Please respond to the questions below that will assist us in learning more about you (500 words)
- Tell us what your immediate career goals are and how you will benefit personally and professionally from earning an MBA at Kenan-Flagler Business School.
- As the business world continues to evolve, circumstances can change and guide you in a different direction. Should your goals that you provided above not transpire, what other opportunities would you explore?
You can take two possible approaches to crafting this essay. One way to write this could be by talking about your past experiences, highlighting the reasons for your career choices and then making a logical, credible case for your future goals.
Alternatively you could show a grand vision of your future and take the reader back into your career path and progression, and demonstrate that you have many solid skills that make you fit for your goals. In both the cases, identify the critical need-gaps from your past and present that can be fulfilled only with an MBA degree at UNC. We suggest that you devote about 200 words talking about your goals and 200 words describing how you will benefit from UNC and remaining 100 words talking about alternate career plan.
When talking about the backup plan, kindly write with as much detail and understanding that you would write your primary goals- giving enough insight into how they make sense for you and how you'd plan to achieve it. Ideally this would a less ambitious and a more safer goal.
We all belong to different communities representing various aspects of who we are, including groups we belong to, where we come from, how we think, what we believe, and how we see and experience the world. The process of discovery is strengthened when people with diverse perspectives and life experiences come together to share and learn from one another, negotiate differences, and engage in diplomacy.
How do you envision furthering your growth as an inclusive leader as an MBA student and as a business leader?(500 words)
An unusually twisted essay!
Anyways - in simple words UNC wants to understand your thoughts and attitudes towards diversity. With the new trend of focus on DEI - each business school is trying to incorporate the open inclusive culture in their ethos and branding.
To credibly answer the question part 1 - best would be to show an example and use that to make a case for how you handle differences in relationships. Then taking the key learning, ideaology from this answer - demonstrate how you will be when you join UNC MBA program. How will you engage with the community and how you will build your skill sets and knowledge base to become an inclusive leader. For a strong answer - you will need to clearly articulate your ideas about the qualities and characteristics of an inclusive leader and how you would gain those at UNC. You will need to demonstrate the research you have done on UNC and specifically connecting the school's resources with your leadership goals.
What personal qualities or life experiences distinguish you from other applicants? How do these qualities or experiences equip you to contribute to UNC Kenan-Flagler? (300 words maximum)
A rather blunt question! Instead of the admissions team at UNC trying to decipher what makes you unique and a strong addition to the class, they want you to do that job for them.
If you are thinking how can you show your uniqueness when you don't know what much about other candidates are like, you are right it is a difficult task.
One definitive way to differentiate yourself from other candidates is through your personal stories. You might have a similar title, maybe even same company, work experiences, and achievements like many other candidates but your perspectives and stories will truly make you stand out.
Do extensive research on the UNC MBA program and find ways in which you could to contribute to UNC. Then look for examples in your past to support your ability to offer value to UNC both from personal and professional standpoint.
If your standardized test scores are low, or if you have not had coursework in core business subjects (calculus, microeconomics, statistics, financial accounting), please tell us how you plan to prepare yourself for the quantitative rigor of the MBA curriculum. (300 words maximum)
Examples that showcase how you use quantitative and numerical skills at work would be one way to illustrate this. If your work isn't analytically rigorous, then you can show the courses/certifications you have undertaken or intend to take to enhance your quantitative abilities. Give specific details of the courses, the syllabi and your grades.
Is there any other information you would like to share that is not presented elsewhere in the application? (300 words maximum)
First decide whether you need to write this essay at all.
Attempt this optional essay only if it will improve the factual and material strength of your application.
Do not submit this optional essay as an addendum to any of your essays. Do not submit your optional essay because you feel that the quality of your earlier essays is improvable – in that case simply redouble your efforts on those essays and leave the optional essay alone.
You could use this essay to explain shortfalls in your application which you feel are truly detrimental to your candidature. Areas of underperformance (academic or professional or GMAT) or events which stick out (gaps in your resumes or a previous MBA) can be commented on if you have an explanation that is intelligent, interesting and credible.
This optional essay can also be used for mentioning impressive data points that CANNOT be accommodated in the other UNC essays.
If you feel that this essay will be a robust constructive addition to your candidature..
...Go for it!
UNC MBA application requires you to submit a one-page resume along with details about your employment and academics. The typical MBA resume format consists of employment, education, and extracurricular details.
In your UNC application, you will be asked to provide two MBA letters of recommendation - from your current or previous supervisors. Like many top business schools in the US, UNC MBA application constitutes of letter of recommendation questions from the GMAC MBA letter of recommendation template.
As is the policy with most top business schools, UNC MBA interviews are conducted only by invitation. Students typically would receive an invite 4-6 weeks after submitting their MBA applications.
