Two Prompts:
For the first of these very short essays, you must distill your hopes for a post-Wharton goal into only 50 words.
In your second, also short essay, you will describe the longer arc of your career. By asking about the medium-term goal (about 3-5 years after your MBA) and then your long-term goal (presumably the ultimate goal that you are after), Wharton seeks to better understand your vision and your set purpose for yourself.
Wharton has made it incredibly difficult to provide them much information beyond the barest of bones. Channel your inner Haiku artist to try to put your short-term goal into a context that describes yourself and what motivates you. Wharton calls this part "The Setup": This is who you are, what you are doing, or what you have learned that is motivating your career goals.
Example of Short-term Goal
"I was raised in the Mormon Church, where my destiny was to become an obedient wife and mother, yet I took a fast-paced job at an international financial giant, where I'm the only woman on my team of analysts. My goal is become an associate and support other women in finance."
Example of Short-term Goal
“After college I went to Germany to follow my family’s teaching tradition. Teaching developed my sense of responsibility to the world-at-large, inspiring me to become a policy analyst in the state senate. Now, to improve business-government cooperation, I plan to enter international consulting and focus on public-private partnerships."
Basic Tips for Goals
Prompt: Taking into consideration your background – personal, professional, and/or academic – how do you plan to make specific, meaningful contributions to the Wharton community? (350 words maximum)
This is the essay in which you state what you will give back.
Ideally, this part of your background is NOT found elsewhere on the application: something absolutely brand-new. However, I did have one client talk about building up a club (very small bullet that was low in the resume), and another client discussed the problems that lay behind a successful project (one that appeared as an accomplishment on her resume) and how she led a change to the project.
Again, be specific and concrete.
Your goal for this essay is to make them see you at Wharton as an MBA student. When I read it, I want to be able to envision you at Wharton.
Example
"I will also set challenges for myself. After obtaining my real estate license, I created a "First-Time Homebuyers" class for my Sailors, many of whom came from minority communities and lacked tools for informed decision-making. I plan to lead the Wharton Hispanic-American MBA Association (WHAMBAA) to provide similar classes for minority families in the Philadelphia community, which will strengthen Wharton's bonds to our local community and allow us to develop deeper friendships through pursuing mutual philanthropic aims."
By making the second essay so short, Wharton is signaling that it is less interested in what you intend to do during your time at Wharton and more in what you will do afterwards.
That said, if there is a single course, program, learning center, professional club, experiential learning, or specific alumni network that you know will contribute to your learning and professional advancement, you might briefly include it to demonstrate why Wharton is the very best place to pursue your MBA. Be specific and concrete. Do not be generic.
Warning: Don't spend time describing Wharton's offerings back to the reader. Admissions already knows everything about the school. Instead, spend that limited word count describing how you will engage with that offering.
Prompt: Please use this space to share any additional information about yourself that cannot be found elsewhere in your application and that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee. (500 words maximum)
Most business schools only allow you to use the Optional Essay to explain application weaknesses, but Wharton allows you to use the essay more broadly.
This space can also be used to address any extenuating circumstances that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider. Use to address:
Use this essay to turn a potential weakness into a strength. Tell the Admissions Committee what happened and why it happened. Be honest in your self-evaluation. Most importantly, tell them what you have learned from the negative experience, and how this learning has influenced future actions.