As a team at Clear Admit, we are very familiar with the ins and outs of MBA admissions. We offer advice on essay topics, review applicant profiles and welcome admissions directors to share their insider insights – and more. As we guide MBA applicants through the admissions process, we thought it would be fun to share our favorite essay topics (in no particular order) of the season and what we would ask applicants if we were in the admissions office.
Personal Favorites of the Clear Admit Team
Three Votes for a Creative Essay
We each submitted our personal favorites separately, and it turns out three team members chose one essay topic – NYU Stern’s “Pick Six.”
NYU Stern MBA Essay 2: Personal Expression (a.k.a. “Pick Six”) – Introduce yourself to the Admissions Committee and to your future classmates using six images and corresponding captions. The Pick Six is a way to share more about the qualities you will bring to the Stern community, beyond your professional and academic achievements. Your uploaded PDF should contain all of the following elements:
- A brief introduction or overview of your “Pick Six” (no more than 3 sentences).
- Six images that help illustrate your interests, values, motivations, perspective and/or personality.
- A one-sentence caption for each of the six images that helps explain why they were selected and are significant to you.
Graham, Co-Founder & Podcast Co-Host: I love the fact that the school offers such a creative way for applicants to share key elements of their background. I also feel like introducing oneself to the admissions team by way of six images with captions is enough runway to showcase an applicant’s diverse background/interests without being as daunting as a totally unstructured ‘tell us something else we should know about you’ exercise.
As an admissions reader, I think that reviewing these would be both stimulating but also highly useful in terms of very quickly and concisely being able to convey an applicant’s key interests, experiences, and passions. I’m also a bit of an information design nut, so would enjoy seeing how applicants navigate a creative exercise like this one.
Vic, Content Marketing Specialist: My favorite essay prompt is NYU’s “Pick Six,” where applicants need to add six images to introduce themselves. I love this prompt because it allows applicants to creatively showcase their personalities, interests, and experiences in a visual and engaging way. It goes beyond the traditional written essay and gives a more holistic view of the applicant. Plus, it’s fun to see how different people interpret the same task!
Lauren, Editor-in-Chief: I like this one because there are just enough guidelines to provide structure while letting the applicant express themselves creatively. I’m also into photography and a visual person, so I appreciate what this entails. It also invites pause and reflection—it can seem like everyone everywhere is recording everything, but amid a busy, results-oriented lifestyle, it can make applicants take stock of where they are, who they are and what they value.
Eliot’s Pick: A Classic
Dartmouth Tuck MBA Essay 1: Why are you pursuing an MBA and why now? How will the distinct Tuck MBA contribute to achieving your career goals and aspirations?
Eliot, Co-Founder & CEO: I like the Tuck career goals essay because I am a fan of the traditional career goals essay in which a candidate is asked to explain their career goals, how an MBA will help them achieve their goals, why they need an MBA now, and why the MBA program (in this case Tuck) is the right fit for them. I like the essay because it forces applicants to clarify why they are applying to business school and why they are a great fit with the particular MBA program.
Mike’s Pick: Fun Wins
Duke Fuqua MBA Essay 1: 25 Random Things About Yourself – The ‘Team Fuqua’ spirit and community is one of the things that sets the MBA experience apart, and it is a concept that extends beyond the student body to include faculty, staff, and administration. Please share with us “25 Random Things” about you. The Admissions Committee wants to get to know YOU – beyond the professional and academic achievements listed in your resume and transcript. Share with us important life experiences, your hobbies, achievements, fun facts, or anything that helps us understand what makes you who you are.
Mike, Executive Director, Business Development: My favorite essay topic from those that exist is Duke Fuqua’s 25 random things about you. I like that you are able to talk about basically anything you want and share moments from throughout your life in a fun format. As an applicant, I would feel less pressured by this type of essay as there are no wrong answers and I would be able to provide 25 items here that I may not have been able to fully share in other parts of the application. As an admissions reader, I would find these to be fun reads and create memorable moments that could help applicants stand out. Instead of another banker from NYC, I might be able to remember an applicant as someone who enjoys to travel, or who has a really cool collection, or has a unique talent and I think those types of intangibles are amazing in an application review.
Alex’s Pick: Introspective
Stanford GSB MBA Essay A: What matters most to you, and why?
Alex, Community Manager & Podcast Co-Host: Stanford’s essay requires a high level of introspection. I think this is very useful for anyone, whether they are applying to Stanford or another top MBA program—or even just generally outside of MBA admissions. I also like its singular focus; it forces a candidate to anchor their story on something really fundamental.
Writing Our Own Essay Prompts
After reviewing the existing essay topics for the 2024-2025 admissions season, the Clear Admit team then came up with our own prompts (the team member who wrote the question then explains why they would ask it). Which one would you like to answer?
“Talk about a time when you made a key decision when faced with incomplete information. What was the result and what did you learn about decision making from this experience?”
Eliot: The goal of the question is to assess a candidate’s ability and willingness to make decisions given incomplete information. I favor the question because business managers are constantly having to make decisions based on incomplete information and so it is helpful to assess this ability in prospective business school candidates.
“Tell us about a recent book, film/TV show, or piece of music you have really enjoyed. Explain the rationale for your choice and offer an argument as to why others should read, watch, or listen to the work you are describing.”
Graham: This is inspired by essay questions that Columbia Business School and Berkeley Haas used to ask several years ago. I would pose this question – probably alongside a traditional ‘career goals/why MBA/why us’ essay – to tease out something that wouldn’t otherwise be apparent in a candidate’s profile. I’m also fascinated by how multi-dimensional many great leaders are, and I feel like probing into the applicant’s cultural interests could be instructive. Finally, asking this question gives the admissions team a chance to assess the applicant’s communications skills and their ability to clearly and compellingly describe something they enjoy.
“The mission of our MBA program is to educate global leaders to make a positive impact. How do you plan to support this mission?”
Alex: I think this gets to the essence of what MBA admissions should be about. Seeking candidates that will support the mission of the school.
“Many of us like to enjoy books, movies, television shows, theatre and music as a way to entertain ourselves. However, many times we use those same mediums to convey our emotions and help us through difficult times, help us to make the good times even better and sometimes these forms of entertainment can even provide us with core memories that we carry with us (for better or worse).
In this question, share an excerpt, film, song or show that has left an impact on you personally or professionally and tell us why.”
Mike: I like this question because, instead of simply asking someone what their favorite is, it opens up the door to both positive and negative reasons for the book/movie/etc. in question. For example, an easy answer for someone might be their wedding song because it reminds them of their special day and their partner and family, etc. However, a more difficult answer could be a musical they saw after a really difficult personal loss and how they still think of that musical and the music as a way of knowing that everything was going to be ok and that they can persevere.
“If you were to create a personal slogan or tagline that captures who you are, what would it be and why? How does this reflect your personal brand?”
Vic: As a marketing professional, I believe this prompt is unique and insightful. It allows applicants to think creatively about their personal brand and how they would market themselves in an impactful way. It requires them to reflect on their core values and strengths points. By explaining their chosen slogan or tagline, applicants can demonstrate self-awareness and their ability to communicate their personal brand effectively, which is an important skill in both personal and professional marketing.
“What accomplishment are you most proud of and why?”
Lauren: I would ask this question because everyone wants to put their best foot forward. This would let the applicant highlight their strengths, and their reasons for choosing said accomplishment will reveal what they value.
Best of luck to this year’s MBA applicants and crafting your admissions essays!
