Essays
Published: September 5, 2024
MBA Admissions Tip: Word Limits and Character Counts
MBA candidates naturally have a good deal of information they want – and need – to convey in their materials, and getting the important ideas down under restrictive essay word counts is a difficult task. While it might be tempting to run a bit beyond the guidelines to slip in that one extra thought, it’s important to keep the reasons for these limits in mind. In addition to being a forum for explaining your goals and sharing your story, the essays and short answers also serve as a test of the applicant’s ability to communicate clearly and concisely, not to
Read more
Published: September 3, 2024
MBA Admissions Tip: Essay Polishing
The deadline is looming and you’re making one final pass through your application before hitting submit–that’s why we’re sharing these MBA essay tips. This isn’t the time for drastic changes – but there might still be an opportunity for small improvements. Read on for three big picture, “crunch time” tips! Keep It Professional It’s true that many schools ask “fun” questions and most urge applicants to be themselves rather than submitting “overly polished” material. But it’s important to remember that this is a graduate school application, and you should approach your essays with a degree of formality. You do want
Read more
Our Favorite MBA Admissions Essay Topics & What We Would Ask
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
Read more
MBA Essay Insight Webinar Series Summer 2024
We’re sure you’ve already heard that the application essays are a crucial component of the MBA application. So how can you ace this part of the admissions process without the use of sample essays? Get essay tips straight from admissions representatives at leading business schools during our upcoming MBA Essay Insight Webinar Series! Dates: July 10, July 17, July 24 & July 31. Time: 12 pm-1 pm Panel & 1 pm-1:30 pm Breakout Q&A with Individual Schools (all times Eastern) Each session will start with a 60-minute roundtable panel,
Read more
Published: December 28, 2023
MBA Admissions Tip: Essay Polishing
With the deadlines looming, consider this MBA Admissions Tip as you make one final pass through your application and essays before hitting submit. This isn’t the time for drastic changes – but there might still be an opportunity for small improvements. Read on for three big picture, “crunch time” tips! Keep It Professional It’s true that many schools ask “fun” questions and most urge applicants to be themselves rather than submitting “overly polished” material. But it’s important to remember that this is a graduate school application, and you should approach your essays with a degree of formality. You do want
Read more
Published: November 28, 2023
MBA Admissions Tip: Five Questions to Ask Yourself Before Submitting an Optional Essay
We realize that the questions of whether or not to answer an optional essay—and, if so, what to say—are ones that loom large for many MBA applicants. In addition to our school-specific Essay Topic Analysis, we wanted to suggest a few questions that applicants might want to consider when making this call. Is my MBA optional essay relevant? Perhaps this goes without saying, but the only information worth sharing in an optional essay is that which will make a material difference in your candidacy. Whether you wish to comment on an exciting leadership role you’ve just
Read more
Published: August 24, 2023
MBA Essay Insight Webinar Series Fall 2023
We’re sure you’ve already heard that application essays are a crucial component of the MBA application. So how can you ace this part of the admissions process without the use of sample essays? Get essay tips straight from admissions representatives at leading business schools during our upcoming MBA Essay Insight Webinar Series! Dates: September 13th, September 20th & September 27th. Time: 12 pm-1 pm Panel & 1 pm-1:30 pm Breakout Q&A with Individual Schools (all times Eastern) Each session will start with a 60-minute roundtable panel, hosted by Clear
Read more
MBA Essay Insight Webinar Series Summer 2023
We’re sure you’ve already heard that the application essays are a crucial component of the MBA application. So how can you ace this part of the admissions process without the use of sample essays? Get essay tips straight from admissions representatives at leading business schools during our upcoming MBA Essay Insight Webinar Series! Dates: July 12, July 19, July 26 & August 2. Time: 12 pm-1 pm Panel & 1 pm-1:30 pm Breakout Q&A with Individual Schools (all times Eastern) Each session will start with a 60-minute roundtable panel,
Read more
Published: August 2, 2022
MBA Essay Insight Webinar Series Fall 2022
We’re sure you’ve already heard that the application essays are a crucial component of the MBA application. So how can you ace this part of the admissions process without the use of sample essays? Get essay tips straight from admissions representatives at leading business schools during our upcoming MBA Essay Insight Webinar Series! Dates: September 14, September 21, September 28. Time: 12 pm-1 pm Panel & 1 pm-1:30 pm Breakout Q&A with Individual Schools (all times Eastern) Each session will start with a 60-minute roundtable panel, hosted by Clear
Read more
MBA Essay Insight Webinar Series Summer 2022
We’re sure you’ve already heard that the application essays are a crucial component of the MBA application. So how can you ace this part of the admissions process without the use of sample essays? Get essay tips straight from admissions representatives at leading business schools during our upcoming MBA Essay Insight Webinar Series! Dates: July 13, July 20, July 27 & August 3. Time: 12 pm-1 pm Panel & 1 pm-1:30 pm Breakout Q&A with Individual Schools (all times Eastern) Each session will start with a 60-minute roundtable panel,
Read more
Published: August 4, 2021
MBA Essay Insight Event Series: Sept/Oct Dates!
As you most likely already know, essays are a critical component of the MBA admissions process. That’s why we’re bringing back our popular MBA Essay Insight Event Series for three more events this September into October. Join us on September 22nd, September 29th, and October 6th at 12 noon ET for insider application advice that you won’t want to miss. Each session will start with a 60-minute roundtable panel, hosted by Clear Admit Co-Founder Graham Richmond. Admissions reps will share some insight into their programs, and offer detailed advice on how to tackle their school’s essays.
Read more
MBA Essay Insight Events: Join Us On July 28!
We’re sure you’ve already heard that the application essays are a crucial component of the MBA application. So how can you ace this part of the admissions process? Get essay tips straight from admissions representatives at leading business schools during our upcoming MBA Essay Insight Event Series! We had our first two events on July 14th & July 21st and will be hosting one additional free online event – on July 28th @ 12 pm ET – to provide some insider advice to MBA applicants. Each session will start with a 60-minute roundtable panel, hosted by Clear
Read more
Published: October 2, 2019
Successfully Answer the UT Austin McCombs MBA Application Essays
The MBA application essays only allow you a few hundred words to tell admissions teams who you are, what you offer, and why you should be accepted. It's a lot to fit in such little space. For those candidates applying to UT Austin McCombs, the adcom shared a blog post all about “Successfully Answering the MBA Essay Questions.” They cover what it takes to write a thoughtful and genuine response to their prompts and offer tips for submitting a strong application.
Read more
Published: January 21, 2019
A Conversation with Kirsten Moss of Stanford GSB
Clear Admit recently sat down with Kirsten Moss, who leads MBA admissions at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Our conversation was both insightful and incredibly wide-ranging–covering topics like leadership, application essays, admissions interviews, and financial aid.
What follows is the transcript of our conversation. Moss starts by covering the importance of assessing leadership and by extension, leadership’s importance for candidates applying to the Stanford MBA Program. In the subsequent pages, Moss tackles essays, interviews, and financial aid.
Read more
Published: September 3, 2018
Clear Admit Webinar Series Recap – “How to Ace Round One Applications”
Are you planning on applying in Round One? Clear Admit’s experts are here to give you advice and tips to be successful at navigating the admissions process. We’ve just completed both parts of our two-part webinar series available online – and we highly recommend that you watch and listen to it as it provides valuable insight into acing your Round One applications! The webinar covers: Identifying your target schools How to correctly fill in data forms The best advice for preparing your references for the recommendation forms Final touches to the application Preparing for the interview Making the decision on where to enroll
Read more
Published: August 22, 2018
Adcom Director Demystifies New Tuck Application Essays
Amid extensive international and domestic recruitment travel, Luke Anthony Peña—who leads admissions at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business—found some rare downtime to devote an August post on the Tuck360: MBA Blog to the school’s new essay prompts. The new essays are part of an overhaul of Tuck’s admissions criteria designed to streamline and simplify the process. The topic of the new essays has come up a lot as part of recent admissions events for prospective applicants across Asia and North America, Peña said. “There’s lots of advice and guidance for our revised essays popping
Read more
The Inside Scoop on Cornell Johnson’s New “Back of the Resume” Essay
If you’re considering Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Business or have already begun thinking about crafting your application, you may already know that the school has swapped out one of its long-standing essay prompts in favor of something new. The 2018-19 Johnson MBA application is slated to go live on August 1st. For years, applicants to Johnson have been invited to imagine themselves as the author of their Life Story and submit a corresponding Table of Contents. “The ToC was a beloved essay prompt that predates my time joining the team back in 2015,”
Read more
Michigan Ross Adcom Shares New Twists in 2018 MBA Application
The Michigan Ross School of Business MBA application for fall 2018 is now live! MBA candidates can start applying ASAP, and for the most part, it’s the same as last year. However, there are a few notable changes and things that applicants should be aware of before they start the application process. Soojin Kwon, managing director full-time MBA admissions and program, outlined the changes and a few other general tips in a post on the Ross MBA Admissions blog earlier this week. Here’s what you need to know.
