Ask Jon Frank- P69-Q&A:WHY MBA? 7 OVERLOOKED REASONS TO GET AN MBA

JonFrank

Harvard dances to its own tune. It can afford to, mostly because it enjoys a reputation as arguably the best and most prestigious brand name in business schools around the world. The demand is so high, they invent newer and newer ways to skim off the tippity-top of the world’s finest business school candidates. But let’s think this through. If the demand is so screamingly high, and they need to improve their ability to discern who truly deserves a seat in their shop… why would they be asking for LESS writing from the candidates, and not more?

There is a simple and powerful lesson here. It’s not about saying “enough” stuff, it’s about saying “the right stuff.” The right stuff that suggests POTENCY.

Working backwards, potency is the stuff that makes the reader go, “Yep, this kid is Harvard material,” or, “Wow, this kid is gonna go places,” or, “Man, this kid just blew my mind,” or, “I don’t know why, but I find myself fascinated by this application.” Whatever leads to THOSE reactions is “the right stuff.” Great. Easier said than done, right?

Well, let’s consider the box they’ve given you to play in. Two essays, at 400 words apiece. Folks, that is SUCH a limited playpen, it’s worth understanding the goal here before diving in without a plan. The idea isn’t to find creative ways to cram a 2000-word app into an 800-word space. We need to rethink the approach entirely. We need to make super CLEAN points that have weight. Picture that group discussion where people are debating a topic. And the eager beavers raise their hands and start rattling off facts and keep yammering and yammering and yammering. And this ping-pongs back and forth for 20 insufferable minutes. And then, the quiet guy, who hasn’t said a word the entire time, raises his hand. The room quiets. And he makes a simple point, in a single sentence, with a soft, measured tone. That halts everyone in their tracks. Because the point he makes is incredibly smart, incredibly impactful, and incredibly succinct. 10 out of 10 times, that guy is gonna wield more influence than any of the other chatterboxes. Less is more. It’s time to channel our inner “THAT GUY!” Let’s dig.

Tell us something you’ve done well. (400 words)

A great response here pushes past merely execution of a great accomplishment, but also ropes in some element of DECISION-MAKING or JUDGMENT that truly underscores the success. Execution is mostly easy. Ever eaten at a 5-star restaurant? Do you think the Head Chef is there every night preparing every last element of every last dish? Hardly. That guy has developed the RECIPES (in more senses than one) for not only the concept of the dishes, but also their execution. At some point, it becomes as much of an assembly line as an automobile factory in Detroit. Finding that assembly guy is easy. Finding the CHEF that inspired the whole thing is hard.

So. When you’re mining your greatest accomplishments, include things that showcase something that YOU possess that has the potential to WOW. Did you do a simple task extraordinarily well under extraordinarily trying circumstances? There may be indications of unparalleled leadership here that would get HBS’s attention. But, and here’s the key, you need to isolate that “head chef” trait that belonged exclusively to YOU, that defines YOUR personal value that—when extrapolated—has exciting implications.

There is also a subtle hint here that implies repeat performance. If there is evidence of consistent success based on Trait X, it’s worth alluding to. If the accomplishment buttons up too well, and we can only imagine the value existing inside that singular moment, it will shrivel up on the spot. We need to get the sense of a thread that DEFINES something about you; something in your DNA. “Ah, this kid’s a born leader.” “Oh I get it, this guy was born to step up under intensely high-pressured situations.” “It’s clear here that this kid has been a visionary since age 5.”

Some versions will be able to convey this indirectly through an obscenely confident tone and an experience that makes it abundantly clear what that trait is. Other versions may need to work a bit to highlight that aspect.

400 words is consciously tight. Clutter is your worst enemy. This needs to weigh something thematically. Think long and hard about the trait in you that gives you your CRACKLE. If it’s not there, Harvard will know. If it is there, you need to foreground it with a ton of self-assurance and elegance of communication. Simplicity is your friend.

