For this year, Berkeley Haas has three essays: the What Makes You Feel Alive video essay, the short-term and long-term goals essay, and the Distance travelled essay.
In this in-depth Berkeley Haas MBA Essay tips series, we cover:
• Vision, Mission, and Principles of Haas
• The Ideal Candidate for the Haas MBA
• What to Include in Your Haas Essays
• Essay Tips
• Haas Feels Alive Video Essay Tips
• Short-term and Long-term Goals Essay Tips
• Distance Traveled Essay Tips
Vision, Mission, and Principles of Haas
The mission of Haas is “to help extraordinary people achieve great things,” and the school builds this mission into its culture through four Defining Leadership Principles (DLPs):
• Question the Status Quo: Haas encourages students to be bold thinkers and risk-takers who do not accept norms at face value. This means looking at industries, organizations, or even personal challenges and asking how things can be done differently and more effectively. Students are trained to challenge conventions not recklessly but intelligently, balancing creativity with feasibility.
• Confidence Without Attitude: Leadership at Haas is grounded in evidence, humility, and collaboration. Confidence here is not about dominance or ego, but about using data and analysis to justify decisions, while being willing to listen and adapt. This principle shapes leaders who can inspire trust and work across diverse teams.
• Students Always: Haas views learning as a lifelong process. The principle reflects a belief that leaders must remain curious, open to feedback, and eager to seek diverse perspectives. In practice, this means students value continuous growth, engage in debate constructively, and stay adaptable in a rapidly changing business environment.
• Beyond Yourself: This principle highlights ethical leadership and a long-term view of impact. Students are expected to prioritize collective good over narrow personal interests, whether by mentoring peers, contributing to community initiatives, or making decisions that balance profit with social responsibility. It emphasizes stewardship and accountability as core to leadership.
Together, these principles are not abstract slogans but active expectations of how students behave and grow during the MBA, shaping the Haas culture and differentiating it from other programs.
The Ideal Candidate for the Haas MBA
Haas looks for candidates who have strong professional achievements and also embody its cultural principles. Key qualities include:
• Innovators and Change-Drivers: Candidates who have questioned established processes, introduced improvements, or driven initiatives that challenged convention in a thoughtful way. Haas values evidence of bold thinking and practical execution.
• Analytical Leaders with Humility: Applicants who rely on data and structured reasoning to make decisions, yet demonstrate humility by giving credit to others, valuing collaboration, and remaining open to different viewpoints.
• Curious and Adaptable Learners: Individuals who show a habit of learning beyond their comfort zone, whether by acquiring new skills, exploring diverse perspectives, or applying lessons from failure. This aligns with Haas’s belief in lifelong learning.
• Ethical Contributors to Community: Candidates who have gone beyond personal advancement to contribute to larger causes, whether through mentoring, volunteering, sustainability projects, or corporate initiatives that benefited more than just their immediate team.
• Hands-On, Team-Oriented Professionals: Since Haas requires Applied Innovation projects and thrives on teamwork, ideal candidates are those who can work in diverse teams under real-world pressure, demonstrate accountability, and deliver outcomes collaboratively.
What to Include in Your Haas Essays?
When preparing essays, applicants should highlight experiences and values that show both professional skill and cultural fit with Haas. Strong essays typically:
• Demonstrate the Defining Leadership Principles: Share concrete stories that illustrate how you questioned norms, led with humility, continued learning, or prioritized collective good. The focus should be on actions you took and results you achieved, not just values you claim.
• Show Contribution to the Haas Community: Describe how you will add to the culture, whether through student-led initiatives, global projects, or programs like the Sustainable Investment Fund. Be specific about what you will bring, not just what you will take.
• Connect Career Goals to Haas Resources: Connect your future plans to distinctive elements of the Haas program, such as Applied Innovation courses, cross-campus opportunities at UC Berkeley, or global learning options. Show that you understand the program’s structure and how it aligns with your development needs.
• Highlight Balance of Impact and Growth: Essays should reflect both what you have achieved and what you still aim to learn. Acknowledge gaps you want Haas to help you fill, showing that you are motivated by growth, not just recognition.
• Illustrate Ethical and Long-Term Thinking: Incorporate moments where you acted responsibly, made values-based choices, or took a longer view in decision-making. This shows alignment with Haas’s commitment to leadership beyond personal success.
Essay Tips
What Makes You Alive Video Essay Tips
Essay 1: Video Essay: What makes you feel alive when you are doing it, and why?
You will be able to test your audio-visual connection before recording. Video essays should last 1-2 minutes and may not exceed 2 minutes. You have two (2) attempts to record your video essay.
