This year, Michigan Ross condensed its essay questions to one short career-related query and a multiple-choice prompt designed to provide an opportunity for you to share a story that demonstrates your resilience, grit, and community-building traits.
Table of Contents
Part 1: Career Aspirations
What is your short-term career goal, and how do you plan to leverage the Ross MBA and its program offerings in your first role after graduation? Please be specific and answer both parts of this question (300 words).
This is a traditional goals essay prompt; Ross wants to know what job you want to recruit for right out of the MBA program, and the admissions committee will be evaluating whether they think your goal is realistic, given your background. They also want to see that you have researched the Ross MBA program enough to understand how and why it is a good fit for your needs. To differentiate yourself, share a little bit of what has motivated you to have this goal prior to sharing the goal itself. For example, maybe a work project got you excited about pursuing a leadership position, or perhaps a personal passion is driving a career change. The “why” shows that you have been thoughtful in selecting this career aspiration and creates a compelling story.
For the second part of this question, be specific in sharing how Ross will help you achieve your goal. Think about the gaps you have in reaching your post-MBA goal and how Ross’s rich mix of courses and clubs can help you fill those gaps. Michigan Ross’s full-time MBA program emphasizes learning by doing, a methodology based on the belief that real-world experiences foster the most profound growth. Familiarize yourself with Ross Experiences in Action-Based Learning and how the school’s learning-by-doing resources — such as the Multidisciplinary Action Project (MAP), student-led investment funds, and international consulting opportunities — will equip you with the skills and knowledge you need to excel in your career.
Part 2: Impact and Growth
Michigan Ross is proud to support a community of leaders and impact makers who value growth. As a future member of this community, we want to know more about who you are and what drives you. Choose one of the following prompts to tell us more about what makes you stand out beyond your academic and work experience. List the prompt you are answering at the top of your essay. (200 words)
- Think of a time something important did not go as planned. What did you do next?
- What is something you worked on for an extended period of time (over six months) that ultimately resulted in a positive outcome? What kept you committed?
- Share an example of a specific situation when your actions created a positive impact on your community or an individual.
The purpose of these prompts is to give Ross’s admissions committee a better idea of who you are as a person and how you can bring positive qualities to the school — kind of a peek “behind” your resume. Every business school talks about holistically reviewing their applicants; here, you can showcase some of the qualities that MBA programs want to see, such as resilience, grit, and community building.
It doesn’t matter which of the three prompts you respond to. Pick the one for which you have a great story that will provide proof that you have one of the three qualities of being committed to growth, showing grit, or investing in others. Don’t make an amalgam of several examples because you don’t have enough space to share multiple stories. Sometimes people are afraid to discuss something that did not unfold as planned, but life (and even your MBA experience) can be this way, too. Here’s a chance to show Ross through a story that you overcame a difficulty and are able to pivot and learn from your mistakes. Demonstrate self-awareness in sharing how you grew as a result of this experience. This is a quality that Ross (and really, all MBA programs) wants to see in its students. If you choose the second prompt, highlight your grit through a story that illustrates how you don’t give up when things get difficult and that you can remain committed to a cause for a long time on your way to making progress. The third prompt gives you a chance to discuss how you invest in others and can signal to Ross that you will continue to add value to your classmates and the greater Ross community.
Optional Essay
Is there something in your resume or application that needs a brief explanation? Appropriate uses of this essay would be the explanation of an employment gap, academic outliers, choice of recommender, completion of supplemental coursework, etc. You may use bullet points where appropriate. (250 words)
By stating outright that it’s okay to use bullet points in your response to this prompt, Ross is clearly indicating that it just wants the most relevant information here. This is not your chance to share another story you think is interesting but that will not actually add to the admissions committee’s knowledge or understanding of you in any meaningful way. So, provide this optional information only if one of the suggested situations applies to you (“an employment gap, academic outliers, choice of recommender, completion of supplemental coursework”) or some other element of your candidacy would benefit from further clarification. One example would be if your recommender is not your direct supervisor. Or maybe you have a disciplinary issue in your past that could be mitigated by some explanation. At any rate, there’s no need to make your response any longer than it needs to be (or even to respond at all!) — just communicate any critical information.
In Stratus Admissions’ blog post How to Get into Michigan Ross School of Business, you will find information on a variety of the MBA program’s offerings, such as MAP, the Erb Institute, the MTrek Program, and the Zell Lurie Commercialization Fund.