The essay questions for the HBS class of 2012 are posted, along with the questions for your recommenders.

HBS has remained fairly consistent this year. Most of the questions from the previous year’s application are repeated again, with a few differences in the choices for the final two essays. Whereas last year’s essay questions had the option to choose a part of the world you were curious about, this year’s questions added two additional options, describing a difficult decision or writing a cover letter.

The limited word count for HBS essays forces applicants to be focused and concise. When you answer a question, think about a discrete example that can be efficiently described, leaving you room to discuss lessons learned. When choosing HBS topics, start with the two required questions and then pick the remaining two questions by referring back to your application strategy and the attributes and experiences you want to highlight.

Essay 1 (required – 600 word limit): What are your three most substantial accomplishments and why do you view them as such?
This is a great question to highlight a few important areas of your life, and the accomplishments should draw from your well-rounded life rather than just work. Try approaching this question from the “why do you view them as such?” and then working back to the accomplishment. While an incredibly impressive accomplishment is exciting, it’s most important to show the moments where you grew, changed or realized something crucial about yourself. If you were an Olympic gold medalist and didn’t explain why this accomplishment was meaningful, the question was not fully answered. Even a seemingly humble accomplishment can be illuminated with your own reflection. That being said, this is also an opportunity to share your own key achievements.

Essay 2 (required – 400 word limit): What have you learned from a mistake?
Don’t be afraid to admit you make mistakes because the key part of this question is describing what you learned. The mistake itself is less important, though choosing a real mistake that is honest in nature (not morally ambiguous) is preferable. When thinking about a mistake you might discuss, refer back to your strategic plan and the key information you want to communicate to the admissions committee. Is there a learning that has impacted your life or carried a thread through your character, goals or accomplishments?

Essays 3 and 4: Choose two of the four following questions (400 word limit each)
1. What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience?
If you are younger applicant or had a particularly strong academic experience, this may be a smart choice for one of the two remaining essays. When choosing a topic, think about an academic experience that may have shaped your future career plans, or solidified a personal passion. If you studied a topic in college that relates closely to your long-term goals it may be a great way to discuss your plans in a different light than essay 5 would suggest. Make sure your focus is academic in nature, this question does not ask about sports or community service activities, which would be more appropriate for question 2.

2. Discuss how you have engaged with a community or organization.
The topic of this question is fairly open – the community could be either work or extracurricular in nature. Think about the areas of your life you have covered well in previous essays and choose a different angle for this one. As you write this essay focus on what you did to engage with the community or organization and what the results were. This is an opportunity to demonstrate clear leadership or teamwork through a specific example.

3. Tell us about a time when you made a difficult decision.
This question is new to the HBS application this year. The topic is open ended and will allow you to take an example from your career, your extracurricular activities or your personal life. Ideally the decision was a turning point in your life that reveals how you determine life choices and your world-view.

4. Write a cover letter to your application introducing yourself to the Admissions Board.
This is a new question for the HBS application, though a standard question from the MIT Sloan application. Overall, it’s an opportunity to highlight your key selling points for entry into the MBA class. Similar to a job hunting cover letter, focus the letter on your fit with the MBA program, what you bring to the class, and what the MBA will help you achieve in the next stage of your life.

5. What is your career vision and why is this choice meaningful to you?
Though this question appears to be a standard career goals question, it is more long-term in nature. When writing this essay, focus on the big picture vision of your future career. What do you want to be doing in twenty or thirty years? Why does this vision appeal to you, and what led you to decide it was your goal? Introspection about your life goals and purpose will go a long way in this essay.

The Columbia January program is a unique opportunity within top US MBA programs. The accelerated program will give you the experience of a full time MBA without the 24 months away from your career. Because you forgo the summer internship required of most 2-year programs, you can complete the January program in just 16 months.

Career changers will have a difficult time without an internship, so the J-term is best if you have a job lined up immediately after school, or know that you can find a full time position with your network. As the website outlines, the January program is ideal if you are an entrepreneur, will be joining the family business or can return to your employer or industry.

The January program essays are similar to that of the full time MBA program, yet your additional task is to demonstrate that an accelerated program is the right fit for you. As with all MBA applications, setting your application strategy and refining your career goals will be key.

Essay 1
What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals? How will Columbia Business School help you achieve these goals? (Recommended 750 word limit)

This question is fairly straightforward and consistent with other typical goals essays. The wrinkle to Columbia’s J-term question is that it focuses on your goals, rather than your background or career experience, and that you will want to demonstrate that not only is Columbia the best school for you, but that the accelerated program is a perfect fit for your career goals.

As you describe your short and long-term goals, make sure there is a clear trajectory from what you plan to do immediately after graduation (short-term) to where you want to ultimately take your career (long-term). Columbia should be the natural link between your current situation and the goals you have for your career. While you want to concentrate primarily on your future plans, you may need to set up your goals with some context from your current career.

Because the January intake does not provide the opportunity for an internship, you will need to clearly demonstrate why your goals are achievable without the summer work experience.

Essay 2
Master Classes are the epitome of bridging the gap between theory and practice at Columbia Business School. (View link below) Please provide an example from your own life in which practical experience taught you more than theory alone. (Recommended 500 word limit)

View the Master Class video.

