Tuesday Tips: Tepper MBA Essays and Tips 2024-2025
Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business has published the new MBA application for this admissions cycle. Your resume, transcripts, recommendations, and other application data will tell the story of your career and academic accomplishments. Therefore, your Tepper MBA essays should showcase your character and personality.
CMU Tepper is an interdisciplinary program with centers like Sustainability, Architecture, and Technology and a startup incubator. The Tepper Quad delivers a campus with several interconnected parts.
The school fosters community with small class sizes and a culture that values intelligent, team-minded leadership. Tepper revels in technology and innovation as a transforming educational experience. Students are encouraged to take smart risks to learn and innovate.
As you prepare your Tepper MBA essays, remember that the program is looking for driven top performers. Ideal candidates include those seeking a tight-knit community and analytical course structure.
Curious about your chances of getting into a top B-school? Contact us to talk strategy with a free 15-minute advising session with an SBC Principal Consultant.
Tepper MBA Essays
Required Essay
The Tepper School community is committed to helping students reach their full potential. Explain your philosophy on helping others achieve their full potential. How have you implemented this philosophy in your professional life, and what impact has it had on those around you? How will this philosophy influence your approach to leadership in the Tepper MBA program and beyond? (maximum 500 words)
CMU Tepper has a small and close-knit community. Because this factor is so important, this essay question is about how you support other people. MBA programs believe that character matters—specifically, being collaborative, supportive, and team-oriented.
Great leaders lift up their team members, whether they are peers or direct reports in a professional setting. Think about times when you have developed or helped other people achieve. This could be as a manager or team member at work or even in an extracurricular activity.
As you consider how you approach leading or developing others, think about why you think the way you do. That “why” is your philosophy on leadership. Explain that philosophy and then get into specifics When you look back at your history of working and collaborating with a team, what specific behaviors have you demonstrated? Be specific when you describe how you have implemented your leadership philosophy.
Finally, consider how you will bring your leadership philosophy to the Tepper community. For example, you might lead or start a club and try to develop your classmates. Or, perhaps you’ll try to engage all of your fellow students in classroom discussions. Remember to add your personality to this essay and ensure you come across as collaborative, supportive, and inclusive.
Video Essay: Goals
We know this is an important component of your decision to attend business school. We take it seriously as well. Please describe your post-MBA career goals.
It would be helpful to consider the following information in your response:
You have up to 2 minutes to respond to this question.
Please be as specific as possible. If you have not yet identified specific companies, that is okay. Just tell us what interests you for your next role or company. What about the industry, company, or functional role is appealing to you?
If you have any criteria you are using to evaluate career opportunities, please share those as well. We may have great opportunities to add to your list.
How does this post-MBA career goal relate to your long-term career plan?
To prepare for the video essay, first write down your ideas about your future career. Consider your long-term goals and what position you plan to seek immediately after graduation from Tepper. Focus on clarity and use concise language as you explain your career goal after earning an MBA.
Tepper notes that it’s not necessary to mention specific companies, but you will want to explain the industry that interests you and the desired function within that industry. For example, if you are interested in consulting after graduation, explain the consulting type and industry focus. You may be interested in a range of firms like McKinsey and Deloitte.
The second area to focus on for this video essay is why you are interested in this career path. What interests you about this industry and/or function? Tepper also suggests explaining the criteria that led you to choose this career path. The video format is ideal for conveying your personality and enthusiasm. Make sure you show the viewer that you are excited to pursue this path and know why.
Optional Essay
There is also an optional essay for additional information about your candidacy that you may wish to share with the admissions committee. Use this essay to convey important information that you may not have otherwise been able to. This may include unexplained resume gaps, context for recommender selection, etc. However, do not feel obligated to complete the optional essay.
Reapplicants
If you are a reapplicant, use the optional essay to explain how your candidacy has strengthened since your last application.
This optional essay gives you the space to explain any gaps in your application. Some areas you could write about are academic issues or a recommendation that is not from a current or former supervisor. Another common area is gaps in work experience.
Explain each issue clearly, and then describe how you have improved. For example, perhaps you were unfocused during undergrad but have since made great strides professionally. Or, maybe you faced layoffs or a struggling industry that created resume gaps, but you now have a career focus.
In each case, highlight the positive. Stay future-oriented and explain why the issue won’t be ongoing. You can also use the optional essay to share information not covered in the required essay or your resume. However, ensure it is information that will genuinely enhance your application and tell the admissions committee something essential about your background.
Reapplicants should use the optional essay to describe how their candidacy has improved—for example, any promotions at work or increased responsibility. You may also have a better test score or a grade from a class you took. Finally, if you don’t have any tangible improvements, focus on goals that may have changed.
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For more information on applying, visit the CMU Tepper School of Business website. Don’t hesitate to contact Stacy Blackman Consulting about your MBA plans! We offer multiple services to meet your MBA application needs, from our All-In Partnership to hourly help reviewing your MBA resume. Contact SBC today for a free 15-minute advising session to discuss strategy with a Principal SBC consultant.
Here’s a snapshot of the caliber of expertise on our SBC team.
Ashley
Ashley is a former MBA Admissions Board Member for Harvard Business School (HBS), where she interviewed and evaluated thousands of business school applicants for over a six year tenure. Ashley holds an MBA from HBS. During her HBS years, Ashley was the Sports Editor for the Harbus and a member of the B-School Blades Ice Hockey Team. After HBS, she worked in Marketing at the Gillette Company on Male and Female shaving ...
