{"id":42112,"date":"2018-06-12T10:54:42","date_gmt":"2018-06-12T17:54:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=42112"},"modified":"2018-06-12T10:54:42","modified_gmt":"2018-06-12T17:54:42","slug":"yale-school-of-management-essay-analysis-2018-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/yale-school-of-management-essay-analysis-2018-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Yale School of Management Essay Analysis, 2018\u20132019"},"content":{"rendered":"

We hosted a\u00a0question-and-answer session with several leading admissions officers<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0earlier this year that featured Yale School of Management (SOM) Assistant Dean for Admissions Bruce DelMonico. Ever the straight shooter, Bruce told us that the SOM would not be changing its application essay prompt for this season. We likely should have just taken him at his word, but just to be sure, we waited to see whether Yale would indeed officially recommit to its single essay, and\u2026 it did! The school has made no modifications to its prompt. So, you have one 500-word essay with which to make an impression on the admissions committee. Here it is. . .<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Describe the biggest commitment you have ever made. (500 words maximum)<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a Yale SOM blog post about the school\u2019s essay prompt, Bruce noted that this \u201cseemingly simple and straightforward question\u201d was composed with assistance from one of the program\u2019s organizational behavior professors. Yale\u2019s admissions committee clearly takes the application essay seriously and is being thoughtful about the types of behaviors it wants to see in the school\u2019s students. In our online event, Bruce declared himself \u201cagnostic\u201d about whether applicants should discuss a personal commitment or a professional one. He notes that he is simply trying to gauge the level to which candidates commit themselves, rather than the context of the engagement: \u201cWe don\u2019t have a preference for professional or personal accomplishments. . . . We are not making value judgments about what that commitment is, but it is more about how you approach that commitment, how you have demonstrated that commitment, and what sorts of behaviors underlie that commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n

You may initially think that this prompt is rather narrow in scope, allowing you space to share the story of just a single professional or community project and nothing more. Although you can certainly discuss your dedication to a particular project or cause, you are definitely not restricted to this approach. Consider this: you can also be committed to an\u00a0idea<\/em>\u00a0(e.g., personal liberty) or a\u00a0value<\/em>\u00a0(e.g., creating opportunity for others), and approaching your essay from this angle instead could enable you to share much more of and about yourself with the SOM admissions committee. For example, you might relate a few anecdotes that on the surface seem unrelated\u2014drawing from different parts of your life\u2014but that all support and illustrate how you are guided by a particular value. Or, to return to the example of personal liberty as a theme, you could show how you take control of your academic and professional paths, adhering steadfastly to your values and vision. Whatever you choose to feature as the focus of your commitment, your actions and decisions, manifest via a variety of experiences, must allow you to own it as a genuine part of who you are as an individual. Identifying a theme that you think no one else will ever use is not your goal here; presenting authentic anecdotes that powerfully support your selected theme is what is important.<\/p>\n

However, if you prefer to focus on a single anecdote, the commitment you claim must be truly inordinate. Being particularly proud of an accomplishment is not enough to make it an effective topic for this essay. You need to demonstrate your constancy and dedication in the face of challenges or resistance, revealing that your connection to the experience was hard won. Strive to show that you have been resolute in following a sometimes difficult path and have doggedly stayed on course, citing clear examples to illustrate your steadfastness. Nothing commonplace will work here\u2014you must make your reader truly understand your journey and leave him or her more impressed by your effort than the outcome.<\/p>\n

For a thorough exploration of the Yale SOM academic program\/merits, defining characteristics, crucial statistics, social life, academic environment, and other key features, check out the mbaMission\u00a0Insider\u2019s Guide to the Yale School of Management<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Next Step\u2014Mastering Your Yale SOM Interview<\/em><\/strong>:<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Many MBA candidates find admissions interviews stressful and intimidating, but mastering this important element of the application process is definitely possible\u2014the key is informed preparation. To help you on your way to this high level of preparation, we offer our free Interview Primers. Download your free copy of the\u00a0Yale School of Management Interview Primer<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We hosted a\u00a0question-and-answer session with several leading admissions officers\u00a0earlier this year that featured Yale School of Management (SOM) Assistant Dean for Admissions Bruce DelMonico. Ever the straight shooter, Bruce told…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,3,4,6,8,872,113,10,243,766],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba","category-b-school-life","category-career-reviews","category-current-events","category-fun-stuff","category-mbamission","category-applications","category-interviews","category-blog","category-top-stories","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42112"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42113,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42112\/revisions\/42113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}