The concise set of Duke Fuqua essays for the 2010-2011 application season requires focus. You are asked for your career vision, and two of the three essays focus on your contribution to Duke. Starting your research and personal networking now will put you in a solid position to prepare the most specific and effective essays.

A clear application strategy is crucial to approaching these essays. With a flexible 2-pages per question, and a mandate to demonstrate how you will fit in with Duke’s mission to “identify, engage, and foster the development of future leaders of consequence,” you will want to make it simple for “the Admissions Committee would like to get to know our applicants in a more holistic manner.”

Applicant Essays : Answer all 3 essay questions.

1. Describe your vision for your career and your inspiration for pursuing this career path.

This career goals essay is asks for your vision and inspiration, not just a recitation of your resume. As a starting point, you may want to start by thinking about the choices that have led you to your current career path, and what you plan to do for your future career. Focus on the inflection points that have inspired you – whether coursework in college, early exposure to running your own business, or watching a family member pursue their dreams – and clearly outline why you have made the choices in your life thus far. You are not required to follow a sequential path in this essay, and you can choose the important moments in your career to highlight.

Career visions can be either long-term or a combination of long-term and short-term goals. Think big picture and focus on the overall story, not just the job you hope to land immediately after school. When you look back at your career later in life, what do you want to have accomplished? What will make you proud, engaged and satisfied in twenty years?

2. How will your background, values, and non-work activities enhance the experience of other Duke MBA students and add value to Fuqua’s diverse culture?

Being an active part of the Fuqua community is paramount to your application, and you will need to strongly make the case for your place in the class through this set of essays. While you should be personal in this essay, make sure you are strategic about what aspects of your application strategy cannot be covered in the other essays. In some ways this essay is very open ended – topics can be background values or extracurriculars. If you have a particularly interesting story in any of those three areas, this is the place to tell that story.

While you should not forget that you are applying to an MBA program and leadership, teamwork and management potential are paramount, this essay may be an opportunity to follow the admissions committee’s advice to share “what makes you a dynamic, multi-dimensional person.”

Tie everything together into a case for your contribution to Duke. While many candidates will have the grades, GMAT and work experience required for admission, you will need to bring something special to the table to gain admission.

1. Why Duke? (If you are interested in a specific concentration, joint degree, clubs or activities, please discuss how you would contribute to these in this essay.)

This essay is entirely focused on why Duke is the right place for you specifically. This may be another opportunity to demonstrate your multi-dimensional personality as you explain which classes, clubs and community activities most resonate with you.

The best essays will be both specific and personal. While everyone benefits from a diverse alumni network, what specifically do you want to give and receive from your classmates? If you describe clubs and classes you are attracted to offer specific examples that demonstrate why these topics are appealing to you.

When researching schools it is ideal to speak with current students, alumni, and other members of the community to see a wide range of perspectives on the program. When you speak to those affiliated with Duke ask them to tell you what most surprised them about the program, or what they like the best and dislike the most. Asking probing questions with surprising angles can help you unearth what is truly special about the program, and what is most appealing to you.

While the focus of the essay is Duke, you are also being asked to talk about yourself. Your fit with the program is crucial, and therefore you must exhibit the qualities Duke is seeking as well. Duke is especially interested in your role within the community, and will place significant weight on this factor. If you research thoroughly and are specific, you should be able to clearly demonstrate why you are going to be strong contributor and teammate.

Especially because the career essay does not ask specifically how Duke fits into your career goals, it’s important to clearly outline the role of your Duke MBA in your plans. What do you know now that will be enhanced through your MBA education? And what crucial aspects of the skill set required for your future career will be augmented by attending Duke?

Optional Essay (not required)
If you feel there are extenuating circumstances of which the Admissions Committee should be aware, please explain them here (e.g., unexplained gaps in work, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, significant weakness in your application).

As with most optional essays, Duke asks that you only use this space to explain extenuating circumstances. If you have a low GPA, a non-typical recommender or gaps in work history this is the correct place to address those issues.

