Tuck MBA has a relatively small class – 294, with the campus located in the New England town of Hanover. Tuck attracts candidates who truly value the brand. The admissions team also wants to ensure that the candidates are analytically strong, balanced in accomplishment – professionally and with extra-curricular, self-aware, and collaborative.

The school attracts candidates who experienced the power of communities and understand the value of the Tuck MBA curriculum and the support the career service team and alumni offer.

Here are 5 Traits to highlight for your Tuck MBA Application

1) Smart – Curious and Engaged

Welcome to F1GMAT's weekend updates for the week ending July 2nd, 2022. I am Atul Jose. 

Top MBA programs that have released the essays and deadlines for the 2023 entering class or the 2025 graduating class during the first week of July include Stanford Graduate School of Business and MIT Sloan School of Management. 

Related: F1GMAT's Stanford MBA Essay Guide | MIT Sloan MBA Essay Guide

The deadlines for Stanford MBA are 1st Round: 13th Sep 2022, 2nd Round: 5th January 2023, and 3rd Round 11th April 2023. 

MIT Sloan also has three deadlines with Round 1 on September 29th 2022, Round 2 on January 18th 2023, and Round 3 on April 11th 2023.

Stanford has stuck with two essays that have been a regular feature over the past 7 years. Essay 1 is “ What matters most to you and why.” This is a 650-word essay. For this essay, you must cite experiences, perspectives about life and quote people who had a huge influence over you both professionally and personally. 

Essay 2 is Why Stanford. This is a 400-word essay where you must cite the Stanford GSB experience and connect with how the experience will help you reach your career and personal goals. 

Unlike the open-ended nature of the Harvard MBA application, Stanford, in addition to the Why Stanford 400-word essay, also has one 200-word optional essay. The question is, “Think about times you've created a positive impact, whether in professional, extracurricular, academic, or other settings.

What was your impact? What made it significant to you or to others?”

There is also another 200-word question under the Personal Information section. This is applicable to those who come from an underrepresented group of ethnicity, race, socioeconomic background, and gender. 

The question is, “We know that each person is more than a list of facts or pre-defined categories. With this question, we provide you with an optional opportunity to elaborate on how your background or life experiences have helped shape your recent actions or choices.”

MIT Sloan has also stuck with a format that has become an effective tool in shortlisting applicants with strong leadership potential without making the narrative all about a superficial definition of leadership. To do that, the school has continued with a cover letter and a 1-minute introduce yourself to the class video statement.

The 300-word or few cover letter prompt goes like this. 

“MIT Sloan seeks students whose personal characteristics demonstrate that they will make the most of the incredible opportunities at MIT, both academic and non-academic. We are on a quest to find those whose presence will enhance the experience of other students. We seek thoughtful leaders with exceptional intellectual abilities and the drive and determination to put their stamp on the world. We welcome people who are independent, authentic, and fearlessly creative — true doers. We want people who can redefine solutions to conventional problems and strive to preempt unconventional dilemmas with cutting-edge ideas. We demand integrity and respect passion.

Taking the above into consideration, please submit a cover letter seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA program. Your letter should conform to a standard business correspondence, include one or more professional examples that illustrate why you meet the desired criteria above, and be addressed to the Admissions Committee (300 words or fewer, excluding address and salutation).”

The 2nd deliverable is the 1-minute video. The prompt goes like this 

“Introduce yourself to your future classmates. Here’s your chance to put a face with a name, let your personality shine through, be conversational, be yourself. We can’t wait to meet you!

Videos should be 

That is the update for this week. Subscribe to F1GMAT's Winning MBA Admission Tips Podcast for Business School and admission-related tips, analysis, strategies, and news. I am Atul Jose. 

If you want help with school selection, career planning, essay editing, and review or mock interview service, you can visit F1GMAT Store, or you can reach me - Atul Jose through LinkedIn

Welcome to F1GMAT's weekend updates for the week ending June 25th, 2022. I am Atul Jose. 

