Category: With a successful interview at my back, I had about two weeks to complete my application to meet the December 1st deadline. I started by tackling the three “short” essays:
- Essay 1: What do you hope to gain from The Duke MBA? How does it fit into your short- and long-term goals?
- Essay 2: How will you contribute to the overall experience of your peers at The Duke MBA
- Essay 3: Discuss a person, event or experience that has significantly shaped your life and explain why. Note: The goal of this essay is to get a sense of who you are, rather than what you have achieved professionally.
I think the content of these three essays are probably quite common across most business school applications, but since the Duke Fuqua application was my first, I couldn’t “borrow” from another application. But doing these essays turned out to be a valuable thinking exercise, because it helped me organize my thoughts and convince myself that I really wanted to pursue an MBA.
For essays 1 & 2, I talked about where I was in my career and how I was looking to learn about “soft skills” to complement my quantitative background, and study “international business culture” so that if the opportunity presented itself in the future, I’d be ready. Pretty common stuff, the only way I differentiated myself was in my personal/professional details.
For essay 3, I went back and forth about what to write about. I knew that Fuqua was giving me an opportunity to really shine, to present myself in a way that no other applicant would be able to do. Here’s how I opened the essay:
Everyone can pinpoint events in their lives that change the way they view themselves and others. Whether it’s winning a high school sports championship, having a “cool” college professor, or the unexpected passing of a loved one, these events alter their personal and/or professional development forever. While I could write my essay about any of the above, the true turning point in my life happened when I was admitted to the Master of Economics program at the University of Delaware before I applied.
I decided to write about my experience in pursuing my Masters degree, rather than writing about the unexpected passing of my father. While the latter had a much more powerful impact on my life, I felt it might be too macabre for an application essay. And by writing about my graduate school experience, I was able to also briefly talk about the “cool” professor that changed my life, and how my career-to-date as a statistical modeler is due in great part from the guidance he gave me.
thanks for sharing this randy.