Berkeley Haas

Essay: Goals

Prompt: How will an MBA help you achieve your short-term and long-term career goals? (300 words max)

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When writing about your short-term post-MBA professional goal? and/or your long-term goal career goal, consider how your goals align with Haas's Leadership Principles: Question the Status Quo, Confidence without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself.

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If you are not sure how to frame this short essay, here are some suggestions that you may be able to apply to your writing:

Question the Status Quo

• How you see the future in a way that others can't, and what that future might look like.
• How you want to make a significant impact or change at a local, state, national, or global level, and why.

Confidence without Attitude

• How you have the courage and persistence to pursue a dream or an opportunity.
• How you want to inspire other to follow.

Students Always

• How you want to learn something new to advance your goals.
• How you want to explore something new to see if a goal is viable.

Beyond Yourself

• How you want to not only create financial profit but also social profit.
• How you want to contribute to making things better for a community.

When you write about the type(s) of position that you want to be in after your MBA, write also about how you hope to make a positive impact on business and other people, and the type(s) of organization that you are looking to make an impact on or with, and why. If you have a mission that you pursuing, tell them about that mission.

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IF you have the word count, describe why your career goal is realistic. What previous experiences motivates you to pursue this new position and/or has prepared you to succeed in this new position? What current experience, knowledge, and skills (your professional strengths) that you bring from your professional role to achieve your goals? What from your past experience, personal or professional, motivates you to pursue these goals?

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Lastly, describe how the full-time MBA program at Berkeley Haas aligns with your career goals and will help you to transform yourself into a leader in your area.

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Don't just list the opportunities that Haas will provide to you (e.g., classes, specific professors, coaching, experiential projects, the networking opportunities with Silicon Valley). Describe how you will take advantage of these opportunities to work on yourself and become the leader that you envision to be.

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Reminder: This essay should complement your video on the Leadership Principle that most resonates with you. Your goals must also map directly to the other areas of your application. Specifically, how will you build upon the foundational skills that the Admissions Committee sees in your resume and college transcripts?

Video Essay: Your Defining Principle

The Berkeley Haas video essay is two minutes long. You should write out a video script to look at, and then you and I will brainstorm.

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Prompt: The Berkeley MBA program develops leaders who embody our four Defining Leadership Principles.

• Briefly introduce yourself to the admissions committee,
• explain which Leadership Principle resonates most with you, and
• tell us how you have exemplified the principle in your personal or professional life.

"We'd love for you to explore your personal leadership profile." - Eric Askins, Executive Director of Full-time MBA Admissions

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Your self-introduction should include your name and a very brief self-description. You don't have to anchor your self-description on your job; instead, it should lead to your explanation of why a Leadership Principle resonates with you.

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For example, if I were to do a very brief self-description, I might have multiple choices:

1. Hi, I'm Elaine Conces, and as an admissions consultant I have had former clients at all the Top 25 business schools in the US.
2. Hi, I'm Elaine Conces, and I became the mother of two in my 40s.
3. Hi, I'm Elaine Conces, and few people know that I have natural artistic talent.
4. Hi, I'm Elaine Conces, and I became an accidental entrepreneur when I helped launch the company I'm currently at.

... and so on. I would choose my introduction based on the story of leadership that I want to tell. However, you want to make that first statement about yourself memorable, and it should be the thing that you want the Admissions Committee to remember you by. "Oh yes, Elaine, that accidental entrepreneur."

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In the past, Haas has stated what successful leadership is: We are redefining leadership. We value different opinions and perspectives, recognizing that we always have more to learn about others’ lived experiences and histories. We encourage speaking up and listening, and courageously use our power to address barriers and drive change for positive impact.

This mirrors the Leadership Principles: Question the Status Quo, Confidence without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself.

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Below is a video in which past students describe what the Leadership Principles mean to them.

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There are two methods to decide on a video topic.

1. Remember your past leadership experiences, and figure out how a story might align with a Leadership Principle....or
2. For each Leadership Principle, try to match an experience from your past personal or professional life.

Once you have decided on your video topic, you will develop your theme.

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Here are three approaches to developing a leadership theme.

1. What is a time when you successfully fulfilled the role of leader, according to your own definition of leadership? In this essay, you would explore why you were successful and what you learned from being this best version of yourself.
2. What is a time when you were led by someone with whom you identify, and whose lessons you now emulate in your own way? In this essay, you would describe the aspects of leadership that you have directly observed in someone else that you have been inspired by, learned from, and model your actions on.
3. Who is a leader whom you admire for personal reasons and have striven to emulate in your own life? In this essay, you would carefully choose your leader. I say "carefully choose" in that you should try to avoid a public figure who is overly controversial or overly famous (as in, someone else might write the same essay). You would describe how this model has impacted how you lead in life.

