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First get the basic principles of mba essay writing right and then move on to the Berkeley Haas MBA 2011-2012 essay tips.

The Berkeley Haas essays for this year have not changed much in structure or focus, though there is one new question and several others are rephrased. Before everything else, check out Berkeley-Haas’ Defining Principles of innovation, humble confidence, learning and ethical leadership. While you are about it, you could also read alumnus Sabrina Simmons' commencement address which should provide inspiration, if not content, for the essay.

At Berkeley-Haas, our distinctive culture is defined by four key principles — question the status quo; confidence without attitude; students always; and beyond yourself. We seek candidates from a broad range of cultures, backgrounds, and industries who demonstrate a strong cultural fit with our program and defining principles. Please use the following essays as an opportunity to reflect on and share with us the values, experiences, and accomplishments that have helped shape who you are. (Learn more about Berkeley-Haas' Defining Principles).

Berkeley Haas Essay 1

What brings you the greatest joy? How does this make you distinctive? (250 words maximum)

Berkeley Haas Essay 1 Tips

This is a rephrasing of the 2010-2011 question "What are you most passionate about? Why?".

The introduction of "joy" allows scope for a more personal, less intense approach than was earlier possible. One approach would be to choose an outside-of-work passion/hobby that you pursue with zest. Write about your passion for that activity. How you started, how you contribute to it and perhaps too how you are impacted and bettered by it, and made unique/distinctive by it.

The other approach would be let your "joy" dovetail with the longer "goals essay" such that this essay automatically explains why you would choose that specific goal in the sixth essay. Mention why the arena in which you would be spending the rest of your career/life excites you. What is it about the work that you want to do post-MBA that tugs at your heart? If you choose this approach, reduce the "motivation for goals" portions of the goals essay and shift the more prosaic industry/statistics driven reasons for your future career choices to that essay.

Either way the worst thing you can do in this essay is to write impersonally. If this essay does not reveal the person with a ticking heart behind this application, write again!

Like EVERY other MBA essay that you will ever write, if you can demonstrate genuine wow! level passion, 50% of your work is done.

Simple, huh?

Berkeley Haas Essay 2

What is your most significant accomplishment? (250 words maximum)

Berkeley Haas Essay 2 Tips

Yet again, this is a simple rephrasing of the 2010-2011 prompt "Tell us about your most significant accomplishment".

You have several accomplishments in your roster - personal, professional and academic. The choice of achievement for writing this Berkeley Haas essay should be based on the general importance of the achievement, the extent of your contribution to its success and what the story tells about you. Your leadership skills, initiative and teamwork are three qualities that the incident could reflect on.

As usual keep in mind that this essay is part of a bigger package. Write accordingly. For example, there is a bigger leadership essay that shortly follows, so choose the achievement carefully. Also, within the context of your Berkeley Haas essay package this should be "your most significant accomplishment" - see that there are no contradictions there.

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Berkeley Haas Essay 3

Describe a time when you questioned an established practice or thought within an organization. How did your actions create positive change? (250 words maximum)

Berkeley Haas Essay 3 Tips

While the obvious theme is innovation/creativity, this essay could be about ethics as well. Try to identify an instance when you found yourself introducing an innovative concept, taking a principled yet unpopular stand, implementing an out-of-the-box solution or any other situation where you fought popular opinion or established thoughts within an organization. The context can be professional or personal.

Use this opportunity to showcase your out-of-the-box thinking, strength of character, innovation, reasoning ability and/or intellectual courage. Give the context, rationale and motivations for your action, and make apparent why your stand went against the grain. Illustrate the path that led from your thought process to the action to the results.

The positive changes made possible by your thought and action would underline the strength of the story and your achievement. Ideally the story would culminate in an organization wide change with positive long term ramifications. The greater the impact of your action, the greater the power of the essay.

Try to bring a personal tone to the essay, especially in the part of the essay where you formulate the idea. Like in all essay packages, make the final choice of the example keeping in mind the content, theme and examples you have picked for the other essays.

Go get 'em!

Berkeley Haas Essay 4

Describe a time when you were a student of your own failure. What specific insight from this experience has shaped your development? (250 words maximum)

Berkeley Haas Essay 4 Tips

A simpler phrasing of this prompt would be "Describe a failure that has helped shape your development".

This is a "failure" essay - and as in all failure essays the objective is to demonstrate how you learned, adapted and improved yourself through this experience. Begin your thought process from the second part of the question and the first will be made much easier for you.

As a first step, find a failure you experienced that has created a difference in your thought process, behavior or value system. Try to demonstrate the value of the "development" by quoting later successes using the learning  from the failure.

The Berkeley Haas failure essay is in reality meant to be a success story where you learnt, improved and readied yourself for a future success. Let that show.

