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Sample MBA Essay - What does ethics mean to you

Another common mba essay question is - What does an “ethic” mean to you and how important is it? Give a specific example (e.g. decisions you had to make in the past) to illustrate this.

For me, Ethics means a well-defined standard of fairness. The standards ensure that I conduct myself with honesty and compassion. It is also my responsibility to assess the standards regularly for social and cultural influences, and take corrective steps if necessary.


For specific examples from your professional life, mention:

1)  How you negotiated your way around a suggestion by your manager/supervisor to perform certain tasks that was against your ethics.

2) This example should emphasis how you were able to  negotiate on the new course of action that was ethical .

3) Emphasis the win-win strategy that you suggested and how it was a workaround for the initial unethical action suggested by your supervisor(provide examples of resistance on your new course of action)

4) Provide tangible output in following the actions that you suggested to the team.

5) Provide specific values that you believed in and conclude on how you were able to maintain them during the execution of the task

If you have worked long enough, you would have faced this issue. For example it would be something like compromising on the quality of the product to meet the deadline or charging you customer with exorbitant fees for a minor change in product feature.

Learn how to answer the MBA Application Ethics Essay according to your Target School. Pick your Essay Guide

F1GMAT's Harvard MBA Essay Guide will teach you to introduce yourself:

1) With Assertiveness

2) By Articulating your Social Value

3) By Demonstrating your decision-making ability

Download Harvard MBA Essay Guide


F1GMAT's LBS MBA Essay Guide will:

1) Give you a detailed Analysis of London Business School MBA Curriculum for 2016

2) Describe how to match Pre-MBA experience with Post-MBA goals using two career paths - Finance and Consulting as examples

3) Show you how to select student clubs to match your post-MBA aspirations

Download LBS MBA Essay Guide

F1GMAT's Booth MBA Essay Guide will:


1) Demonstrate how to write about each pictorial representation

2) Recommend the best image to choose for your essay

3) Summarize the Chicago Booth MBA Program, so that you don't have to do extensive research for the essay

Download Booth MBA Essay Guide

F1GMAT's INSEAD MBA Essay Guide will:


1) Demonstrate with W-Pattern Narrative on how to use context and roles to describe your strengths and weaknesses

2) Show you how to use the IMPACT table to list your greatest achievements

3) Show you how to write about Failure without getting too defensive

4) Show you how to write about extra-curricular activities

Download Insead MBA Essay Guide

F1GMAT's MIT Sloan MBA Essay Guide will teach you:


1) Share the acceptance pattern in Sloan MBA

2) Show you how to shortlist successes that matter to MIT Sloan MBA Admissions team

3) Demonstrate with examples on how to create an IMPACT Table with Achievements, Impact, Success in Dollar terms, Impact Index and Total Value.

4) Show you how to differentiate between Managerial and Leadership roles

Download MIT Sloan MBA Essay Guide

F1GMAT's Kellogg MBA Essay Guide will:


1) Give you a detailed Analysis of Kellogg Full-time MBA Curriculum for 2016

2) Give you Four Examples on how to answer Essay 1 (Leadership)

3) Show you how to answer Essay 2 with a 3-step structure

Awareness -> Reflection -> Future with Kellogg MBA

Download Kellogg MBA Essay Guide

F1GMAT's NYU Stern MBA Essay Guide will:


1) Give you a detailed Analysis of NYU Stern MBA Curriculum for 2016

2) How to answer Essay 1 by mapping specializations to your post-MBA goals

3) Show you how to answer Essay 2 in six ways (Travelogue, Artist, Breaking Stereotype, Impact Oriented, Family Legacy and Infomercial)

Download NYU Stern MBA Essay Guide

F1GMAT's Stanford MBA Essay Guide will:


1) Give you a detailed Analysis of Stanford MBA Curriculum for 2016

2) Show you how to answer Essay B in three ways (as a Career Enhancer, as an Entrepreneur and as a Career Switcher)

3) How to use ‘The Big Five Model’ to evaluate your unique personality for Essay A.

4) Sample Essay for Essay A: What matters most to you, and why? (750 Words)

Note: Do not copy the sample essay (Use it only for inspiration)

Download Stanford MBA Essay Guide

F1GMAT's Wharton MBA Essay Guide will:

1) Give you a detailed Analysis of Wharton MBA Curriculum for 2016

2) Describe Four professional gains as Examples

3) Describe Four personal gains as Examples

Download Wharton MBA Essay Guide


About the Author 

Atul Jose - Founding Consultant F1GMAT

I am Atul Jose - the Founding Consultant at F1GMAT.

Over the past 15 years, I have helped MBA applicants gain admissions to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, MIT, Chicago Booth, Kellogg, Columbia, Haas, Yale, NYU Stern, Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, IE, IESE, HEC Paris, McCombs, Tepper, and schools in the top 30 global MBA ranking. 

I offer end-to-end Admissions Consulting and editing services – Career Planning, Application Essay Editing & Review, Recommendation Letter Editing, Interview Prep, assistance in finding funds and Scholarship Essay & Cover letter editing. See my Full Bio.

Contact me for support in school selection, career planning, essay strategy, narrative advice, essay editing, interview preparation, scholarship essay editing and guiding supervisors with recommendation letter guideline documents

I am also the Author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, covering 16+ top MBA programs with 240+ Sample Essays that I have updated every year since 2013 (11+ years. Phew!!)

I am an Admissions consultant who writes and edits Essays every year. And it is not easy to write good essays. 

Contact me for any questions about MBA or Master's application. I would be happy to answer them all