Michigan Ross

Application Essay Questions:

Part 1: Short Answers (choose one from each group; 100 words each)

Group 1

I want people to know that I:

I made a difference when I:

I was aware that I was different when:

Group 2

I was out of my comfort zone when:

I was humbled when:

I was challenged when:

This year as well, the Ross application essays have stayed true to their historical trend of less word count albeit with great emphasis on getting to know you and the impact you have created. The single biggest challenge our clients have faced is choosing the prompt from Group 1 and Group 2 and the compressing their responses in the 100-word limit. As a starter, it would be advisable to have draft bullet responses to all the prompts in each group and get feedback from an extended circle of friends and colleagues on the prompt having the most impact. Also, keep in mind to have different sets of stories for Group 1 and Group 2 to avoid any overlap since that would maximize your real estate to talk about different elements of your application.

Once the stories for each group have been shortlisted, a STAR framework (Situation, Task, Action, and Result) can be used an outline to draft your responses. For Group 1, the focus is to see the impact/outcome that you have created so try to stress on that element to show your contribution to your team or organization and how that impacted them. For Group 2, the idea is to get some insights into how you respond to situations, so it would be ideal to talk about your thought process and your response to these situations. Don’t stress too much on the word count for the initial draft since they can be edited out in the subsequent drafts.

While drafting these responses it would be advisable to be mindful of the core values of Ross and try to draft the responses such that they reflect these values, remember to be a part of the Ross community you need to embody and showcase their core values.

Part 2: Pick one thing from your resume and tell us more. (100 words)

A new question when compared to last year’s application, this question is specifically asking to talk about one element from your resume in detail, so its best to focus on just one project / deliverable or volunteering assignment and talk about them in detail. While you would have already briefly mentioned the element in you resume, you should leverage this prompt to further elaborate on the outcome and why its personally important to you. Think about the challenges you may have faced while delivering this assignment, the ambiguity / complexities involved, the number of stakeholders you would have to work with to deliver on this assignment. This element should ideally demonstrate your characteristics and even showcase your ability to lead and manage projects. Remember focus on the impact and stay true to the core value of Ross MBA.

Career Goal Essay

What is your short-term career goal? (25 words)

A clear and pointed question prompt that seeks to understand your post MBA plans to determine the fit from a professional aspiration standpoint. While answering this question prompt try to assess your prior experience and your future professional aspirations, and the gaps you would need to fill between them. Reach out to the Ross community to understand how best various offerings within the MBA program that can be leveraged to fill these gaps and keep in mind the recent career outcomes to determine the possible avenues for these aspirations. Keep in mind that with this question prompt, the admissions committee is keen to determine how realistic your expectations are and whether they will be able to deliver on these aspirations through the Ross MBA program.

Why is this the right short-term career goal for you? (150 words)

A continuation of the previous question prompt, through this question the admissions committee is trying to gauge your motivation for choosing your short-term goal. Use this question to talk about your passion for the desired industry, and what in particular drives you to be a part of it. This question will be especially critical for those looking to pivot into a new industry to help understand the reason behind this career move. Talking about some critical industry insights and showcasing previous efforts to get to know people / companies in the industry will be extremely helpful to show your intent to pursue a career in the desired industry. Lastly, try to link this short-term goal with a long-term career aspiration to provide the admissions committee a direction of your long-term career aspiration. Remember it always helps to be ambitious in your long-term career aspirations, and the short-term goal will serve as a stepping stone to your long term career.

Optional Essay: Is there something in your resume or application that could use some explanation? You might want to discuss the completion of supplemental coursework, employment gaps, academic issues, etc. Feel free to use bullet points where appropriate.

Use this section to provide the admissions committee new information that may not be captured in the other parts of your application. This question can be used to address any employment gaps that you may have in your professional career, any academic concerns and the reason behind them, choice of recommenders (if you aren’t taking the recommendation from your immediate supervisor) or even low GMAT / GRE scores to provide some context to them. As advised by the admissions committee its best to use the bullet format to talk about the information and given some context on the reason behind the same. Remember to use this section to only explain gaps in your application and not talk about other achievements.

Upcoming deadlines

The application deadlines for the Full-Time MBA Class of 2025 are: 

• Round 1: September 19,2022 (Decision December 9, 2022)
• Round 2: January 9,2023 (Decision March 17, 2023)
• Round 3: April 3,2023 (Decision May 5, 2023)

Applications are due by 11:59 pm ET

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