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

JonFrank

striddick 发表于 2013-9-26 09:45
Hi Jon,

Gentle Greetings. I am an undergraduate student who will graduate at June 2014 and I am now ...

Hi there, and thank you so much for your question! I am more than happy to help you, my friend. First let me say that your academic background is quite impressive, and you’ve got solid test scores and a good undergrad ranking. However, the challenge for you is that you want to switch your focus of study to management or something else entirely. Therefore, it is extremely important in your applications to write convincing essays that elaborate on this decision. You must fully explain why you want to change your major and what your plans will bein the future. Since you don’t have any full-time work experience, you’ll be unable to apply to good MBA programs, since they like to see that you’ve had at least two years in the working world. Most of the graduate business programs like to see some work experience, as well. Therefore, I think you’ve got two options. First, you can consider applying to MFE programs now. Or you can get some work experienceafter you graduate, and then apply for an MBA later on. The path that you choose really depends on what you want to do in your future career, since the post-graduate jobs for MFE and MBA students are quite different. Let me know if you have any further questions!

Jon Frank
HBS 2005

JonFrank

Share your thought process as you encountered a challenging work situation or complex problem. What did you learn about yourself? (500 words maximum)

Pick a great story, first of all. As with any b-school application essay prompt, don’t get stuck on finding the coolest “situation”—you’ve got one bullet here.

But okay, you’ve got your story. Let’s talk about what they wanna know from that sucker. They wanna learn something about how you operate. How you think. Here’s a good test: If you set up the challenge, and we can predict exactly what you did to handle that situation, something isn’t quite right. In order for this essay to pack punch, there needs to be SOME element of surprise in the way that you (not the guy sitting NEXT to you) dealt with the variables at hand. Without that, it’s just a bland ol’ resume bullet point.

Set up the problem. Establish what made SOLVING that problem hard. What were the obstacles? Time? Language barriers? What made it hard… lay it all out. Now—and here’s the crux of it—consider what OTHERS might have done in your shoes. Ideally, there may have been OTHER ways to skin this cat. Perhaps more obvious or more predictable courses of action. Depending on your particular story, you may even wanna quickly give us a sense for what those might be—what was the status quo, what was the precedent, etc.

But take us through what you did that was different, and why. Take us through the thought process. Be careful not to get ahead of yourself—this is a common tendency, applicants are so eager to spill the success story, they write with the knowledge of how the story ends. Try to write the story as though it were happening in real-time, where the outcome is still uncertain. This will engage your reader to feel the tension YOU felt, to play along and wonder how it all turns out. These are all very good things… that guy pays close attention to your essay because humans respond to drama, pure and simple.

This idea of “surprise” is also relevant in setting up the second half of this essay: “what did you learn about yourself?” If you acted in the exact way you’d have predicted prior to the situation… something’s not quite right. There needs to be something that EMERGED in your actions. Something revelatory.

“Wow, I’m good at confrontation when I have all the facts in front of me.”

“Wow, I don’t mind bucking a trend if XYZ.”

“Wow, I never realized how much I valued X until after this experience.”

That kind of thing. But a sentence won’t do. You need to dig. Here’s another good test… imagine revealing your big lesson, in a wonderful heartfelt way, and having the person reading this essay look up and say to you, “Who cares? Why are you telling me this?”

“I learned that I blah.”
“So what.”

Well, defend it. Convince us that what you’re telling us is important. Why should we care? Why should we bother about a lesson you learned about yourself? This is hard, folks. Harder than you may realize. But if you crack THIS, then you’re gonna end up with something air-tight.

So, how do you pull this off? There must be some significance to this story as it relates to something BIGGER in your overall trajectory. There’s something you aspire to in life. You have goals, dreams, momentum toward something awesome. There’s gotta be a way that a takeaway lesson from this experience—something you discovered about yourself—either reaffirmed your belief that your goal is something you can indeed pull off, or gave clarity TO an existing goal, and helped refine it, based on the self-discovery. It has to connect somehow. Otherwise… indeed, who cares. “Thank you for telling me that you discovered your hatred for blue cheese. I know… not to buy you blue cheese…. for your birthday?”

There’s gotta be a connection between this story, and what you wanna do. Balance-wise, you’ll wanna devote 350 words or so to the experience itself, and 150 or so to the discovery and CONNECTION bit. It’s one of one essay, folks. You don’t wanna leave them with “hm, that was a nice story.” But rather, “hm, this kid’s gonna DO something.”

@JonFrank
HBS 2005

striddick

JonFrank 发表于 2013-10-12 16:35
Hi there, and thank you so much for your question! I am more than happy to help you, my friend. Fi ...

Hi Jon,

Thank you so much for spending time answering me! Just one more question. Given my background, I cannot figure out which level of schools am I able to reach. Top 30? Top 50? Or Top 100? Could you please give me any advice? I will really appreciate.

Thank you again.

Xiaochen Wu
Nanjing, China

上北下南

JonFrank 发表于 2013-10-12 14:54
You're welcome!
Teaching IS a kind of leadership experience. After all you are standing up in fron ...

Thank you very much Jon. It helps a lot!

