Yale MBA Essay for 2023-2024
Is the Yale School of Management on your list of target MBA programs? Then get ready to hit the ground running. The Yale MBA essay and deadlines for the 2023-2024 admissions season has been confirmed. After six years of asking the same single prompt, Yale SOM has broadened the possibilities for applicants to share what resonates most with them.
Required Yale MBA Essay
From the Yale SOM: We want to know what matters to you, and our essay question is designed to help us gain insight into your background, passions, motivations, responsibilities, ideals, identities, challenges, or aspirations, depending on where you take your response. To ensure that you’re able to write about something important to you, we offer you three essay prompts from which to choose:
Option 1) Describe the biggest commitment you have ever made. Why is this commitment meaningful to you and what actions have you taken to support it?
Option 2) Describe the community that has been most meaningful to you. What is the most valuable thing you have gained from being a part of this community and what is the most important thing you have contributed to this community?
Option 3) Describe the most significant challenge you have faced. How have you confronted this challenge and how has it shaped you as a person?
Choose the prompt that speaks most strongly to you and about which you have the most enthusiasm. In answering the prompt – whichever one it is – you should think about the life experiences that have been most meaningful to you and that you most want to communicate to the committee, and pick the question that will best allow you to express that aspect of yourself. We find that the most compelling essays are the ones that are truly most important to you, so make sure that’s your guide in choosing what to write about; don’t try to guess what we’re looking for or what you think we want to hear. Importantly, regardless of which prompt you choose, you’ll want to support your essay with concrete examples.
Importantly, regardless of which prompt you choose, you’ll want to support your essay with concrete examples.
Optional Information
Per the SOM: The Optional Information section is truly optional. It’s not an additional required essay – if no aspect of your application requires further explanation, you should leave this section blank. In most cases, we get all the information we need from the various components of your application and there is no need to complete this section.
However, if you think the Admissions Committee would benefit from a brief explanation regarding any aspect of your application, you may provide it in the Optional Information section. Your general approach should be that if there is something you feel is material to your candidacy that you are not able to include in another section of the application, put it here.
Here are some examples: Consider providing additional context if it will allow us to better understand your academic performance, promotions or recognitions, or other information that is not apparent from the rest of your application. If you’ve taken concrete steps to mitigate a weaker element of your application or have an accomplishment that does not fit anywhere else in the application, you might include that here. Note that you should use the specific prompts provided in the Work Experience section to address gaps in work experience or choice of recommender. And if you would like to provide additional details to expand on any information provided in the Background Information section, you’re encouraged to do so in the “Supplemental Detail” area within that section.
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For more information on applying, please visit the Yale SOM admissions website. If you need guidance on your Yale MBA essay and application or wish to discuss your business school plans, reach out for a complimentary analysis of your candidacy. We’re here to help! Meanwhile, here’s a snapshot of the expertise on our consulting team:
