sh00nya wrote:
That's interesting, what i am missing here is how does the adcom know the post-MBA career goals (esp for career switchers). Is it inferred? presuming the candidate does not mention it in this essay question. I did not find any other section in the application requirements that conveys / helps convey this explicitly.
For last year's application (for class of 2015) it was a VERY short question you fill out online (300 characters or something like that - essentially 2 sentences around "Why an MBA / Harvard").
From everything I've heard from Dee on this subject they really don't like the post-MBA career goal question. Their view is that it's such a hypothetical question it becomes useless. There's no way to know if you're being genuine or if you simply make up a really compelling story for your goals with no intention of actually doing that. They want to create a diverse and talented class that is prime to be successful - and for them the best predictor of future success is to look at why you've done the things you've done in your life.
Obviously it's up to you what to do with the essay but I would just warn to not make the emphasis of what you want to convey about future plans. If your future goals fit nicely with the story of who you are and where you're coming from it would probably fit quite organically. I didn't mention future goals in either of my essays last year and received an interview and only spent 2 minutes of the interview discussing future plans. Obviously they weren't interested in it for my application at least.