Tuesday Tips: 2014 University of Virginia Darden School of Business MBA essay tips
While writing only 500 words for your University of Virginia Darden School of Business application essay may seem simple, it requires discipline to highlight all of the important parts of your profile for the admissions committee in less space. Writing a compelling essay with such limited space is actually quite challenging and requires you to focus only on the most important aspects you need to communicate.
Leadership is a crucial attribute for successful Darden MBA applicants. Personal qualities are also particularly important for a close knit community like Darden School of Business. Darden, similar to HBS, is devoted to the case method of teaching business subjects. Learn more about the school by visiting the Darden website, attending events and speaking with current students and alumni.
MBA Application Essay Question:
Describe the most courageous professional decision you have made or action you have taken. What did you learn from that experience? (500 words maximum)
In this question Darden is seeking to understand how you view courageous decisions and to demonstrate lessons learned from a specific action or decision. The best use of this essay space will use specific examples to illustrate the courageous decision and the action you took.
Lessons learned are crucial as well, and it will be helpful to be introspective about how you have changed as a result of this situation, and to consider why you viewed it as the most courageous action or decision in your professional life.
Before you start answering the question it may help to brainstorm some of your best professional accomplishment stories. As you think about the areas where you have excelled you may find that many of your accomplishments required courageous decisions or actions. Work backgrounds from the accomplishment to see where the moment arose and what the learning experience was.
Once you have a list of all of the potential experiences to discuss, choose the examples that will also demonstrate some of your personal qualities to the admissions committee. You have your career history submitted in your resume. Your GPA, transcript and GMAT will demonstrate academic ability.
This essay is one of your few opportunities to show how you think, what your leadership approach is, and how you handle teamwork and conflict. Think about the situations that showcased your best performance at work, or that taught you something about your interests or future career goals.
Because you have only one essay question to present yourself, make sure you have a trusted reader to tell you if you are effectively communicating why you are going to be a strong leader who deserves a spot in the UVA Darden MBA class.
Looking for perspective in your approach to your Darden MBA application? Contact us to discuss how Stacy Blackman Consulting can help.