The quick breakdown: there will be (generally) three major components to this essay:

1.Setup of the situation. 100 words.
2.The situation itself, what you DID, and HOW you did it. And WHY you succeeded. 200 words.
3.That sense of consistency throughout your “career.” The “this is in my DNA aspect.” 100 words.
Those are rough guidelines of course, but if you’re maxing out those three elements, good things will happen.

Jon Frank
HBS 2005

JonFrank

Tell us something you wish you had done better. (400 words)

The worst version of this response is the one that feels disingenuous. The best version is the one where we feel the high-level strategist in you. Before we dig, there’s a subtle hint here about what kind of event they’re interested in hearing about. They don’t wanna know about the time you FAILED. Instead, they’re looking for something you did WELL… but wish you could have done even “better.” So, by all outward appearances, this should seem like an accomplishment, and yet… the “Harvard Business School” caliber student in you wasn’t satisfied. There’s an itch there that left you wanting. This is what we wanna hear about.

To the average person this was a success, but to YOU it could have been better. In order for this to pack a punch, we need to see the success by itself and THEN be introduced to your dissatisfaction, or the itch that kept you up at night. And then understand why.

What are they going for here? What is the thing they’re gonna learn from this response?

Simple: Smartness. This one depends on the subject matter HEAVILY, folks. You need to have an intelligent response, or else. Imagine participating in a marathon. And WINNING. Imagine writing an essay about how you feel like in spite of winning the race, you felt like you could have improved your time by a few minutes had you NOT done X, Y, and Z.

Seriously? Sure, it speaks to a fighter in you, and sure that type of drive may have implications, but there’s a smallness to it that will cause a school like HBS to tune out. Improving your personal score by a few notches… big deal.

If you’d said, on the other hand, yes I won the marathon, but I was hoping to inspire a wave of interest in the youth in the city of Boston to take an interest in fitness. And sadly, the number of sign-ups for subsequent marathons actually dipped after my win. I could have make a statement by wearing a shirt with a different logo. I could have done X, Y, and Z, etc etc. See the difference? That’s a much… bigger idea. There’s a larger point here that gnaws at the Harvard guy, that others won’t see as clearly.

This is a way to ensnare those folks who have that sense of the big picture etched into their DNA. Explaining the “event” and the “outward-appearing success” should take no more than 100-150 words. The rest should be devoted to exploring the missed opportunity. In particular, the “big” thing that most others might not have even seen. If that missing piece was well understood by everyone, chances are it won’t be that cool an answer. That missing element has to surprise us in some way. “Wow, what a neat perspective.” That’s a great litmus test for this response. Were you alone in feeling like this thing could have been better? It’s a great starting point.

The 400-word interview reflection.

Something you wish you’d said during the interview but didn’t.

A neat twist. Hate to say it, folks, but too much premeditation here can be poisonous. First things first, go in and “say exactly what you hope to say during the interview!” In other words, don’t sabotage your interview to SET up some kind of game-changing response HERE that you hope will seal the deal. Go in and crush your interview.

Now, let’s say you do. Or, let’s say you don’t. There’s a TYPE of response here that can demonstrate your might no matter what. And it’s tied to the theme in Essay Question #2 “Tell us something you wish you had done better.” That theme is… bigness.

If you answered a question, and gave an A- minus response, and now you feel like you forgot to mention one aspect of your leadership experience that might end up painting it in a more favorable or impressive light, chances are you’re not gonna affect the outcome much. But, if you can demonstrate the idea that your gears are constantly churning, that you kept chewing on a certain theme after the interview had ended and wish you’d addressed it and asked your interviewer or mentioned it yourself, etc etc, and the idea is INTERESTING, and SURPRISING, now we’re getting somewhere. Newness. Surprises. Refreshing additions.

Think about an idea that might get your interviewer thinking a bit. Think about a perspective that adds a twist to the interview and recasts something that came up in perhaps a different light. This is your chance not to turn A- into an A, but rather to create a new “grade” altogether. “Wow, what an interesting thought.” “Wow, this kid is really smart.” “Wow, I hadn’t thought of that.”

NOT… “I wish I’d mentioned my fourth leadership experience because blablablabla.” Incremental additions will have not just diminishing returns, but will fall FLAT.

