{"id":42727,"date":"2018-07-20T06:09:27","date_gmt":"2018-07-20T13:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/new-mba-essay-from-berkeley-haas-analysis-strategy\/"},"modified":"2018-07-20T06:09:27","modified_gmt":"2018-07-20T13:09:27","slug":"new-mba-essay-from-berkeley-haas-analysis-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/new-mba-essay-from-berkeley-haas-analysis-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"New MBA Essay from Berkeley Haas \u2013 Analysis &amp; Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>At first glance, it seems that Berkeley Haas went from three required MBA essays to two, preserving its poetic \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/poetsandquants.com\/2017\/12\/14\/how-to-tackle-the-berkeley-haas-six-word-mba-essay\/\"><strong>six-word essay<\/strong><\/a>\u201d question and distilling its prompt around post-MBA goals.<\/h2>\n<p>But the notable addition is a focused and unique <a href=\"https:\/\/mba.haas.berkeley.edu\/admissions\/essays.html\"><strong>series of optional essay prompts<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0that seek to uncover the less visible forces that shape applicants\u2019 opportunities, decisions, character and lives.<\/p>\n<p>To offer some context, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mba.haas.berkeley.edu\/admissions\/essays.html\"><strong>new prompts to optional essay<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0#1 invite candidates to answer three questions by selecting from a list of options:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>What is the highest level of education completed by your parent(s) or guardian(s)?\u00a0<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>If you were raised in one of the following household types, please indicate. (e.g. single parent; foster care; extended family member; and other options)<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>If you have you ever been responsible for providing significant and continuing financial or supervisory support for someone else, please indicate.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Haas frames the essay questions by reinforcing its\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mba.haas.berkeley.edu\/community\/culture.html\"><strong>defining leadership principles<\/strong><\/a> and commitment to diversity, and cites a holistic approach to application review that \u201cwill consider achievements in the context of the opportunities available to a candidate.\u201d It also gives candidates up to 300 words to further elaborate, or the opportunity to \u201cexpand on other hardships or unusual life circumstances that may help us understand the context of your opportunities, achievements, and impact.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Berkeley Haas\u2019s former Associate Director of Admissions, I\u2019m not surprised by these prompts, nor the exacting focus on distinctive characteristics that influence first generation students and others from less privileged households. It\u2019s a powerful acknowledgement that prospective students come from very different life circumstances and backgrounds that shape both their decision-making and character in invisible ways &#8211; up and beyond transcripts, test scores and career achievements.<\/p>\n<p>By positioning its essay question in this way, Haas signals a desire to better understand who they\u2019re reading by uncovering the path that students walked.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also a method for the admissions committee to honor the challenges certain candidates encounter to get to where they are \u2013 even when students themselves don\u2019t see them as noteworthy or distinctive. During my doctoral degree I worked extensively with first generation college students, and observed a common theme that many don\u2019t acknowledge the uniqueness of their stories. A student may be aware of the structural dynamics of privilege and power, but not necessarily of the obstacles she\u2019s overcome \u2013 because it\u2019s \u2018just her life\u2019 and she\u2019s busy living it. But to an outsider, there can be a\u00a0<em>wow<\/em>\u00a0factor in an experience or circumstance of a student\u2019s background, which they themselves are too \u2018in it\u2019 to recognize, and it speaks volumes to their resiliency, determination and tenacity.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why does this matter to the admissions committee at Berkeley Haas?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For one, it reveals the other responsibilities candidates may be juggling outside academic endeavors, providing a window to admissions reviewers of a student\u2019s socioeconomic history and other less visible factors that shape their achievements, opportunities and choices. For example, socioeconomic barriers can influence things that might be absent from an application but, in context, provide bigger picture understanding, such as, a student who is repaying high undergrad loans didn\u2019t take a GMAT more than once because of the fees; or another who wasn\u2019t so involved in college extra-curriculars was working simultaneously to pay for college.<\/p>\n<p>Haas\u2019s new questions are also rooted in the history of the UC system, which was created to make higher education available to all California residents. The UC system writ large wants to develop and nurture a community reflective of its population\u2019s extraordinary diversity. Two-thirds of the school population must be California residents at the undergrad level, yet those quotas don\u2019t exist in graduate school. Some 42% of UC students are first generation at the undergraduate level, which is significant compared against 27% at other selective institutions or 18% at private universities. At the graduate level, Berkeley Haas acknowledges that its pipeline now includes more first-generation students. In terms of how Haas itself wants to do its holistic review, these questions also show a lot of compassion. The school wants to create a level playing field for all MBA applicants.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also in tune with the Haas culture, and the defining principles that guide it (see this recent article in Poets&amp;Quants,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/poetsandquants.com\/2018\/06\/13\/where-culture-really-matters-berkeleys-haas-school\/\"><strong>Where Culture Really Matters: Berkeley\u2019s Haas School<\/strong><\/a>). Haas values attracting students with greater social awareness, and that echoes its defining principles of \u2018beyond yourself\u2019 and &#8216;challenging the status quo \u2013 and part of the status quo is the reality that white men still dominate representation at board room tables. This new optional essay puts Berkeley Haas at the forefront of addressing inclusivity in b-schools and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re someone who comes from privilege, by no means should you be deterred by this question.\u00a0Nor should you misread that candidates from a background of relative privilege won\u2019t have a shot at admission. This is also your opportunity to convey your values, awareness of social justice, political engagement and\/or access to education in terms of social mobility \u2013 all of which are important to Berkeley Haas. Haas wants students who demonstrate community engagement and self-awareness, which is an invitation to acknowledge your privilege and convey a sincere understanding of what that means to you.<\/p>\n<p>Walking through the halls of Haas, for example, you\u2019ll see stickers on faculty\u2019 and staff\u2019s doors that read, \u201cAlly,\u201d which explicitly conveys this person stands in solidarity with LGBTQ individuals, those with undocumented status, or other marginalized groups. Berkeley really fosters that climate of compassion, empathy and inclusion. It can be valuable to show\u00a0<em>you<\/em>\u00a0are an ally, even if you don\u2019t identify as a member of a marginalized community.<\/p>\n<p>Notice, too, that the essay prompt at the end of the optional series invites many kinds of possible responses. For example, you may consider sharing your reality of overcoming dyslexia; if the highest GMAT you ever achieved is a 660, it might be something you\u2019re justifiably proud of given the reading difficulty you\u2019re overcoming.<\/p>\n<p>Berkeley Haas\u2019s new optional essay really speaks to the type of class it strives to craft. It\u2019s also an acknowledgement of the huge range of students applying for the MBA, and a push to support the admissions committee with a rich and nuanced understanding of its applicants. Accept the challenge \u2013 and opportunity \u2013 to convey this level of purpose and introspection, and you stand to increase your chances of admissions success.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/fortunaadmissions.com\/\">Fortuna Admissions<\/a> Expert Coach <a href=\"https:\/\/fortunaadmissions.com\/team-member\/sharon-joyce\/\">Sharon Joyce<\/a> is former Associate Director of Admissions at Berkeley Haas. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At first glance, it seems that Berkeley Haas went from three required MBA essays to two, preserving its poetic \u201csix-word essay\u201d question and distilling its prompt around post-MBA goals. But&#8230;<\/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-42727","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\/42727","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=42727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42727\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}