How To Approach
Focus on Flow Experiences That Reveal Authentic Motivation
The admissions team is probing for what psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi called “flow”, moments when you are fully immersed and energized by an activity. Research in leadership and career development shows that people who identify and pursue their “flow states” are more likely to sustain long-term motivation and resilience (Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, 1990). For Haas, this is not about showcasing what looks good on paper, but demonstrating what intrinsically excites you and how it connects to your path forward.
Case Study: Julie
Julie could highlight that she feels most alive when mentoring peers and helping them unlock their potential. This ties directly to her MBA goal of becoming a Peer Advisor in the Career Management Group, where she would coach first-year students.
Explaining that she draws energy from empowering others shows Haas that her motivation is deeper than individual success; it is rooted in collective growth. This is powerful because it connects her joy with Haas’s defining principle, Beyond Yourself.
Connect Personal Experience to Haas’s Leadership Principles
Research in values-driven leadership suggests that individuals who align their personal motivations with organizational culture are more effective and have stronger long-term engagement (Schein, Organizational Culture and Leadership, 2016). Haas explicitly evaluates candidates against its Defining Leadership Principles. When answering this question, showing that what excites you overlaps with these principles demonstrates cultural fit.
Case Study: Julie
Julie could say she feels alive when tackling unfamiliar problems with curiosity and humility, reflecting the Haas principle of Students Always.
She might describe moments in consulting where she had to quickly learn the operational challenges in an industry impacted by Tariffs and collaborated with diverse stakeholders to understand the biggest roadblocks to finding alternative supply chains until tariff rates are normalized. Then she may explain how she looks forward to electives like Business and Sustainable Supply Chain at Haas, where she could accentuate her natural curiosity to fix the biggest bottlenecks with options that are sustainable and profitable for the business. By doing this, she demonstrates that her student always mindset doesn’t end at work but continues in her academic pursuit as well.
Balance Personal and Professional Dimensions for Depth
Video essays that focus only on professional skills can feel rehearsed, while those that are entirely personal may lack relevance.
Leadership studies suggest that authenticity comes from integrating both personal values and professional goals into a coherent narrative (George, Authentic Leadership, 2003). By weaving in both sides, candidates show they are reflective and multidimensional.
Case Study: Julie
Julie could describe how she feels alive when leading diverse teams to solve complex challenges. On a personal level, this energizes her because it pushes her to learn from different perspectives. Professionally, it excites her because it mirrors her consulting aspirations and her Haas goals of leading case teams and mentoring peers. This dual framing shows Haas that her motivation is both heartfelt and practically tied to her MBA and career journey. It makes her answer both authentic and relevant.
Deliver with Presence, Energy, and Specificity
Because this is a video essay, delivery is critical.
Communication research emphasizes that authenticity is conveyed not just through words but through tone, body language, and emotional resonance (Mehrabian, Silent Messages, 1971; more recent confirmation in Cuddy et al., Harvard Business Review, 2013 on presence).
Speaking in a natural, unscripted manner with genuine enthusiasm is more persuasive than memorized lines. Specific anecdotes further enhance credibility.
Case Study: Julie
Julie could recall a specific moment when she worked with a client in Seoul to untangle a difficult business problem and felt a surge of excitement as the team cracked the issue together. Her tone should reflect that enthusiasm, animated but not exaggerated.
Pairing her story with genuine energy will make her response engaging and believable. This would assure Haas that she can bring both competence and passion into the classroom and beyond.
Short-term and Long-Term Goals Essay Tips
Essay 2: What are your short-term and long-term career goals, and how will an MBA from Haas help you achieve those goals? Short-term career goals should be achievable within 3-5 years post-MBA, whereas long-term goals may span a decade or more and encompass broader professional aspirations. (300 words max)
How To Approach
Understanding the Essay
This essay is designed to test three things: clarity, realism, and alignment.
Admissions officers want to know whether you can clearly articulate where you’re headed, whether your plans are achievable, and how Haas will help you bridge the gap between your present and future.
Your short-term goals should be specific and realistic, achievable within three to five years of graduation.
Instead of saying “I want to enter operational consulting,” a stronger answer would name the role, industry, or type of firm you’re targeting.
Your long-term goals can be broader and visionary, but they should still feel connected to your background and the trajectory you outline.
Equally important is showing why Haas is the right fit. This goes beyond praising the program, it means linking your goals to particular courses, clubs, and opportunities at Haas that address your current skill gaps. For example, you might highlight how hands-on projects or a specific career resource will prepare you for your chosen path.