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Berkeley Haas Essay 5

Describe a time when you led by inspiring or motivating others toward a shared goal. (250 words maximum)

Berkeley Haas Essay 5 Tips

Once again Haas is rearticulating a similar essay, last year's "Give us an example of a situation in which you displayed leadership". While leadership is the obvious theme, your inspiration and motivation could have been as an ordinary team member as well.

Recollect and write about an experience wherein through example, ideas, leadership, enthusiasm and/or relationship building you were able to inspire and motivate a team towards success.

Select the example based on the extent of your contribution to the team's success and what the story tells about your ability to inspire.

Preferably seek out a story that does not go too far back in time - typically a leadership achievement that occurred in the last 2-3 years would be ideal.

Berkeley Haas Essay 6

a) What are your post-MBA short-term and long-term career goals? How have your professional experiences prepared you to achieve these goals? b) How will an MBA from Haas help you achieve these goals? (1000 words maximum for 6a and 6b)

Berkeley Haas Essay 6 Tips

This is a straightforward career progression, career goals and "why Haas" essay.

Sections of the 2010-2011 question "How do your professional experiences relate to these goals? How will an MBA from Berkeley help you achieve these specific career goals?" might help simplify the question.

And you cannot complain about lack of space either!  As we keep saying in our mba essay tips the recommended length of the essay can be an important guide to its importance. The task here is to clearly delineate your career development in the context of your short-term and long-term goals, while also linking the Berkeley Haas MBA with your past, present and future. Finding and expressing a logical, credible link between the three phases is the key to this essay.

"Why Haas" is an important part of the question which will require you to show your fit with Berkeley Haas. A short response to last year's question, omitted this time around, " There are many ways to learn about our program, what steps have you taken to learn about the Berkeley MBA?" is apt here. If possible, especially if you are based in USA, visit Haas. Berkeley Haas takes campus visits seriously and being in USA and not visiting, is in my book a straight 10% off this essay. This part of the essay seeks answers to these questions: How serious are you about seeking admission to Berkeley Haas? What kind of online and offline research have you done so far about Haas? Have you talked to current Berkeley Haas students or alumni? Have you visited Haas or any of the fairs or receptions hosted by them? The objective is to implicitly or explicitly demonstrate that your Berkeley Haas application is a reflection of your serious and specific interest in Haas.

Goals, even more than other essay topics, are more a matter of credibility and logic than anything else. If you can add passion as well, you have the recipe for a beautiful and effective essay.

Go for it!

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Berkeley Haas Optional Essay 1

Please feel free to provide a statement concerning any information you would like to add to your application that you haven’t addressed elsewhere. (500 words maximum)

Berkeley Haas Optional Essay 1 Tips

We can be accused of taking a partisan role in the question of optional essays. We stand against optional essays in almost all cases. We feel that the first question in any optional essay is to decide whether you need to write it at all.

Attempt the Berkeley Haas optional essay only if you feel that it will improve the factual and material strength of your application.

Do not submit your Berkeley Haas optional essay as an addendum to any of your essays.

Do not submit your Berkeley Haas optional essay because you feel the quality of your earlier essays is improvable – in which case redouble your efforts in the earlier essays and leave the optional essay alone.

Use the Berkeley Haas optional essay if you need to describe at length an extraordinarily positive contribution or quality that CANNOT be accommodated in the other essays. Maybe there is a particularly important aspect of your personality, career or life that you want the Haas admissions committee to know about. In that case you can consider writing the optional essay.

Use the Berkeley Haas optional essay to explain shortfalls in your application which you feel are truly detrimental to your candidature. Areas of underperformance (academic or professional) or events which stick out (gaps in your resumes or second MBA) or application issues (reapplications) can be commented on if you have explanations that are intelligent and credible.

In case you find any of the above applicable, note down the options and then consider yet again if the optional essay is a strong constructive addition to your candidacy. If yes, then start working on the essay.

Please note that this optional essay is also the Haas Reapplicant Essay. "We strongly recommend that you submit a statement outlining how you have improved your candidacy since your last application, as the Admissions Committee will be looking for substantive change in your qualifications. You can use the optional essay question to provide this information."

Go for it!

Berkeley Haas Optional Essay 2

If not clearly evident, please discuss ways in which you have demonstrated strong quantitative abilities, or plan to strengthen quantitative abilities. You do not need to list courses that appear on your transcript. (250 words maximum)

Berkeley Haas Optional Essay 2 Tips

Quantitative proficiency is a prerequisite for admission to Haas. "All applicants should have completed, at a minimum, a college-level mathematics or statistics course. Haas faculty who teach quantitative courses will assume you have mastered the basic material. Therefore, the Admissions Committee looks carefully at quantitative proficiency when making its admissions decisions."

Engineering, Mathematics and (most) science graduates could give this a miss. However if your undergraduate degree and/or work experience indicates a shortfall in quantitative skills please use this essay to exhibit your strong quantitative abilities. Examples to showcase how you use quantitative and numerical skills at work would be the best way to illustrate this.

Go for it!

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