Okay, so how do we do that? How do we turn the written reflection of the interview experience into a crackling 400-word essay that gets people’s attention? Simple. Respond to the stuff that actually happened during the interview. Don’t pull a Sarah Palin and “pivot” and deliver a pre-programmed response. It’ll feel exactly as musty and stale as the potato chips that have been sitting on the shelf for a year. The best response shows your agility to respond to the present situation. The “Harvard Business School” bad-ass can respond to the toughest of situations, in real-time. This is an expectation, a given. This is your chance to prove it.

Jon Frank
HBS 2005

JonFrank

This year, the Stanford GSB application has gone on a slight diet. Whereas in years past they required four essays at a total of 1800 words, this year it’s three essays, 1600 words. What does this mean for you? Not a whole lot—don’t overthink it. Let’s get into the meat of each.

Essay 1: What matters most to you, and why?

Here’s the language on Stanford’s website. Take a second and scan through it:

The best examples of Essay 1 reflect the process of self-examination that you have undertaken to write them.
They give us a vivid and genuine image of who you are—and they also convey how you became the person you are.
They do not focus merely on what you’ve done or accomplished. Instead, they share with us the values, experiences, and lessons that have shaped your perspectives.
They are written from the heart and address not only a person, situation, or event, but also how that person, situation, or event has influenced your life.
Got all that? Goooood, now tune out everything you just read. Not because it isn’t important (it is), but because you can’t write a compelling essay here by consciously attempting to address each point. Before we get to the writing, let’s understand what Stanford is hoping to determine based on your response.

The key to this famous Stanford essay is a concept we all learned somewhere back in middle school physics: “potential energy.”

A perfect example of potential energy is a coiled spring. Something that is somehow “wound up” that—when set free—will release energy.

The best “What Matters to You Most and Why” essay is PACKED with potential energy, causing the reader to “want to set that author free (at Stanford).” The best essay makes the reader say, “This is the kind of person who might develop the next Google.” Or even at a simpler level, “This is the kind of person who is going to do something cool.” “This person is going to be a winner.”

It’s not JUST about a story that’s gut-wrenching. Or unusual. Or inspirational, even. In fact, it’s not really about the story at all. It’s about what the story (and the writing) implies about YOU. If it has “potential energy,” it can be about literally anything.

So how do you CREATE potential energy… in an essay!?! Well, it’s a balancing act of two things: content and style. And while this is true—of course—for every single application essay you’ll write, the rules are sliiightly tweaked for this particular essay. Let’s take it one piece at a time.

CONTENT

The key to “content” here is having a COOL point of view. Whatever the topic or experience is, if you’re able to “skin it” differently from the other guy, you’re off to a good start. And the best way to achieve that is through the most unfiltered, earnest writing style. The absolute worst thing you can do is try to impress the adcom.

But let’s even take it back a step. How do you answer such a hard question? Of all the things in life, what thing matters most to you—and why?

It’s difficult. There’s no denying it. And for all of our talk about being honest and whatnot, there is such a thing as an honest and exceedingly DULL answer. So, no matter what make sure your writing is honest. NOW, your next challenge is to make sure your point of view has some sizzle. What’s a good barometer for this? There are many, and it’s impossible to boil down. But one example that touches many is the element of surprise or unpredictability. If you were to share your essay with a friend of family member and they ended up NOT discovering anything new about you, chances are… your essay may be worthless. No matter how beautifully written it may be, if it says things that a friend or family member already knows, maybe you haven’t taken enough risks. If, on the other hand, this person who knows you well were to say, “Wow, I was there… and I had no idea that’s what you were thinking,” now we’re getting somewhere. Get the idea? We want evidence that you’ve done some probing. That you’ve dug deep. The ability to connect with your thoughts at a basic level speaks something to your ability to lead and innovate. It says a lot about how thoughtful and considered you are.

