You need to make sure you show that your reasons for applying to the program go well beyond the obvious reputation, location, or network. Your job in answering this question is to convey your sincere enthusiasm for the school. You need to be as specific as possible. Appropriate topics for a convincing response:.
Aspects of your visit to the school provided you have had the chance to visit that really got you excited about being a part of the community — classroom environment, conversations with students, admissions officers, or other prospective students.
This question ensures that you have all pertinent information necessary about the school, as well as to confirm that you have thoroughly researched the program and consequently have thoughtful questions.
This will most likely be your last opportunity to ask questions about the program before you find out the admission decision, so make sure the questions count. Take enough time to consider this prior to your interview since this is perhaps the only question you can be positive will be asked in the interview. Write your questions down if this helps. Questions should be well thought out and perhaps give the interviewer pause before answering.
After all, the interviewer has had YOU in the hot seat for the last 30 minutes with challenging questions, so you should have some in return! In this case, the interviewer will need to check into a question and get back in touch with you. This question ensures that you are humble enough to recognize that nobody is perfect, and to measure how introspective you can be in an assessment of yourself.
This question requires some real reflection. In a work context, what areas do you need to develop? Where do you find yourself stuck? Is there a consistent theme that comes up in your annual review — something you need to work on?
Jot a few things down as you work on answering this question. Once you have identified a few areas for improvement, think about how to portray those weaknesses so they could also be considered strengths. For example, being too detail-oriented might bog you down with too much work, but it ensures you are thorough, leaving no stone unturned.
In this particular example, you are overworked, BUT you also have a strong work ethic. Go back and think of all the moments of your career you are proudest of.
One of the keys to a compelling essay is choosing the right stories for the prompt. This means that, after you have looked at all the stories that fit your branding and demonstrate your unique experience, you must then narrow down the best ones for your essay. You may indeed be tempted to tell a full-blown story about each major aspect of your CV. Most schools limit their essays to words or less with the exception of Harvard , Booth , Stanford , and a few others.
We know from experience that it is not possible to discuss more than a few stories in the appropriate amount of detail in this small space. In our experience as MBA consultants, the average candidate can include two or three stories in a word essay. More than this will often exceed the word count or sacrifice necessary detail, whereas less can run the risk of showing only a single facet of your personality.
Of course, this depends heavily on the prompt. Despite their similar word counts, the two questions require very different answers from candidates. Though there are many types of essays and you should make sure to show yourself off in every single type , three are particularly well-suited to show off your unique background: essays focused on leadership experiences , achievements , or your future goals are the perfect platform to show off what you have achieved and learned throughout your career thus far and demonstrate how you will contribute to the class in a way no one else can.
One of the most common mistakes we see in MBA essays is that candidates fail to tell compelling stories. This is important because if your stories are not compelling, they will not be persuasive nor memorable to the adcom. You must be persuasive for your essay to be effective and truly stand out. Remember, you are ultimately arguing to the adcom to accept you into their school. Many candidates attempt to tell stories that do not have the right amount of detail.
They might not clearly highlight what their role in their story was, fail to demonstrate a problem that needed solving , or not give the reader enough information to understand the context of the story in the first place. No matter what stories you choose, you need to make sure they feature you , your values, and your accomplishments.
In most cases, candidates are afforded very little space to make their case. Do not waste precious words on talking about someone else. For example, one candidate began the first draft of their essay like this:. This would be a great story to tell in most settings. However, it is possible to still include this information while shifting the focus elsewhere. Instead of using this as a full-blown story, our MBA consultants helped Victor express the values he learned from his great aunt as the introduction to his essay via a concrete example of her influence:.
At ELC, we encourage our clients to integrate necessary information without losing focus on you and your accomplishments. STAR will help you write a compelling answer that provides background, tells exactly what you did, and ends with a big reveal. Not convinced you should follow this method?
Check out the two stories below. Though the first essay includes a tremendous achievement, the lack of structure and detail makes it difficult for us to understand exactly what happened and why the story is important. Check out that post here! This means you must be extra careful about specificity and clarity. As MBA consultants, we constantly help clients deal with ambiguities and misunderstandings in their writing. It is important to point out the essential role these issues play in a successful MBA essay.
Ambiguities are passages of text that could be interpreted in more than one way. If two or more meanings can be derived from a single word, this is referred to as lexical ambiguity. If the confusion derives from possible meanings from the sentence itself, this is called syntactic ambiguity. Both can pose a problem in MBA admissions essays. You could think the meeting was punctual, for example. Keeping your answer short and sweet will leave the employer with a lasting impression.
Find out how to avoid rambling in an interview. Tip: change the playback speed in the settings at the bottom right corner, to suit your learning requirements. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more great videos! Check out our complete guide to answering common graduate Interview Questions here.
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