In each of these approaches, you should be describing why you believe this to be an effective version of leadership, as well as how it matches the Leadership Principle.

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Consider the Background and Props for your Video

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When filming your video, think about how the background of your video might align with your leadership story. For example, here is an example of a video that uses the leadership example of President Obama in the background as an understated way to emphasize the leadership message.

Here is an example of a video simply a the city as a background to show a location - it painted a picture of her as being an established city girl.

Be it something elaborate or simple, your background can play a role in telling your story or quietly showing who you are as a person. Do not make the mistake made by one of my former clients, who shot an introductory video in his bedroom, with the bed in the background.

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You may also consider the careful use of show-and-tell in your video. Be careful not to overuse props that will overwhelm and distract from your story. However, showing something related to your story can emphasize the point that you wish to make.

Optional Essays

Some applicants may have faced hardships or unusual life circumstances, and we will consider the maturity, perseverance, and thoughtfulness with which they have responded to and/or overcome them.

Optional Information #1: Challenges / Non-Academic Learning Experiences as a Youth

We invite you to help us better understand the context of your opportunities and achievements:

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1. What is the highest level of education completed by your parent(s) or guardian(s)?

• Did not complete high school
• High school diploma or equivalency (GED) Associate's degree (junior college) or vocational degree/license
• Bachelor's degree (BA, BS)
• Master's degree (MA, MS)
• Doctorate or professional degree (MD, JD, DDS)

2. What is the most recent occupation of your parent(s) or guardian(s)?

• Unemployed
• Homemaker
• Laborer
• Skilled worker
• Professional

3. If you were raised in one of the following household types, please indicate:

• Raised by a single parent
• Raised by an extended family member (grandparent, aunt/uncle, niece/nephew, cousin)
• Raised in a multi-generational home
• Raised in foster care

4. What was the primary language spoken in your childhood home?

5. If you have you ever been responsible for providing significant and continuing financial or supervisory support for someone else, please indicate:

• Child
• Spouse
• Sibling
• Parent
• Extended family member (grandparent, aunt/uncle, niece/nephew, cousin)
• Other

6. Please elaborate on any of your above responses. Alternatively, you may use this opportunity to expand on other hardships or unusual life circumstances that may help us understand the context of your opportunities, achievements, and impact. (300 words maximum)

This essay should only be used to elaborate on special life circumstances that caused some unusual obstacles that you had to surmount or created the need for you to be adaptible. Basically, Haas is looking for a story of how you went from a youth where things might have gone sideways to a successful situation in which you are now applying for the MBA program. How did you do that?

Optional Information #2: Addressing the Elephant in the Room

This section should only be used to convey relevant information not addressed elsewhere in your application. This may include explanation of employment gaps, academic aberrations, supplemental coursework, etc. You are encouraged to use bullet points where appropriate.

"The Optional Essay is an opportunity to turn a weakness into a strength." - Elaine

Short Answer: DEI, Justice & Belonging

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Prompt: One of our goals at Berkeley Haas is to develop leaders who value diversity and to create an inclusive environment in which people from different ethnicities, genders, lived experiences, and national origins feel welcomed and supported. Can you please describe any experience or exposure in the area of diversity, equity, and inclusion, whether through community organizations, personal, or in the workplace? (300 words maximum)

• A core value of Haas is inclusive leadership. This short answer allows you to explain how you think that you fit this model of leadership.
• Please note that the question asks for experience or exposure. You may done work in this space, and/or participated in relevant programs or activities in the workplace, college, or community service, and/or delved into on your own because of intellectual curiosity.
• The Admissions Committee understands that different applicants will have different levels of experience or exposure.
• "Diversity" can be ethnicity, gender, lived experiences, national origins, age, or other factors.

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Supplemental Information

1. If you have not provided a letter of recommendation from your current supervisor, please explain. If not applicable, enter N/A.

2. List, in order of importance, significant community and professional organizations and extracurricular activities in which you have been involved during or after university studies. Include the following information for each using the format below:

• Name of organization or activity
• Nature of organization or activity
• Size of organization
• Dates of involvement
• Offices held
• Average number of hours spent per month

3. List full-time and part-time jobs held during undergraduate or graduate studies, prior to the completion of your degree. Indicate the following:

• Employer
• Job title
• Employment dates
• Location
• Number of hours worked per week for each position held prior to the completion of your degree

4. If you have ever been subject to academic discipline, placed on probation, suspended, or required to withdraw from any college or university, please explain. If not, please enter N/A. (An affirmative response to this question does not automatically disqualify you from admission.)

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