Ross School of Business has strategically chosen to reduce the word count to 100-word short questions and a 200-word post-MBA Goal Essay. The intentional limiting of words will force the applicant to capture only the pivotal moments in their life and create narratives that capture the core of the experience. Writing open-ended and short questions are both tough. To help you ace the Ross MBA Application essays, here are 10 tips:
1) Attempt Questions Strategically
The short answer questions are grouped into two categories - Group 1 and Group 2.
The first group is an introduction about yourself in three contexts - a unique life experience, your leadership, and an example that demonstrates your uniqueness (personality traits).
The second group measures your ability to push yourself, remain resilient in failure, and learn at a breakneck pace.
The good news is that you just have to address one question from the Two Groups
Group 1
1) I am out of my comfort zone when:
2) I was humbled when:
3) I was challenged when:
Group 2
1) I want people to know that I:
2) I made a difference when I:
3) I was aware that I was different when:
I have noticed that applicants who are too sensitive about failures avoid " I was humbled when"
If they are introverted, "I made a difference when I" & "I was aware that I was different when" questions would rarely be attempted.
This is a strategic blunder.
Ross has the highest placements in Strategy Consulting, Finance, and Marketing/Sales - all the three require high emotional intelligence to recognize failures. Attempt at least the 2nd or the 3rd question from Group 2.
2) Balance the Tone - No Bragging
Ross accepts applicants who have achieved significant progress in their careers. However, the school prefers candidates who are grounded in their achievements. So be careful with the tone of the essay. Any bragging could be misconstrued as arrogance.
State your achievements by highlighting the context of the problem and the effort you put into mastering a skill, instead of excessively focusing on the achievement.
The quantifiable achievement should be strategically placed in the narrative.
3) Highlight Unique Experiences
Your unique life experiences should be highlighted in the 'I want people to know that I.' Most examples that I have seen include some form of performance arts or sports or an upbringing that is unusual for the application pool (extensive travel as a child or relocation due to parent's profession or challenging circumstances).
Brainstorm and list all the extra-curricular activities. Find the experience that will immediately gain the attention of the admissions team - YouTube Channel with more than 20k subscribers, Podcasting that is #1 in a niche topic, performance in a prestigious venue, sports achievements that are in the top 5%, and entrepreneurial achievements that are unique (any metrics - profit or non-profit that highlights reach or IMPACT).
4) Capture what makes you different
In addition to the life and career experiences, what makes you different might be a unique set of skills that have helped you overcome an obstacle that is substantial in any culture. It could be a feedback-seeking, authentic communication, long-term thinking, calmness under pressure, and challenging established way of thinking.
5) Volunteering
The short questions should also be balanced with an example of volunteering where you could tap into a personality trait that is dormant in your day job. Specifically highlight leadership experiences (led more than two people) in volunteering in a complementing role (marketing/business development for technologists/finance/engineering professionals, and trend analysis with Accounting/Financing variables for Marketing professionals)
6) Changing Culture
Any examples where you had a permanent impact on the team’s culture, non-profit, or company has the highest recall in Ross MBA Essays. If you have such an experience, highlight it in the "I made a difference when I" short essay question.
7) Failure - Life Lessons
The only person who has never failed is those who are in the comfort zone. Ross MBA Admissions team understands this fundamental truth. Group 1 questions are structured to reveal your attitude towards failures and challenges.
If you had several setbacks but eventually figured out the solution or you had a failure that earned you a life lesson, choose the Group 1 questions accordingly. Make sure that there is a redeeming narrative arc to the essay. Don't end abruptly.
8) Innovation
Innovation is the most loosely used term in essays. However, don't let that trend discourage you from creating a narrative that demonstrates the first process, product, methodology, or service in your niche project or industry. Make sure that publicly verifiable information validates your claim.
If you had such an experience, use them in the "I made a difference when I."
9) Recent Example
Whenever a person reflects on an early part of their career to cite a successful outcome, it is a clear sign that some form of career stagnation has occurred.
Almost all strong applicants pro-actively respond to career stagnation by joining a non-profit to acquire a skill outside their core expertise or position their skill development to match the post-MBA job function.
If you are quoting a professional experience, make sure that is within the past 1 to 1.5 years.
10) Goals Essay
With the word count going down from 300 to 200, the goals essay is less about quoting the Ross MBA curriculum and more about identifying why the goal is right for you.
List out all your impactful career and life events (we help you do that with Ross MBA All in One Service).
Only choose events that could be easily converted to a why post-MBA goal narrative.
The most common mistake we have seen in is when applicants quote post-MBA goals that are too ambitious or don't match the post-MBA placement trends at Ross MBA. Read the employment report and get a sense of the recent trends.
Ross continues to be a school known to place candidates in Consulting, Marketing, and Finance by job function and Consulting and Technology by industry.
The essay asks only about the short-term goals that you want to achieve in 1-3 years. Mention long-term goals only if both short-term and long-term goals align (entrepreneurship or non-profit).
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