JonFrank

1. Imagine that you are at the Texas MBA Orientation for the Class of 2016. Please introduce yourself to your new classmates, and include any personal and/or professional aspects that you believe to be significant. Select only one communication method that you would like to use for your response:

(a) Write an essay (250 words)
(b) Share a video introduction (one minute)
(c) Share your about.me profile

Introductions can take place in a variety of ways. Standing in a circle of a few at a cocktail party. In a one-on-one interview. First day on the job.

The version we’re after here is much different. McCombs just handed you a mic, dimmed the house lights, and threw a spotlight onto you. This is your time not just to introduce yourself, but to perform. A performance is artful. And requires a special type of messaging. Your challenge isn’t to hold the attention of the guy sitting across the desk who is usually forced to tune in. Your challenge is to capture and sustain the attention of a room full of people, whose magnitude (by itself) tends to make it an uphill battle from minute 1.

Golden Rule: Dullness is deadly.

Don’t be dull. Don’t be quiet. Don’t be average. Don’t be monotone. Don’t be… safe.

Now’s your chance to tap your inner James Bond. Your inner MLK. Your inner Seth Macfarlane. Charm. Wit. Risk. Energy. A deviating from that safe, straight, center pathway.

Whether it’s an essay, or a video, or an about.me profile, the very first thing you need to do is grab your audience’s attention. There’s no real room for a slow burn here. If this were a two hour movie, and you had a proven track record, maybe an audience would spot you an unceremonious beginning, trusting in a future payoff. You have no such luxury here, my friend. Your cohort doesn’t know you. You need to be spectacular and attention-worthy from second 1.

What makes for a good opener? Well, practically speaking, “it” can be absolutely anything, which is to say it can take the FORM of just about anything. But what most great opening moments have in common is this: they knock the reader/audience off balance. For most of you, that may sound great, but it still may not mean much. “How the hell am I supposed to throw the reader off balance?” Well, one way to think about it is to leave some stuff OUT. The more buttoned up your opening is, the more likely your audience will feel secure. And secure—for now—is lethal. Bad.

“My name is Craig Blodgitsnick. I am 27 years old. And I’m a banker.” Great. Super clear. And therefore… too clear? It’s all buttoned up. The audience needs a reason to hear more. With an opening like that, however, we’re left with no such desire. Here’s an alternative.

“I make people cry for a living."

Um, say what? What the hell does that mean. Did he just say that? I have no idea who this guy is, I have no idea how I feel about him, I have no sense of whether that’s a good or bad thing. What I do know… is that I’m dying to hear more. Success. This speaker has the audience in the palms of his hands.

“Pond. Cigarette. Abandoned BMW. These three things almost got me arrested, led me to my future wife, and ultimately set me on a path of world domination."

Hunh? I mean, I couldn’t be more in. Who the hell says that? How on Earth are those three things connected? After everyone gives their boring standard speech, I can bet you money I’m gonna remember the guy who said THAT.

Throw your reader off balance. Give them a reason to want to read more. Now, not to scare you, but this isn’t easy. It is a touch risky, and it requires some finesse. But it is absolutely worth working toward. But just for a moment, let’s talk about the downside…

If you can’t quite pull it off, and it seems forced and inauthentic, then you run the risk of seeming like you’re trying too hard. And that’s a liability. So, get a gut check from a second set of eyes (doesn’t have to be a pro, could be anyone—see if they buy it). If it’s just not passing muster, there is recourse. Which is to tell a very honest, earnest story. Your story, a personal story. But, it’s gotta be a cool story. If it’s a straightforward, you are toast. There’s gotta be some GRIT in there, some adversity, some uniqueness. That can be equally compelling.

“Hi, my name is Goran Crevitz and I became an adult when I was five years old when I was separated from my parents and grandparents. My first job was…”

Yah, I’d listen to that guy. (But did you notice how even here, the author has thrown the audience off balance? This is not happenstance.)

Whichever medium suits you best, take advantage of it. Don’t choose the video if all you do is read an essay. If you use video, it has to be because there’s something about your look and body language and visible energy that communicates something a written essay can’t quite capture. If you choose an essay over video, it’s gotta be because there are certain things you’re able to do with the written word that would be MORE effective than a video version.

Keep your audience on the edge of their seat, though, by throwing them off balance.

2. In the Texas MBA program we value our tight-knit and highly collaborative culture. Outside of your professional goals, please discuss why you are a good fit with the Texas MBA program and how you intend to impact the Texas MBA community? (250 words)

The phrase to consider carefully here is “outside of your professional goals.” If you rope it back to work and career stuff, you’re gonna seem like a personality-less dud. We’re looking for sparkplugs here. People who are gonna ignite others. That’s when a community becomes… enriched, which leads ultimately to more and cooler success stories.

So, show them the spark. Show them that you have plenty of stuff to talk about outside of your work/career that defines what you’re all about. Don’t just list activities. Consider what those activities imply about you. Don’t just tell me you play cricket and plan to play on the cricket team. What the hell does that mean? Don’t just tell me you have a ton of community service experience and plan to do community service stuff at Texas. Go a few layers deeper. How will your interest in these things create a SPARK that’s gonna somehow ignite someone around you? How are you gonna be a GALVANIZING force?