A strong essay balances ambition with credibility. It shows that you have thought deeply about your career direction, understand what you need to get there, and see Haas as the natural place to make that transition.
Define Short-Term Goals with Precision
Admissions committees value applicants who articulate clear, achievable short-term goals that can realistically be reached within 3–5 years post-MBA. Vague answers like “I want to work in consulting” fail to demonstrate planning or self-awareness. Instead, you should identify specific roles, industries, and firms you are targeting, while also showing awareness of the skills and knowledge you need to gain. Haas places strong emphasis on career clarity, and connecting your goals to its curriculum, clubs, and career resources will make your response stand out. Research in career development (Locke & Latham, Goal Setting Theory, 2002) supports that concrete, well-defined goals are more motivating and credible for evaluators.
Case Study: Julie
Julie could define her short-term goal as becoming a Senior Associate in strategy consulting at a top-tier consulting firm such as Strategy&, BCG, or Bain within three years of graduation. This goal is both ambitious and aligned with Haas’s consulting placement record.
To show how Haas will enable this pivot, she can point to core courses like Data and Decisions for analytical depth and Strategic Leadership for case-team management skills.
She should also emphasize the Haas Consulting Club for networking and case prep, and the Career Management Group’s coaching resources (e.g., tailored support from coaches like Peter to strengthen her interview readiness.
By mapping these resources directly to her consulting career plan, Julie would show the admissions committee that her short-term goal is not only precise but also well-supported by Haas’s offerings.
Frame Long-Term Goals as Vision-Driven but Credible
Long-term goals are meant to signal ambition, purpose, and direction, but they also need to feel plausible given your background and the skills you will develop through an MBA.
While short-term goals show immediate practicality, long-term goals allow you to demonstrate how your career trajectory aligns with your values and leadership potential.
Leadership research highlights that effective leaders articulate a vision tied to broader organizational or societal impact (Kotter, Leading Change, 1996).
At Haas, this essay is also a chance to reflect its principle of Beyond Yourself, showing that your ambitions extend beyond personal advancement to creating meaningful impact.
To strike the right balance, applicants should show how their long-term goal grows organically from their short-term trajectory, while also being inspired by Haas’s culture of innovation, collaboration, and responsibility.
Case Study: Julie
Julie could frame her long-term goal as becoming a regional leader in consulting, focusing on strategy projects at the intersection of technology and social impact, particularly those that bridge Asian and U.S. markets. This vision draws from her global business background while showing how she plans to expand her influence post-MBA.
To make this goal credible, she can highlight how Haas’s Bay Area ecosystem, with its proximity to major tech firms and startups, will position her to lead transformative consulting projects.
She could also point to experiential courses such as Designing Tech for Good, which would give her hands-on exposure to consulting for innovative firms like Electronic Arts, and Power & Politics, which sharpens her understanding of leadership dynamics.
By presenting her long-term ambition as both visionary and grounded in Haas’s resources, Julie would show that she is not just aiming to climb the consulting ladder, but to use her platform for innovation and socially responsible leadership.
Identify Skill Gaps and Tie Them to the Haas Curriculum
A strong “Why MBA” essay does more than describe aspirations; it convincingly explains why an MBA is essential at this point in your career. That means showing self-awareness: you recognize what skills you currently lack and how the Haas MBA will deliberately fill those gaps.
Educational psychology research (Dweck, Mindset, 2006) suggests that growth narratives are most compelling when applicants openly acknowledge areas for improvement and demonstrate a proactive approach to development.
For admissions officers, this honesty signals both humility and readiness to learn. The key is to avoid generalities like “I want to strengthen my leadership skills” and instead connect specific skill gaps to concrete Haas courses, clubs, and experiential opportunities. This demonstrates thoughtful planning and validates Haas as the right fit for your growth trajectory.
Case Study: Julie
Julie’s pre-MBA foundation in international politics and her role as a Global Business Development Manager gave her strong global exposure and client-facing skills, but left her without structured business training. To present Haas as the bridge, she could highlight three targeted gaps:
• Business Fluency: Without a finance or accounting background, Julie should explain how Financial Accounting will provide the financial literacy she needs for consulting casework and strategy projects.
• Leadership Influence: While she has experience managing client relationships, she could emphasize that Power & Politics will equip her with the tools to navigate organizational dynamics and lead effectively within complex corporate structures.
• Emotional Intelligence: Julie might admit her leadership has been performance-driven, and that Leading People will help her develop emotionally intelligent leadership, a vital skill for the next stage in her career, where she will be leading diverse consulting teams.
By directly linking these gaps to Haas’s curriculum and leadership philosophy, Julie shows not only self-awareness but also that her MBA journey is intentionally mapped out to make her a stronger, more versatile consultant.