Top MBA programs that have released the essays and deadlines for the 2023 entering class or the 2025 graduating class during the last week of June include Duke Fuqua School of Business and Ross School of Business. If you want help with school selection, career planning, essay editing, and review or mock interview service, visit F1GMAT Store

Ross MBA program has three deadlines. Round 1 is on Sep 19th, 2022, Round 2 on Jan 8th, 2023, and Round 3 on 3rd April 2023.

Ross has a three-part essay for its MBA application. Part 1 is a short-answer question divided into two groups – Group 1 and Group 2. Each group has three 100-word essay prompts. You are required to select one question from each group and answer in 100 words or less. 

The Group 1 questions are:

1. I want people to know that I:

1.  I was out of my comfort zone when:

The question in each group is crafted in such a way that your choice of the essay reveals a lot about your personality than the actual question itself. For example, all the questions in Group 1 are about positive experiences with varying degrees of pleasantness attributed to the answers. Group 2 requires reliving some negative experiences – coming out of the comfort zone, humbling experience, or being challenged. 

I will cover them in detail in the Ross MBA Application Essay Tips Series. 

Part 2 of the essay is one short-answer question that goes like this:  Pick one thing from your resume and tell us more. (100 words)

Part 3 is a two-part question. The first part is a 25-word short-term goal question that goes like “What is your short-term goal? (25 words)”. The 2nd part is a 150-word question that requires you to expand on the chosen short-term goal. The question is, “Why is this the right short-term career goal for you? (150 words).”

For those who are applying through the Consortium, Part 3 of the essay is not required. Instead of the short-term career goals, you must answer the Consortium Core Application essay – “Please describe your short and long-term goals post-MBA. How has your professional experience shaped these goals and influenced your decision to pursue an MBA degree?”

Duke Fuqua School of Business is the 2nd school this week that has announced the deadlines for the 2023 entering class. Like Darden, there is an early action deadline on Sep 7th, 2022, a regular Round 1 deadline on Sep 26th, 2022, Round 2 on Jan 5th, 2023, and Round 3 on Mar 28th, 2023.

Duke Fuqua MBA has a required short-answer essay question and two long essay questions. 

The 100-word short-answer essay question is "What are your post-MBA career goals? Share with us your first-choice career plan and your alternate plan."

The 2nd question is the required 750-word or a 2-page list-based answer for the question - 25 random things about yourself. 

The question is a unique one not seen in other top MBA programs. The prompt is, "The 'Team Fuqua' spirit and community are one of the things that set the MBA experience apart, and it is a concept that extends beyond the student body to include faculty, staff, and administration. Please share with us “25 Random Things” about you. The Admissions Committee wants to get to know YOU - beyond the professional and academic achievements listed in your resume and transcript. Share with us important life experiences, your hobbies, achievements, fun facts, or anything that helps us understand what makes you who you are.

The 3rd question is a 500-word essay on The Fuqua community and you. The question is

The last update for the week is the Economist MBA ranking for 2022. Harvard at #1, Wharton at #2, Kellogg at #3, Columbia at #4, and MIT at #5 were the highlights of the ranking. Stanford at #8 and Booth at #9 while LBS, INSEAD, Oxford, and IMPERIAL MBA opting out of the rankings were the controversial part of the rankings. 

You can read our 2022 analysis of the Economist MBA ranking

That is the update for this week. Subscribe to F1GMAT's Winning MBA Admission Tips Podcast for Business School and admission-related tips, analysis, strategies, and news.

Researching about top Business Schools should be the most important activity in your MBA application process. If you get this process right, then all your efforts in GMAT Preparation, Essay Writing & Editing, Interview Preparation, and coordinating Recommendation Letters will fall into place.

In this deep dive into the factors to consider before choosing an MBA program, we cover:

1) Post-MBA Goal

Subscribe to F1GMAT's Career Planning Service to find the best MBA program for you

Quality of Life: Another reason many of you should consider the post-MBA location is the quality of life. Once you parse beyond the holiday destinations in Europe and research seriously about countries with world-class universities and Business Schools, a few economies stand out.

