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21 Sep 2020, 08:00
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| FROM mbaMission Blog: Carnegie Mellon University Tepper Essay Analysis, 2020–2021 |
 Last year, Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business required just one essay from its applicants, who could use up to 500 words to explain what they would bring to the Tepper community that would allow them to make an impact on it. The school is posing the same question this season, but now the query is for a 150-word “short answer essay,” and the admissions committee has introduced a completely new prompt for its required essay. Applicants must now discuss overcoming adversity of some kind in their life and what the experience taught them about themselves. The topic seems fitting for this year’s turbulent times. Candidates who feel they need additional opportunity to convey an important aspect of their candidacy to the admissions committee can take advantage of the optional essay, which is sufficiently broad to accommodate topics other than just problem areas in one’s profile (if executed effectively). Read on for our full analysis of Tepper’s essay prompts for 2020–2021. Required Essay: The Tepper community is dynamic and unique. Each community member’s individual journey has shaped them into classmates who are collaborative and supportive. Describe how you have overcome adversity during your journey. What did you learn about yourself and how has that shaped who you are? (Maximum 350-500 words.) As a quote typically attributed to Albert Einstein says, “Adversity introduces a man to himself.” Facing adversity is often revelatory and can show you what you are capable of, which values are most important to you, and how far you are willing to go or how hard you are willing to work to overcome whatever stands in your way. That Tepper would pose such a question this year seems only natural, given the level of hardship so many people are (and have been) dealing with, and candidates’ responses will undoubtedly be very informative for the admissions committee. First, take care not to conflate adversity with a setback or failure. To fit the school’s query, the situation you describe in your essay needs to relate to a state of opposing, unfavorable, or even hostile conditions rather than a finite or easily quantifiable impediment. And adversity can take many forms: societal, financial, mental/emotional, physical, etc. The source can be external (e.g., a persistent lack of money, others’ prejudices, physical limitations) or internal (e.g., phobia, mental illness, language abilities). It can be quietly oppressive or overtly so. We doubt that you have faced adversity only once in your life—though we are happy for you if this is somehow the case—so be sure to consider all your options thoroughly to identify the one that was most affecting and influential. With this essay, the admissions committee wants to learn about how you interpret, process, and react to and in such situations. To craft an effective response, you will obviously need to clearly convey what form the adversity took and what it prevented you from doing and how. What effect did it have on you, in terms of both what you could do and how you felt? What were your thought processes and actions in response? Describe how the situation was resolved or has improved for you (the essay prompt implies a resolution in asking “how you have overcome adversity,” emphasis ours) and what you realized about yourself as a result. Note that Tepper specifically asks not what you learned in a general sense but what you learned about yourself. Lastly, share how that knowledge has subsequently influenced the person you are today and how you interact with the world around you. Showing a clear cause-and-effect relationship between the individual you were (or believed yourself to be) before the situation and the individual you are now will help the admissions reader understand how and why it was a major factor in your personal development. Short Answer Essay: At the Tepper School, we value our community and it is important for each person to contribute to its success. What difference will you make as a member of the MBA class at the Tepper School? (Maximum 150 words.) To know how you would be able to contribute at Tepper, you must first understand the community and environment you will be contributing to, so—if you have not already done so—you must research the school in depth before attempting to craft this essay. This means moving beyond the program’s website, viewbook, and related marketing materials and making direct contact with students, alumni, and even school representatives. And although visiting the campus and sitting in on a class is not an option at the moment, you might still be able to attend an admissions event in your area (safely!). Other options include reading student blogs and recent press releases from the school, as well as checking out the Tepper YouTube channel. This kind of firsthand observation of what and who the Tepper program truly entails, paired with a profound knowledge of how it works, is key in identifying what is unique about you viewed against this backdrop—and will help you highlight what you can bring to the mix and how. Pay special attention to the aspects of and areas at Tepper that speak to you personally in some way, and consider social events/clubs and professional development opportunities along with course work and academic offerings. Business school is meant to be a comprehensive environment and experience that enriches students in ways not just related directly to business, and perhaps your best potential for contribution lies in one of these areas. If you are an avid quant wizard, you could of course help your fellow students with class work and projects. If you have a depth of knowledge or years of experience in a particular area, whether through your job or in a personal capacity (such as being a dedicated wine aficionado), you could serve as a kind of subject matter expert for those around you in the program or even a valuable component in someone’s recruiting network. If you are particularly funny, creative, or athletic, you may be the ideal fit to lead an extracurricular group or play a significant role in a nonacademic project or event. The broad scope of this mini essay prompt allows you a great amount of freedom to choose and share the information you believe is most important for the admissions committee to know about you. Truly focus on just one or two elements of your personality that are most relevant to the context here: the Tepper experience. Avoid trying to squeeze in as much information as possible about yourself in hopes of stumbling on the “right” answers. Instead, clearly present and illustrate your most fitting qualities and show a direct connection between them and specific aspects of the MBA program. Authenticity and enthusiasm are the keys to your success with this essay. Because a contribution essay such as this has similarities to a “why our school?” essay, and because “why our school?” is often an element of a classic personal statement, we encourage you to download a free copy of our Personal Statement Guide, which offers further guidance on preparing for and writing such a submission and includes multiple illustrative examples. Optional Essay: Use this essay to convey important information that you may not have otherwise been able to convey. This may include unexplained resume gaps, context for recommender selection, etc. If you are a re-applicant, explain how your candidacy has strengthened since your last application. Tepper’s optional essay prompt is somewhat broad in the sense that it does not demand that you discuss only problem areas in your candidacy. That said, the second line of the prompt does seem to imply that the admissions committee