STYLE

The beauty of this Stanford essay is that it can come in many different shapes and sizes. That said, there are fundamental ways in which your delivery of the story can lead to more or less effectiveness. Unfortunately, this can only be truly analyzed on a case-by-case basis, but here is one general suggestion that may of some help:

Don’t get ahead of yourself. This is simply to say, if you’re retelling an episode from your past, often times the most effective lens is the one you used DURING the episode, not the one you’re looking through now—after the fact. A good example of this would be placing your hand on a hot stove. If you tell this story from your “present-day” lens you might say “there I was, staring at the stove that was obviously hot. I shouldn’t have put my hand there but I did. And I got burned.” If, instead, you’d described what was going through your mind at the time… it will probably be muuuuch more interesting. “I stood and stared at the red coils of the stove and wondered what would happen if I placed my palm directly on top. I was convinced it would give me some kind of superhuman strength because I’d seen something similar on TV. The bright orange color was too enticing, and I wanted super strength very, very badly.” In the second version, we get to know this person better. Maybe we conclude that that’s a sweet, innocent way of looking at the world. Maybe we’re compelled by the sense of wonder, etc. The first version, on the other hand, is suffocated by the “knowing-ness” of the present-day lens. We’re commenting on the event before letting the reader experience the event itself. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Tell us your experience as though it were happening “now.” Your commentary afterwards—where you grapple with the content and assess and synthesize it all, is the place to bring in that retrospective analysis.

Be brave. Take some risks.

JonFrank

2012-2013 STANFORD ESSAY ANALYSIS IIEssay 2: What do you want to do—REALLY—and why Stanford?

The best examples of Essay 2 express your passions or focused interests, explain why you have decided to pursue graduate education in management,  and demonstrate your desire to take advantage of the opportunities that are distinctive to the Stanford MBA Program.
Unlike Essay 1, here you will most certainly want to keep this blurb in front of you at all times. All of those points are important to hit. There are three pieces here, and if on average this essay ends up at 450 words or so, figure 150 words per section. Thinking about it this way will help to focus your thoughts immediately, and keep you from going sideways. It’s not a lot of room! Let’s take them one by one.

What do you want to DO and why? What’s the goal? But not the way it shows up on a resume—we don’t wanna see just a TITLE (“I’d like to be CEO of xxxx”). We want to understand the thing that results FROM that title. What happens WHEN you’re CEO of xxxx? That’s the “goal” we’re interested in understanding. Explain what this is and why it turns you on. But keep in mind—the best version doesn’t just communicate the “what and why” here, but also gets US equally excited. Think of it as a mini-pitch. Make OUR mouths water.
Why bother with an MBA? This is a place where most folks have a lot of trouble making a convincing case [which means that the rare convincing case can go a long way]. Make an argument here. Don’t just explain it in a way that makes sense to you—convince us as though we are SKEPTICS. Imagine Stanford said “you’re clearly smart, your goals are great, and we think you’re gonna be successful—but we’re not convinced you need an MBA.” What would you say to turn them around? Make an ARGUMENT. Don’t just tell us why.
Stanford Specifics. This is the other most commonly tanked essay component by applicants at large. Imagine someone offered you a FREE RIDE at Harvard and a FREE RIDE at Wharton. Turn those offers down and instead PAY for the opportunity to attend Stanford. But pin it to a specific opportunity that can only be found here and not elsewhere. The argument about being around entrepreneurial kids won’t necessarily wash (are there no entrepreneurs who attend HBS or Wharton?). The argument about extensive networks and school reputation won’t wash. The only thing that will be convincing here is evidence of clear devotion to this school—and this school alone. Show us that you know the program inside-out. The way to do that is specificity. But remember, it isn’t just naming obscure things. It has to TIE TO YOUR GOALS. Here, you need to make the argument that specific things A and B are going to help you achieve your goals BETTER than any other MBA program out there.
While Stanford offers flexibility in how you allocate your words, 450-500 is an excellent length for this response. Anything less will feel light, and too much is generally not warranted (given the other essay demands).

Essay 3: Answer one of the three questions below. Tell us not only what you did but also how you did it. What was the outcome? How did people respond? Only describe experiences that have occurred during the last three years.

Figure 300-400 words. Now, rather than pick the essay prompt that feels best to answer, our advice here may just make your head spin: ignore the questions.

