis.
**The May 17 deadline is for Two-Year Program applicants only. Applications received or completed after this date will be evaluated for the Two-Year class on a space available basis.
Please feel free to join Accepted.com for a chance to get insights into Notre Dame’s dynamic MBA program, on Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/5:00 PM GMT. Brian Lohr, Notre Dame's Director of Admissions and other members of the Notre Dame community, will participate in this chat devoted to Notre Dame's program, admissions policies and student life. The chat will take place in Accepted's chat room.
