What do you want to achieve in your life? Oh sorry! This sentence is actually wrong. Instead, it should be “what is the burning desire in your heart?” What are those things that you are dying to achieve? I am not asking your mere “wishes” or “aspirations”. I am asking you what is the “single biggest purpose” of your life? What is that one thing that you dream day and night and are willing to sacrifice everything in order to achieve it? If you know the answer of this question, you can say yourself whether you need the Tuck MBA experience. In case you haven’t found that “single burning desire” of your career, brainstorm with me to identify it first before writing this essay. Reject vague wishes such as you MAY go to investment banking or you MAY join a renewable energy business post your MBA. Weak desires produce weak results.
The reason I want you to be very specific in your career goals is because Tuck isn’t Columbia and Hanover isn’t New York. Tuck admissions committee knows this weakness of the program (they also know their strengths which are plenty actually). Hence, they want students who are highly focused so that students from the very 1st year can network and position themselves favorably for placement.
Dean Slaughter of the Tuck recently said in an interview that they believe business over generations have served as a vehicle for socio-economic development. Jobs, income, economic opportunities, infrastructure development and all other vectors of growth are directly linked with business. Corporate leaders leverage the power of market to benefit the society at large. How do you fit with this mission of Tuck? If you have similar goals, look no further than Tuck and write this essay from your heart.
Show Tuck that you are determined to burn all bridges to achieve the single biggest objective of your life and you need specialized knowledge from Tuck to do so.
Don’t focus on low ticket items such as what to write in which paragraph or how to start/end the essay. Imagine the various possibilities of your career post MBA and let the words flow freely from your heart. Think about what will be your foot print in the corporate world. How will people remember you after you are gone? What will be your legacy? Read some of the success stories of Tuck alumni. It will give you goose bumps and inspire you to think big, really big. If folks before you can do great things, you can also achieve greatness in your career. Remove apprehensions, if any, about your destiny and write this essay with enthusiasm and energy. Talk to me if you need any assistance.
Have you seen a rowing competition? Sitting in the narrow boat, all players have to perform in sync in order to propel the boat toward victory. What happens if one guy fizzles out? The whole team suffers. That is also the essence of the small Tuck community.
Tuck isn’t Harvard with its huge class size. At Harvard, if one guy doesn’t pull his weight, the community will probably not even notice. However, Tuck has a small class size. Hence, its success depends on you. If you don’t demonstrate leadership on campus, the whole community looses. Tuck presents a golden opportunity for you to come forward and lead. You can lead a club or lead an initiative in the wider community. Your enthusiasm, energy and vision are prized assets of the small Tuck community. Step up to the leadership roles as Tuck offers you a safe environment to practice leadership before you jump into the bigger ocean of the corporate world post MBA.
While crafting this essay, think deeply about who are you? What are your strengths? What are some of your weaknesses? What makes you tick? What is your leadership style? How good are you as a team worker? How do you react to crisis situations? What motivates you? What makes you frustrated? What ignites your passion? What encourages you to get out of your bed every morning?
You can begin the essay with an anecdote that reveals some of these qualities and thereafter move forward to reveal how that experience defines you. You should choose approximately 2~3 qualities that will showcase your uniqueness. Try to be as original in your thinking as possible.
Collaboration, cooperation and camaraderie are the 3C of the Tuck culture. You can’t fully appreciate how friendly folks are at Tuck until you visit the campus. During my personal visit, I witnessed Tuck students preparing other students for job interview even while missing their classes. Can it happen in Columbia or NYU Stern? It may, but not very likely. Tuckies are willing to sacrifice for others. You won’t fully appreciate this quality until you know first hand about the pressure of job hunting in a B-school (ask me for my experience as a starter).
We all have the inclinations to help others. Perhaps you can remember dozens of instances in which you helped others. But sacrificing to a great extent in order to help others? That’s alien for most people. Hopefully, it’s ingrained in your DNA. Let them know about one such instance.
Narrate the story inside out. Give them enough and more context. How did you support any colleague or friend or a family member to succeed. When did you first realize that he or she needs your support? Did he/she specifically seek your support or you intuitively felt the need to support and thereafter stepped up to the challenge? Was it difficult to persuade him to take some action? What kind of interpersonal challenges did you face in the process? What did you learn? How much sacrifice you had to endure? Think deeply about all these aspects of the story and write passionately with suitable anecdotes. If written well, this essay can differentiate you from hundreds of other applicants.
Contact us if you need any assistance to write a cohesive and excellent essay.
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Politicians have speech writers. Journalists use news editors. Famous writers and columnists have an army of professional editors. Don’t you think you also need to have one?