Tuesday Tips: Georgetown MBA Application Essays, Tips for 2023-2024

Georgetown MBA application

The Georgetown MBA application is now live, and we have MBA essay tips for the 2023-2024 admissions season.  Located in Washington, DC, Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business is at the center of government and public policy. The Georgetown MBA community is close-knit, intellectually curious, and diverse. When working on your Georgetown MBA application, keep in mind all of the academic and career benefits of the school.

This year Georgetown has reduced the essay options from a choice of four to a choice of three essay prompts for the required essay. Also, there is a required video essay along with an optional essay. Let’s take a look at the revised essay questions and explore how best to answer them.

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Georgetown MBA

2023-2024 Georgetown MBA Application Essays

Notes from the school:

Our goal at Georgetown McDonough is to craft a diverse class with people who have had varying personal and professional life experiences. As such, we want to give our applicants the opportunity to select one essay (from a list of three) that allows them the ability to best highlight their experiences, characteristics, and values that showcase the value proposition that they can bring to the McDonough community.

Please select one of the following three essays to complete in 500 words (approximately two pages, double-spaced) and include the essay prompt and your first/last name at the top of your submission.

Essay Option One – Georgetown Community

Our mission is rooted in Jesuit principles of equality and respect for everyone and an ethos of caring for the whole person. Inclusivity and diversity are core to supporting a community of people with an intersectional understanding of themselves and the world around them. Share how your educational, familial, cultural, economic, social, and/or other individual life experiences will contribute to the diversity of perspectives and ideas at Georgetown University.

This first essay option focuses on diversity. What will you add to the community from your background and experiences? This option is a great choice if you would like the admissions committee to be aware of a unique aspect of your background or your support for people of different backgrounds. Also, note that the question has a broad definition of diversity. As a result, you can describe almost anything about your background that you will bring to the community.

When brainstorming ideas for this essay prompt, think about the experiences of your life. Has anything in your family, economic, cultural, or social experiences had an impact of any kind that you will bring?

In addition, this Georgetown MBA application essay is an opportunity to use your school research to describe how you will contribute. Unique experiences can be an asset to many clubs and activities. Make sure to describe which activities or organizations at Georgetown to which you plan to contribute and be inclusive to other people.

Georgetown MBA

Essay Option Two – Leave Your Legacy

Commitment to service and community is an important value that Hoyas share across Georgetown McDonough’s 40+ MBA student-run clubs and organizations, nine centers and initiatives, and various other co-curricular activities. What do you want your legacy to be as a McDonough student and alumni? Be as specific as possible.

The second essay option also focuses on principled leadership. Studying Georgetown’s culture of service will help you define the scope of this essay. As the school outlines: “Our school’s value of service to others is woven throughout all aspects of the MBA Programs.”

This essay is an opportunity to share what you hope to accomplish during your MBA experience. How will you serve others and participate in the community? An example from your past experience will validate what you describe. And, thorough school research will show some specific areas where you can contribute.

Essay Option Three – Magis

Magis is a Jesuit value that instills the sense of achieving “more” or “greater” excellence. Share how you achieved magis during a professional experience as evidenced on your resume. Describe why this experience exemplified excellence and what about your involvement (i.e. strengths or skills) contributed to the excellence.

This question gives you the opportunity to go deeper into one of your accomplishments. Think about a professional experience on your resume you are particularly proud of. Then, describe how your skills and strengths made it possible. Be specific and detailed about what you did in this example.

Note that Georgetown cares greatly about “principled” leadership. Further, Georgetown defines principled leaders as those who operate with a “clearly articulated set of principles and values.” Therefore, defining your own set of principles and values in this essay can add to the story. Georgetown wants to understand both what you did and how you did it.

Video Essay

Building a cohort of diverse and unique individuals is important to the admissions team. We want you to bring your whole self to Georgetown McDonough. Throughout the application, we’ve learned about what you would add as a professional and leader. Just as important is learning about your interests outside of work. In one minute, please share 5-10 random facts about yourself that are not on your resume and how these facts contribute to who you are as a professional and leader.

You can find more information about the parameters of this essay here.

This Georgetown MBA application video essay specifically asks you to appear in a one-minute video and share several random facts about yourself. You need to tie these facts to your professional and leadership identity. In addition, Georgetown wants to see unscripted and conversational responses. You will have unlimited time to record and edit this video (unlike a video interview). You should appear on-screen and consider adding other elements, such as interviews with family or friends, photos or graphics, etc.

One minute seems like a short amount of time, but consider that television commercials are often only 30 seconds. A lot of information can fit into a one-minute video!

Like all video essays, the content is a vital part of this exercise. The admissions committee wants to get to know you and your dreams, background, and personality. Think about personal aspects that you did not describe in the rest of your Georgetown MBA application. Georgetown is looking to see your personality, and your enthusiasm should show through!

This is also a great place to demonstrate your fit in this Georgetown MBA application (unless you focused on option three of the previously required essays). Always think about your contributions to McDonough.

Make sure to keep this Georgetown MBA application video casual and conversational. You can also add other elements to the video to make it compelling for the admissions committee to watch. However, keep in mind that content is the most crucial part of this assignment.

Georgetown MBA

Optional Essay

Please provide any information you would like to add to your application that you have not otherwise included (300-350 words, approximately one page, double-spaced).

This is an entirely open-ended optional essay. Most optional essays ask for an explanation for a gap in employment, the lack of a current supervisor recommendation, or academic issues. If you do need to address any of those elements in your Georgetown MBA application, this is the place.

You could also use this space in the Georgetown MBA application to highlight another aspect of your experience. Options include describing a situation at work or in your extracurricular activities. Perhaps you have a fantastic leadership experience you want to discuss. Or, can you share a learning experience not covered in essay one?

Re-Applicant Essay

Required for re-applicants. How have you strengthened your candidacy since your last application? We are particularly interested in hearing about how you have grown professionally and personally (300-350 words, approximately one page, double-spaced).

Many candidates can write about a specific improvement since their last application, such as a promotion, improved GMAT, or increased responsibilities or experience. This Georgetown MBA application is also interested in the less tangible improvements, like a revised career goal, personal growth, or increased maturity. Make sure you can make the case that you are now ready for a McDonough MBA and that any new development has only strengthened your resolve.

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Now that you’ve seen these Georgetown MBA application tips, would you like personalized help with your applications? Stacy Blackman Consulting offers multiple services to meet your needs, from our All-In Partnership to test prep to hourly help with targeted tasks. Contact us today for a free 15-minute advising session to talk strategy with a Principal SBC consultant. Here’s a snapshot of the caliber of expertise on our SBC team.

If you have an interview coming up, you will want to review SBC’s interview prep services. The key to interview success is practice and we provide you with all the tools you need to do just that.

  • Leverage our video platform to practice, view yourself and improve
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