Statement Of Purpose For MBA

On that note, if for example you’re an investment banker trying to switch in to industry, say you’d love to get involved with the investment banking club and offer advice on applications/ conduct some mock interviews for your fellow students

Fourth paragraph:

Tie it all together and finish with a short, sharp summary of why this particular MBA is wonderful and exactly the right move for you at this point in your career

Good luck!

Top statement of purpose tips. Added June 2018

In June 2018, BusinessBecause caught up with MBA admissions experts for their top tips on how to write a winning statement of purpose. Here’s what they said:

Stacy Blackman

A high-profile MBA admissions expert, Stacy has run her consulting firm, Stacy Blackman Consulting, since 2001. She earned her MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.

1. Focus on WHY not WHAT. There will be many people who have done WHAT you have done. Your own, unique, personal WHY is what will differentiate you and make your story come alive.

2. Be true to you. Don't try to emulate someone else's path. They may have gotten in to a top school despite a

certain aspect of their background, not because of it. Pretending will get tiring—tell your authentic story.

3. Appeal to your audience. Learn about your target school. Understand what they are seeking. Aim to fill their gaps with your messaging.

Barbara Coward

Barbara set up her business, Enrolment Strategies, to help business schools with their recruitment challenges. She’s an internationally-acclaimed admissions consultant with an MBA from Bath School of Management in the UK. Barbara is a regular contributor to BusinessBecause.

Don't get lulled into a complacency by the phrase ‘Statement of Purpose’. It's not just a section on the application to provide a summary of your goals. Instead, it's an opportunity to sell yourself and make the school so curious about you that they can't resist inviting you to an interview.

Identify the key characteristics that distinguish you before you start tapping on the keys of your computer. Think back on the major experiences and milestones of your personal and professional life. Incorporate an emotionally driven, Pixar-style narrative.

Take the reader on a journey. Touch on where you've been, where you are now, and where you are going. Show what's possible with an MBA from that program. 

Be clear and concise in your writing. Consider the fact that the admissions officer is reading application after application after application. That's a lot of words, sentences, and paragraphs to digest. Don't make it difficult for them to understand what you are saying. The more you can make it easier for the reader, the more convincing you will be that you are someone who can communicate well in writing, which is critical skill for business leaders.

Cara Skikne

Cara is an MBA graduate from the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, expert GMAT coach, and founder of Admissions Africa, which helps students from Africa apply for MBA programs both locally and abroad.

The best advice I’ve heard about MBA SOPS is to use the ‘Wizard of Oz formula’. That is, to highlight brains, heart and courage. Your CV already highlights your professional achievements. This is a space to demonstrate your intellectual curiosity, and to make the meaning of your work and the quality of your character explicit.

You’ll want to demonstrate these qualities through examples and insights. You’ll also want to explain how this specific MBA program can help you achieve your goals.

Mark Skoskiewicz

Mark is the founder of MyGuru, a one-to-one tutoring and test prep company based in Chicago, IL. He graduated from Kellogg’s MBA program in 2010 with concentrations in Marketing, Strategy, and Entrepreneurship. He is also a Director at TRC Advisory, a boutique strategy consulting firm.

Prospective MBA students should keep three things in mind when drafting their personal statements. First, your rationale for wanting to get an MBA should be clear. That really needs to come out in the personal statement. Ideally, it should also be clear why you want to get an MBA from the particular school to which you are drafting the personal statement. You’d be surprised how many students focus on their accomplishments and qualifications, and forget to explain why they are seeking an MBA.

Second, be careful about being too specific or grandiose around your reasons for attending business school and future career plans. This is anecdotal, but I’ve spoken with more than a few highly qualified candidates who just seemed to have gone too far with their ‘story’. You may want to launch an app to challenge Uber, and maybe you should mention that. But don’t make it the cornerstone of why you are seeking an MBA.

Finally, it can be useful to use the personal statement to demonstrate honesty and transparency around potential gaps in your application. You might say you recognize you haven’t found the time to give back and engage in community service, or you haven’t had any international experiences. Or perhaps you haven’t yet had much managerial or leadership experience. Your MBA will help you gain these experiences.

This article was originally written by Steven Goulden. The article was updated on June 4th 2018