THAT’s the connection you need to make. I have an interest in cricket. But here’s why that interest is gonna positively affect THIS guy sitting next to me, and THAT gal in my section, and THOSE guys over there. Doesn’t even have to necessarily relate to the sport itself in this scenario, it will likely have to do with the “quality” underneath that interest. That’s what we’re interested in. Show how that trait, attribute, interest, passion, etc. makes you a solid fit with McCombs. Give us an example of the impact. And don’t just tell us THAT you’re gonna have an impact, walk us through what that could look like.

And to do it one better, the more detailed and thorough you are here, the more convinced we’ll be that you’ve spent time considering it, researching it, committing to it.

3. What do you hope to gain from your Texas MBA experience? How do you expect to develop, both personally and professionally, during the Texas MBA program? (250 words)

Check it out: “hope to gain,” “develop.” These are key. The strongest response here will suggest a genuine desire to grow—which may mean coming to terms with the fact that you’re not “there” yet. What can you do today, and what can’t you do? The existence of the stuff you “can’t” do must give rise to an insatiable itch. That’s the itch that adcoms are betting on. That’s the itch that’s gonna propel you to succeed. The only way to communicate this itch is to establish the “can” and “can’t” piece clearly. Both (in most cases) are important as you formulate this response.

“Here’s what I can do. I’m good at this. I’m solid at that. Here’s the proof. That stuff is in the bag. And if continuing to achieve X were my goal, I’d be set for life. But I want more. I want Y. And in order to succeed at Y I need to be rock solid in Z, which I DON’T have licked as of today. This is where I wanna grow. And here’s why I think I’m gonna get a great version of that at McCombs specifically.”

That’s a sub-textual road map for how that argument could go. Be careful to include both personal and professional goals. To focus only on professional goals may make you seem ultimately a touch limited. Awareness of that emotional side of things tends to suggest the makings of a future leader.

Optional Essay: Please provide any additional information to the Admissions Committee that you believe is important and/or will address any areas of concern that will be beneficial to the Admissions Committee in considering your application. (200 words)

They may all phrase it differently, but your approach to the Optional Essay is aaaalways the same, folks.

@JonFrank
HBS 2005

tastestory

JonFrank 发表于 2013-10-30 16:19
1. Imagine that you are at the Texas MBA Orientation for the Class of 2016. Please introduce yoursel ...

Thank you! That is exactly what I need

JonFrank

Essay One (Required): What are the 2 or 3 strengths or characteristics that have driven your career success thus far? What are the other strengths that you would like to leverage in the future? (500 words maximum)

Big, huge titanic difference here between achievements and the qualities that DROVE those achievements. Success without a sense for what “caused” it will be worthless. First ask yourself this: have you been successful at all thus far in your career? Really? Can you prove it? Seriously, this is a much harder question than you may realize. You may feel like you’re on the right track, moving along at a decent pace, but consider the perspective of a skeptic. Or someone without ANY sense of your industry, where job titles and promotions will be meaningless without context. Let’s first—before we start writing here—build a case.

If you’ve been successful, even slightly, let’s prove it. If you’ve received a promotion, why should we impressed? Do only a few people in your cohort receive promotions AT ALL? And/or, even among those who do, was yours handed to you QUICKER than usual? Let’s talk about deals you’ve closed, or projects you’ve led to successful outcomes. Haven’t others in your company’s history ALSO done similar things? What is notable about your achievement? Were you the only “junior” member of the team to have accomplished X? Was your deal Y% “larger, bigger, etc.” than is typical? Put your finger on it, by giving us CONTEXT. (Remember, we haven’t written anything, we’re just doing some preliminary thinking.) Context is key, folks. Consider the following statement and judge for yourself whether it’s impressive:

“It rained today.”

Uhh, this is meant to wow? Hardly. If you live in New York, or Seattle, or London, etc. But what if you lived in Phoenix, Arizona? Or in the Sahara? Then yah, maybe this IS interesting.

“It rained today, the first rain in 235 years to have fallen on this day of this month.” Now, an otherwise humdrum fact is transformed into something noteworthy. Guess what follows? Curiosity about what CAUSED IT. We wonder, well… “what was different about today compared to the past 235 years?” Maybe it has to do with global warming. Maybe it foretells of a deadly asteroid a la Michael Bay’s now-classic (kidding! mostly!) blockbuster thriller “Armageddon.” Doesn’t matter, we are interested, now that we have REASON to be; now that we understand THAT it is impressive.

So, back to b-school essays. You’ve identified where you’ve been successful, and furthermore provided the context to help us understand WHY those things should be considered successful. Now, ask yourself… what traits of yours made that happen? Traits, talents, skills, assets, pick whatever word you like best. There must have been a REASON you pulled those things off. And you’re gonna fall flat if everyone else around possesses those same things—because then the success diminishes in value. Then you just got lucky. Tie your successes to something distinctly YOU. Ideally, this is a thread that can be seen not just in ONE success, but across many.