Quality of Life Ranking – Top Economies (with world-class Universities)

5. Australia    

Despite an inefficient healthcare system, United States is ahead of Canada, the UK, France, and Singapore by a big margin. Only Australia and Germany are ahead but is no match to the opportunities in Consulting, Technology and Finance that the US offers.

Purchasing Power: For the self-funded or those who are raising funds, be realistic about the ROI. It would take at least 3 years to get an ROI on your MBA program. Another important factor when choosing the post-MBA location should be purchasing power.

Read: MBA Selection Criteria

Welcome to F1GMAT's weekend updates for the week ending June 18th, 2022. I am Atul Jose. 

Top Schools that have released the essays and deadlines for the 2023 entering class or the 2025 graduating class during the 3rd week of June include NYU Stern, Yale, and Tuck.

NYU Stern's Full-time MBA program has four deadlines. 1st deadline is on Sep 15th, 2022, 2nd on Oct 15th, 2022, 3rd on Jan 15th, 2023, and 4th deadline on Mar 15th, 2023. 

Stern Full-time MBA application has one short answer question, two essays, and one optional essay.

The short-answer question is a straightforward 150-word short-term career goals essay.

The first essay, which is a 350-word Change narrative, goes like this 

“Change: ______ it” 

You have to fill in the blank.

The prompt from Stern goes like this, "In today's global business environment, the only constant is change. Using NYU Stern's brand call to action, we want to know how you view change. Change: _____ it. Fill in the blank with a word of your choice. Why does this word resonate with you? How will you embrace your own personal tagline while at Stern? 

Examples:

Change: Dare it.

The second essay is a Personal Expression essay where you must 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).

Note: Your visuals may include photos, infographics, drawings, or any other images that best describe you. Your document must be uploaded as a single PDF. The essay cannot be sent in physical form or be linked to a website.

The third essay is an optional 250-word one where you can provide information on the gap in employment, variations in your academic scores, plans of retaking the GMAT/GRE/IELTS/TOEFL or even the executive assessment test, or any other relevant information. 

NYU Stern MBA team has rebranded the recommendation letters as EQ endorsements, where one endorsement should come from a current supervisor and the second from someone who knows you professionally and personally and who can objectively assess your potential. There is also an option to submit a third EQ endorsement if it offers a new perspective on your candidacy. 

The questions for EQ endorsement are similar to the common LOR questions provided by GMAC. It starts with an introductory question to provide a brief description of the supervisor's interaction with the applicant and, if applicable, the applicant's role in your organization. The second question is How does the applicant's performance compare to that of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles (if applicable)? Please provide specific examples. (E.g. what are the applicant's principal strengths?).

The third question is, "Describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant's response."

One additional question from Stern for supervisors is, "IQ+EQ is a core value of NYU Stern, and we seek exceptional individuals who possess both intellectual and interpersonal strengths. Emotional intelligence (EQ) skills such as self-awareness, empathy, communication, and self-management are at the core of our community of leaders. Please provide one specific and compelling example to demonstrate the applicant's emotional intelligence."

For Yale, there are three application rounds. Round 1 is on Sep 13th, 2022, Round 2 on Jan 5th, 2023, and Round 3 on Apr 11th. 2023

The school has only one Essay. It goes like this, "Describe the biggest commitment you have ever made." The Admissions Committee is seeking to learn about how you have approached a commitment of importance in your life. The commitment must be meaningful for you. It can be personal, specific to your profession, or could be a mix of both. The school wants to know your approach to commitment over general statements about the commitment that you have made. 

Tuck School of Business has released its essays and deadlines as well. Round 1 is on Sep 26, 2022. Round 2 is on Jan 4th, 2023, and Round 3 is on March 27th, 2023

There are three mandatory essays and one optional essay about additional insights on academic performance or employment gaps. 

The first mandatory 300-word Tuck essay is "Tuck students can articulate how the distinctive Tuck MBA will advance their aspirations. Why are you pursuing an MBA, and why Tuck?"

The second mandatory 300-word essay is "Tuck students recognize how their individuality adds to the fabric of Tuck. Tell us who you are."

The third mandatory 300-word essay is "Tuck students are encouraging, collaborative, and empathetic, even when it is not convenient or easy. Describe a meaningful experience in which you exemplified one or more of these attributes."