Integrate Haas’s Culture and Networks into Your Story
A polished “Why MBA” essay doesn’t stop at skills and courses; it also demonstrates cultural fit.
Admissions officers want to see that you’re not only capable of thriving at Haas but also eager to contribute to its community.
The GMAC Prospective Students Survey highlights that MBA programs increasingly prioritize applicants who actively engage with a school’s values and networks. For Haas, this means showing how you align with its Defining Leadership Principles: Question the Status Quo, Confidence Without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself.
A strong essay will connect your personal qualities and future plans with Haas’s collaborative ethos, clubs, and mentoring culture. The goal is to illustrate that your MBA journey is as much about giving back as it is about advancing your career.
Case Study: Julie
Julie could emphasize that Haas’s culture of collaboration and mentorship directly supports her personal goal of lifting others while pursuing her own growth. She might point to her aspiration to become a co-leader of the Consulting Club, where she can both learn from peers and organize case prep for others. Additionally, she could highlight her plan to serve as a Peer Advisor in Career Management, offering guidance to first-year students navigating recruitment.
Connecting these roles to the principle of Confidence Without Attitude shows that her leadership is rooted in humility and service, not hierarchy.
By weaving Haas’s values into her story, Julie demonstrates that she envisions herself as a community builder, someone who will both benefit from Haas’s network and actively enrich it.
Distance Traveled Essay Tips
Distance Traveled: At Berkeley Haas, we consider "distance traveled" as the contextual information that helps us understand the unique circumstances, challenges, or influences that have shaped your personal and professional journey.
We invite you to share aspects of your background, personal circumstances, or significant experiences that have meaningfully impacted who you are today and how you've reached this point. Please tell us how these experiences have influenced your perspectives, decisions, and aspirations, and how they contribute to the person you are becoming. (300 words max)
Understanding the Essay
The “distance traveled” essay is Haas’s way of seeing the human story behind the application. Grades, test scores, and job titles show accomplishments, but they don’t capture the unique circumstances, challenges, or influences that shaped your path. This question gives you space to share those experiences and explain how they made you who you are today.
Distance traveled essays is also a rephrased 'What makes you unique' essay (one of the 9 themes schools typically ask)
A cliche would be to spin even a mild discomfort, standing up for someone in your team and antagonizing a person in power as a unique life experience. Unfortunately, you are unlikely to experience opportunities to stand up for an underrepresented person if you don’t have wide or consistent volunteering or extra-curricular experiences. This is where most applicants with limited experience outside work fail to convert the narrative.
Admissions officers want to understand not only what you achieved but also what you overcame and what shaped your mindset. This could include personal circumstances, cultural transitions, unexpected setbacks, or professional challenges that demanded resilience. What matters is not the size of the challenge, but how it influenced your perspective, decisions, and ambitions.
Strong essays usually do three things:
• Highlight formative experiences that required perseverance or adaptation.
• Show the link between those experiences and the values or career path you’ve chosen.
• Connect past lessons to the future, explaining how they will guide the way you contribute at Haas and beyond.
It’s important to remember that this essay is not about dramatizing hardship or competing over who had the toughest experience. Instead, the goal is authenticity and reflection. By showing how your journey shaped your worldview, you demonstrate self-awareness, adaptability, and readiness to learn, qualities Haas values highly.
Share Formative Background Experiences
A strong “distance traveled” essay often begins by grounding the reader in the personal or professional experiences that shaped you the most. These experiences don’t need to be dramatic; what matters is how they influenced your perspective and the way you approach challenges.
Research on narrative identity (McAdams, The Redemptive Self, 2006) shows that people who frame their experiences, even struggles, as growth opportunities are perceived as more resilient, adaptable, and purpose-driven. By highlighting these formative moments, you give the admissions team insight into the deeper motivations behind your career and life choices.
Case Study: Julie
Julie could reflect on how her international upbringing and education laid the foundation for her adaptability and global outlook.
Growing up and later working in Seoul, while pursuing her undergraduate studies in international politics at Georgetown in Washington, D.C., exposed her to diverse environments where she constantly had to adjust her communication style, perspective, and problem-solving approach.
For example, navigating cultural expectations in Korea and then adapting to a highly international and policy-focused environment in the U.S. taught her to become comfortable with uncertainty while also quickly learning from others.
By framing these cross-cultural transitions as her “distance traveled,” Julie can show that her path into consulting is not random but built on intentional experiences that sharpened her ability to bridge different worlds. This sets a strong foundation for the essay, as it demonstrates that she has already been navigating complexity, an essential trait for the consulting career she aspires to pursue.
