![\"Fortuna](\"https:\/\/fortunaadmissions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Cornell-Johnson.jpg\")
<\/h2>\n<\/h2>\nWhy?\u00a0Like all top business schools, Cornell Johnson wants to know what you\u2019ll bring to the table, to the community and what you\u2019re passionate about beyond the ways you make your living. The difference is its explicit invitation to veer from the narrative conveyed by the \u2018front of your resume\u2019 to get to “the rest of your story” and \u201cpresent yourself as an individual.\u201d That you can submit your song, video, digital portfolio,\u00a0or visually enhanced prose means that Cornell want to see what happens when you have permission to really get creative about it. The program puts this into context in its application requirements<\/a>\u00a0by explaining:<\/p>\n \u201cThe front page of your resume has given us a sense of your professional experience and accomplishments as well as your academic summary and extracurricular involvement. If the back page reflects \u201cthe rest of your story,\u201d please help us get to know you better by sharing the experiences that will give us insight into your character, values, and interests.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n If your quant-leaning heart is starting to race, I\u2019m smiling because this is totally in character for Cornell. It\u2019s sending a strong message that Cornell doesn\u2019t just care about how well you perform in the classroom and who you are in your career. As Cornell Johnson\u2019s former Assistant Dean of MBA Admissions, I\u2019m admittedly a little biased for my love of the school. But this also gives me the insight on how you can make your business school essays for Johnson sing (perhaps, literally).<\/p>\n When we first unveiled the \u201ctable of contents\u201d essay question while I was assistant dean, there was a lot of excitement as well as trepidation because prospective MBAs had never been invited to write like that (\u201cIf your life were a book, what would the table of contents be\u2026\u201d). I perceive this as the next iteration in the \u2018if your life were a book\u2019 prompt.<\/p>\n What, then, is Cornell Johnson looking for? The \u201cback of the essay\u201d prompt leads with:\u00a0\u201cWe encourage you to think about your proudest accomplishments, interests and passions, and personal highlights that will help us to get to know you as a person and potential community member.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Please, don\u2019t be tempted to write that your greatest moment was raising millions in a day at Goldman or when you were awarded employee of the year. When asked to share your proudest moment, it frankly shouldn\u2019t be something on the front page of your resume. That\u2019s the point.<\/p>\n The challenge \u2013 and opportunity \u2013 is to unveil what you\u2019re truly passionate about, something interesting about you and\/or what you\u2019re interested in. Get introspective about who you are as a person, consider what makes you tick, reflect on your life. Given the leeway you have with the multimedia format of sharing,\u00a0keep in mind that how\u00a0<\/em>you choose to present your response is as critical as\u00a0what\u00a0<\/em>you choose to convey.<\/p>\n Let me off an example: One of the most memorable \u201ctable of contents\u201d essays I reviewed was from a military veteran. I was deeply moved by the energy, time, and feeling he conveyed through his response. It left me – and my colleagues – feeling wowed, with a collective desire to meet him and shake his hand. He succeeded in creating a level of resonance with his audience that the front page of any resume \u2013 even his \u2013 could not possibly achieve.<\/p>\n The good news is, this question invites candidates to tip the application in their favor. As my Fortuna Admissions<\/a> colleague, Jody Keating wrote in her recent\u00a0article on crafting a standout resume<\/a>, \u201cThe odds are good that there\u2019s someone applying to your target school with the exact same job title as you.\u201d How might you subvert the preconceptions we all have about consultants, bankers or nonprofit types by offering the admissions committee a real glimpse into who you are?<\/p>\n Your ability to grab the admissions committee\u2019s attention through your storytelling \u2013 regardless of your chosen medium \u2013 stands to be far more impressive than any specific accomplishment. So, if you\u2019re an analyst who is also a classically trained musician, you could surprise and delight the admissions committee with your mastery of Chopin, or the subtle ways your love of piano shapes the individual that you are. Maybe you\u2019re a rock climber who cleverly captures your approach to free climbing as a metaphor for your approach to the MBA and beyond.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re a huge lacrosse fan like me, it may not seem wildly unique. But the way you convey your love of the game in a short video of you supporting teammates with excerpts of you teaching or training, stands to show me a lot about your leadership skills, or character traits like determination, grit, perseverance, not accepting imperfection or working through to finish. Remember, it\u2019s less the what than the how. The who behind the what.<\/p>\n To be sure, a question like this invites a certain level of vulnerability. Think of it this way: You\u2019re putting yourself out there and your confidence is the safety net. When someone talks about \u2013 or exemplifies \u2013 something they\u2019re truly passionate about from a place of sincerity, it\u2019s unmistakable. And that\u2019s what the school is trying to elicit. How do you show up in your world? And how will you show yourself if you\u2019re invited to join the community at Cornell Johnson?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Randall Sawyer<\/a>\u00a0is a\u00a0Fortuna Admissions<\/a>\u00a0former Assistant Dean of Admissions, Financial Aid and Inclusion at the Johnson School at Cornell University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Whether Cornell Johnson is on your target list of business schools or not, its new “back of the resume” essay prompt is instructive for anyone looking to get the MBA…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"1","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1831,775,243],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba","category-fortuna-admissions","category-admission-consultants","category-blog","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42660","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\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42660\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}In sum, the school is saying: We want to know about the you that isn\u2019t on paper. And, how do you fit into this incredible culture we\u2019re creating at Cornell?<\/h3>\n