Note: Cambridge Judge Business School has five application rounds that come in August, October, January, March, and May.
Prompt: Please provide details of your post-MBA career plans, and address the following questions:
(500 words maximum).
“One thing that stands out in a strong application essay is when candidates demonstrate what they are going to bring to the cohort and how they wish to contribute to the class as a whole during their year, not just what they hope to take away from the programme.” - Emily Brierly, Head of MBA Admissions and Recruitment
In the second half of the essay, you are essentially proving that you have a proactive mindset towards pursuing your career goals (probably because you have to be actively pursuing employers outside of Cambridge).
Prompt: Tell us about a time when you made a professional mistake. How could it have ended differently? (200 words maximum)
Use this essay to demonstrate your ability to reflect on past actions and learn from them.
Prompt: Tell us about the best team you worked with. What made the team successful? (200 words maximum)
You can describe your role in a team as a leader, but primarily focus on your role in the team as one of many people. Use this essay to show your ability to assess other people's strengths (and weaknesses, if that's part of the story) and understand how those strengths can leveraged as a team. You should also include how diversity of thought / backgrounds / experiences lent to the success of the team.
Prompt: Provide an example of when someone else positively impacted your life. What did you learn from this experience? (200 words maximum)
I believe the purpose of this essay is to gauge how aware you are of other people's contributions and whether you value them appropriately. In addition, learning from other people is the core of the MBA experience.