×Kerry
Kerry is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS). During her 5+ year tenure at HBS, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a wide range of backgrounds across the globe. She also led marketing and outreach efforts focused on increasing diversity and inclusion, ran the Summer Venture in Management Program (SVMP), and launched the 2+2 Program during her time in Admissions. Kerry holds a B.A. from Bates College and ...
×Pauline
A former associate director of admissions at Harvard Business School, Pauline served on the HBS MBA Admissions Board full-time for four years. She evaluated and interviewed HBS applicants, both on-campus and globally. Pauline's career has included sales and marketing management roles with Coca-Cola, Gillette, Procter & Gamble, and IBM. For over 10 years, Pauline has expertly guided MBA applicants, and her clients h ...
×Geri
Geri is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS). In her 7 year tenure in HBS Admissions, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a diverse set of academic, geographic, and employment backgrounds. Geri also traveled globally representing the school at outreach events in order to raise awareness for women and international students. In additio ...
×Laura
Laura comes from the MBA Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS) and is an HBS MBA alumnus. In her HBS Admissions role, she evaluated and interviewed hundreds of business school candidates, including internationals, women, military and other applicant pools, for five years. Prior to her time as a student at HBS, Laura began her career in advertising and marketing in Chicago at Leo Burnett where she worked on th ...
×Andrea
Andrea served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Harvard Business School (HBS) for over five years. In this role, she provided strategic direction for student yield-management activities and also served as a full member of the admissions committee. In 2007, Andrea launched the new 2+2 Program at Harvard Business School – a program targeted at college junior applicants to Harvard Business School. Andrea has also served as a Career Coach for Harvard Business School for both cu ...
×Jennifer
Jennifer served as Admissions Officer at the Stanford (GSB) for five years. She holds an MBA from Stanford (GSB) and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Jennifer has over 15 years experience in guiding applicants through the increasingly competitive admissions process into top MBA programs. Having read thousands and thousands of essays and applications while at Stanford (GSB) Admiss ...
×Erin K.
Erin served in key roles in MBA Admissions--as Director at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and Assistant Director at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB). Erin served on the admissions committee at each school and has read thousands of applications in her career. At Haas, she served for seven years in roles that encompassed evaluation, outreach, and diversity and inclusion. During her tenure in Admissions at GSB, she was responsible for candidate evaluation, applicant outreach, ...
×Susie
Susie comes from the Admissions Office of the Stanford Graduate School of Business where she reviewed and evaluated hundreds of prospective students’ applications. She holds an MBA from Stanford’s GSB and a BA from Stanford in Economics. Prior to advising MBA applicants, Susie held a variety of roles over a 15-year period in capital markets, finance, and real estate, including as partner in one of the nation’s most innovative finance and real estate investment organizations. In that r ...
×Dione
Dione holds an MBA degree from Stanford Business School (GSB) and a BA degree from Stanford University, where she double majored in Economics and Communication with concentrations in journalism and sociology. Dione has served as an Admissions reader and member of the Minority Admissions Advisory Committee at Stanford. Dione is an accomplished and respected advocate and thought leader on education and diversity. She is ...
×Anthony
Anthony served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he dedicated over 10 years of expertise. During his time as a Wharton Admissions Officer, he read and reviewed thousands of applications and helped bring in a class of 800+ students a year. Anthony has traveled both domestically and internationally to recruit a ...
×Meghan
Meghan served as the Associate Director of Admissions and Marketing at the Wharton MBA’s Lauder Institute, a joint degree program combining the Wharton MBA with an MA in International Studies. In her role on the Wharton MBA admissions committee, Meghan advised domestic and international applicants; conducted interviews and information sessions domestically and overseas in Asia, Central and South America, and Europe; and evaluated applicants for admission to the program. Meghan also managed ...
×Amy
Amy comes from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where she was Associate Director. Amy devoted 12 years at the Wharton School, working closely with MBA students and supporting the admissions team. During her tenure at Wharton, Amy served as a trusted adviser to prospective applicants as well as admitted and matriculated students. She conducted admissions chats with applicants early in the admissions ...
×Ally
Ally brings six years of admissions experience to the SBC team, most recently as an Assistant Director of Admission for the full-time MBA program at Columbia Business School (CBS). During her time at Columbia, Ally was responsible for reviewing applications, planning recruitment events, and interviewing candidates for both the full-time MBA program and the Executive MBA program. She traveled both internationally and dome ...
×Erin B.
Erin has over seven years of experience working across major institutions, including University of Pennsylvania, Columbia Business School, and NYU's Stern School of Business. At Columbia Business School, Erin was an Assistant Director of Admissions where she evaluated applications for both the full time and executive MBA programs, sat on the admissions and merit scholarship committees and advised applicants on which program might be the best fit for them based on their work experience and pro ...
×Emma
Emma comes from the MBA Admissions Office at Columbia Business School (CBS), where she was Associate Director. Emma conducted dozens of interviews each cycle for the MBA and EMBA programs, as well as coordinating the alumni ambassador interview program. She read and evaluated hundreds of applications each cycle, delivered information sessions to audiences across the globe, and advised countless waitlisted applicants. ×