When approaching any optional essay it’s important to focus on recent performance, whether academic or professional, and what such performance demonstrates about your ability. Your goal is to remove questions from your application and to address in a factual manner any information the admissions committee needs to know to fairly evaluate your application.
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Columbia has posted the essay questions for the class of 2013. Columbia has shortened the essay set and removed some of the more challenging questions since last year. While this set of essays may seem simple and straightforward, you will have less space to describe yourself and your accomplishments. Be strategic about how you approach these two or three essays (four if you are a reapplicant) and make sure you are hitting the key aspects of your application strategy.

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 this essay is that it focuses on your goals, rather than your background or career experience, and that you will want to demonstrate that Columbia is the best school for you.

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. You are free to choose the most relevant experience from your background for this essay, so make sure you set the stage effectively for your future goals with your past experiences.

Essay 2
Please tell us about yourself and your personal interests. The goal of this essay is to get a sense of who you are, rather than what you have achieved professionally. (Recommended 500 word limit)

While the first essay focuses on your professional accomplishments, this essay allows you to present your personality and interests to the adcomm. This is also the perfect place to focus on why you would be an excellent classmate and member of the Columbia community. While it is expressly not about professional accomplishments, your personal interests ideally align with your professional goals and the entire set of essays tells a cohesive story about you.

This essay may be best utilized in a similar way as the Stanford “what matters most” essay. Rather than focusing on superficial activities or hobbies, make sure your topic gets at your core values and what motivates you in your personal and professional life.

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.

Reapplication Essay
How have you enhanced your candidacy since your previous application? Please detail your progress since you last applied and reiterate your short-term and long-term goals. Explain how the tools of the Columbia Business School will help you to meet your goals and how you plan to participate in the Columbia community. (Recommended 750 word limit).

If you applied more than 12 months ago, you will need to compose all of the essays in the set. If you applied more recently to Columbia you are able to only draft this reapplication essay. Either way, it’s important to make sure you have made significant strides since your last application. Keep in mind that the admissions committee will have access to your previous application. While refining your goals is progress and can enhance your application, make sure your story is consistent with your last application and that you have thoroughly explained any changes in your thinking since the last time you applied.

Soul searching and feedback from others likely set you on the path to improve one or more areas that may have been weak in your last application. This essay is your opportunity to outline your better GMAT score, classes you took, additional extracurriculars, or a significant increase in responsibility at work.

The third part of this essay is to demonstrate how you will contribute to Columbia. If you are a reapplicant you have likely had the time to learn even more about the school since your last application, and your research will pay off in this essay. Be specific about your skills and how you will contribute, along with the aspects of Columbia that will be of benefit to your goals.
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If you are feeling stumped by your application essays and need some additional guidance, check out our NEW series of essay guides for MBA applications. Columbia, Harvard, Kellogg, Stanford and Wharton available now. They are seriously terrific and we are proud to say that almost every person who has ordered one has come back for more!

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Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth is a top ranked school set in a rural setting, with a close knit community. In evaluating candidates, Tuck looks at several criteria. Demonstrated academic excellence, demonstrated leadership, demonstated accomplishments, interpersonal skills, diversity of background and experience, and a global mindset. Note that many of these criteria specify that Tuck is looking for “demonstrated experience.” Aside from the raw data in your application, your essays are the best place to demonstrate what you will bring to the school.

When approaching this set of application questions it will be important to clearly assess which of the desired traits are ones that you can demonstrate through your own experience. What are the areas you want to communicate to the Tuck admissions committee? Which essays work best for a work example or a community service example? Be sure to provide specific examples for each essay. Specific examples provide the best evidence of your leadership qualities, team work skills and management potential.

While Tuck does not require a certain word limit, the 500 word guidance should be adhered to. Generally 10% plus or minus the word limit suggestion is reasonable when there is no formal limit.

