Michigan Ross MBA Essays 2024-2025 | Why Join Ross MBA | Winning Essay Tips

­If there is a business school that emphasizes action-based learning, it is the Ross MBA. Ross started focusing on this approach 32 years ago, highlighting its commitment to experiential learning. At Ross School of Business all first-year MBAs, at no additional tuition cost, work full-time with a group of fellow classmates on a real business challenge for a sponsor company for 7 weeks. The experience, better known as MAP (Multi-Disciplinary Action Project), is designed to help students hone their analytical, project management, and leadership skills before they set out to work in a real corporate setup.

The MAP sponsor organizations include major corporations, startups and nonprofits across the U.S. and around the world, spanning several sectors including healthcare, banking, real estate and consumer packaged goods. The projects can be domestic or global, and students get to travel to spend time in the field and with clients – and the sponsor company will cover the travel costs. How amazing is this!

If you are planning to reorient yourself in a different industry or function, you can benefit from the Ross MBA, which combines the development of strong ideas, purposeful leadership and positive impact.

Let us look at the newly released Ross MBA Essays and the right strategy for brainstorming for the same

2024-2025 Michigan Ross MBA Application Essays & Tips

Part 1: Short-Answer Questions

Select one prompt from each group of the two groups below. Respond to each selected prompt in 100 words or less (<100 words each; 200 words total).

Group 1

• I want people to know that I:
• I made a difference when I:
• I was aware that I was different when:

Tips to Write:

An applicant’s core principles and ethical compass are critical indicators of their potential to lead effectively and contribute positively to the business world. The prompts in Ross’ Group 1 were created with the goal of finding out what values the candidate holds dear. Many candidates use the first prompt, “I want people to know that I”, to reiterate a professional accomplishment that may already be listed on their resume. This is not the right approach. The goal behind Group 1 prompts is to give applicants the opportunity to do some soul-searching and seriously tell a (short) personal story that shows readers their true value system.

Successful MBA Essays We Have Seen Have Had Some of These Themes:

1. Driving Innovation: Implementing an innovative idea that has improved the status quo at your employer or outside professional organisation. Think about the challenges you have faced and the insights you have gained. Reflect on what motivated you to initiate the change and how your personal values align with the goals of the project. Highlight your role in the change and its long-term impact.
2. Community Service Leadership: Your involvement in a community service project in which you played a key role. Address the needs you have addressed, your contributions and the impact on the community at large.
3. Mentoring for Growth: A situation in which you mentored someone that resulted in significant personal or professional growth. Focus on your mentoring approach and the mentee’s accomplishments.
4. Overcoming Adversity: Talk about a personal challenge you have overcome and how your experience has inspired or helped others facing similar difficulties.
5. Entrepreneurial Impact: If you have launched a start-up or new product, describe how your entrepreneurial efforts have addressed a market need or societal problem. Highlight your role in developing the product and the impact it has had.

Group 2

• I am out of my comfort zone when:
• I was humbled when:
• I was challenged when:

Tips to Write:

When selecting a team, a manager is not overly concerned with the compatibility of personalities. In every team, there will be members with different temperaments and ethics. Politics and ego conflicts are a distraction to the team and threaten to jeopardise the team’s goal. With the Group 2 prompts, the admissions committee wants to find out how you handle unforeseen situations, conflicts, ego clashes and opposing ideas.

For the first prompt, your conflict may be internal. Indicate how stepping out of your comfort zone has contributed to your personal or professional development.

“I am out of my comfort zone when I speak in front of a large audience. Despite the initial fear, these experiences have helped me develop confidence and improve my public speaking skills over time. I joined Toastmasters to improve my public speaking and leadership skills, which was a significant step outside my comfort zone. Speaking in front of an audience has…”

“I am out of my comfort zone when I have to present complex ideas to senior executives. Preparing for these presentations forces me to understand the subject matter thoroughly, anticipate difficult questions and communicate clearly under pressure……

Part 2: Career Goal

What is your short-term career goal and why is this the right goal for you? (150 words)

Tips to Write:

Precisely because this essay is so short, the role of an exceptional and CLEAR RESUME in the Ross MBA application is amplified. If you are someone who is looking to change industries/functions after the Ross MBA, you should make your interest in new roles clear in your resume by including several examples where you have worked directly with stakeholders from these teams. Choose specific examples of leadership roles in projects for your CV that show your interest in the interface between your old and new areas of work. Highlight what you can do to solve business-related problems in your target industry more quickly. Striking the right tone in your resume and then in your essay will make it easier to transition logically to your interest in your post-MBA goals.

Reflect briefly about your conversations with former Ross students who have followed a similar path and reinforced your belief in the school. An outstanding applicant would talk about the gaps he/she identified in his/her pre-MBA skills through feedback from alumni and potential hiring managers, and that he/she will pursue short-term internships or projects to fill the gaps.

If any of you would like to discuss your MBA strategy with me, please get in touch.

Winning Tips for Ross MBA Resume

Optional statement: Is there something in your resume or application that could use some explanation? You might want to discuss the completion of supplemental coursework, employment gaps, academic issues, etc. Feel free to use bullet points where appropriate.

Many applicants choose not to add anything in the optional essays. We at MBAGuide have a slightly unique take on this. We have created a detailed analysis of the right approach to optional essays, which you can find here.

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