Tuck 2012 - 2013 Essay Tips

Why is an MBA a critical next step toward your short- and long-term career goals? Why is Tuck the best MBA program for you, and what will you uniquely contribute to the community?

• Very similar to many other school’s goal essays – set the context with your background, explain your goals in a meaningful, substantive manner, and then integrate Tuck’s offerings into your vision
• Remember, this is an essay about you, not about Tuck – so anything that you mention about the school must be tied into your story and your goals
• Don't forget to discuss exactly where you will fit in and how you will contribute - you want the AdCom to be able to see you on campus very easily

Discuss your most meaningful leadership experience. What did you learn about your own individual strengths and weaknesses through this experience?

• Describe just one experience – it can be a challenging opportunity that came your way, a career milestone, or a personal or community experience
• A leadership experience doesn’t have to be one where you came out a winner – it can be a situation in which you experienced a very big challenge, part of which you were able to overcome, with other parts that didn’t go so well – that is why the question asks both for your strengths and weaknesses
• Please, do not use spun-around-strengths like “perfectionism” or “taking too much work on my plate” in the weaknesses section.

Describe a circumstance in your life in which you faced adversity, failure, or setback. What actions did you take as a result and what did you learn from this experience?

• A failure or setback or adversity essay must expose you – and your vulnerabilities.  This is not about how you created a problem and then owned up to it or fixed it.
• It can be a bad situation that was dealt to you, or something that you did that resulted in a failure or setback, or a time when you chased something that you just weren’t good enough for
• To answer the “actions” piece, don’t try to recreate the situation and explain what you did the next time around; what the reader wants to know is, after the failure, what did you do because of it – did you try again?  Did you make amends?  Did you apologize or forgive someone or give up on something?
• Please, do not try to show anyone else in a negative light in this essay – e.g., someone stepped on your toes or acted politically etc. – this just reflects immaturity on your part