Essay prompt: Describe the biggest commitment you have ever made. (500 words)
This is one of the most unusual questions we have seen in MBA Application. The first obvious question that comes to an applicant's mind - should I include a personal or a professional experience for this essay?
The 500-word written essay becomes a snapshot of your personality. We recommend that you include a professional experience for this Essay.
Profile 2: Consulting
Providing consultative solution has become the new best practice for Marketing, Financial Services, and Technology. Management Consulting requires a unique skillset. Working well with teams from diverse cultural, ethnic and backgrounds require a different level of empathy and cultural sensitivity. Client handling is a learned skill although extroversion and ability to handle chaos and unending travel requirements is a must for a successful career in Management Consulting.
The defining trait that differentiates a successful from a mediocre consultant is Listening.
Creativity stems from listening actively.
What was your internal motivation to pursue a career in Consulting?
Almost all MBA Applicants cite Management Consulting as a preferred post-MBA career and for a very good reason. Global revenues in 2016 touched $133 billion with a year on year growth of 7%. E&Y received over 40% of their revenues from advisory services. But citing this number would not be a good idea. Schools would prefer that you mention your internal motivation for pursuing a career in Consulting.
An applicant, a career switcher from technology, used a start-up consulting experience and a commitment to listening as a driving force in pursuing a career in Management Consulting.
“I have a traditional Technology career, starting with my Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, working for a start-up for a couple of years and then moving to a Technology Giant to leverage my multi-functional experience. However, my passion for Consulting arose accidentally when a friend of mine was planning to start her apparel wholesale Business.
She was ready for the start-up when her partner quit the Entrepreneurial route and took up a job. Distribution and Marketing were the biggest challenges for her, and the partner was supposed to accelerate the process through her network. Now without a reliable network, she called on me for brainstorming.
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Download Yale SOM MBA Essay Guide for complete Sample Essay
For Sample MBA Essays for Profile 1: Investment Banking (IB), Profile 2: Consulting, Profile 3: Technology, Profile 4: Marketing and Profile 5: Entrepreneurship, Download Yale SOM MBA Essay Guide
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Download Yale SOM MBA Essay Guide - Sample Essays, and Writing & Editing Tips
Essay 1: Describe the biggest commitment you have ever made. Why is this commitment meaningful to you and what actions have you taken to support it?
Essay 2: Describe the community that has been most meaningful to you. What is the most valuable thing you have gained from being a part of this community and what is the most important thing you have contributed to this community?
Essay 3: Describe the most significant challenge you have faced. How have you confronted this challenge and how has it shaped you as a person?
About the Author
I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.
For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.
My work covers the full MBA application deliverable: career planning and profile evaluation, application essay editing, recommendation letter editing, mock interviews and interview preparation, scholarship and fellowship essay editing, and cover letter editing for funding applications. Full bio with credentials and admit history is here.
I am the author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, the best-selling essay guide covering M7 MBA programs. I have written and updated the guide annually since 2013, which makes the 2026 edition the thirteenth.
The reason I still write and edit essays every cycle: a good MBA essay carries a real applicant's voice. Writing essays for F1GMAT's Books and Editing essays weekly is how I stay calibrated to what current admissions committees respond to.
Contact me for school selection, career planning, essay strategy, narrative development, essay editing, interview preparation, scholarship essay editing, or guidance documents for recommendation letters.