How to physically structure this sucker? No need to get fancy, tough to do in 500 words. Especially since there’s another question we have to address. Remember our classic take on your “greatest hits.” There are stories you “need” to dip into. Awesome, just pull from those and work backwards as we’ve prescribed above to talk about the DRIVERS of those moments. And dive right in. Whether you pick two or three stories, here’s an outline that may be helpful:

Talk in the abstract about what skills/talents ONE would need in the industry you’re PURSUING. Give us just a bit of context for why it’s important to be an ace “negotiator” or a particular TYPE of “leader” or a whiz with cross-cultural sensitivity, given your goals of XYZ. Establish it. (75 words or so)
Now walk us through the EVIDENCE in your past that demonstrates some of that. Two examples, three maybe. In each case, identify what made your objective challenging, and how you leveraged your “skill, trait, etc.” to tackle it. Remember, don’t put the spotlight on the results—give us the results for sure, but swing the spotlight over the skill of yours that made it happen. (100-125 words per example)
Finally, anticipate something you need to develop MORE to be truly successful in the longer term. Show us that you’ve thought through your career goals very carefully, and have identified areas that you may be lacking in, or are weak in. Talk frankly about your desire and commitment to shoring up skills in this area. This is not a one-sentence thing folks. Be brutally honest, it will reveal your sincerity and drive and sense of vision. (75 words)

Essay Two (Required): Please describe your short and long term goals post-MBA. Explain how: your professional experience has shaped these goals; why this career option appeals to you; and how you arrived at the decision that now is the time and the MBA is the appropriate degree. (500 words maximum)

Very typical goals essay that covers the gamut of just about everything one could in a “goals” essay. There’s no secret sauce necessary here, ladies and gentlemen. However, it is worth pointing out their curiosity about “how you arrived at the decision that now is the time and the MBA is the appropriate degree.” Outside of the typical responses, it’s worth allocating a solid 75 words or so to really DIG into this. And there’s no better way here than to literally take it head on.

Establish The Problem/Identify the Opportunity (75 words)
Typically, there’s an opening in an industry. Or a system that’s broken. Or a status quo begging for a revolution. An opportunity in need of SEIZING; a problem in need of FIXING. Bring us into “the thing,” whatever it is. Establish it. Set it up. Make US see… what YOU see. Bring us on board, and we will root for you. This “buy-in” is an essential part of any career goals essay setup.

High-Level GLIMPSE of Long-Term Aspirations (50-75 words)
Without getting into the nitty gritty, reveal what it is you wanna DO. Not the job title, not the position, not the company… but rather, the result that COMES FROM all those things. What it is you wanna actually ACHIEVE. What NET RESULT are you hoping for? What will the consequences be? Paint us a picture. No details, just enough for us to get the gist.
Walk us Through The Career Path/Take us on a Journey (100-125 words)
This is NOT just giving us your resume. Far from. We want to feel the INEVITABILITY of your next moves (MBA, short term, long term, etc.). This happens ONLY when you take us through a chronology that has a logical direction. Highlight the most meaningful aspects of your work experiences—aspects that (1) connect your past achievements to your future goals, and (2) prove to us that you’ve been successful in things that therefore promise success in those future goals.

The Short-Term Plan, into the Long-Term Plan (100-125 words)
Details details details. Show us that you’ve considered it from every angle. Show us why this ST goal makes perfect sense as a bridge, and why each step is necessary. Show us a progression. End this section with a reason why you can’t just… get going already. There’s a reason you can’t—you’re missing some stuff, you need an MBA.

Why Get an MBA? Why School X? (125 words)
Prove to us the NEED for an MBA. Not in the abstract, but why YOU need an MBA at this particularly ripe moment. For Kenan-Flagler in particular, walk us through the “realization” moment. It’s cooler if it wasn’t a foregone conclusion, but something that came from consideration. Bring us into the “considerings!” Probably you could succeed just fine without an MBA, but make our mouths water at the notion that you could succeed in a SPECIAL way with that degree. Remember, you’re not just listing merits of a program—they know this stuff already. The part they don’t know is how their program gets YOU to where you want to be. Show us how this happens at this program, and why THIS program is preferable to others.

Essay Three (Required): What personal qualities or life experiences distinguish you from other applicants? How do these qualities or experiences equip you to contribute to UNC Kenan-Flagler? (500 words maximum)

This is a fun one. An opportunity for you to let your personality bleed through a bit. Don’t be afraid of taking some risks here and cutting loose. In doing so, you’ll be proving THAT you have qualities that distinguish you from others. What does taking risks mean exactly? Well, it could be in the CHOICE of the qualities you talk about, or in the way you DELIVER it. Perhaps you take on a more conversational tone. Perhaps you tell us an incredible story (as opposed to a more dry explanation OF the thing). Whatever it is, your personality should shine through here. Someone who doesn’t know you should be able to read this essay and get a sense of what you must be like in person.

But okay, let’s talk about the actual STUFF now (in the abstract). What kind of thing distinguishes you from other applicants? Well, this is where you’re gonna have to be super hard on yourself. Or, extremely self-aware. Recognize that many of the things you THINK are unique to you are in fact quite common. Oh no.

Recognize further that some of the things you think you own…. others not only have, but have cooler versions of! Double oh no.

Start with that as your challenge. Don’t just pick stuff to talk about. Sell us on why these are cool. Because chances are, we’ve seen it a thousand times before. If you can “sell” it well, then the sky’s the limit. Then you can make even the most COMMON thing seem uncommon. And that—by itself—is a cool skill.

