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16 Sep 2019, 08:20
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Let’s take a look at Booth’s first essay question (full time MBA):
This is a classic “how can our school help?” prompt combined with a standard MBA goals essay. There are a few ways to structure the response, but before we get to the actual writing, let’s start with a simple “Before and After” exercise that will help you identify the Booth MBA’s most important differentiating factors.
Wherever you are right now (self-employed entrepreneur, consultant, banker, marketing associate, whatever), imagine the next 20 years of your life WITHOUT passing through the Booth MBA. Don’t just say, “K, gotcha,” actually imagine it. Write it out even. On the left side of your “paper” draw a tiny circle that says “TODAY” then draw a long horizontal line all the way to the right of the paper and draw a second circle, “20 YEARS FROM NOW.”
Now let’s start filling this in with additional circles, but also, with metrics that can be compared. For example, if your goal was to lose weight, you would say how much you weigh now and how much you want to weigh, X years from now. It’s the same with professional goals… maybe you manage a team of two people now, but you want to lead a 200-person division in 20 years—the key thing is that to show PROGRESS, we need to measure both present and future by the same metric. Let’s start with what you HOPE TO BE CAPABLE OF at the peak of your career, that you know you CAN’T QUITE PULL OFF today. What are the three to five bullets you want to be capable of in TWO YEARS? In 20 years? Write them down.
Then do the same for who you are TODAY. List a few KEY bullets about what your skill set as it is today enables you to achieve. If you’re an entrepreneur, you can define it in a bunch of ways: “I can easily manage a team of five, I can grow my business 1.5x, I can…” If you’re a consultant at McKinsey, you’ll have a different version. So, fill in that second circle, and then the first. Hopefully much or all of that future list EXCEEDS your current skill level today, otherwise, you may be flatlining (which is fine, but not quite what business schools are looking for).
Now there’s all this SPACE in between. The intervening years. Walk us through maybe two or three nodes that might reveal key turning point moments, milestones, whatever, that propel you toward that future node. A promotion perhaps to a new role with new responsibilities that will allow you to learn new skills? A gig at a new and bigger company which then allows you to… xyz? Once you’re done, you should end up with an ARC that describes where you can go in 20 years (rather, what professional GROWTH you can experience)… WITHOUT attaining an MBA from Booth. This shouldn’t be a bad arc, it should be a great one. Because what if you don’t get in? That shouldn’t stop you from CRUSHING your aspirations.
But now, you’re going to do this process over. But this time you’re going to do it LEFT TO RIGHT. Start with that left circle (the present), and DUPLICATE exactly “who you are professionally today.” And now play out the next 20 years, but maybe in the next circle, or perhaps two circles from now, you’re going to include a NEW circle that’s going to change the game completely. It’ll say “Booth” and above it, will be the word “booya,” perhaps, or a thumbs up emoji. What does the NEXT circle look like NOW? And the next? And what does the FINAL “20 Years From Now” circle look like? If you do this correctly, that FINAL CIRCLE should look somewhat DIFFERENT from the first one you made. This is where your answer to this first Booth prompt will be revealed… “what did you gain professionally from Booth, that explains the DELTA between the first and second versions of this exercise?”
Once you’ve gotten a sense of what that difference is, now you can apply it to the actual essay. In terms of word count, 250-word MINIMUM is an interesting signal. Generally, when no strict word limit is given, we recommend landing somewhere around 500-600 words. Why? Cuz that’s the amount of space most “M7 MBAs” need to make their case. Try this format, and what you SHOULD end up with is a QUALITY first draft that’s well on its way to an admissions essay masterpiece:
Depending on your individual case, [3] and [4] can sometimes flip.
Need more help? Have questions about the other Booth essays? Take a look at our full Booth essay analysis, or sound off in the comments below.
⚠ This discussion has been closed due to inactivity. Please start a new topic in the Business School Applications Forum if you have a similar question or a comment.
Thank you,
GMAT Club Moderator Team.
- How will the Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career goals? (250 word minimum)
This is a classic “how can our school help?” prompt combined with a standard MBA goals essay. There are a few ways to structure the response, but before we get to the actual writing, let’s start with a simple “Before and After” exercise that will help you identify the Booth MBA’s most important differentiating factors.
Wherever you are right now (self-employed entrepreneur, consultant, banker, marketing associate, whatever), imagine the next 20 years of your life WITHOUT passing through the Booth MBA. Don’t just say, “K, gotcha,” actually imagine it. Write it out even. On the left side of your “paper” draw a tiny circle that says “TODAY” then draw a long horizontal line all the way to the right of the paper and draw a second circle, “20 YEARS FROM NOW.”
