MIT Sloan Essay Topics

MIT / Sloan adcom has announced its 2012-2013 essay topics, which are as follows:

Cover Letter (up to 500 words)

Please prepare a cover letter seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA program. Your letter should describe your accomplishments, address any extenuating circumstances that may apply to your application, and conform to standard business correspondence. Your letter should be addressed to Mr. Rod Garcia, Senior Director of Admissions.

Essays

We are interested in learning more about how you work, think, and act. For each essay, please provide a brief overview of the situation followed by a detailed description of your response. Please limit the experiences you discuss to those which have occurred in the past three years.

In each of the essays, please describe in detail what you thought, felt, said, and did.

Essay 1: Please describe a time when you had to convince a person or a group of your idea. (500 words or fewer, limited to one page)

Essay 2: Please describe a time when you overcame a personal setback. (500 words or fewer, limited to one page)

Supplemental Information (Optional)

The Admissions Committee invites you to share anything else you would like us or your future classmates to know about you. This may be in written or multimedia format. Please do not use Flash Media Player, and include a URL where it can be accessed online. Written essays should be 300 words or fewer.

For more information, visit MIT / Sloan’s admissions website.

MIT Sloan Deadlines

The 2012-2013 application deadlines for MIT / Sloan’s MBA program have been released.  The deadlines are as follows:

Round 1
Deadline: October 24, 2012
Notification: January 29, 2013

Round 2
Deadline: December 27, 2012
Notification: April 2, 2013

All application materials must be received by 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the day of the deadline.  For more information, visit Sloan’s admissions website.

Cornell Johnson Essay Topics

Cornell/Johnson has announced its 2012-2013 essay topics, which are as follows:

Part I:  Career Choice Essay (300 word maximum)

How would you characterize your career since college?

This is not your job description or complete history of your work since graduating (we already ask for that in the online portion and can see this on your resume).  You need to choose the most important elements that show your initiative, contribution, leadership and results achieved.

Part II:  Career Goal Essay (400 word maximum)

Tell us about your short and long term career goals.

Please show you have a clear direction for your goal post-MBA.  Good essays will emphasize what an applicant wants to do while at Johnson and how you will use this experience to accomplish your goal.

Part III:  Character Essay (400 word maximum for chosen question), please choose one of the following to write about:

1. a. 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.
2. b. Describe a situation taken from your personal or professional life where you failed and tell us what you learned.
3. c. What does diversity mean to you and how will you contribute to the diversity of our community at Johnson?

The 2012-2013 application will go live at the beginning of July.  The admissions committee will start reading applications as soon as they are submitted. For more information, visit Johnson’s admissions website.

Cornell Johnson Deadlines

The 2012-2013 Cornell/Johnson deadlines have been announced! This year’s deadlines are below:

Round 1
Deadline: October 17, 2012
Notification: December 19, 2012

Round 2
Deadline: November 28, 2012
Notification: February 20, 2013

Round 3
Deadline: January 30, 2013
Notification: April 3, 2013

Round 4
Deadline: March 27, 2013
Notification: April 24, 2013

For more information, visit Johnson’s admissions website.

Yale SOM Essay Topics

Yale SOM has announced its 2012-2013 essay topics. This year’s topics are as follows:

1. What prompted your decision to get an MBA?  When did you realize that this was a step you wanted – or needed – to take? (150 words maximum)

2. Describe a difficult professional decision you had to make.  What were the consequences, and what, if anything, did you learn?  Would you make the same decision again? (300 words maximum)

3. The Yale School of Management provides a leadership education characterized by broad-minded and intellectually curious students with diverse backgrounds, a distinctive integrated curriculum, connections to one of the great research universities in the world, and the broad reach of an innovative and expanding global network of top business schools.  What will you contribute to the Yale SOM community, and how will being part of it help you extend your professional vision? (300 words maximum)

4. What do you consider to be your most significant accomplishment?  Why? (300 words maximum)

Reapplicants to Yale SOM must respond to Question 1 and Question 4, and then compose a response to the following question:

What steps have you taken to improve your candidacy since your last application? (300 words maximum).

For more information, visit Yale SOM’s admissions website.

Yale SOM Deadlines

Yale SOM’s 2012-2013 application deadlines have  been posted online.  The three deadlines are as follows:

Round 1
Deadline: October 4, 2012
Notification: December 13, 2012

Round 2
Deadline: January 8, 2013
Notification: March 28, 2013

Round 3
Deadline: April 18, 2013
Notification: May 16, 2013

For more information on applying, visit Yale SOM’s admissions website.

Kellogg Deadlines

The 2012-2013 Northwestern/Kellogg deadlines have been announced! This year’s deadlines are below:

Round 1
Application Part I
Off-Campus Interview Request Deadline: September 19, 2012
On-Campus Interview Request Deadline: October 16, 2012
On-Campus Interview Completed By: December 1, 2012
Application Part II
Deadline: October 16, 2012
Notification: December 17, 2012

Round 2
Application Part I
Off-Campus Interview Request Deadline: December 4, 2012
On-Campus Interview Request Deadline: January 3, 2013
On-Campus Interview Completed By: March 2, 2013
Application Part II
Deadline: January 3, 2013
Notification: March 21, 2013

Round 3
Application Part I
Off-Campus Interview Request Deadline: April 3, 2013
On-Campus Interview Request Deadline: April 10, 2013
On-Campus Interview Completed By: April 26, 2013
Application Part II
Deadline: April 10, 2013
Notification: May 15, 2013

For more information, visit Kellogg’s admissions website.

