Blog: Archive for the “2020-2021” Category

Like many of the top MBA programs appear to be doing this season, the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) has opted to make no changes to the wording of its application essay prompts—or to its short-answer questions—though it has minimized the space in which its candidates can respond to them. Applicants are now given … Read More  

Two years ago, the admissions committee at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business completely reworked its MBA application essay questions, but for this season and the last, the school has done only a little fine-tuning. Ostensibly, this indicates that the variety and presentation of the prompts are generating the kind of input the … Read More  

Last month, in a joint mbaMission–Manhattan Prep webinar featuring admissions directors from five top business schools, we were informed that the Yale School of Management (SOM) does not expect to make any changes to its application essay prompts this year. So in hopes of helping any candidates who wish to get started on their essays … Read More  

For this application season, Northwestern Kellogg has elected to keep its same essay questions. The first deals with a leadership experience that resulted in some form of ongoing merit, while the second focuses on applicants’ guiding principles. Interestingly, both of Kellogg’s essays center on “value(s)” but in very different ways, according to two separate definitions … Read More  

Once again, Columbia Business School (CBS) is offering applicants a combination of old and new essay questions. Its short-answer goal statement remains unchanged, as has its first essay prompt—which is also about candidates’ career aspirations. Likewise, the school’s second essay question still asks applicants to discuss why they want an MBA from CBS in particular. … Read More