1. Why is an MBA a critical next step toward your short- and long-term career goals? Why is Tuck the best MBA program for you? (if you are applying for a joint or dual degree please explain how the additional degree will contribute to those goals.)

This standard career goals question requires you to clearly outline your short- and long-term career goals. Your short term goals are the aspirations you have for your job immediately after graduation, while your long-term goals may be 10 or 20 years after you complete your MBA. In this relatively short essay you will need to explain what you have been pursuing in your career thus far, and why you need an MBA at this point in your life, along with your career goals.

“Why Tuck” is an important aspect to this essay, and your opportunity to demonstrate fit. Make sure you have researched the school’s programs and determined your education will suit your plans. By reaching out to current students and alumni you will gain crucial insights that will provide a personal perspective on the culture of the school.

2. Tuck defines leadership as “inspiring others to strive and enabling them to accomplish great things.” We believe great things and great leadership can be accomplished in the pursuit of business and societal goals. Describe a time when you exercised such leadership. Discuss the challenges you faced and the results you achieved. What characteristics helped you to be effective, and what areas do you feel you need to develop in order to be a better leader?

This essay is similar to Kellogg’s leadership essay. As in the Kellogg essay, you will want to define your strengths and weaknesses as a leader. What are you good at, and what do you hope to develop at Tuck? Unlike the Kellogg essay, this version requires that you describe one specific example that illustrates your leadership challenges and strengths.

The example you choose can be from work or community involvement, as “great leadership can be accomplished in the pursuit or business and societal goals.” You will need to adhere to the Tuck definition of leadership and include a team based aspect to your example. As you describe your leadership experience, make sure you explain how you were able to inspire and enable others to accomplish.

3. Discuss the most difficult constructive criticism or feedback you have received. How did you address it? What have you learned from it?

Criticism and constructive feedback is often difficult to hear. In many cases the most difficult feedback to hear can ultimately be the best route to professional growth. In approaching this question, you may want to start by recalling performance reviews and other formalized feedback settings. As you go through feedback you have heard in your career, you may recall informal feedback that was helpful as well.

The key to this question is to discuss your reaction to the feedback. Self-awareness and ability to change are fantastic leadership qualities to demonstrate through this question. Regardless of the feedback you received, and how difficult it was, describing what you learned will be valuable.

4. Tuck seeks candidates of various backgrounds who can bring new perspectives to our community. How will your unique personal history, values, and/or life experiences contribute to the culture at Tuck?

This question provides you with an opportunity to describe why you are different from other applicants. Do you have a unique background? Unusual work experience? Or have you demonstrated a consistent history of community involvement? The part of your application strategy that is most unique and surprising should be described here.

Once you have determined what is special about your candidacy, you need to tie your personal history, values and/or life experiences to how you will interact with your fellow students at Tuck. The most obvious approach is to outline the clubs and organizations you will contribute to. Beyond formal groups, you may contribute your unique perspective to the classroom, provide networking opportunities in your industry to your classmates, or mentor your fellow students.

5. (Optional) Please provide any additional insight or information that you have not addressed elsewhere that may be helpful in reviewing your application (e.g., unusual choice of evaluators, weaknesses in academic performance, unexplained job gaps or changes, etc.). Complete this question only if you feel your candidacy is not fully represented by this application.

This is your opportunity to discuss any perceived weaknesses in your application such as low GPA or gaps in your work experience. When approaching a question of this nature, focus on explanations rather than excuses and explain what you have done since the event you are explaining to demonstrate your academic ability, or management potential. If you do not have a weakness to explain, this may be an opportunity to address any additional facet of your application strategy you have not been able to illuminate in previous questions. There is no requirement to complete this question, and it would be wise to use the space for something truly new and important to your application that has not been addressed elsewhere.

The Johnson School at Cornell offers a flexible program, including a new virtual EMBA with Queens School of Business in Kingston, Ontario Canada. Top areas of study at The Johnson School include consulting, finance, entrepreneurship, and portfolio management. New concentrations demonstrate a focus on preparing MBA students for a tough job market.

