Essay 1: Why an MBA? Why The Bath MBA?
Why do you feel an MBA is right for you, right now? Why did you choose The Bath MBA? (250 words maximum)
The answer to this question will be a multi-part response.
Why do you feel an MBA is right for you? A good way to answer "why an MBA" is right for you is to begin by broadly describing your career goals, in less detail than you provide in Essay 3:
- What is your immediate career goal, just after you graduate from The Bath MBA program? .
- What is a slightly longer term career goal (meaning five years after your graduation)? Tell them why this is your goal.
- Just as importantly, what is the motivation for these goals?
The next part of the answer relates to how the MBA will help you reach those goals:
- What skills or knowledge that you lack today that you need to pursue those goals?
- What skills or knowledge that you want to build upon that will help you achieve very ambitious goals? (You might achieve your goals on your own, but not as well or as easily.)
...right now? In other words, why now?
The business school wants to know why now is the best time for you to leave your job for two years. They want to know that you have considered the commitment that this will entail, especially if you are moving from out of the U.K.
Why did you choose The Bath MBA?
- What are The Bath MBA program's specific offerings (courses, star professors, clubs, organizations, programs, events, etc.) that will help you gain what you lack or wish to build upon?
- How will you engage with those offerings to prepare to reach your goals? (Don't write a long list; focus on the offerings that you will really engage in and benefit from.)
You only have 250 words to provide a lot of detail, so make every word count!
Essay 2: Team Conflict
Describe a time when you have had to deal with conflict in a team (250 words maximum):
- What was your role?
- How did you resolve the issue?
- What changes have you made in your approach to teams after this experience?
- What strengths are you bringing to the MBA class? How will you use these in your future professional aspirations (250 words maximum)?
The first part of your answer is telling the story.
What was your role? You can state your job role and provide some context. Were you a boss or just another member of the team? Were you a senior member of the team or a junior member?
How did you resolve the issue? Use a short "STAR" story:
- Situation: What was the situation that created the team conflict?
- Tasks: What were the tasks that you needed to complete to reach a fully successful conclusion?
- Actions: What were the actions that you took with the team?
- Results: What were the results of your actions?
The second part of your answer is simply describing what you learned from the experience?
- What changes have you made in your approach to teams?
- What strengths are you bringing to the MBA class? This simply means what knowledge and learning are you bringing from this experience?
- How will you use these in your future professional aspirations? This means how you will apply this knowledge and learning in your future career (as described in Essay 3).
Essay 3: Post-MBA Goals
What are your professional goals after the MBA? (50 words maximum)
What is your immediate career goal, just after you graduate from The Bath MBA program? Tell them the following:
- what job role that you seek;
- in which industry; and
- possibly your target companies.