Yep, you heard right. Don’t let these questions force you to choose your story carefully—let your GREATEST STORIES choose the question. Think of it this way. You have only a few bullets to blow the adcom’s mind. Essay 1 is something of an anomaly, and might not necessarily tie into something GREAT you’ve done as far as a b-school essay is concerned. Essay 2 is straightforward but mostly focused on GOALS. Essay 3, therefore, has to be the one that shows you off the BEST. Stuff you’ve done in the past that would be CRIMINAL to leave off in your best case to Stanford. Figure out what story that is. Now let’s look through and see where it may fit the best.

In fact, if it doesn’t fit anywhere, there may still be a way to case that sucker so that it does. This isn’t to suggest that you’ll bend the truth, or force a square peg into a round hole. There is most definitely an art form to it—and when done properly, it shouldn’t seem ill-fitting at ALL. The key take-home idea here is not to sell yourself short EVER in a b-school app. If you’ve done something absolutely amazing in the past and need to find a way to talk about—FIND A WAY. Don’t go to your seventh-best story because it happens to address the wording of these questions slightly better. That make sense? Let’s dig a bit into each of these.

Option A: Tell us about a time in the last three years when you built or developed a team whose performance exceeded expectations.

Simple. This isn’t just a success story. It’s about something you delivered to a team that allowed them to go beyond what was expected of them. It’s not so much about the result here as much as “that thing” you did to CAUSE that result. What was your tactic? What philosophy of YOURS worked better than it had for others in your same position? What is the value of “you” that made your team burst through others’ expectations? This is what we’re after here. The secret sauce of what YOU brought to the table. Explain what it was, and how it led to staggering success.

Option B: Tell us about a time in the last three years when you identified and pursued an opportunity to improve an organization.

Simple formula. Company X earns a score of 100 points. Company X WITHOUT YOU earns a score of only 87 points. Something YOU did… that no one else did, or recognized as an opportunity to do, led to an increased value in the organization. What was it? How’d you do it?

Now, this could also be a story whose success has yet to be seen. And it could EVEN be a failure. But—if the opportunity that you saw, and your pursuit of doing something about it speaks to a larger itch that is characteristic of your overall VALUE, then it could be fair game here.

Key points to hit here are the UNIQUENESS of your observation. It can’t be something that’s done regularly by other people. The value we’re interested in here is the stuff that YOU bring to the table that the other guy doesn’t. This is a good way to determine what that might be.

Option C: Tell us about a time in the last three years when you went beyond what was defined or established.

This one’s the most straightforward of all of them. Similar to Option B, this one must speak to something unique about you. What was something no one else thought to do? Or had the gumption to do? Show us how you’re fearless. A rebel. Risk-taker. Show us you will pursue something you believe in even if it ends in failure, or isn’t popular among the veterans around you. If you can do this in a way that FURTHERS your credibility, the rewards will be high. If you come across like a loose cannon, you may strike out huge. This is simply to say that there’s a way to make a risky decision seem smart or… ill-considered. Go for it—but go for it smartly. One way to ensure that you’re on the “smart” side of that line is to bring us into your head as you were making your calculated risks. Show us the cost-benefit analysis. Make US want to “go beyond what was defined or established,” etc.



The Stanford suggestion for breaking these down roughly as 750 for Essay 1, 450 for Essay 2, and 400 for Essay 3 is tough to beat. Maybe there’s 50 words in either direction, but generally speaking, it’s a great balance to follow.

Now, dig deep within yourself. Cancel out all the noise that forces you to wonder what will impress the adcom, shut it all out—and write drafts of your essays as FAST as you possibly can, taking as long as you want on those initial stabs. Sculpting from there will be much easier than trying to work with material that has been pondered over too carefully at the outset.

Jon Frank
HBS 2005

JonFrank

REQUIRED QUESTION:

How will the Wharton MBA help you achieve your professional objectives? (400 words)

It’s a slight tweak to last year’s prompt, and the change is telling. In 2011-2012, they asked, “What are your professional objectives?” This year, the focus has shifted to making an argument for how Wharton will help you ACHIEVE those objectives.