What could possibility distinguish you from other applicants? Couple tricks here to get the juices flowing. Think about cool oxy-morons and surprising aspects of yourself. Let’s say you’re a mid-20s Indian male IT guy from India. Well, rather than talk about how you play cricket, what if your thing is lacrosse? Or, hell, BALLET? Or something else that makes us go… “what just happened.” Think about the predictable, and then try to make it go upside-down. You’re an IT guy, but you were a contestant on American Idol. You’re a corporate, Wall Street type, but you write children’s books in your spare time. You’re a Chinese guy who hates numbers. Find things that surprise WITHIN YOUR OWN REPERTOIRE. Don’t just look for ways in which you think you might be cool. Those juxtapositions are there already. Find ‘em. This should get you 2/3 or 3/4 the way there.

But once again, don’t ignore that second question, about how you APPLY these. The “what’s in it for us” aspect. What’s the VALUE in that trait? Be careful here, there doesn’t need to be a 1:1 relationship between your cool traits and the way you apply it. Let’s say you’re a potter, and that you have a ridiculously cool life history in clay pot making. Well, that doesn’t mean you need to “start a clay pot making club” at Kenan-Flagler. There must be some other WAY in which you can apply this cool thing. Maybe your passion for art can be channeled toward something neat and productive while at school. Maybe it is starting a club, but maybe that club is to help raise money to provide opportunities for students studying art at a local elementary school. Or maybe it’s even simpler than that. Maybe clay pot making is a pure distraction for you from work. Maybe there’s value in that, and your bringing that out in other students end up making for a healthier campus life, and more productive, happier students. All sorts of possibilities. But you gotta argue it, and convince us. And it can’t seem canned. We’ll know in an instant whether you’re just saying it to impress, or whether you’ve actually thought it through. (Never try to impress; it won’t work!)

Essay Four (Optional): If your standardized test scores are low, or if you have not had coursework in core business subjects (calculus, microeconomics, statistics, financial accounting), please tell us how you plan to prepare yourself for the quantitative rigor of the MBA curriculum. (300 words maximum)

A slight twist on the usual Optional Essay prompt, in that it’s a tad more specific. This one focuses purely on “can you handle the maths at b-school?” Let’s suppose that on paper, your test scores and grades (or lack of experience with higher level math) raise some doubts as to whether you can handle the “quantitative rigor.” Okay, no big deal. Prove to us some other way that you can hang.

What are you prepared to do between now and when you start school? What have you already done? Where else is there evidence elsewhere (in the work place, for example) of your aptitude here that may act as a counterweight to a lackluster GMAT?

No matter what, do not make excuses. Be confident, straightforward, and simply reassure the adcom that you’re on it. My grades/GMAT is low, but I will be able to hang with the best of them. Here’s the evidence. Zip in, zip out. The shorter and more to-the-point, the better.

Essay Five (Optional): Is there any other information you would like to share that is not presented elsewhere in the application? (300 words maximum)

Ah, here she is. The traditional Optional Essay.

@JonFrank
HBS 2005

JonFrank

Question:

Given the one-year duration of European MBA programs, can career changers benefit from them since they are shorter programs? Especially those who plan to change both industry and function?

Answer:

Plenty of people make career changes in one-year MBA programs. Think about the opportunities and connections an MBA program has to offer: a great education, career placement services, competitions and conferences…

But yes, to be totally frank about it, it IS much harder to make a big career change in a one-year program, because you don’t get that summer internship that you have in a two-year program. That internship gives you some extremely valuable experience in your field, something to point to when you’re interviewing for positions with top companies, and (if all goes well) will lead to a job offer after you graduate. And so when you come out of a one-year program, you’re competing against people who DO have experience in that field. Since you won’t, there’s more pressure on your MBA experience.

But if you do find yourself in a one-year MBA program and looking to switch careers, it CAN be done. You’re just gonna have to make it happen:

1. Networking. You gotta work on making those connections while you’re in the program, both with students and professors. Go out of your way to meet a lot of people in your field. And be smart about organizing events—that’s a great way to meet people, and gain some good leadership experience to point to that others may not have. So go for it. Take charge of organizing the Real Estate Summit or what-have-you and show you can getterdone.

2. Take the right classes. And again in terms of meeting the right people, you’ve GOT to take the right classes. You’ve only got one year, so don’t waste time. Take the classes that directly relate to the field you want to switch into, and connect you to people who can have some influence in that field. Don’t dilly-dally on soft stuff. Push yourself. Do some serious research before you start your program so that you’ve got the whooole year beautifully planned out.

Basically, what you WON’T get in a one-year MBA program is the chance to explore—so if you’re going in to the program with no idea what you wanna do, that is no good. If you know you want to switch careers, you’re gonna be better off going with a 2-year or 18-month program. But if you don’t have 2 years… then you just gotta make that one year count. If you get there, and NAIL it from day one, then it’s possible to get what you need from the program. You just need to be EXTREMELY careful about how you budget your time. Don’t expect much free time, and proceed towards the main goal. If you’re up for the challenge, you can make it happen.


@JonFrank

JonFrank

Essay 1: “Who you are” (300 word maximum): You are the author for the book of Your Life Story. In 300 words or less please write the table of contents for the book. Note: approach this essay with your unique style. We value creativity and authenticity.

Classic Cornell Table of Contents question. A super interesting offering from the Johnson application. This year, however, they’re making a very clear distinction between who you are TODAY versus who you are gonna be TOMORROW.