NYU Stern Essay Topics

NYU/Stern has announced its 2012-2013 essay topics. This year, candidates are required to respond to three questions and may complete a fourth optional essay. The NYU/Stern essay topics are as follows:

Essay 1: Professional Aspirations (750 word maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font)

(a) Why pursue an MBA (or dual degree) at this point in your life?

(b) What actions have you taken to determine that Stern is the best fit for your MBA experience?

(c) What do you see yourself doing professionally upon graduation?

Essay 2: Your Two Paths (500 word maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font)

The mission of the Stern School of Business is to develop people and ideas that transform the challenges of the 21st century into opportunities to create value for business and society. Given today’s ever-changing global landscape, Stern seeks and develops leaders who thrive in ambiguity, embrace a broad perspective and think creatively about the range of ways they can have impact.

(a) Describe two different and distinct paths you could see your career taking long term. How do you see your two paths unfolding?

(b) How do your paths tie to the mission of NYU Stern?

(c) What factors will most determine which path you will take?

Essay 3: Personal Expression

Please describe yourself to your MBA classmates. You may use almost any method to convey your message (e.g. words, illustrations). Feel free to be creative. If you submit a non-written piece for Essay 3 (i.e., artwork or multimedia) or if you submit Essay 3 via mail, please upload a brief description of your submission with your online application.

Guidelines for Essay 3:

• Your submission becomes the property of NYU Stern and cannot be returned for any reason.
• If you submit a written essay, it should be 500 words maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font.
• If you submit a video or audio file, it should be five minutes maximum.
• If you prepare a multimedia submission, you may mail a CD, DVD or USB flash drive to the Admissions Office. These are the only acceptable methods of submission.
• Please do not submit an internet link to any websites or to a video hosting service such as YouTube.
• The Admissions Committee reserves the right to request an alternate Essay 3 if we are unable to view your submission.
• Do not submit anything perishable (e.g. food), or any item that has been worn (e.g. clothing).

Candidates should also make sure to visit Stern’s website to review the size restrictions for Essay 3. Submissions that exceed the restrictions will not be accepted.

Essay 4: Optional

Please provide any additional information that you would like to bring to the attention of the Admissions Committee. This may include current or past gaps in employment, further explanation of your undergraduate record or self-reported academic transcript(s), plans to retake the GMAT, GRE and/or TOEFL or any other relevant information.

If you are unable to submit a recommendation from your current supervisor, you must explain your reason in Essay 4. If you are a re-applicant from last year, please explain how your candidacy has improved since your last application. For more information concerning NYU/Stern’s 2012-2013 essay topics, visit the program’s admissions website.

NYU Stern Deadlines

The 2012-2013 NYU/Stern deadlines have been announced. This year’s deadlines are below:

Round 1
Deadline: November 15, 2012
Initial Notification*: February 15, 2013

Round 2
Deadline: January 15, 2013
Initial Notification: April 1, 2013

Round 3
Deadline: March 15, 2013
Initial Notification: June 1, 2013

Applicants will receive one of three initial notifications: invitation to interview, waitlist offer, or denial of admissions. All applications are due at 11:59 p.m. EST on the day of the deadline. Any mailed portions of the application must be postmarked by the deadline date. For more information, visit Stern’s admissions website.

Wharton Essay topics

Wharton has released its 2012-2013 essay topics.  Applicants this year must respond to three essay questions totaling 1,400 words.  The essay topics are listed below.

Required Question:

How will Wharton MBA help you achieve your professional objectives? (400 words)

Respond to two of the following three questions: 

1. Select a Wharton MBA course, co-curricular opportunity or extra-curricular engagement that you are interested in. Tell us why you chose this activity and how it connects to your interests. (500 words)
2. Imagine your work obligations for the afternoon were cancelled and you found yourself “work free” for three hours, what would you do? (500 words) 
3. “Knowledge for Action draws upon the great qualities that have always been evident at Wharton: rigorous research, dynamic thinking, and thoughtful leadership.” – Thomas S. Robertson, Dean, The Wharton School. Tell us about a time when you put knowledge into action. (500 words)

Reapplicant Essay:

All reapplicants to Wharton are required to complete the Optional Essay. Please use this space to explain how you have reflected on the previous decision on your application and to discuss any updates to your candidacy (e.g., changes in your professional life, additional coursework, extracurricular/volunteer engagements). You may also use this section to address any extenuating circumstances. (250 words)

Optional Essay:

If you feel there are extenuating circumstances of which the Committee should be aware, please explain them here (e.g., unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, or questionable academic performance, significant weaknesses in your application). (250 words)

For more information, visit Wharton’s admissions website.

Wharton deadlines

The 2012-2013 Penn/Wharton deadlines have been announced! This year’s three deadlines are as follows:

Round 1
Deadline: October 1, 2012
Notification: December 20, 2012

Round 2
Deadline: January 3, 2013
Notification: March 26, 2013

Round 3
Deadline: March 2013 (exact date to be determined)
Notification: May 2013 (exact date to be determined)

All applications are due at 5:00 p.m. EST on the day of the deadline. For more information, visit Wharton’s admissions website.

Ross Deadlines

The 2012-2013 Michigan/Ross deadlines have been released! This year’s three deadlines are below:

Round 1
Deadline: October 10, 2012
Notification: January 15, 2013

Round 2
Deadline: January 3, 2013
Notification: March 15, 2013

Round 3
Deadline: March 4, 2013
Notification: May 15, 2013

All applications are due at 11:59 p.m. EST on the day of the deadline. For more information, visit Ross’s admissions website.