The best way to WRECK this question is to spend the majority of the time laying out your goal and never digging deep into how the Wharton MBA (specifically) will help make it all happen. Another great way to screw it up is to gloss over your goals and talk ONLY about Wharton, giving us little context. This requires a delicate balancing act.

If you said, “I have a goal of building a brand new sports arena. It’s going to sport 1,000 giant TV screens, state of the art food ordering kiosks, and a retractable dome. Please give me $100M to make it all happen,” we will be left wanting. It could be a great idea. It could be a great investment of $100M, but we have no real proof that it will be.

Here’s what’s missing. What happens AFTER that stadium gets built? Does it bring revenue to the city where it’s located? How much more than the city would have made without that park? What other benefits will there be to revitalizing a dying sports franchise? Perhaps it necessitates badly needed infrastructure that could give the local economy a boost. A lofty idea in theory, but here’s the proof that the revenues will make it all work. Further, here’s a breakdown of how that $100M will be spent. If we spent $75M, it wouldn’t work and here’s why. Sure, we’d be able to build a B+ version of the same thing, but for this to actually generate the buzz required to truly work, it needs X, Y, and Z. The numbers have been vetted, and $100M is the number.

Now all of a sudden we’re in a position where saying “no” would make us feel like we’re potentially missing out on an opportunity. That is an IDEAL position for your adcom reader to be in. It’s your job to create that itch. And to do so, you need the following pieces dialed in:

Explain your big picture objective.
SELL your reader on it—show us not just the objective, but the CONSEQUENCES of your REACHING that objective (the “benefits”).
Walk us through the PRECISE ways in which specific aspects of a WHARTON MBA will allow for this to move forward… best (now is not the time to get tooooo terribly specific with respect to classes/professors, etc. Instead, drill home the idea of the Wharton MBA in general—why Wharton specifically? Why MBA?).
These are the three pieces. 400 words. You will want to tackle 1 and 2 in approximately 200/225 words. And Number 3 in roughly 175/200.

The model for being in a board room, PITCHING your case to would-be investors is an excellent one to consider.

“Convince me that I should give you my money (aka, a seat at Wharton).”
“Show me that it’s going to be spent smartly.”
“Prove to me that YOU’RE the right guy to SPEND my money.”
“I believe in this kid.”
If your essay doesn’t return THOSE responses… it needs to.



RESPOND TO 2 OF THE FOLLOWING 3 QUESTIONS:

1. Select a Wharton MBA course, co-curricular opportunity or extra-curricular engagement that you are interested in. Tell us why you chose this activity and how it connects to your interests. (500 words)

NOW’s the time to get to those specifics. But, pick ONE… and not five. This isn’t a contest to see how many classes and activities you can find on their website. They wanna see how ENGAGED you are. “Amplitude,” not “frequency.”

There are three key ingredients to a crackling response here:

Evidence of knowledge/research
Well-hewn argument connecting Wharton offering to goals
Passion
Let’s take these one by one…

EVIDENCE OF KNOWLEDGE/RESEARCH

Ladies and Gentlemen, please go beyond pulling information off of Wharton’s website. More specifically, please go beyond “listing” information you have pulled. By itself, it impresses NO ONE. You need to dig deeper—now let’s figure out what that means exactly.

To get a three-dimensional view of something, you need to look at it from multiple angles. When we read COMPELLING versions of this type of essay, we can SEE that three-dimensional sense oozing off the page. It just… happens. So, Step 1 is to develop that well-rounded understanding of a particular Wharton offering. How to do that? Well, one way could be to Google the offering and spend some time going wherever that journey takes you. Maybe it leads to other articles about that course or activity or club or professor, etc. Maybe it leads to REVIEWS by Wharton students or alums. Maybe it leads to a NAME and E-MAIL address. You can and should reach out to that person and possibly ask a few questions. Maybe it leads to a professor who has written articles or books. You should read those… or at least familiarize yourself with them. Maybe it leads to discovering more on the issue itself. Whatever the case, good things will happen when you take some time to INVESTIGATE. Build your knowledge. Because when you put pen to paper—without even TRYING—it will show.

