Foster MBA : Essay Tips, Analysis, and Strategies

The Foster School of Business MBA is a full-time, two-year program with  courses in competitive strategy, global strategic management, and macroeconomics. Students participate in applied strategy projects, internships, and international experiences, including the PRIME overseas program, to work on real-world business challenges. 

In this in-depth Foster MBA Essay Analysis, we cover:

•    Mission, Vision, Goals, and Values
•    Ideal Candidate for the Foster MBA
•    What to Highlight in Your Essays
•    Essay Tips
•    Gaps or Deficiencies Essay
•    Personal Resilience Essay
•    DEI Essay (Optional)

Mission, Vision, Goals, and Values

Mission: The Foster MBA program aims to transform intangible leadership qualities into tangible success. 

Vision: The school’s vision is rooted in nurturing a community where collaboration, innovation, and integrity drive both individual and collective success.

Goals
•    Develop leaders who apply ingenuity to improve humanity
•    Cultivate strategic thinking, ethical leadership, and global business acumen
•    Encourage students to engage in thoughtful, diverse, and inclusive practices that foster long-term success

Unifying Values:
•    Integrity and Authenticity: Acting with honesty and upholding high standards
•    Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Creating an environment where all individuals can contribute their full selves
•    Collaboration and Open Communication: Listening to and learning from diverse perspectives to solve unstructured, real-world problems
•    Innovation and Continuous Improvement: Fostering curiosity, imagination, and proactive support for one another

Ideal Candidate for the Foster MBA

The Foster MBA Program is designed for individuals with a high potential for achievement in the management profession. Ideal candidates are characterized by:

•    Academic Excellence: A record of high-quality academic work that demonstrates strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
•    Effective Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, essential for leadership and collaboration.
•    Leadership Potential: A history of taking initiative and leading teams in various settings, along with the ability to work well within diverse groups.
•    Diverse Perspectives: Candidates who can contribute unique experiences and insights that enrich the student body and future professional communities.
•    Commitment to Growth: A willingness to learn from real-world experiences, embrace innovative approaches, and pursue continuous personal and professional development.

What to Highlight in Your Essays

When writing your essays for the Foster MBA application, ensure your narrative reflects both your personal journey and the program’s focus. Key points to include:

•    Career Goals and Personal Vision: Clearly articulate your short-term and long-term professional goals. Explain how these goals are shaped by your past experiences and how they align with the strategic, global, and innovative focus of the Foster MBA curriculum.

•    Experiential Learning and Real-World Impact: Describe specific instances where you have applied strategic thinking or leadership to solve real-world problems. Mention how you intend to leverage Foster’s applied projects, internships, and international opportunities to further your career.

•    Alignment with Mission and Values: Demonstrate how your personal values such as integrity, diversity, and collaborative innovation align with Foster’s mission and unifying values. Be specific about how your personality traits translated into tangible outcomes. Quoting numbers strategically is key to this strategy. 

•    Unique Contributions: Highlight aspects of your background, experiences, and skills that are not fully captured elsewhere in your application. Explain how these unique qualities will enable you to contribute to the Foster community and become a leader who drives meaningful change.

•    Forward-Looking Narrative: Conclude by clearly linking your past achievements, current aspirations, and future goals. Show that you have a clear, actionable plan for how the Foster MBA will help you evolve into a strategic, impactful leader in your field.

Essay Tips

Gaps or Deficiencies Essay

Tell us your ideas about what lies ahead for you in your career. What are the gaps or deficiencies currently preventing you from pursuing these potential career paths? How do you plan to use your time in the Foster Full-time MBA Program to fill these gaps and advance your career? (750 words maximum)

How To Approach

1. Articulate Your Career Vision and Future Aspirations

•    Define Your Future Role: Clearly describe the role or industry segment you aim to join after your MBA. Explain the scope of your envisioned impact, such as leading innovation in product development, steering strategic initiatives in tech-enabled industries, or driving sustainable business practices.

•    Detail Both Short- and Long-Term Goals: For the short-term (3–5 years), specify the type of position you want (e.g., a strategic leadership role in product management or innovation in IoT). For the long term, outline broader professional aspirations, such as influencing industry trends or shaping corporate strategy at a global level.