They have roped in the TOC question to address very clearly who you are as of today. It seems the assumption here is something like, were your life to “end today,” how would you chronicle it? There are no real rules here as far as format goes, but one thing’s for sure (well, rather, several things are for sure):

1. A Table of Contents for your life story is NOT your resume (Classic Mistake!)
2. There MUST be a sense of JOURNEY (doesn’t mean perfectly linear, but there must be a sense of… growth, development, progress of some kind)
3. It’s gotta be “a book we’d wanna read” (not literally—for our purposes, you must seem like the kind of person we’d wanna MEET, more like)

How far back should you go? Well, that’s all part of your own calculus problem. There’s a screenwriting adage that goes something like this, “Start the scene as late as you possibly can.” Meaning, only until something of significance happens emotionally, or in a way that moves the plot, should any scene begin. Same goes here. We don’t need to know when you learned how to potty train. Unless there’s something hugely telling and charming about that.

Avoid the temptation simply to CHRONICLE your life. That’s probably gonna be boring. At age 13 I did this. Then at 17 I did this. Then 21, this. Boring.

How many stories can you tell about your life? Are there fun themes you can isolate? Is it a story of adventure? Of hardship? Of comedy? Lots of ways to play it in a way that isn’t just the straight and narrow. But, once you have even a rough “lens,” THEN start chronicling things that pertain to the evolution of THAT theme. Now something interesting will unfold.

Themes can be hard, though. Here’s a clean way to skin it to get you going. Reverse-engineer it. Imagine looking at your finished product. The reader should say “I see. Now here’s a guy who…” what? “Now here’s a guy who led an incredibly hardscrabble life.” Or, “Now here’s a guy who seized opportunities left and right and really took like by the horns.” Or, “Now here’s a guy who knew what he wanted from day 1 and just went after it.” Figure out your “post-mortem summary sentence.” Now you have something to build toward.

Now you can go back and find supporting elements from your life that communicate THAT story. Pick only the moments that truly support that, even if indirectly. It will help tighten it, and create that narrative that will likely make us wanna meet you more than a chronological outline ever would.

Great place to start, see where it leads.

Essay 2: “Who you turn out to be” (150 word maximum per essay)

150 words is a paragraph, folks. Or two very short paragraphs. Zip in, zip out. Keep in mind, this is now throwing it FORWARD. The future you. Cornell is also up front about valuing creativity and authenticity. Something that is far too often lacking in MBA applications, and is usually a great indicator of future success (Cornell is onto something). So let that side loose. This app may feel decidedly different from others. Be bold. Take some risks.

a. When did you decide that business school was the next step for you? (Was this an epiphany or an evolutionary process? What was the catalyst that caused you to consider this next step?)

A compelling “this is why I need an MBA” case can often push people over the top. Why? Because it tends to suggest something powerful about a person’s potentiality in succeeding “at all” in life (in a way that’s meaningful to a business school). This is not to say that a clean argument here can overcome shortcomings elsewhere. Rather, where there often tend to be clumps of overly qualified candidates vying for a few spots, this tends to be a neat separator of boys from men. The guy who has clarity here wins over the guys who’s fuzzy, every day of the week.

So, when did it occur to you? Seriously think on it. Did you know back as a freshman in college? As a senior? At some point into your career? What was the catalyst… REALLY? The answer (well, the good answer) is gonna have something to do with coming to terms with something you need and want badly, FOR WHICH an MBA reveals itself to be a necessary thing.

The incorrect answer is this, “Well, I’m hitting a wall. What the hell, MBAs make a lot of money, I’ll grab me one of those so that I’ll have more options.” That may be true for some, but it’s certainly not something Adcoms will value when there are so many folks out there who crave very cool versions of success and genuinely need an MBA, and are able to articulate it. That guy is more likely to succeed, and therefore more attractive to a b-school.

When addressing this sucker, bring us into the moment, as far as you’re able to pinpoint it (or can walk us through the slower evolution of it), when you realized what it was you truly WANTED longer term, for which the MBA was a necessary INVESTMENT. Not an end by itself, but a means to an end. Winning answers here will reveal for you passion for that LT piece, and combine a smart walk-through of how it occurred to THEN why an MBA would help. Remember, don’t feel the need to have insight that is as sophisticated as it is today, now that you’ve thought about it for months and possibly years. We want the RAW instincts. Those can be the most revealing, and what Johnson is after here.

b. Johnson values people that make things happen for themselves. Give an example of how you have initiated this for yourself.

“Make things happen for themselves.” It’s such a bold and awesome question. What they’re really saying here is “we don’t believe in luck; we believe that you are ultimately responsible for creating your own wins.” The first step here is to think about big positive moments in your repertoire. “This was very good for me.” Whether in career development, or even personally (if personal, it should still somehow whet the Adcom’s appetite for something that keys them into what you’re gonna be like as a student on this campus, future success, etc.). Get those moments down. Maybe you start with three to five to get warm. Now, work backwards to determine the ways in which YOU were ultimately responsible for those things.

This is where it gets a little tricky. Your hand in it won’t always have been at quite the same level. You don’t wanna stretch here and say that while you may have worked as a volunteer one night on the Obama campaign, looking at it now, yes, the President is now the President because of you. Bad example, because this is about stuff that affects you, but you get the idea.

What you’re doing is wearing a slightly new kind of hat in assessing an achievement. For Cornell here, it’s less, how great an achievement is this so much as what was my role in making this achievement happen.