WELL-HEWN ARGUMENT CONNECTING WHARTON OFFERING TO GOALS

This is the absolute KEY TO EVERYTHING. “Connecting.” Taking the previous concept a step further—it’s not enough to have a wonderfully three-dimensional understanding of a Wharton offering by itself. The REAL key is to connect this with your goals. What does that mean, “connect?”

Well, think of the difference between correlation versus causation. Let’s say I’m sitting on my balcony watching people on the street below walking on the curb. I take a sip of tea and then notice that a young man TRIPS and stumbles. The sip of tea didn’t CAUSE that man to trip. Maybe they’re correlated, but probably not at all. Now, imagine I walked down to the curb and saw that same young man approaching and when he was close I STUCK MY FOOT OUT—which then resulted in the man tripping. Well, in this case I absolutely CAUSED the man to trip. There’s a “connection” there—an incontrovertible one. When you are writing about Wharton classes or clubs or activities or whatnot, you need to show how they will “trip” you. Show how those classes will PHYSICALLY CAUSE you to ADVANCE your career goals. Show us the connection. Foot by foot. Class/Activity to Your Improvement. Without this connection, the whole thing will lack value.

PASSION

This one can’t be taught, or practiced. It needs to come organically. The first two items above will help to this end. We need to feel that you are ITCHING to get to Wharton to begin. We need to get a sense that this MATTERS to you. It’s not just an idea, it’s not just something “that people do in your line of work,” etc. Why? What role does passion have in a formal business school essay?

A big one. It’s an indicator of future success. The guy who’s bursting at the seams is a DOER. He’s the guy that may fail, but figures out a SECOND way to succeed—but no matter what, he succeeds. Passion is the common denominator to most success stories. Show us that you don’t just want it—you NEED it. Figure out, in your head, why you need it so badly. And then imagine that you’re presenting your argument to someone who doesn’t believe you. That’s a very smart way to channel passion. Imagine someone says, “Oh yeah? I think you’re putting on an act. I think you’re saying all the right things but you don’t ACTUALLY want any of this stuff, truly.” Or imagine him saying, “Okay, I hear what you’re saying, but I just met with a young man who is REALLY passionate about the exact same thing you are. I believe him and not you. Final thoughts?”

Show that skeptic why he’s wrong. Seriously, how would you do it?

Jon Frank
HBS 2005

heavyduty

Jon, I was dinged by HBS and plan to reapply this year. While I got very solid recommendations from three of my previous managers in the previous application, should I have them again while reapplying, or should I find new recommenders to recommend me from different perspectives?

If I do choose the same recommenders as last year, should I ask them to write the rec letter differently? I wonder whether the adcom will pull out the old application or not.

Thanks for the advice!

JonFrank

heavyduty 发表于 2013-5-10 08:43
Jon, I was dinged by HBS and plan to reapply this year. While I got very solid recommendations from  ...

Good question!
Well it depends on how good the recommenders were. If all three gave great recommendations, then you don't necessarily have to choose new people, although they should all be updating their recommendation with anything new that happens. You can also consider switching one recommender if one of them was weaker than the others. And yes, as long as you are a reapplicant, the Adcom will have access to all of last years materials, which is why it is so important for you to update everything!

Hope this helps.

Jon Frank
HBS 2005

JonFrank

Does an MBA make you a happier person? Reading the results of a new survey by MBA50.com, it’s hard not to come to that conclusion.

MBA50.com, a website that covers 50 top business schools, surveyed 1,100 current students from 12 of the world’s leading business schools and asked them three questions: How happy were you 12 months before you started your MBA program, how happy are you now, and how happy do you think you’ll be after you graduate?

The results show a clear happiness progression. On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being extremely unhappy and 10 being extremely happy, the MBA students reported that they weren’t exactly giddy with anticipation before starting their programs (5.98), but got significantly happier once they started (7.71) and will be downright blissful after graduation (8.53). MBAs in every world region save one reported increased levels of happiness in school and after graduation; those in Australia Pacific will get a little crankier after graduation for reasons not explained.

