UT Austin McCombs Essay Analysis

 

 
Average GMAT Score: 681
Application Deadlines

  Round

I

II

III

  Deadlines  

02 Nov 2009 15 Jan 2010 01 Apr 2010

 

 

Essay 1
Please define your short- and long-term goals and objectives, your career progression to date, and how an MBA fits in at this time. What makes the Texas MBA the perfect fit for you? Please limit your response to two, double-spaced, typed pages.

While the structure is implied in the response, remember to address adequately each of the following five components:

  •  Career Progression: Detail your career progression while keeping an eye on your goals and keep your theme limited to the same.
  •  Goals (Short Term & Long Term): Be as specific as possible. Your short term goal shall be tangible and direct. Explore school's website or your  contacts within UT Austin to find out exact positions offered at MBA and stick to the same. Further, avoid putting a blanket statement in  your long term goal. If you came up with "I want to be CEO of XYZ Company" you need to think deeper.
  •  Why MBA: If you have done good job in the above two section, you must have created a void by now that only a MBA education can fill in. Bring out the specific things you need from MBA that will bring you closer to your goals and this piece shall further your candidacy.
  •  Why Now: It is extremely important to bring a crisp argument about why you think now is the right time for you. Don't make the mistake to leave & a gap for Adcom to think that you need another year or two before coming to UT Austin.
  •  Why UT Austin: Goes without saying, this aspect is extremely important and will speak volumes about your passion for UT Austin. An ideal  strategy is to connect school's resources - Academic programs, Clubs, and Special programs to your specific needs. Attempt to write a paragraph  with each sentence containing something unique about UT Austin.

As long as your essay addresses each of the above components and you manage to ties the story in single theme, you shall score well. Also, remember to take care of the overall structure of the essay through a short and crisp opening statement and a coherent ending exclamation statement.

 

Essay 2
The Texas MBA is built around four key pillars of leadership. Describe an experience that you have had that clearly demonstrates your leadership as it relates to one of our four pillars: 1) Responsibility/Integrity; 2) Knowledge/Understanding; 3) Collaborative/Communication; or 4) Worldview of Business and Society.Please limit each response to one, double-spaced, typed page.

It is an open ended question with a lot of flexibity to facilitate you. What is the predominant style of your leadership? How do you lead- by your knowledge or you have superb communication and motivational skills, or because you take the lead when a problem scene is there, or you are treated as leader because of your wide horizon? Be sure about the charecteristic that you want to highlight and go ahead with it, give examples, give reasons for whatever you did and what you thought and what you felt. Take care to describe the situation in such a way that reader gets a clear view of situation but be breief in describing situation and detailed in describing feelings and reasons for your actions. Again, although question dies not directly ask for, do relate the story to what you learnt out of the process and how you reinforced some of your beliefs.

 

Essay 3
At the McCombs School of Business, you will be part of an active and diverse community. How will you use your personal strengths and unique experiences to enrich the McCombs community during your two years in the program? Please limit your response to two, double-spaced, typed pages.

What are your strengths? Do you really have any unique experiences? Do not worry if you do not have any unique experience or unique quality as most of candidates don't have so. What is unique is "you". Just focus on your strengths and your background, your value system, the cultural background that you belong to and you will find a unique blend of charecteristics that will reflect you and you only. While you may think of multiple stand alone stories, it will be equally important to apply an overall theme to this prompt and also explain how exactly your accomplishments will turn out to be beneficial for student body at UT Austin.