Go back to that list. Go back in time. Replay those achievements, but this time, SUBTRACT yourself from the equation. Replace you with a peer. Do some of those achievements persist? Do some go away or look wildly different? THOSE are the ones we wanna look at more closely.

What achievements occurred because of YOUR particular skills and actions? Those are gonna make for the best examples. Find an example that truly exists because of your own personal “make it happen” factor. And walk us through the following key elements:

Walk us through the opportunity
Indicate somehow that if left unattended to, there’s a chance nothing would have happened
Then show us how YOU stepped up and took the ball and ran with it
Quickly tell us what happened, reminding us of your purposefulness in getting it done

c. Please describe your immediate post MBA career goals.

Nothing too fancy here. What are your immediate post MBA career goals? Easy. Ish…

Just take great care in making the pieces SNAP together. The goals must first of all make sense. Make sense how, though? Well, it’s multi-pronged:

Gotta make sense given your career arc thus far—given that this kid has done X, is it realistic to assume he can set Y as an ST goal?
Gotta make sense given your FUTURE goals—given that this kid wants to eventually do A, does it make sense for him to need to pass through B as his short term goals?
Gotta make sense with respect to itself—are these short term goals (looked at in a vacuum) well thought through? Is this job gettable? Are the things he wants to learn… things one can learn in these roles?
All of it needs to button up. Honestly, if you can address those three things, the “narrative” will unfold rather naturally. One way to help frame it if you’re struggling (always a good rule) is to establish your ULTIMATE goal very quickly up top. Give us our bearings. Now we have a premise, some borders, etc. Now we can get into the details. Make sure your plan is well-researched. Talk to MBAs. Talk to people in your field. Gotta be bulletproof. This is a key factor in a b-school app. “Does this kid have his head on straight.”

@JonFrank
HBS 2005

JonFrank

SHORT ANSWERS:

1. What is your professional goal immediately following graduation from the Tepper School? (Maximum 250 words)

No need to get fancy here. In fact, the less fancy the better. Be clear, precise, well-researched, logical, and nimble. The conclusion at the end of reading a GOOD version of this response will be:

• This kid’s goals are very reasonable, achievable
• His goals make perfect sense w/respect to his LT aspiration
• If Plan A doesn’t work, this kid has the ability to adapt
• This kid is likely gonna get that job (or whatever the goal is)—it’s gonna work
  

In order to push a reader to those conclusions, your response must quickly establish how your goal fits into the larger puzzle (briefly, you only have 250 words). It must show something about your prior experiences that indicate a likeliness to succeed in your stated goal. If your background is in real estate and your immediate professional goal after Tepper is to work as a Hollywood studio executive, it won’t work. There may be a great case to make (somehow), but you gotta make that case very clearly, connecting your past to this first step out of this program. Make us feel good about your chances of landing this gig.

It won’t hurt to indicate how you arrived at this plan, also. Not always, but in some cases it may strengthen your argument if you can show how well considered your logic is.

Hit all those points above, but above all else, make sure your writing has momentum to it. Your goals should feel like inevitabilities.

2. What are your long-term career goals? (Maximum 250 words)

Same deal here. The reader wants to conclude:

• This kid’s LT goal is very reasonable, achievable
• His LT goal make perfect sense given his past and near term future
• The goal itself is… kinda cool, inspiring, smart, solid, etc.
  

Not a whole lot to say here except that this is more of a pitch than Question 1. Here, you’ll wanna make the reader’s mouth water a bit. You’ll wanna frame your goal as an answer to some kind of problem in whatever industry you’re pursuing. Or a very cool version of seizing an opportunity that in the hands of someone else, just wouldn’t end up quite right. Give us that context; bring us into the problem a bit. Make us want for you to succeed.

Here’s a brief structure that’ll be a potentially great starting point:

• What’s the problem you’re hoping to fix? What’s the opportunity you’re about to seize? Open here. Let your audience try to get ahead of you by imagining how this may be solved. Or what this cool opportunity could be.
• Then walk us through your vision. ‘This is how I’m gonna fix this broken thing. Or, given A B and C, this is my plan to deliver the next Facebook (or whatever).’
• Now, quickly convince us that your plan is sound, that you have the chops to pull it off.
• And finally, why you’re so committed to it. (Theoretically, this piece can and should be integrated throughout, but it’s also okay, sometimes, to dedicate a separate section to the idea.
  

REQUIRED ESSAYS:

1. What transferrable skills have you developed that are related to your professional goals outlined in Short Answer 1? Additionally, identify the skills that you will need to develop or enhance. Specifically, how will the Tepper MBA help you develop these skills? (Maximum 500 words)

Nothing too extraordinary here, folks. This response is all about connectivity. All the skills you’re gonna talk about MUST somehow connect to those goals from Short Answer 1. This is going to serve as proof that you have the chops to succeed. And here’s the key—it’s all about that word “transferrable”: show us how those skills don’t just live inside a vacuum. In other words, whatever skills you picked up at Job X or Experience Y must not only have value limited to those specific instances. This is going to take some arguing. You need to show us the “transferability.” Show us how skill X will manifest in your success at goal Y. Connect it.

