Early Thoughts on Ross 2016-2017 Application Essay Questions

Application season at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business  is officially underway with the release of the school’s 2016-2017 essay questions. Let’s discuss from a high level some early thoughts on how best to approach these essay prompts. The essays this year are fairly similar to last years prompts, however with a few tweaks: Essay 1: What are you most proud of outside of your professional life? How does it shape who you are today? (400 words) This is a traditional  Ã¢â‚¬Å"accomplishments† essay, and Ross has tweaked it this year to really have applicants focus on accomplishments outside of the professional arena. Coming from a  very culture-focused campus, this nuance should come as no surprise. Ross has always had a very active student community, so highlighting an example that shows your prior engagement preferably in a leadership capacity will show your fit with the program. Dig deep to  identify the topic you are going to discuss;  these types of open-ended questions really give applicants the chance to  differentiate themselves from other candidates. Make sure, however,  you are direct in your approach to answering this question, as Ross Admissions Committee has emphasized in the past the importance of answering their question as directly as possible. Also, keep in mind that you will have time to talk about your professional career and even highlight some of your past accomplishments  through  the second essay, so keep this first essay tightly focused on your life outside of your professional career (unless your professional career was somehow shaped by this accomplishment). Finally, don’t assume that  if your accomplishment does not involve saving a beached whale or climbing Mt. Everest that your response will not be well-received. What makes your response to this question relevant is the impact this accomplishment had on YOU. Essay 2: What is your desired career path and why? (250 words) This is a typical  Ã¢â‚¬Å"career goals† essay and  should come as no surprise to any candidate applying to business school. In fact, your answer to this question should be  what initially drove your interest in pursuing an MBA  in the first place, so Ross will be expecting a fairly  polished essay here. What will separate you from the competition as a breakthrough candidate will be  how personalized your  essay reads.   Like many other MBA programs, Ross wants students who are truly passionate about their school and who want to be there. With this in mind,  they  will be looking for you to combine your well-thought-out career goals with details  on how you plan to utilize their unique program to reach these goals. In addition, if relevant, try to connect your goals to an underlying passion you have for the role or industry you are interested in. This will  highlight other underlying elements of your personal story and  make your goals  more tangible to the Admissions Committee. Hopefully these thoughts on the new batch of essays from Ross will  help you get started with your own essays. Applying to Ross  or other business schools? Call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today, or take our free MBA Admissions Profile Evaluation  for personalized advice for your unique application situation! As always, be sure to find us on  Facebook,  YouTube,  Google+  and Twitter. Dozie A.  is a Veritas Prep Head Consultant for the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. His specialties include consulting, marketing, and low GPA/GMAT applicants. You can read more articles by him  here.