Choose one prompt:
Prompt 1: "What movie, song, or book has most influenced your life and the way you view the world? Why?"
Prompt 2: "While we know a picture is worth 1000 words, in 500 words or less tell us the story of a photo of your choosing that has significant value in your life experiences. Please feel free to share your photo!"
Prompt 3: "Houston is one of the most diverse cities in the United States and food is a large element of culture. If you had to design a 3-course menu to prepare for your future MBA Core Team, what would be on the menu that showcases more about who you are?"
The influence should be on both your life and your viewpoint, which is profound. Your answer represents you as a person. So, for example, if you choose a book, and you were influenced both by the Twilight series (maybe you liked the heroic portrayal of the traditional villain, and it made you think) and by The Meritocracy Trap (which made you think about wealth inequality), well, choose the book that you think best represents you.
The question behind this question is, "What is very important to you? Tell us about it." You wish to pique the reader’s interest. It should help the reader get to know you better, and either provide insight into your character and values, or how you would uniquely contribute to the Rice MBA community.
The idea behind the essay is not to spend a LOT of time explaining what the movie, song, or book is about. (If the admissions committee officers don't know the reference, your essay should intrigue them enough without a giant description). The explanation of the book is a springboard to explain what the movie, song, or book means to you, personally, and why. You can use quotes, but only in the context of what the quote means to you.
The question behind this question is "What was a significant life experience for you?" Your photo does not have to be a shot of that exact moment (few of us have a camera crew following us about), but it does have to remind you of that moment, and you have to explain why.
This significant life moment tells the Admissions Committee what is most important to you. Examples are:
The question behind the question is "What three parts of your experiences / background / life / personality are most important to you?" For each menu item, explain why you made that food choice, in other words, how it represents you.
Try to pique the reader's interest by providing at least one element that is not immediately self-evident. In other words, tell them something new.
The tricky part may be creating a menu that is actually a menu! There is a first course (presumably a soup or an appetizer), second course (the main course), and the final course (maybe the dessert). This means that you can't have three courses of all appetizers or all desserts (although maybe you could have a tapas menu).
You also don't want to have a menu that sounds unappetizing or boring together. For example, if I chose mashed potatoes as the first course to symbolize my Irish ethnicity; Chicago deep dish pizza for the second course to symbolize my love for the city of my birth; and lastly, an old-fashioned syllabub (whipped cream and wine), representing my love for Jane Austen, the author that influenced my views on women and relationships ... well, a menu of potatoes, pizza, and cream sounds absolutely disgusting. This is why thought has to be put into your menu!