The second component here asks about the stuff you don’t quite have yet. Consider that. If you did have it all, why bother with an MBA? What’s the stuff that’s missing from your arsenal of talents? Or, the stuff that’s good but not great. Or that simply needs maturation somehow? Explain it in the context of what you NEED, what you want to achieve. And therefore what the skill needs to be or become. The other component to this piece is the walk-through of how Tepper specifically will address those needs. What specific offering, aspect, feature of the Tepper MBA will take you from A to B? Let us see it. Don’t just tell us what we know. And don’t tell us anything that’s gonna equally apply to another business school. Tie this transformation of yours to Tepper stuff. It’s gonna require research, and finding genuine solutions within the Tepper offering to your exact needs and goals.

Mostly, this is a straightforward essay. The best answer here can be utterly sober, and simply well-reasoned. Because Tepper doesn’t have quite the cache of your traditional Top 10 names, it will matter that much more to demonstrate your deep familiarity with this program as “the perfect fit” and not just “the place I’ll consider going if I don’t get into Harvard, Stanford, or Wharton.”

2. Describe a defining moment in your life and explain how it shaped you as a person. (Maximum 300 words)

Here’s where you need a clear departure from what have mostly been “objective” questions. What makes for a cool “defining moment”? Well, it could be a lot of things:

Could be a turning point where your trajectory changed course
Could be an inspirational moment that lit a fire beneath you
Could be adversity that brought forward a will you never knew you had
Could be a moment that surprised you and revealed a truer nature than you’d previously known to be true about yourself
And these are just a few. The key component is some kind of SHIFT. Not knowing what you were made of… to knowing what you were made of. Thinking you were made of X… and realizing you were in fact made of Y. Previously having X outlook on life… and changing to develop Y outlook. Change. Shift. Evolution. From something TO something else. If your “defining moment” lacks that, you may not be isolating the most compelling moment.

Before you get too deep figuring out “the moment” though, ask yourself first… what defines you as a person today? What are those qualities? What’s the “you” in the current and coolest version? Now work backwards to figure out when that may not have been the case. When there may have been a key shift. And frankly, this may not always be the most bulletproof method for pinpointing that cool moment. Some moments just leap out as significant nodal shifts in our repertoire of experiences. In that case, pick the one whose outcome tells the most interesting story about what emerged in you.

One cool way to figure out if your moment is “working” is to consider what would have happened had that moment never occurred. Go back in time, and erase it. Never happened. Now imagine what happens next. Think about yourself progressing WITHOUT that experience. Who does THAT guy go on to become, and how is that guy different from you today? If you can embrace that hypothetical experiment, it may help tease out the “how did this thing shape you” piece in a way that may not immediately be apparent.

3. How will your presence in the Tepper MBA program benefit your fellow students? How will you contribute to the school as a student and as an alumnus? (Maximum 300 words)

Love the phrasing here. How will your… presence… benefit others. Ha, so bold! It’s a touch cooler than most questions of the same nature. Yes, they are curious about actions you’re gonna take that may positively affect this community. But at a deeper level, they’re wondering about your chemistry. When we drop you—this unknown particle—into this known liquid solution (our campus, our community), what happens?

Let’s exaggerate a BAD version. If you’re a guy who likes to walk up to people and slap them in the face, and you’re not only great at it, but extremely committed to doing this every time you see someone new, that’s gonna start to become distracting. And not particularly interesting. If you’re a guy who sings in an operatic tone at every opportunity, again, it could be awesome… for the first minute. By minute two, you’re the most annoying human on Earth, let alone this campus.

These are silly, and “physical” things. Let’s imagine a positive version. If you’re a guy who comes up with “crazy new ideas” like the “Hyperloop” that gets folks around you all up in a tizzy because some think it’s brilliant, and others who think it’s not feasible are forced to figure out a more practical way to execute it… that’s a frickin AWESOME. A net positive outcome. If you’re a guy who has the unusual ability to make people want not just business success but “do good for mankind at the same time,” that’s another highly desirable outcome.

What effect will YOU have? Once again, think about TWO parallel scenarios:

Scenario 1 – you are NOT introduced into the Tepper broth.

Scenario 2 – you ARE introduced into it.

What’s the difference, big picture, between the RESULTS of those scenarios? Why is Scenario 2 coooooler than scenario 1? What effect did you have on it that makes that campus more vibrant, higher achieving, a more attractive net positive?

Now, for part 2, they wanna know that your positive effect won’t just stop with your experience AT the program. You’re a lifer. You’re part of a family. That role, in its best version, is permanent, ongoing. What’s your plan two years out? Five years out? Twenty years out? Have you thought about it? It’s almost a strange thing to ask since you’re the one paying them, haha. But, don’t think of it that way. Think of it as a debt you continue to owe them due to the PRICELESS experience you had while there, being surrounded by the people who will become your lifeline throughout the rest of your career. You absolutely owe it to them to continue providing value. What does that look like? Don’t just formulate the response you think they WANT to hear (it never, ever, EVER works). Think through it. Imagine it fully. And sell us not just on the “what” but “why it matters to you to continue being a part of Tepper.” That’s the sell.

Optional Essay: Is there anything else that you think we should know as we evaluate your application? (Maximum 500 words)

You got something important to add? Something to explain to Tepper? A low GPA? Less-than-stellar GMAT score? Do it here. And here’s how.

@JonFrank
HBS 2005