That is the update for this week. Subscribe to F1GMAT's Winning MBA Admission Tips Podcast for Business School and admission-related tips, analysis, strategies, and news.

You can subscribe to the Podcast through Apple Podcast, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Google Podcast.

I am Atul Jose. If you want help with school selection, career planning, essay editing, and review or mock interview service, you can visit F1GMAT Store 

Welcome to F1GMAT’s weekend updates for the week ending June 11th, 2022. I am Atul Jose. 

Top Schools that have released the essays and deadlines for the 2023 entering class or the 2025 graduating class during the 2nd week of June include: Wharton, Kellogg School of Management, and Chicago Booth. 

Round 1 deadline for Kellogg is 14th Sep 2022, Round 2 on January 10th, 2023, and Round 3 on April 5th, 2023.

Kellogg has two essays for the 2-year Full-time MBA program. One question is about leadership. And the other is about values. Both are 450-word essays. 

The first question is, "Kellogg’s purpose is to educate, equip and inspire leaders who create lasting value. Provide a recent example where you have demonstrated leadership and created value. What challenges did you face and what did you learn? (450 words)

The second question is, "Values are what guide us in our life and work. What values are important to you and how have they influenced you? (450 words)"

For Booth, the Round 1 deadline is 22nd Sep 2022, Round 2 on January 5th, 2023, and Round 3 on April 11th, 2023.

Booth has two essaysfor the 2-year Full-time MBA program with a 250-word minimum word limit requirement and no maximum word limit.  One question is about career goals. And the second is about you as a person.

The first question goes like this" How will a Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career goals? (Minimum 250 words, no maximum.)

The second question is, "An MBA is as much about personal growth as it is about professional development. In addition to sharing your experience and goals in terms of career, we’d like to learn more about you outside of the office. Use this opportunity to tell us something about who you are… (Minimum 250 words, no maximum.)"

Wharton's Round 1 deadline is on 7th, September 2022, Round 2 on January 4th, 2023 and Round 3 on March 29th, 2023. 

Like Booth, the first 500-word essay question at Wharton is about career goals, and the second 400-word essay question is about your potential contribution to the Wharton Community. 

The first Essay Question goes like this "How do you plan to use the Wharton MBA program to help you achieve your future professional goals? You might consider your past experience, short and long-term goals, and resources available at Wharton. (500 words)"

The second essay question goes like this "Taking into consideration your background – personal, professional, and/or academic – how do you plan to make specific, meaningful contributions to the Wharton community? (400 words)"

That is the update for this week. Subscribe to F1GMAT’s Winning MBA Admission Tips Podcast for Business School and admission-related tips, analysis, strategies, and news.

I am Atul Jose.

If you want help with school selection, career planning, essay editing, and review or mock interview service, you can visit F1GMAT Store at store.f1gmat.com, or you can search my Name, Atul – “A” “T” “U” “L” Jose – “J” “O” “S” “E” on LinkedIn. 

Q) I am an accounting professional from an overrepresented Indian CA application pool. Although I have a good work exp with a branded accounting firm, I feel typecast. How can I stand out for the highly competitive Wharton and Booth MBA Applications?

Atul Jose (MBA Admissions Consultant, F1GMAT): Indian CA Accounting profile faces four challenges – the internship narrative, the full-time experience, project details, and extracurricular.

Q) I am a military MBA applicant with service history in Afghanistan. Should I go into the specifics of any operation? Is it necessary for Harvard MBA Essay?

Atul Jose (MBA Admissions Consultant/Author – Harvard MBA Essay Guide, F1GMAT): This is a tricky question. For those who don’t know – Harvard has an open-ended MBA application essay. It is a 900-word essay with the question, “As we review your application, what more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Harvard Business School MBA program?”.

All your achievements in the military are already highlighted in the resume and application form.

Your supervisors are likely to mention them in their recommendation letters. There is, however, something that is not easily recognized in an application form.

That is the pressure you face in making a decision. The emotion behind it.

That is what Harvard Business School wants to know.