Now let’s start filling this in with additional circles, but also, with metrics that can be compared. For example, if your goal was to lose weight, you would say how much you weigh now and how much you want to weigh, X years from now. It’s the same with professional goals… maybe you manage a team of two people now, but you want to lead a 200-person division in 20 years—the key thing is that to show PROGRESS, we need to measure both present and future by the same metric. Let’s start with what you HOPE TO BE CAPABLE OF at the peak of your career, that you know you CAN’T QUITE PULL OFF today. What are the three to five bullets you want to be capable of in TWO YEARS? In 20 years? Write them down.
Then do the same for who you are TODAY. List a few KEY bullets about what your skill set as it is today enables you to achieve. If you’re an entrepreneur, you can define it in a bunch of ways: “I can easily manage a team of five, I can grow my business 1.5x, I can…” If you’re a consultant at McKinsey, you’ll have a different version. So, fill in that second circle, and then the first. Hopefully much or all of that future list EXCEEDS your current skill level today, otherwise, you may be flatlining (which is fine, but not quite what business schools are looking for).
Now there’s all this SPACE in between. The intervening years. Walk us through maybe two or three nodes that might reveal key turning point moments, milestones, whatever, that propel you toward that future node. A promotion perhaps to a new role with new responsibilities that will allow you to learn new skills? A gig at a new and bigger company which then allows you to… xyz? Once you’re done, you should end up with an ARC that describes where you can go in 20 years (rather, what professional GROWTH you can experience)… WITHOUT attaining an MBA from Booth. This shouldn’t be a bad arc, it should be a great one. Because what if you don’t get in? That shouldn’t stop you from CRUSHING your aspirations.
But now, you’re going to do this process over. But this time you’re going to do it LEFT TO RIGHT. Start with that left circle (the present), and DUPLICATE exactly “who you are professionally today.” And now play out the next 20 years, but maybe in the next circle, or perhaps two circles from now, you’re going to include a NEW circle that’s going to change the game completely. It’ll say “Booth” and above it, will be the word “booya,” perhaps, or a thumbs up emoji. What does the NEXT circle look like NOW? And the next? And what does the FINAL “20 Years From Now” circle look like? If you do this correctly, that FINAL CIRCLE should look somewhat DIFFERENT from the first one you made. This is where your answer to this first Booth prompt will be revealed… “what did you gain professionally from Booth, that explains the DELTA between the first and second versions of this exercise?”
Once you’ve gotten a sense of what that difference is, now you can apply it to the actual essay. In terms of word count, 250-word MINIMUM is an interesting signal. Generally, when no strict word limit is given, we recommend landing somewhere around 500-600 words. Why? Cuz that’s the amount of space most “M7 MBAs” need to make their case. Try this format, and what you SHOULD end up with is a QUALITY first draft that’s well on its way to an admissions essay masterpiece:
- 1. Sell us on the OPPORTUNITY or PROBLEM you want to solve. What is it you’re trying to achieve? Why? What will the impact be? Why should anyone care? Convince us this is a cool idea or problem to fix, and convince us that your vision is sensible and achievable. [75-100 words]
2. Great idea, but what business do YOU have attacking it? Convince us. Walk us through a few KEY highlights of your past that put your credibility here on full display. Focus on only the stuff that allows us to say “Yah, this is the kind of person and these are the kinds of skills that translate PERFECTLY to solving the problem you’ve identified.” At the end of this section, explain what things you are MISSING that prevent you from attacking these goals today. There have to be SOME, otherwise, why bother wasting two years at Booth? Describe the stuff you need. [125-150 words]
3. Now, map those gaps to specific programs at Booth. Don’t point out things that exist at Booth that are theoretically valuable. Create “proofs” for how those “things” improve your ability to achieve your goals. Show us how specific aspects of Booth will TRANSFORM you from “guy who can’t quite achieve ST and LT goals” into “guy who can.” Until you make that “chemical reaction” clear, you haven’t quite nailed this section yet. And this is hard, so there’s a 97% chance you’ll get close on your first draft but won’t quite nail it. Don’t be discouraged. It’ll get there! [100-125 words]
4. Finally, lay out the BLUEPRINT of specific things you plan on doing in the short term toward your long-term goals, once you’re equipped with that Booth MBA. Prove to us that you’re likely to achieve all those steps, and make sure the logic and sequence of it is all plain as day. We need to prove that your short-term goals are the BEST POSSIBLE stepping stones between the MBA and your long-term ambitions. Then segue seamlessly into a more far-off look at the horizon: Where it’s all headed longer-term, and what it all means, why this is meaningful to you, why these ambitions are not a flame that’s gonna burn out anytime soon. [125-150 words]
Depending on your individual case, [3] and [4] can sometimes flip.
Need more help? Have questions about the other Booth essays? Take a look at our full Booth essay analysis, or sound off in the comments below.
⚠ This discussion has been closed due to inactivity. Please start a new topic in the Business School Applications Forum if you have a similar question or a comment.
Thank you,
GMAT Club Moderator Team.
Moderators:
