Georgia Terry MBA Essay Questions & Analysis 2024-2025

The following essay topic analysis examines Georgia University’s Terry College of Business MBA admissions essays for the 2024-2025 admissions season. You can also review essay topic analyses for all of the other leading MBA programs as well as general Essay Tips to further aid you in developing your admissions essays.

Georgia Terry MBA Essay Topic Analysis 2024-2025

Essay 1

How will the Georgia MBA help you achieve your short- and long-term career goals? (required, 400 words or less)
This essay question is a straightforward career goals essay, asking applicants to explain their professional goals and why they’re interested in pursuing an MBA at Terry.

Along with describing your immediate post-MBA career goals, you should explain your long-term career goals and the broad impact you hope to have on your industry, community, country or region. For your short-term career goals, be as grounded and direct as possible—identify a position and target industry, and explain what draws you to this role and how it connects with your previous experience and long-term plans.

Then, consider first what skills you need from an MBA; this can inform what you need from Terry and how this program will help you accomplish the growth you’re seeking. With respect to how the Terry MBA would help you achieve your goals, it would make sense to briefly comment on your work experience to date in order to establish the skills you already possess; this helps to establish the gap in your skill set that a Terry MBA would fill. This phase of your discussion should establish the skills and knowledge you hope to gain from a Terry MBA while integrating details about the program. Forging specific connections between the skills you hope to gain (whether in the classroom or through involvement in student clubs or other outlets) and your future plans will show the adcom that you’ve researched the program and have a sound understanding of how a Terry MBA will prepare you for success. 

Essay 2

Option A: Tell us about a time you created a positive impact, either personally or professionally. Describe the impact. Why was it significant to you or others? (250 words or less)
Option B: Describe a time when you contributed to making a work environment or organization more welcoming, inclusive, and diverse. (250 words or less)
For the second essay, Georgia Terry offers applicants the chance to select one of two options. Looking at Option A regarding impact, this is a classic in terms of MBA admissions; adcoms are interested in people who make an impact, whether at work, or in other avenues of their lives. They want to know you’ll make an impact while on campus at Georgia Terry and as an alum, as you pursue your career and life goals.  Whether you choose an example from your professional or personal life, it’s important to share all the background a reader will need to appreciate the story before clearly outlining the actions you took and the results you achieved. The more detail you’re able to provide about your role in achieving a positive outcome, the easier it will be for you to accurately demonstrate your leadership skills. You will then need to conclude with why the impact was meaningful to you or others. Quantifying your impact is always a good idea, as it helps the adcom compare applicants; however, it is acceptable to cite other positive results such as a mentee’s progress from intern to full-time hire or non-profit organization’s implementation of your suggested strategy.

Option B invites applicants to shed light on how they’ve influenced a professional situation to be more inclusive or diverse. Begin by thinking about your related impact, as Georgia Terry seeks a tangible example. Perhaps you worked on an international project recently and your engagement with different cultures drove your inclusive leadership, communication or another action. Consider how you resolved related challenges and galvanized a team through inclusivity – then, account for your positive results. Be sure to think beyond comments or campaigns shared on Facebook, and reflect on advocating actively.

Optional Georgia Terry MBA Essay

Please use this optional essay to share relevant information that isn’t revealed anywhere else in your application materials. The committee wants to understand you as a whole person, so use this essay to “fill any holes” in your application. (400 words or less)
It’s possible that there are other elements of your background that would be appropriate and not covered elsewhere in your application, for example an anticipated promotion or an element of one’s identity not covered in the program’s data forms. While applicants should make an effort to fully represent their candidacies within the required elements of the application, this leaves a bit of room for short exceptions. For those who need to address potential liabilities or inconsistencies in one’s application in this prompt, adopt a humble tone, acknowledge the issue without making excuses, and gently suggest other aspects of his or her candidacy that may help to compensate for this weakness.

Optional Georgia Terry MBA Video Essay

This is another way for you to show parts of yourself and your personality that are not seen elsewhere in your application. Details and prompts are available in the application.
Before pressing the “record” button, it would be worth reviewing our advice on video essays to understand the broader goals of a video prompt. As this is a visual presentation that will be recorded live, ensure you are dressed in appropriate professional attire. In terms of a background, clean and steady may work best—you do not want to make the adcom dizzy by taking them on an unsteady walking tour with your laptop. While many applicants will be tempted to introduce props into their video, such as signs, souvenirs, or any prized possessions, we would like to urge caution in this domain.  A focused response to the question (while looking your audience in the eye) may be far more effective than a distracting string of props, signs, charts—each requiring valuable time to make transitions—not to mention careful attention to readability/visibility on screen.  As the question can change and because the adcom is looking for an “unscripted” view of you, you will not want to be hampered by trying to work in materials that may or may not be relevant to the prompts.

Clear Admit Resources

Thanks for reading our analysis of this year’s Tuck MBA essay topics. As you work on your Tuck MBA essays and application, we encourage you to consider all of Clear Admit’s Dartmouth offerings:

• Georgia University Terry College of Business Profile on the Clear Admit website: up-to-date advice and admissions information
• Clear Admit LiveWire: admissions updates submitted in real time by applicants to Terry
• Clear Admit DecisionWire: school selections in real-time by admits to Terry