Essay 1: 

• What are your short and long-term career goals?
• How will the MBA help you achieve them? (500 words maximum)

This Stern Business School essay question is very direct and straightforward in nature. It basically focuses on the career goals of the applicants, asking them to explain their post MBA career objectives and how the degree will support those goals. 

First, MBA applicants must explain in a detailed manner the specifics of their post MBA goals. Establishing a long term vision would be beneficial to the establishment of the short term goals which are valued greatly by the admission committee. So, it is important to talk about the 5 or 10 years plan. Applicants should consider even going beyond the regular “what” and “where” questions, it is more important to focus on the “why”. This is where you will have to discuss the impact you wish to have on an organization or an industry or even a region. 

Then, applicants should focus on their short term goals very specifically, including the jobs and positions their wish to apply for right after graduation, along with examples of specifics companies or consulting agencies they plan to target. This leads naturally to the establishment a long term vision for the career. 

It is important to talk about the jobs and work experiences you have already had, to establish the specifics skills you already possess. This leads to the gap in the skill set the applicant get, making it logical to get the degree in order to gain the skills that could be learned at the Stern Business School. This is where you discuss the program itself, the classes, the curriculum and the different events the school hosts and organizes for their graduate students.  

Essay 2: Describe yourself to the Admissions Committee and to your future classmates using six images and corresponding captions. Your uploaded PDF should contain all of the following elements:

• A brief introduction or overview of your “Pick Six” (no more than 3 sentences).
• Six images that help illustrate who you are.
• A one-sentence caption for each of the six images that helps explain why they were
• selected and are significant to you.

This specific question is an opportunity to show the admission committee who you truly are and where exactly you come from as an applicant. You should also focus on what you care about, your interests and your extracurricular activities. This is where applicants should try and imagine what would their classmates ask them first time meeting, all while making sure to keep the content professional and staying within the lane and topic asked by the admission committee. 

The first question was mostly focused on the professional life of the candidate, and so it only makes sense to not repeat what was discussed in there. It is important to focus on anything happening outside of the professional life. Applicants should focus on their values and personality, as well as think about what sets them apart from the next candidate who holds exactly the same degrees and worked for the same companies in the past. 

Additionally, the applicant must show that they are very enthusiastic about the school and living in New York City. They must show that they cannot wait to meet their fellow students and try and make their research on any activities the school offers and organizes for their students off campus. 

The focus on photos and captioned pictures is for the admission committee to know how creative and willing to put special effort into the application the applicant is. They don’t it to be just another MBA Application, they want the person to spend some time crafting it and not just writing it or answering the questions. 

Optional Essay: Please provide any additional information that you would like to bring to the attention of the Admissions Committee. This may include current or past gaps in employment, further explanation of your undergraduate record or self-reported academic transcript(s), plans to retake the GMAT, GRE, IELTS or TOEFL, or any other relevant information. (250 words)

This question is very specific. Given the topics discussed in the two first questions which basically cover both your professional and personal life. It is important to not cover the same topics or stories again in this part of the application. So, the applicant must stick within the guidelines mentioned above: GMAT, GRE, IELTS, TOEFL, and any other information you think the admission committee should know of.