NYU Stern 2005 MBA Application

EDIT (7/05/2009) The NYU Stern 2010 Application Deadline and Essay Question with my tips are now online.

EDIT (9/14/2008) The NYU Stern 2009 Application Deadline and Essay Question with my tips are now online.

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soNYU Stern 2006 MBA Application Deadlines

Round 1:  December 1, 2005

Round 2:  January 15, 2006

Round 3:  March 15, 2006

Essay Questions and Tips (in red)

Admissions Tips:

    * Carefully proofread your essays for any typographical or grammatical errors.
    * Make sure you have fully answered the essay questions.
    * Be genuine in your essays -- tell us about the real you.
    * Follow the essay instructions, including page limits and font size, to the best of your ability.
    * Have someone who knows you very well, plus someone who is much less familiar with you, read the essay questions and your answers. Then have them provide you with candid feedback.

Essay #1
Think about the decisions you have made in your life. Describe the following:
(2 pages maximum, double-spaced)

PAST: What choices have you made that led you to your current position?

PRESENT: Why is an MBA necessary at this point in your life? Why is Stern the perfect fit for your MBA?

FUTURE: What is your career goal upon graduation from the Stern School? How does this fit into your long-term career goal?

Goals essay.  "Connect the dots between your past, the MBA, and your future." says this question.  Since you have to answer all parts of this question in two double-spaced pages or roughly 500-600 words (try to stay north of a 10-point font.) , you need to choose those 1-2 experiences that are most influential and hopefully most impressive too. The answers to the present and future questions should flow naturally from the discussion of your past.

Although most people will answer this question using professional experiences, I can easily imagine past non-professional experience being a part of this essay too.

Essay #2
Please respond to the following question, giving relevant reasons and/or examples from your personal and professional experiences to support your answer.
(2 page maximum, double-spaced)

CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK: What was the most difficult constructive feedback you have received, and what did you do as a result of it?

When did someone tell you to change and you knew they were right but also knew that you didn't want to change?  Well if you told your critic to  jump in the closest lake, you don't have a good response. But if you rose to the challenge of change and worked on yourself to respond constructively to the  criticism, then you have the foundation of an essay.

Essay #3
PERSONAL EXPRESSION: Please describe yourself to your MBA classmates. You may use any method to convey your message: words, illustrations, etc. (feel free to be creative). All submissions become part of the permanent records at the NYU Stern School of Business, and cannot be returned for any reason.

Please do not submit anything that must be played or viewed electronically or that is perishable (e.g., food). If you submit a written essay, it should be two pages maximum, double-spaced.

Bribes don't work either. Candidates can get very creative with this essay and use different media (other than culinary and electronic), but for the majority of you who will convey your ideas in words, think of how you describe yourself in a social setting, meeting people for the first time. If it's the first day of class or a mixer early in the pre-term, how would you break the ice? Would you try to set up a tennis game or golf match? Would you find someone to explore NYC's museums? Or do you hate museums and prefer the outdoors?  What would you say if you were in the campus coffee shop and sat down with some new classmates? Could you create a dialog? A short skit?

Essay #4 (optional)
Please provide any additional information you would like to bring to the attention of the Admissions Committee. These may include gaps in employment, plans to retake the GMAT or any other relevant information.

An explanation must be provided in Essay #4 if:

    * You do not have a recommendation from your current supervisor.
    * You have been subject to academic discipline, placed on probation, or required to withdraw from any college or university.
    * You have ever been convicted of a crime.

Clearly if you must explain something Stern wants you to do so here, but what if you don't have anything to explain? Should you just rest your aching keyboard? Not so easy. I doubt if the 3 required essays, numerous boxes, and your resume captured everything you have going for you. Assuming that there is still something left in your life and being that you would like Stern to know about, write about it here. Give them another reason to admit you.  BUT as I noted for earlier optional essays, this is not a catch-all, a place to throw everything, or the signal for a grand finale summary. It is the place for  a focused, coherent essay about 1 or 2 aspects of you that you want admissions to know about and that are not found elsewhere in your application. Give them another reason or two to admit you.

Comments

[Lucky]

Essay #2 is not correct, Stern has new contents