MBA Essay Guidance 2023-24: USC Marshall School of Business
March 27, 2024
Read MoreUC Berkeley Haas School of Business has released its MBA application deadlines and essay questions for the 2023-24 application cycle. Here are the important dates and Admitify’s guidance on the essays.
R1: September 14, 2023 / R2: January 4, 2024 / R3: March 28, 2024
Haas
Required Essay #1: What makes you feel alive when you are doing it, and why? (300 words maximum)
A successful essay will share a specific and personal experience that helps the reader get to know you better, giving insight into your character, values, or how you would uniquely contribute to the Berkeley-Haas community.
Admitify Guidance
As a starting point take this prompt literally – what really makes you feel most alive. Think in terms of passions/hobbies but don’t feel you can’t go beyond the hobbies/interest domain. This is clearly a direct invitation to disclose what really thrills you, even more so than a prompt like What Matters Most to You and Why. So be candid – up to a point. I can imagine some honest responses to this prompt that while truthful would be a bit too candid. This essay is inviting not only self-disclosing content but, if it’s natural for you, a creative presentation, e.g., at least in the beginning some vivid scene-setting to capture you ‘feeling most alive’. At least 20-25% of the essay and potentially as much as 50% of it should not just focus on the what but the why. Why does this activity make you feel most alive – that is, what does this activity say about you and what you value? Ideally you could connect this passion/activity to some organized group activity (e.g., a club where people share this passion) that you have joined and maybe even led. If space permits you could close the essay with a sentence or two connecting this passion to a relevant activity/club at Haas.
Haas
Required Essay #2: How will an MBA help you achieve your short-term and long-term career goals? (300 words max)
Admitify Guidance
Discuss your long-term goals first because the short-term goals are the stepping stones toward your ultimate career end-game: your best, most ambitious, change-the-world goals – the ‘dream job’ you want to be doing at the pinnacle of your career. Think in terms of a Plan A (main plan) and Plan B (backup path). Your short-term goals should show you can think pragmatically about your career and understand which paths represent the best steps toward your long-term goal. Briefly state how the short-term gives you the skills or assets to get you to the long-term goal. Your goals should be united around a single theme but you can use the Plan A and Plan B paths to hedge more ambitious goals by mentioning more doable paths to the same goal. Mention job titles and potential organizations by name. Maybe mention MBAs from your target school who have followed the career path you are describing (if you’ve reached out to them, even better).
Haas
Required Video Essay: The Berkeley MBA program develops leaders who embody our four Defining Leadership Principles. Briefly introduce yourself to the admissions committee, explain which leadership principle resonates most with you, and tell us how you have exemplified the principle in your personal or professional life. (Not to exceed 2 minutes.)
Admitify Guidance
Before you begin writing, take some time to study Haas’s four Defining Leadership Principles: Question the Status Quo, Confidence Without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself — they’re linked above in the question. We encourage you to be strategic here and choose the principle that honestly matters most to you and that can be illustrated by the experience or accomplishment you are proudest of. Look for experiences where you led people formally or informally. What obstacles did you face? How did you use your people skills to overcome the obstacles and motivate others? Then practice sharing that experience in a two-minute presentation. First state the context or ‘problem’ that led you to act on the principle. Then focus most of the video’s time on the varied specific actions you took to handle the challenge, solve the problem, or execute the accomplishment. This video should not sound like a bloodless bullet-pointed resume but should communicate your personality and share the emotions and behaviors that made this experience matter to you and motivated you to live fully up to the defining principle. Consider giving the video a bit more impact by choosing a setting appropriate to the experience of your narrative and using the occasional prop (must be relevant and discreet) at occasional points in the video (no more than three times). Show the video to others – do you seem yourself, interested in your own story, and conversational (smile occasionally)? Try to avoid memorizing and reciting a script.
Haas
Required Short-Answer Question – DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, JUSTICE, AND BELONGING (DEIJB) EXPERIENCE: Can you please describe any experience or exposure you have in the area of diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging whether through community organizations, personal, or in the workplace? (150 words max)
One of our goals at Berkeley Haas is to develop leaders who value diversity and to create an inclusive environment in which people from different ethnicities, genders, lived experiences, and national origins feel welcomed and supported. Candidates seeking consideration for mission-aligned fellowships may use this space to reflect on their commitment to the mission of those fellowships.
Admitify Guidance
Don’t provide a general, abstract ‘statement of your D&I philosophy.’ Instead, provide a vivid and concrete anecdote that shows you standing up for diversity or demonstrating inclusiveness in your life. Think of a time when you went out of your way to make those different than you feel at home, stood against prejudice or bias, or proudly highlighted your own diversity for others. The story you choose should show how your actions added value to a group and perhaps led to a specific positive outcome. Show the personal style or ‘EQ behavior’ that made you effective in this situation.
Haas
Optional Information
As part of the University of California public university system, we value the impact our program can have in increasing social and economic mobility. As such, please help us understand the context of your opportunities and achievements. You may answer part, all, or none of the questions as they relate to your background.
Please elaborate on any of your [responses to the Optional Information selections]. Alternatively, you may use this opportunity to expand on other hardships or unusual life circumstances that may help us understand the context of your opportunities, achievements, and impact. (300 words maximum)
Admitify Guidance
The Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision has made race as an admissions factor a topic that must be treated carefully and indirectly. This prompt does that by inviting applicants to describe social, economic, or other obstacles or contexts that could help the admissions committee value your achievements or life obstacles more or view your potential contribution to Haas more sympathetically. Applicants who faced socioeconomic barriers or identity-related obstacles should discuss them candidly here. How did you overcome these barriers/obstacles?
Haas
Additional Optional Information
This section should only be used to convey relevant information not addressed elsewhere in your application. This may include explanation of employment gaps, academic aberrations, supplemental coursework, etc. You are encouraged to use bullet points where appropriate.
Admitify Guidance
Note that Haas is not saying you should only share ‘extenuating circumstance’ type information. Just make sure it adds value, is not found elsewhere in your application, is stated concisely, and is very direct about why it’s being shared.