MBA Essay Guidance 2023-24: USC Marshall School of Business

USC Marshall 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: Oct 15, 2023  /  R2: Jan 5, 2024  / 

R3: Mar 1, 2024  /  R4: Apr 15, 2024  /  R5: Rolling

USC

Required Essay 1:  What is your specific, immediate short-term career goal upon completion of your MBA? Please include an intended position, function, and industry in your response. (word limit: 100)

Admitify Guidance

This prompt could not be more straightforward: They want the most granular and factual description you can provide of career plans immediately after your MBA. Consider providing a Plan B option to show you have some strategic flexibility.

USC

Required Essay 2:  Please draft a letter that begins with “Dear Admissions Committee” This letter is meant to be your personal statement that provides the Admissions Committee with an understanding of your candidacy for Marshall beyond what is evident in other parts of your application. This essay is purposely open-ended. You are free to express yourself in whatever way you see fit. Our goal is to have an appreciation for and an understanding of each candidate in ways that are not captured by test scores, grades, and resumes. (word limit: 600)

Admitify Guidance

The open-endedness here comes with an asterisk: USC does not want you to recycle or elaborate on experiences or subject matter that is already captured in other parts of your application including your resume, application data section, etc.  So you should look to other aspects of your background including personally formative experiences, stories that highlight your diversity (broadly defined), defining moments, personal challenges, even introspective/self-revealing reflections on the ‘why’ behind your life decisions or back story.  Be candid/authentic, thoughtful, non-superficial. Help admissions get to know you – what makes you tick and how you have changed through your life.

USC

Optional Essay:  Please provide any additional information you would like the admissions committee to consider. (word limit: 250)

Admitify Guidance

This is a classic optional essay inviting you to do damage control on any issues in your profile, whether they are undergrad grades or test scores, employment gaps, recommender selection, etc. State clearly the issue you will be explaining, own it fully but also concisely, and focus the bulk of your explanation on all the context that shows that this circumstance was either not fully in your control or was a moment in the past that you have since redeemed or built upon in myriad ways. If your explanation involves a potential weakness in your candidacy (the most likely content for this essay), provide all the evidence you can that the admissions office should not be concerned that this weakness is defining. Be factual, honest, and detailed.

There’s still time to apply to USC’s full-time MBA program in R4 or R5! Contact us now and speak with one of our expert coaches. We’ll guide you through the application process!