This question is an ideal place to discuss a work challenge that taught you a lesson about experience vs. theory. Many applicants have a hard time choosing a topic for this question because theory is so closely associated with school or academics. Think a little outside the typical definition and think about some of the theories you might operate within at work, and how you have expanded that knowledge through real life experience.

Perusing the website may also lead to ideas of your experiences that fit the master class model. Showing some familiarity with the master class program is certainly advisable here, and should be integrated organically with the example wherever possible.

Essay 3
Please provide an example of a team failure of which you’ve been a part. If given a second chance, what would you do differently? (Recommended 500 word limit)

Failures are a great way to demonstrate your maturity and ability to learn from mistakes. A team failure takes the question into the realm of leadership and teamwork as well. It’s a good idea to choose an example where you had a real impact on the failure, blaming someone else on the team for the failure is not as helpful and demonstrates little about you.

Outline the example clearly and concisely, with clear descriptions of your part and the part of other members of the team. Identify where you think the failure originated, what you learned from it, and describe what you think would have corrected the failure. An ideal optimistic ending for an essay like this is a subsequent success that is related, but at the very least the essay needs to demonstrate that you learned and grew from the experience.

Optional Essay
Is there any further information that you wish to provide to the Admissions Committee? (Please use this space to provide an explanation of any areas of concern in your academic record or your personal history.)

If there are any areas of concern, this is the correct place to address them. Strike an upbeat tone here and avoid excuses. Explain your issue clearly and focus most of the essay on the correction for the issue. For example, if you had a disciplinary issue in college, spend most of the issue demonstrating that you learned from the experience and have been an ideal citizen ever since.

If you do not have a weakness to address here, it’s an ideal opportunity to provide any information that you were unable to work into the other three essays. If you have an unusual background, hobby or extracurricular experience, this may be an opportunity to provide that information to the adcomm.

At Stacy Blackman Consulting, we do a lot of thinking about leadership – what is leadership, how best to showcase it, why it matters and more. If asked what is the single most important quality for business school applications, I would say leadership. While some schools emphasize it more than others – leadership is extremely important to every school. They are grooming overall leaders, not just number-crunchers, marketers or statisticians.

Leadership often gets confused with management, but being a great leader is not just about managing something, although that can be a part of it. Last week I was featured in a BusinessWeek article called, Make Your Leadership Case for B-School Admission. It’s a very helpful article that helps to dissect exactly what leadership is. It also provides six examples of how to demonstrate leadership potential.

I am quoted as saying, “It’s about leaving a footprint on whatever situation you’re in and doing more than a good job,” says Stacy Blackman, president of Stacy Blackman Consulting. “Leadership is not a solo effort. You’re inspiring others and bringing out the best in them.” These two points are critical and help to explain how leadership differs from just any great achievement.

1) Leaving a footprint – think about how you made an impact even in a very simple way. that footprint can reveal a lot about what you care about and how you engage with an organization.
2) Working with others – if you accomplish something alone, no matter how impressive it may be, you are not really leading. Think about WHO you led, and how you led in order to develop a great example.

If you are beginning to contemplate content and stories for your applications, definitely check out this very helpful article. Our book, The MBA Application Roadmap, also has terrific content on leadership, how to brainstorm for good topics and how to approach the essays. We consider it a must read as you approach the application process!

This time of year many prospective MBA applicants start seriously considering whether this is the year to apply for an MBA. Before deciding what type of program you will attend, selecting your school, and determining your application strategy, you need to make the crucial decision of whether an MBA is the right next step for your life and career. Think about the reasons why you want an MBA, and what your alternatives are.

Reasons for an MBA
Are you seeking an MBA for career advancement, personal development, or a career switch? While your MBA could be a transformational experience changing everything about your life, it’s more typically a tool to polish existing skills, build your network or expose you to new industries.

Ask yourself what you plan to accomplish after your MBA. If you know what your long-term goal is, that’s a great way to start. What do you need to know to accomplish that goal? How does your resume need to look? What skills do you need to build? And who do you need to know? Think about the aspects of that future that will be developed through your MBA and your short-term post MBA career.

If you are not someone with a clear long-term goal, critically consider what you think the MBA will do for you. Business school offers clear skill building in teamwork, leadership and practical skills like accounting and finance. There is also a strong professional network you will build with classmates and alumni. If you are seeking advancement in a career where an MBA is valued, it may be an important next step. If you are simply looking for a larger salary or a change of pace, make sure that an MBA is the right professional degree for you to pursue. Applying for business school is an expensive and time consuming activity, and that’s before you even start school! Dedication and passion for the path you are embarking upon are crucial.

Plan B
While considering your reasons for pursuing an MBA, it will be useful to consider a common b-school interview question: “What will you do if you are not admitted this year?”

Sometimes the answer to the “plan B” question can be revealing. If you think that you would give up your pursuit of an MBA and either return to a prior career path or pursue a completely different goal, it may not be time for you to dedicate this spring and summer to applying to MBA programs.

When you consider plan B and you find yourself answering that you will spend the year preparing to reapply and continuing to develop yourself for your future career, you are likely a dedicated prospective MBA. If you were not admitted, you might find yourself thinking that you would volunteer more, and build your knowledge and skill set in your chosen career path.

Once you have decided to pursue an MBA, the next steps are to consider your school options, develop your strategy and refine your goals as you plan for beginning your essays in a few months.