Deconstructing the "Career Goals / Why MBA / Why Our School" MBA Essays

#MBA #BusinessSchool #MBAEssays
Greg Guglielmo, Founder of Avanti Prep, deconstructs the classic "career goals, why MBA, and why this school" application essay. He walks through the six "key parts" that underlie the main essay question; how to address those underlying "parts" with authenticity, depth, and specificity; and how to look out for subtle variations in this essay question between schools.
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2:10: Introduction to the type of essay question(s) this video is focused on
4:00: The importance of these concepts to your overall MBA application narrative
4:27: Deconstructing the "goals / why MBA / why XYZ school" essay question into six parts
9:05: How to develop and communicate the specificity of your short-term goals
15:43: How to develop and communicate the specificity of your long-term goals
18:34: How to communicate the passion and purpose behind your goals
20:38: What knowledge, skills and experience do you already have that is relevant to these goals?
22:07: What knowledge, skills and experience are you missing (i.e., gaps / why MBA)?
25:15: How exactly do XYZ school's specific resources / offerings / community fill these gaps?
28:03: Don't forget to articulate how you will uniquely contribute to each program!
33:32: The amount of space to allocate to each part / make sure you connect the dots
37:50: Rule of thumb to make sure you are being specific enough in your essays
38:58: Examples of full or almost-full versions of this essay question (e.g., Foster, LBS, Wharton, Kelley)
45:30: Examples of cross-response versions of this essay question (e.g., Columbia, Tuck, Booth)
48:45: Examples of targeted or part-focused versions of this essay question (e.g., Darden, Ross, Johnson, Yale)
52:00: Examples of short answer only versions of this essay question (e.g., Harvard, Fuqua, Kellogg, McDonough)
53:14: Wrap-up and applicant questions

[@avantiprep]

Please use this guide to skip ahead to areas of interest:
2:10: Introduction to the type of essay question(s) this video is focused on
4:00: The importance of these concepts to your overall MBA application narrative
4:27: Deconstructing the "goals / why MBA / why XYZ school" essay question into six parts
*9:05: How to develop and communicate the specificity of your short-term goals
*15:43: How to develop and communicate the specificity of your long-term goals
*18:34: How to communicate the passion and purpose behind your goals
*20:38: What knowledge, skills and experience do you already have that is relevant to these goals?
*22:07: What knowledge, skills and experience are you missing (i.e., gaps / why MBA)?
*25:15: How exactly do XYZ school's specific resources / offerings / community fill these gaps?
28:03: Don't forget to articulate how you will uniquely contribute to each program!
33:32: The amount of space to allocate to each part / make sure you connect the dots
37:50: Rule of thumb to make sure you are being specific enough in your essays
38:58: Examples of full or almost-full versions of this essay question (e.g., Foster, LBS, Wharton, Kelley)
45:30: Examples of cross-response versions of this essay question (e.g., Columbia, Tuck, Booth)
48:45: Examples of targeted or part-focused versions of this essay question (e.g., Darden, Ross, Johnson, Yale)
52:00: Examples of short answer only versions of this essay question (e.g., Harvard, Fuqua, Kellogg, McDonough)
53:14: Wrap-up and applicant questions
Question examples are as of Nov 2020. Many remain the same or similar, but please be sure to check!

[@bobirnasimov9421]

Excellent session

[@gmatclub]

Thanks for watching. Do Like and Subscribe!

[@avantiprep]

Thank you, Bobir. I appreciate your kind words!

[@mercynjenga2626]

Should I include my academic and work experience in this essay? I'm applying to a program that requires three essays one of which is the career essay, another a leadership essay, and the other an optional essay. Each with a word limit of 600. How should I approach the structure of these essays? Thanks!

[@gmatclub]

that's a very broad question. You should touch base with Greg to get a clarification on this. Either you schedule a free consultation on the following link or DM him on his GMATClub handle. Both links are given below
Free Consultation www.avantiprep.com/free-consultation.html
Greg's GMATClub Profile gmatclub.com/forum/members/member-678919.html

[@avantiprep]

I realize you might have already submitted these essays, but to the extent this remains helpful or is helpful to others, I would point you to 20:38 and 33:32 in the video. The ultimate answer depends on the exact wording of the essay question, but these essays are usually future-focused (e.g., what are your goals, why do you need an MBA now, why our MBA program).
To build that narrative, some brief reference to past experience can be warranted, but if the essay question does not specifically ask about past experiences, I would really try to keep the backward-looking commentary short -- briefly referencing the goal-relevant knowledge, skills, and experience you have mainly as a way to say what you don't have (i.e., your gaps or why MBA).
Your resume, application forms, and recommendations will be the primary areas where your academic and work experience are highlighted. As an example, Columbia Business School even includes this sentence in their goals essay prompt -- "Through your résumé and recommendations, we have a clear sense of your professional path to date" -- basically telling applicants not to focus on their path to this point. A reminder, in other words, that these essays are usually / primarily future-focused.
(You might choose a professional leadership example for that second essay, but that's a separate topic, and even that should not be a walk back through your academic and work experiences. It would usually focus on a specific leadership example.)