•    Connect to Foster’s Offerings: Demonstrate how this vision aligns with Foster’s emphasis on real-world learning, strategic thinking, and global business acumen. Refer to specific curriculum components like applied strategy projects or international experiences that will provide the necessary skills.

Example (Elaine): Elaine might state that her short-term goal is to secure a role as a senior product manager within a technology or smart systems firm, leveraging her background in IoT and product development to drive operational efficiencies and innovation. In the long term, she envisions progressing to a leadership role where she can set strategic direction and facilitate cross-functional collaboration on a global scale. She can mention that the Foster MBA’s focused curriculum on competitive strategy and global business, along with its real-world projects, will be pivotal in preparing her for these roles.

2. Identify the Gaps or Deficiencies in Your Current Profile

•    Be Honest and Specific: Identify the precise skills or experiences you currently lack. This might include advanced strategic planning, global market analysis, or deeper exposure to leadership in a diverse business context.

•    Discuss Professional and Personal Gaps: Address both hard skills (like advanced financial analysis or data-driven decision-making) and soft skills (such as cross-cultural communication and high-level strategic leadership).

•    Relate to Foster’s Core Values: Explain how these gaps are obstacles to achieving your full potential and how overcoming them is essential for a leadership role that aligns with Foster’s commitment to ethical and innovative business practices.

Example (Elaine): Drawing from her experience, Elaine might acknowledge that while she has strong technical and product development skills, she needs to deepen her understanding of strategic business management and global market dynamics. She may also point out that her experience in product management, though rich in technical innovation, has not yet provided the high-level leadership exposure required for senior executive roles. This gap in strategic and cross-cultural leadership is a critical deficiency she aims to address.

3. Explain How the Foster MBA Will Bridge These Gaps

•    Highlight Specific Offerings: Discuss how particular elements of the Foster MBA, such as its applied strategy projects, global business courses, and opportunities for hands-on learning through internships and international programs, will provide you with the skills and experience needed.

•    Emphasize Experiential Learning and Networking: Explain how engaging with industry leaders, working on real-world business challenges, and participating in team-driven projects will enhance your practical knowledge and leadership abilities.

•    Connect to Your Career Vision: Clearly connect these offerings to your short- and long-term goals, showing that the Foster MBA is a tailored solution to your current deficiencies.

Example (Elaine): Elaine could explain that the Foster MBA’s rigorous curriculum, with its emphasis on strategy, global business, and real-world problem solving, is uniquely suited to bridge her current gaps. She might note that courses in competitive strategy and global strategic management will deepen her analytical and decision-making skills, while applied projects—such as the PRIME international experience, will provide hands-on exposure to diverse markets. Additionally, working in a collaborative, diverse environment will enhance her cross-cultural communication and leadership abilities, directly preparing her to take on senior roles in the technology sector.

Quick Tip - SOP

When addressing the Post-MBA Goals Essay, ensure that your narrative clearly outlines your career vision, acknowledges the gaps in your current skill set, and specifies how the Foster MBA’s offerings will help you advance. By incorporating specific examples from your background, like Elaine’s transition from technical product development to strategic leadership, you can create a compelling, well-researched essay that demonstrates both self-awareness and a clear plan for growth. This approach not only aligns with Foster’s mission and values but also illustrates your readiness to contribute to and benefit from the program’s comprehensive learning environment.

Personal Resilience Essay

Resilience is one of the most important values of a successful Foster student. Tell us about what resilience means to you, and share some of the ways that you have demonstrated resilience in overcoming personal or professional challenges. How do you anticipate showing resilience during your time as an MBA candidate? (500 words maximum)

How To Approach

1. Define What Resilience Means to You

•    Clarify Your Definition: Begin by articulating what resilience signifies in your personal and professional life. At its fundamental level, resilience is possessing qualities to bounce back after encountering tremendous stress/setbacks. Customize this ‘general’ definition with traits of adaptability, learning from setbacks, and persisting in the face of challenges.

•    Be Authentic: Use clear, concise language without excessive jargon. Your explanation should reflect both your inner drive and your practical approach to overcoming obstacles.