Highlight Professional Challenges and Growth
Professional challenges are often where the most significant “distance traveled” becomes visible. Haas admissions officers look for applicants who not only succeed but also grow when faced with uncertainty or limitations. When candidates describe moments where they were stretched beyond their comfort zones, whether due to lack of formal training, resource constraints, or high-stakes responsibility, they show adaptability and grit. These stories also carry more weight when they connect the dots between past obstacles, current choices, and future goals.
By acknowledging what was difficult and how you responded, you reveal both humility and self-awareness. The openness aligns with Haas’s culture, where students are expected to embrace growth mindsets and push beyond traditional definitions of success. Importantly, connecting professional challenges to lessons learned provides a rationale for pursuing the MBA. The degree becomes the bridge between past limitations and future aspirations.
Case Study: Julie
Julie could reflect on her shift from studying international politics to working in consulting and business development, a leap that required her to adapt quickly without the advantage of structured business training. As a Senior Consultant at Evermint Partners, she often found herself representing the firm in negotiations with global partners, expected to provide strategic insights while simultaneously learning financial and analytical skills on the job.
At times, the pressure highlighted her knowledge gaps compared to peers with formal business backgrounds. Instead of shying away, Julie leaned into the challenge, teaching herself frameworks and relying on mentors. This experience not only built resilience but also clarified why she needs an MBA to formalize the toolkit she has been piecing together. Framing this as a professional challenge turned motivator shows Haas her ability to grow under pressure and her clarity of purpose in seeking the MBA.
Connect Personal Experiences to Perspective and Values
Haas places strong emphasis on values-driven leadership, captured in principles such as Confidence Without Attitude and Beyond Yourself.
The “distance traveled” essay is an opportunity to show not just what you’ve achieved, but how your lived experiences have shaped the way you see leadership and community.
Admissions officers are drawn to applicants who demonstrate that their perspectives are rooted in authentic experiences rather than abstract ideals.
Research on authentic leadership (Avolio & Gardner, 2005) highlights that leaders who can connect their values to personal history are often perceived as more trustworthy and effective.
By connecting personal experiences, whether from cultural exposure, family background, or professional settings, to lessons in humility, empathy, or responsibility, you present yourself as someone who already embodies aspects of the Haas culture. This makes your fit with the school more natural and credible.
Case Study: Julie
Julie could highlight how moving between worlds of diplomacy and business development taught her to value humility and listening as much as authority and persuasion. In her role at Evermint Partners, she often collaborated with international clients who came from very different cultural and professional backgrounds. Early on, she realized that influence didn’t come from asserting expertise, but from asking the right questions and building trust. The lesson, born from trial and error, shaped her belief in empathetic and collaborative leadership.
Connecting international experiences to Haas’s principle of Confidence Without Attitude, she could show that her values are not aspirational but already embedded in how she works. By grounding her leadership style in lived experience, Julie demonstrates to Haas that she would naturally contribute to and thrive in its community-oriented culture.
Show How Distance Traveled Shapes Future Aspirations
A strong “distance traveled” essay does more than recount past struggles or experiences; it connects them directly to the future.
Admissions officers want to see that the lessons you’ve learned along the way provide clarity and motivation for your goals. The clarity in goals demonstrates maturity, intentionality, and the ability to turn reflection into action.
By framing your journey as preparation for what comes next, you not only highlight resilience but also demonstrate vision.
Research on career construction theory (Savickas, 2005) underscores that individuals who integrate past experiences into a coherent story of future direction are seen as more adaptable and goal-driven.
For Haas, this means showing how your distance traveled shapes the leader you aspire to be and how you will use the MBA to maximize that trajectory.
Case Study: Julie
Julie can position her journey, from studying international politics at Georgetown, to building cross-border partnerships in Seoul, to stepping into consulting roles without formal business training, as the foundation for her consulting aspirations. These transitions gave her adaptability, global awareness, and the humility to learn by doing, but also revealed the need for structured business expertise.
By connecting these experiences to her future, Julie could argue that her distance traveled not only shaped her resilience but also sharpened her vision: to become a consulting leader who bridges Asian and U.S. markets while incorporating social impact into strategy work.
Research Reference:
- Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Harper & Row
- The Theory and Practice of Career Construction, Savickas, M. L. (2005)
- Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership, William L. Gardner
- The Redemptive Self: Stories Americans Live By, D.P. McAdams
- Leading Change, Kotter, J. P.
- Locke and Latham’s Goal Setting Theory: Set Better Goals, James Carrier
- Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value, William W. George