According to the Cornell admissions committee, they are seeking “to enroll a class composed of students whose insights are distinct and whose actions are penetrating. The essay portion of your application gives you the opportunity to candidly demonstrate your attributes and your compatibility with our rich and vibrant program.”

Cornell’s relatively short essay set is a strong opportunity to focus your application strategy and demonstrate your accomplishments, goals and fit with the Johnson School. Both questions 1 and 2 are in line with other MBA application questions, while essay 3 requires a fresh approach to demonstrate your unique attributes.

1) Describe your greatest professional achievement and how you added value to your organization. (400 word limit)

This version of the accomplishment essay asks you to focus specifically on a professional achievement. The second part of the question, requiring you to describe how you added value to your organization, suggests that your greatest accomplishment should be one that is not just significant to you personally, but was also recognized by others.

When you select an achievement, one particular accomplishment may stand out. It was likely one that was above and beyond your normal work responsibilities. Choosing an achievement that demonstrates your strengths and the work that you most enjoy is a great way to both showcase your skills and describe what drives you to achieve.

If you are in a profession that allows you to demonstrate quantifiable results, it will be important to outline those specifically. Did your accomplishment lead to a product launch? Increased revenue? Reduced costs?

Even if your impact cannot be measured in numbers, think about specifics you can cite. Did you receive feedback from your boss or coworkers? Did your accomplishment lead to a better process or solution?

2) What career do you plan to pursue upon completion of an MBA degree and why? How will the Johnson School help you achieve this goal? (400 word limit)

This standard career goals essay requires you to demonstrate that your MBA from the Johnson School will be the right next step to achieve your career goals. While short- and long-term goals are not explicitly requested, you may want to describe how you view your career unfolding from graduation to achievement of your ultimate goal.

Since your past experiences are likely indicators of your skills and future direction, you will likely want to briefly outline key aspects of your career history. The question does not specifically require career history, so you have the flexibility to choose key inflection points rather than an entire resume review.

To learn more about the Cornell MBA, this is the ideal time of year to either visit the school or attend admissions events. Speaking with current students and/or attending classes are both great ways to understand your fit with the program and how it will meet your career goals.

3) You are the author for the book of Your Life Story. Please write the table of contents for the book.
Note: Approach this essay with your unique style. We value creativity and authenticity. (400 word limit)

Similar to the creative essays required for Chicago, NYU or even Stanford “what matters most”, this essay is an opportunity to show who you are on a personal level. Though the essay specifically asks for the Table of Contents, you can certainly illuminate each chapter through brief descriptions. This is the perfect opportunity to highlight areas you may not have been able to touch in the previous career focused essays, and demonstrate your unique personal attributes or community involvement.

Think of this essay as a way to communicate a narrative theme of your life to the admissions committee. What are the key moments that are meaningful to you? Were there key moments with your friends, family, hobbies or interests that led you to be the person you are today? Illuminate the major milestones and be sure to share your essay with friends and family to make sure you are communicating effectively though the creative exercise.

Optional Essay: Complete this essay if you would like to add additional details regarding your candidacy. For instance, if you believe one or more aspects of your application (e.g., undergraduate record or test scores) do not accurately reflect your potential for success at the Johnson School. (400 word limit)

This optional essay allows for either an explanation of any weaknesses in your application or additional information that may bolster your application. If you have a poor GPA or GMAT, concerns with your undergraduate record, or were unable to provide a recommendation from a current supervisor, this is the place to offer explanations, not excuses. Quickly describe the situation and what may have contributed to the issue (illness, family difficulties, etc.) without editorializing. Focus the balance of your essay on looking forward: what have you done in the recent past to demonstrate your skills and intelligence?

This essay could be an opportunity to communicate exceptional leadership experiences, accomplishments or extracurricular involvements that did not fit into your previous essays. If you focus on an additional aspect of your application strategy you need to make sure your essay demonstrates significant information that will benefit the admissions committee’s decision making process.