I have read essays of applicants who were on the periphery of a startup’s growth, but the goals that they cite are ambitious and often mismatched with their skills and exposure. Here are 2 tips to improve the feasibility of your post-MBA goals.
1) Humbleness Myth
Applicants who attended school info sessions somehow managed to pick a lesson that “don’t write what the admissions team wants to hear but share who you really are.” If you write any random anecdote from your work experience, extracurricular, or volunteering, hoping that the narrative will build the case that you are qualified with an MBA to achieve the post-MBA goals, it is never going to be effective. There is an elaborate branding exercise to implicitly sell the idea that the post-MBA goals are not too ambitious or too weak. And here, humbleness doesn’t work. You must evaluate your journey, strengths, and weaknesses before citing the right examples for your post-MBA goals essay.
The narrative might sound like what an admissions team wants to hear. And it is alright. You might be representative of the largest group of highly accomplished candidates who are often accepted at top schools.
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2) Ambitious Goals
Short-term goals that are extreme have caused too many disappointments.
I remember correcting an applicant’s goal of creating a new ecosystem for cryptocurrency while having experience only as a project manager for a cryptocurrency startup. It is not that the person can’t reach the goal. It was because the school didn’t have a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem, cryptocurrency legacy, or MBA courses to build the foundational skills for achieving such goals. In the goals essay, you must quote courses, networks, infrastructure, professors, and the community around the school to demonstrate your research in understanding how the school’s learning experiences will help you achieve your post-MBA goals.
Another applicant wanted to mimic Elon Musk and start a niche space technology venture when the person had a traditional career. Such pop-culture-inspired goals don’t work for post-MBA goals. Avoid flashy entrepreneurial goals for essays unless you have credible startup experience.
If you are mentioning entrepreneurial short-term or long-term goals, research the percentage of candidates who choose to start a venture in the short term and the funding and activities of the Entrepreneurship centers in the university.