Who are you as a person?

Top Business Schools have announced their deadlines and essays for the 2023 entering class or what we refer to as the 2025 graduating class. 

The first school to announce the essays and deadlines was Harvard Business School. The school has continued with the open-ended essay question. 

The question is, “As we review your application, what more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Harvard Business School MBA program?”. 

Earlier, there were no word limits, but this year the school has set a 900-word limit. 

Harvard has only two deadlines. The first round is on Sep 7th, 2022, and the second is on January 4th, 2023. 

If you want to learn how to draft your essays, Download F1GMAT’s Harvard MBA Essay Guide 

The second school to announce the deadlines and essays was Columbia Business School. 

The school has three deadlines – Sep 28th, 2022, Jan 11th, 2023, and April 5th, 2023. 

The essays include one 50-character short answer question on post-MBA goals and three essays. 

The first essay is a 500-word career goals essay. The second essay is a 300-word good fit essay where applicants must specify how they will leverage the learning clusters, the Philips Pathway for Inclusive leadership, and the Executives-in-residence programs in addition to the unique Columbia MBA learning ecosystems. 

The third essay is a 250-word classic – your favorite book, movie, or song and why it resonates with you essay.

The third school that opened up the application was Darden, which has four deadlines. The early action deadline is on 8th Sep 2022, Round 1 on 5th October 22, Round 2 on 5th January 23,  and Round 3 on 5th Apr 2023. 

Darden has three essays. The first 200-word essay is similar to the Harvard MBA essay, where you have to share a unique aspect of your personality or life experience that is not covered in the resume. 

The question is

“Given that you will be forming lifelong connections with your classmates that extend beyond the classroom, what is important for your classmates to know about you that is not on your resumé? (200 words)

The 300-word second essay, like Columbia’s question on inclusivity, asks applicants to mention a leadership experience where they demonstrated inclusivity and how they plan to replicate the experience at Darden. The question is 

Darden School of Business seeks to improve the world by developing and inspiring responsible global leaders. We are committed to developing the School’s ability to leverage our global diversity — the multitude of different experiences and backgrounds among our stakeholders from around the world — to achieve excellence in business education in today’s complex marketplace.

We do so in the service of our mission, adhering to an unwavering commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We believe all key stakeholders - students, faculty, staff, and alumni - play a critical role in cultivating an inclusive environment, and every action - whether big or small - in service of this goal is important.

Please describe a tangible example that illuminates your experience promoting an inclusive environment and what you would bring to creating a welcoming, global community at Darden. (300 words)

The 200-word third essay is about career goals - a question that you see in other MBA programs as well. The question is 

“At this time how would you describe your short-term, post-MBA goal in terms of industry, function, geography, company size and/or mission and how does it align with the long-term vision you have for your career? (200 words)”

The fourth school to announce the deadlines and essays for the 2023 entering class is Kellogg School of management. The full-time MBA program has three deadlines: Sep 14th, 2022, Jan 10th, 2023 and April 5th, 2023.

The school has continued with its two essays – one about leadership and the other about values. 

The first essay goes like this, “Kellogg’s purpose is to educate, equip and inspire leaders who create lasting value. Provide a recent example where you have demonstrated leadership and created value. What challenges did you face and what did you learn? (450 words)”

The second essay about values is “Values are what guide you in your life and work. What values are important to you and how have they influenced you? (450 words)

So these are the four top schools that have released their deadlines and essays as of 4th June 2022. They are Harvard, Columbia, Darden, and Kellogg. 

Subscribe to F1GMAT’s Winning MBA Admission Tips Podcast for Business School and admission related tips, analysis, strategies and news. I am Atul Jose. See you in the next episode. 

In MBA Admissions Interview, the ‘ethical dilemma’ question has now become a regular feature. The question is: “Give an Example of an Ethical Dilemma you faced. How did you handle it?”

Ethical Dilemma stems from any action that violates information asymmetry or takes advantage of the power dynamics in an organization.

The protagonist – you, would feel uncomfortable as the choices are not easy, and the ‘right’ path has consequences both on you and for your organization.