Example (Elaine): Elaine might explain that resilience means maintaining a forward momentum despite setbacks—finding creative solutions when facing unexpected challenges and continuously learning from every experience. She could note that for her, resilience is about adapting her technical expertise to dynamic environments and staying committed to her goals even when projects do not go as planned.

2. Share Examples of How You Have Demonstrated Resilience 

•    Choose Specific Incidents: Pick one or two key experiences from your professional journey that illustrate your ability to overcome significant obstacles.

•    Describe the Challenge: Provide context by detailing the nature of the difficulty you faced - whether it was a project setback, technical hurdle, or a team-related issue.

•    Explain Your Response: Highlight the actions you took to address the challenge, emphasizing problem-solving, adaptability, and perseverance.

•    Show Impact: Include measurable outcomes or lessons learned that demonstrate how these experiences contributed to your growth.

•    Upheld Foster’s Values: The easiest response when faced with setbacks is to abandon values that make you unique. Mention that even under tremendous stressors, you persisted and upheld values of integrity, authenticity, diversity, equity, inclusion, and open communication while remaining focused on facilitating continuous improvements – values that Foster cherishes.

Example (Elaine): Drawing from her work at ATS Automation, Elaine could describe a situation where a major IoT system implementation faced unforeseen technical challenges that threatened the project timeline. She might recount how she coordinated with cross-functional teams, re-engineered parts of the system, and maintained clear communication with external partners to overcome the setback. There could have been several unethical shortcuts that could have improved the timeline of the project but could have jeopardized the long-term security and stability of this critical infrastructure. Narrating the dilemma while making choices is the best way to demonstrate resilience. 

3. Describe How You Will Demonstrate Resilience as an MBA Candidate

•    Project Future Scenarios: Outline how you expect to face and overcome challenges during your MBA. Consider aspects such as rigorous coursework, collaborative team projects, and leadership in diverse, high-pressure environments.

•    Emphasize Specific Strategies: Mention specific approaches, such as seeking feedback, engaging in continuous learning, and leveraging the network and resources at Foster.

•    Align with Program Offerings: Connect your future resilience to specific elements of the Foster MBA—like applied strategy projects, international experiences, or flexible learning opportunities—that will further test and enhance your ability to adapt and innovate.

•    Be Forward-Looking: Clearly articulate how these anticipated challenges will prepare you for your post-MBA career and leadership roles.

Example (Elaine): Elaine could explain that during her time at Foster, she expects to encounter rigorous academic challenges and complex team-based projects that will require adaptive problem-solving. She might say that she plans to actively seek mentorship and participate in collaborative initiatives such as applied strategy projects to further hone her resilience. 

Additionally, she could highlight that by leveraging Foster’s international opportunities and diverse classroom settings, she will be better prepared to navigate the uncertainties of a global business environment, ensuring that she continues to grow as a leader.

4. Evidence-Based Insights on Resilience and Leadership

•    Incorporate Research Findings: Reference studies that highlight the importance of resilience in leadership. For example, research by Tugade and Fredrickson (2004) shows that resilient individuals are better equipped to manage stress and maintain high performance.

•    Emphasize the Impact on Leadership: Explain that resilient leaders are more adaptable, can drive innovation, and maintain a positive outlook in the face of adversity—a necessity in today’s complex business environment.

•    Use Data to Support Your Claims: Mention that empirical research has linked resilience with improved decision-making and enhanced team performance, which are critical in a global business context.

Example (Elaine): Elaine might incorporate that studies have shown resilient leaders excel in high-pressure environments by maintaining clear, focused decision-making. She can note that her ability to adapt during challenging projects at ATS Automation, reinforced by research findings, demonstrates how resilience translates into effective leadership. This research-backed understanding will inform her approach at Foster, where she plans to further develop these traits through real-world challenges and collaborative projects.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Essay (Optional)

At the Foster School of Business, we embrace diversity as one of the foundations of both successful business strategy and a world-class educational experience. We share the University's dedication to promoting the understanding and appreciation of human differences, and the constructive expression of ideas. We welcome you to share some of the ways you have practiced inclusion, promoted equity or supported the advancement of underrepresented groups. (500 words maximum)

Reference

• Foster MBA