Berkely Haas 2011-12

MBA Decoder’s Essay advice: Haas Berkeley has mentioned four defining features of their program in their essay questions buildup – question the status quo; confidence without attitude; students always; and beyond yourself. We opine that each question prompt does test applicants on varying degrees of these values. The school is very clear about the qualities they seek from future applicants – its now your job to prove it through your essays that you do have these qualities in abundance.

1.     What brings you the greatest joy? How does this make you distinctive? (250 word maximum)

The adcom makes an attempt to understand you as a person.  Un-restrain yourself and talk from your heart; passionate answers offer a great deal of insight about a person. This ‘joy’ could be derived from pursuing an activity – a hobby, volunteering, adventure sports or something else. The other element, how does this make you unique- well the activity you indulge in does not have to be unique (and therefore don’t go out looking for extraordinary things to write here), but the experience that it brings to you must definitely be yours alone.

2.    What is your most significant accomplishment? (250 word maximum)

This is a tough question considering just 250 words, so you will have to get to the point straight. Present the situation, detail out thought process & ensuing actions and give the final outcome. As summary, you could add a line on why you view this accomplishment as your most important one. This would give the adcom a further understanding about the strengths and skills that you hold important.

As you would be writing many situational essays in this application, it would be wise to judiciously select your examples, so as to cover a wide range of your personality. So, while question 3 and 5 could end as accomplishment stories as well, reserve your most impactful achievement for this essay, without getting repetitive.

3.    Describe a time when you questioned an established practice or thought within an organization. How did your actions create positive change? (250 word maximum)

This question has appeared in different forms in many b-school essay lists this year. Haas has emphasized upon the importance of challenging the status quo as a defining feature of its MBA program and this prompt validates their seriousness about the four principles. While explaining the situation, the other skills that you could build into your answer could be effective communication, getting people with different views on the same platform, being assertive in a nice way, being committed to your cause, and doing all of this with confidence, but without attitude.

The question does not limit you to talk about experiences at work alone; this organization could be within the college, your community or an extra-curricular one.

4.    Describe a time when you were a student of your own failure. What specific insight from this experience has shaped your development? (250 word maximum)

The other tenet of the Haas Berkeley program: being a student always. Learning never stops, and sometimes the most important lessons come from our failures.

This question is an attempt to understand what you learned from a situation where you failed. Describe the situation, with insights on your thought process and what eventually led you to the failure. There is no negative connotation attached to the word failure – it’s a part of life and should be taken in that stride. So, don’t try to pass the buck to your boss or your colleagues or the circumstances. Take responsibility for your actions and seeing the larger picture, go on to show how you learned from that experience and further developed your personality.

5.    Describe a time when you led by inspiring or motivating others toward a shared goal. (250 word maximum)

The last principle, “Beyond yourself” comes into play here. How did you motivate a person/ a set of individuals towards a common goal? You could talk about a situation where you were leading a warring group, where team-members had their own agendas to follow or were de-motivated due to some previous events. Describe the problem, what were the instances that led you to become a catalyst in working towards a shared vision, and how did you take the mantle of moving your team towards that vision? An ending statement could be about what you learned in the process or your analysis of this achievement.

6.    a. What are your post-MBA short-term and long-term career goals? How have your professional experiences prepared you to achieve these goals? b. How will an MBA from Haas help you achieve these goals? (1000 word maximum for 6a. and 6b.)

This set of questions covers the entire gamut of career goals related questions asked by a b-school.  What do you intend doing immediately after earning your MBA degree? How will you progress from there to your long term goals? How will Haas help you to fill in the skill gap that you need to cover, for reaching your intended goals.

Part B of the question requires sufficient knowledge on your part, about the Haas Berkeley MBA program. It will help to articulate the benefits you would get from specific features of the program; these could be electives, concentrations, clubs or events.

It will be a good idea to put a perspective to your career goals by explaining your career growth until now and how that has shaped up your future career goals. The fact that you have 1000 words dedicated to this essay suggests that Haas really does wants you to get to the details and present a clear picture.

Optional Essays

1.    (Optional) Please feel free to provide a statement concerning any information you would like to add to your application that you haven’t addressed elsewhere. (500 word maximum)

2.    (Optional) If not clearly evident, please discuss ways in which you have demonstrated strong quantitative abilities, or plan to strengthen quantitative abilities. You do not need to list courses that appear on your transcript. (250 word maximum)