The happiest students of all were in the U.S. and Canada (8.3). The most miserable: those in Central and South Asia (7.68) followed closely by Western Europe (7.72) where double-digit unemployment in Spain and Greece must have many worried. Asked what aspect of their MBA programs made them the happiest, 42.2 percent said “self-development” followed by career progression (19 percent) and the pleasure of learning (11.6 percent). Financial reward (2.7 percent) came in a distant seventh.

There’s been an abundance of academic happiness research in recent years, much of it by economists, and plenty of debate over its validity. Even researchers who study this stuff will tell you it’s best to take any findings with a big grain of salt.

Naturally, gaining acceptance to a top MBA program, and ultimately graduating, would increase happiness—but wouldn’t achieving any big goal such as starting a family or getting a job? Sure, the experience of attending an MBA program can be happiness-inducing. For one thing, it’s a two-year break from work. You’re surrounded by like-minded individuals. And you’re doing something you find interesting. What’s not to like?


Jon Frank
HBS 2005

JonFrank

Essay 1: Introduce yourself to your classmates in 100 words or less.

What’s the difference between Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Clouseau? Or Jason Bourne and James Bond? Well, you may say that Sherlock Holmes is precise whereas Clouseau is a bumbling klutz. Or that Jason Bourne kills his adversaries equipped only with a hand towel, while Bond employs the use of state-of-the-art gadgetry to get himself out of peril. Yes, there may be differences on the surface, in their processes, in how they look, in their backstories, etc… but we’re about to argue—for the sake of this analysis, that in fact, there is ultimately NO difference between ANY of these guys. If… we boil it down to one (and only one) simple question—does the guy get the job done? Answer: yes. Let’s pretend that this is all that matters and apply it to Ross’s intro Essay.

Let’s throw the focus AWAY from who you are, what your backstory is, what makes you you, all that stuff that you may EXPECT to focus on here—don’t worry, it’s all potentially important, BUT, we wanna challenge you to think about it slightly differently. Let’s instead consider the desired RESULT. Regardless of what you say, and how cool YOU may think it is, the KEY to this question is to achieve … a particular reaction in the reader. What’s the reaction? One word: intrigue. The guy listening to your response should SMIRK and say quietly to himself, “Hm, this kid sounds kinda cool—the kind of person I’d love to get to know.” THAT, my friends, is the goal. If you can achieve that, it doesn’t matter one iota what you say to get there.

But, let’s at least take a crack at figuring out what types of things may help you… get there. First of all, a sense of humor. The ability to be self-deprecating. “Ah, this guy has the ability to laugh at himself.” Very appealing. Don’t be afraid to reveal something mildly embarrassing. This shows the best kind of vulnerability, and promises its opposite—that in fact, there must be way more to this guy. “I wonder what he’s holding back.”

What else. Something unmistakably unique. Tricky one, how do you know if “your thing” is unique? Well, probably it isn’t, in the grand scheme of things. But you’ll know because you’ve been in this situation before (i.e., introducing yourself to a group of people) and you may be “that guy” who always has the showstopper intro that has the room stunned. Use it here. But consider a twist—just to hedge against the idea that you may not be alone. Let’s say you’re a skydiver. Not many people can say that they’ve leapt from an airplane—but to be sure, it isn’t thaaaaat uncommon. So, rather than say “My name is Gray McManmin, and I have jumped out of an airplane—you guessed it, I have done skydiving!” … Refine your uniquess: “We all know someone who knows someone who’s done skydiving, but how many skydivers have proposed to their now-wives while plummeting toward the earth at hundreds of miles per hour?” See the difference? In this way, even if your “thing” STILL isn’t unique, at least it’s a touch more personalized.

What else. How bout admitting something outlandish from your past that no one knows about? Do you have the ability to surprise… your parents? Or your best friends? With an admission that even THEY don’t know?

Whatever the thing is, it can’t be random. It must connect to you in some way that captures the essence of who you are—in such a way that it makes us… intrigued after we read it. The thing itself doesn’t matter. If we’re intrigued, you have succeeded.


Jon Frank
HBS 2005

森苡

Thanks for sharing the thoughts on the essays.