expects the essay to be used in this way. If an element of your profile would benefit from further explanation—such as a poor grade or overall GPA, a low GMAT or GRE score, or a legal or disciplinary issue—this is your opportunity to address it and answer any related questions an admissions officer might have. We caution you against simply trying to fill this space because you fear that not doing so would somehow count against you, and do not interpret this as a blank-slate invitation to dump every bit of remaining information about yourself that you feel the school is lacking or to offer a few anecdotes you were unable to use in your required essay. Although no word limit is stipulated, be mindful that by submitting a second essay, you are making a claim on an (undoubtedly very busy) admissions representative’s time, so you be sure that what you have written is worth the additional resources and effort. For more guidance, download our free mbaMission Optional Essays Guide, in which we offer detailed advice (along with multiple examples) on when and how to take advantage of the optional essay. If you are a reapplicant, this essay is pretty straightforward. Whether you have improved your academic record, received a promotion, begun a new and exciting project, increased your community involvement, or taken on some sort of personal challenge, the key to success with this essay is conveying a very deliberate path of achievement. Tepper wants to know that you have been actively striving to improve yourself and your profile, and that you have seized opportunities during the previous year to do so, because a Tepper MBA is vital to you. The responses to this essay question will vary greatly from one candidate to the next, because each person’s needs and experiences differ. We are more than happy to provide one-on-one assistance with this highly personal essay to ensure that your efforts over the past year are presented in the best light possible. |
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22 Sep 2020, 13:00
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| FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Eric Sussman, UCLA Anderson |
 Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they choose a business school. However, the educational experience you will have is what is crucial to your future, and no one will affect your education more than your professors. Today, we focus on Eric Sussman from UCLA Anderson. Eric Sussman is an adjunct professor in Anderson’s accounting department and also serves as president of Amber Capital, a real estate investment company. He has been voted Teacher of the Year 13 times by Anderson students and received the Citibank Teaching Award in 1998 and the Neidorf Decade Teaching Award in 2008—both honors decided by a faculty committee. In addition, in 2009, Sussman won the Teaching Excellence Award in the full-time MBA program, which is decided by a vote of second-year students. In 2015, he received the University-Wide Distinguished Teacher Award. Sussman has also been recognized by Bloomberg Businessweek as one of Anderson’s Outstanding Faculty members each year since 1996, and in 2011, the publication named Sussman one of the Top Ten Most Popular Business School Professors. In addition to his work in the classroom, Sussman created Insight FSA, a software tool that measures and evaluates the financial accounting and corporate reporting risk for public companies via Edgar Online. A second-year student blogger at Anderson once described Sussman in a post as “one of what I call the five rock-star professors here,” and a first year we interviewed stated that Sussman “has an outstanding reputation at the school.” An alumnus we spoke with who had taken Sussman’s “Corporate Financial Reporting” class agreed: “[Sussman is] probably the best professor at Anderson in my eyes and to a lot of other students,” the alumnus said, continuing, “Professor Sussman is also incredibly flexible when it comes to helping students. If you need the help, he will find a way to make time for you no matter your level. He truly was a passionate practitioner who invested so much in the students and school. People like him make Anderson exceptional.” For more information about UCLA Anderson and 16 other top-ranked business schools, check out our free mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
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24 Sep 2020, 08:00
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| FROM mbaMission Blog: Acclimating to the Cold at Tuck and Hitting the Slopes at Kellogg |
 The thought of spending the winters in Hanover, New Hampshire—home to Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business—may send shivers down your spine. But those who hang tough and embrace the cold can discover some rewarding winter experiences, such as ice hockey and downhill skiing. Both beginners and seasoned veterans participate each year in ice hockey games organized by Tuck hockey leagues. Never played? Not to worry—teams are organized by skill level, so you can find a team of hockey players who will not care if you trip over the blueline (that is ice hockey lingo—you will learn). And those who are not quite ready to play hockey can always get in the game by cheering on their classmates! Meanwhile, the Skiing and Boarding Club takes advantage of the Dartmouth Skiway in Lyme, New Hampshire, and organizes trips beyond campus as well. The club’s major event is the weekend-long Tuck Winter Carnival, which draws more than 650 people from approximately 15 business schools. In 2020, multiple student teams participated in such events as downhill ski races, a 1980s fashion show, and a DJ dance party. All events at the Winter Carnival combine socializing with raising money for a selected nonprofit organization. At Tuck, you just might be too busy working up a sweat to fret about the cold.  Evanston, Illinois—home to Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management—might not immediately come to mind as a popular destination for skiers. But although Kellogg students may not go skiing in Evanston proper, nearly 1,000 first and second years and their significant others participate in the school’s annual ski trip, which, according to students we interviewed, “remains the biggest of its kind. Like everything else at Kellogg, the trip is student run … from logistics to marketing to sponsorship. … First- and second-year students work together to make it an unforgettable weeklong adventure.” Participating students have traveled to such locations as Steamboat Resort and Telluride, in Colorado, where they stayed in mountainside condos. Those who wish to ski can avail themselves of three-, four-, or even five-day passes, while nonskiers can enjoy such activities as cooking classes, snowshoe lessons, and spa treatments (at reduced prices). The evenings feature theme parties, such as an annual 1980s party. The 2019 event took place in December in Whistler, Canada. In a January 2018 Poets&Quants article, a second year described his experience on a past Kellogg ski trip: “While we spent our days bungee jumping, dog-sledding, and snowboarding, we also deepened our relationships with other members of the Kellogg community.” A first year with whom we spoke expressed how impressed she was with Kellogg’s ski club for “planning the best week of business school for [close to 1,000] people!” She added that the ski trip is simply not to be missed: “It’s all of your closest friends, taking over a ski town for one full week with amazing parties and social activities—many of which are sponsored!” For a thorough exploration of what Dartmouth Tuck, Northwestern Kellogg, and 15 other top business schools have to offer, check out our free mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
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