Jones Graduate School of Business

Rice Business Jones Graduate School Of Business is consistently rated as one of the top business schools in the country. It is named in memory of the late Jesse H. Jones, a well-known business and civic leader in Houston.

A committed, nationally renowned team of professors teaches all of the courses. They incorporate knowledge from their own thorough, peer-reviewed research and aid students in understanding these subjects in today’s dynamic business environment. In addition, our online ideas magazine, Rice Business Wisdom, which is dedicated solely to the practical, helpful summary of peer-reviewed research, can help you learn more about the scholarship of our academics.

Top Employers:

• Altman Solon
• Accenture Strategy
• Chevron
• DM Clinical Research 
• Morgan Stanley
• Kalypso
• Tesla 
• Whitestone Reit

Application Essay Questions:

After completing your MBA program, Rice Business wants to know your career aspirations. Please briefly describe your immediate and long-term post-MBA goals in the spaces below. This short answer response aims to gain a clear and direct understanding of your professional goals; it is NOT intended to be a traditional essay.

Short answer essay question

Determine the position you want to hold as soon as you graduate from college, including the job title and two or three ideal employers. Then, you can explain why this is your goal.

Long-Term Career Goal Text (100 Word Maximum): Determine the position you want to hold in the long run. Then, by taking into account the more significant impact you ultimately hope to have on your career, you can also improve your response.

TIP:  You are not the only one who hopes to find employment after earning an MBA. For applicants to be more likely to speak favourably of their time in the program when they land a job after graduation, admissions committees look for motivated and clear students about their goals. Of course, they also do this in the hopes that one of their alums will someday become a donor to the school.

The career goals essay has three components:

• What do you hope your future professional life will be like?
• Why will an MBA assist you in progressing in your career?
• Why earning a degree from Rice Jones will be most advantageous to you and your career goals?

Your goals must be compelling, ambitious, and doable. It would help if you discussed this idea in your essay. However, it relates to your life experience. Rice Jones is looking for candidates with meaningful goals rooted in their past experiences.

First essay question

Please select one of the upcoming prompts. For example, you can upload a video or a written essay (500 words maximum) (Time Limit: 3 minutes).

Question 1: Which movie, song, or book has impacted your life most and how you see the world? Why?

The second prompt asks you to describe a photo of your choice that specialises to your life. You must do so in 500 words or less, even though we all know a picture is worth a thousand words. Use the upload tool on the following page to share your photo.

Please choose the prompt you want to respond to:

First assignment: Send in a written essay (500-word limit)

First assignment: Send in a video essay (3-minute time limit)

Second prompt: Send in a written essay (500-word limit)

Second Prompt: Send in a video essay (3-minute time limit)

TIP:  In choosing what material to create, it is crucial to approach this essay from a strategic perspective and choose a subject that is pertinent to your application to business school. Remember that specific anecdotes will impact your reader more than a general discussion.

The first question shows a desire to learn more about applicants personally. While candidates can pick from a wide range of movies, songs, or books to discuss, the most crucial aspect of their answers will be demonstrating self-awareness by explaining why they relate to the material. It’s also important to note that choosing an item that is not common can make one stand out from other candidates and demonstrate a propensity to follow your route. However, choosing something too obscure could result in a missed chance to connect with the admissions reader over a shared interest. As a result, we advise choosing a book, movie, or song that many of your friends or family members have at least heard of. (However, if you think something created by a little-known local artist is your best and most authentic response to this question, we would not rule it out — and you might win them a new fan in your admissions reader.)

Applicants should not assume that the admissions reader will be aware of their choice, regardless of their choice. Effective responses to this question will focus on particular elements of the selection and elaborate on how those elements have affected the respondent’s life and worldview. Keep in mind that the choice is a platform for you to introduce yourself in this essay and make hints about how you might fit in with Jones. Finally, candidates should ensure that the message they want is supported by the entire book, film, or song they select. 

Option 2 offers you the chance to demonstrate who you are, where you are from, or what matters to you. While the admissions committee will undoubtedly be interested in your hobbies and extracurricular activities, avoiding being too personal is essential. For instance, picking a family photo and writing about them can make a candidate seem immature (as if they haven’t entirely flown the coop). It can be challenging to gauge how a reader will respond to comments on potentially delicate subjects like politics or religion. Candidates should strategically consider what sets them apart from other candidates while reflecting on their values and personality. It is crucial to provide a compelling and individual account of your influences and experiences in a way that shows how passionate you are about the subject.

It would help if you thought about your strengths and the format to which the content naturally lends itself when deciding between written and video formats. When creating a video essay, consider numerous other factors. It is a good idea to relate how your experience would translate to involvement at Jones or how you could join their community, regardless of the prompt you choose.

Optional essay

You may submit an additional, optional essay if you have any clarifications or additional details for the admissions committee regarding any aspect of your application (such as employment gaps, your choice of recommenders, your previous academic performance, etc.). (750 maximum words)

TIP: Any parts of your application that require more explanation can be addressed in this response, which is the proper place to do so (e.g. recommender choice, expected promotions, etc.). This essay’s language is friendly and inviting, so it might be appropriate to add another anecdote or draw attention to a noteworthy achievement there. When deciding whether to give a response to this prompt, applicants should aim to show good judgment. They should also be careful not to introduce information that already appears in their other materials in response to the essay above. 

Upcoming deadlines

The application deadline for the Full-Time MBA Class of 2025 is as follows: 

• Round 1: October 7th, 2022 (Decision December 9th, 2022)
• Round 2: January 6th, 2023 (Decision March 15th, 2023)
• Round 3: March 31st, 2023 (Decision May 10th, 2023)

Reach out to our professional MBA Consultant and increase the probability of gaining acceptance to your desired business school.