Read more
Fridays from the Frontline: Being Human–A Behavioral Guide to the MBA Experience
Fridays from the Frontline To say the cultural and industrial expectations of MBA graduates are demanding would be a massive understatement. MBAs must be shrewd, cunning, even omniscient when it comes to helping companies cope with change and cut through the noise to make better decisions. MBAs are also fallible human beings like the rest of us—perhaps a bit more so since new and unfamiliar situations constantly put their analytical skills to the test. In fact, many of the most complex decisions MBAs have helped companies make are rooted in the inherent volatility that comes with simply being human. Recent
Read more
Kellogg Admissions Director Shares Insights on 2019 MBA Application
Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management is one of several leading business schools to release its 2019-2020 MBA application online within the last week. At Kellogg, deadlines for the upcoming admission season are as follow: September 19, 2018 January 9, 2019 April 10, 2019 To help you get started, Director of Admissions Melissa Rapp provided insight into the 2019 MBA application along with some great advice on how to prepare. We’ve shared some of the most pertinent details below. Written Essay Questions Remain Unchanged The Kellogg written essay questions remain the same this year as last. Applicants will need to
Read more
NYU Stern Reinstates November Deadline Amid Other Slight Shifts, Maintains Popular “Pick Six” Essay
NYU Stern School of Business today becomes the latest school to share its 2018-2019 MBA admissions deadlines and essay questions, including a few changes from last year. We caught up with Isser Gallogly, Stern associate dean, MBA admissions and program innovation, to get the latest. Here’s what we learned. For starters, Gallogly and his team have decided to reinstate the November deadline they eliminated last year for the full-time, two-year MBA program. This means a return to a four deadlines: October 15th, November 15th, January 15th, and March 15th. “Last year we gave it
Read more
Published: August 15, 2017
Admissions Director Q&A: Rodrigo Malta of the University of Texas’s McCombs School of Business
Rodrigo Malta, a native of Brazil, moved to the United States for high school and college and ultimately graduated from the McCombs School of Business full-time MBA program in 2007. While a student at McCombs, he was highly involved in admissions activities, and after graduation he remained in Austin, accepting a marketing position with Dell.
A little over a year later, when then-Director of MBA Admissions Tina Mabley contacted him about a job opening with her team—as associate director of admissions focused on diversity recruiting—he jumped at the chance to return to campus and work on something he was really passionate about. Later, when Mabley was promoted to assistant dean for the full-time MBA program, Malta applied for and got the admissions director’s position in 2010.
Prospective applicants may be happy to learn that Malta understands their position on such a personal level. This empathy might also be why he’s so forthcoming with useful tips and advice. Read on to learn what he has to share—including exciting plans for the new home of the Texas MBA, the many experiential learning opportunities that complement classroom time, and more.
Read more
Published: August 9, 2017
Consortium for Graduate Study in Management Application Opens Next Week
The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, the nation’s largest diversity network, will begin accepting applications for the 2017-2018 admissions season on Tuesday, August 15th. The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management application enables applicants to apply to up to six of 19 member schools at once—including the very top MBA programs in the country—saving both time and money. (The Consortium welcomed Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business as its latest member school just last month.)
U.S. citizens or permanent residents of any race who demonstrate commitment to the Consortium’s mission of reducing under-representation of African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans in leading business schools and the ranks of management are eligible to apply.
As part of the Consortium application process, applicants will be asked to rank the schools to which they are applying. They must complete one required Consortium Membership essay about how they plan to support the Consortium's mission during their MBA program and beyond and a second Consortium Core essay about their short- and long-term goals and why an MBA makes sense for them now. In addition, applicants must answer additional school-specific essays for each of the Consortium members schools to which they want to apply. Applicants must also submit a range of supporting materials, including transcripts, GRE or GMAT test scores, a resume, and letters of recommendation.
Completed applications are forwarded directly to the schools indicated by each applicant, minus the Consortium Membership and Core essays, which are not shared with schools. The schools’ admissions committees then make admissions decisions based on academic ability, professional potential, and personal characteristics. Member schools will contact Consortium applicants directly to schedule interviews as necessary.
Read more
Kellogg Admissions Director Dishes on Essay Questions, Application Volume, More
Mugs and glasses clinked all around and the smell of bacon and freshly brewed coffee was enough to awaken even the sleepiest of senses as Melissa Rapp, director of admissions for the full-time MBA and MSMS programs at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, and I sat down to breakfast last month at Dottie’s True Blue Café in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood. We were both in town for the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) annual conference but decided to venture a little farther afield in hopes of finding something a bit more memorable
Read more
