MBA的噩夢—Essays

申請名校MBA最可怕的，莫過於回答每個學校不同的Essays。這不但外國同學怕，連美國人自己也覺的很頭大。但是你不要因此就覺得很害怕，因為You are not alone！大家的感覺都是一樣的，甚至有很多想申請所有Top20學校的同學最後也常常因為Essays寫到吐血而放棄！！

另外要勸您，與其申請一堆學校，花上萬元的申請費，卻每所都交出不夠好的Essays，不如集中火力申請幾所，專心寫出令人印象深刻的Essay來。

Essay題目因校而異，在此不一一說明，但是大體上來說有幾點要注意：
．讀清楚題目問什麼？
．針對問題簡單扼要的回答。
．字數不要超過限制。
．MBA找的是未來領導者，字裡行間要表現出你的自信、主動性與領導能力。

在動筆前先想清楚你對未來的目標，近期的、長期的以及MBA如何可以幫助你實現你的目標(這是每所學校都會問的問題)。

《範例一》ESSAY金牌獎－此同學成功的以這一系列ESSAY獲Kellogg, Wharton, Columbia, NYU 等名校MBA錄取。

題目： Master of Management applicant only. Briefly assess your career progress to date. Elaborate on your future career plans and your motivation for pursuing a graduate degree at Kellogg. 顧問說： 所有b-School都會要求類似的問題，回答要簡潔有力，即然問的是career progress，就不要談你成績有多好、家世有多棒。Answer the question！至於future plans，要實際，什麼help my country 那一類的空話不要寫。 Essay內容： Since I began studying business administration in university, I have wanted to pursue a career in international management for companies planning to expand into the Asia-Pacific region. To achieve this objective, I must broaden my business knowledge and acquire up-to-date managerial skills. Furthermore, I must gain international exposure to be able to view issues from a global perspective. My professional experiences have contributed to the formation of my objectives. After graduating from the Business Administration Department of National Taiwan University, I joined ABC Company, Taiwan. ABC is an American company, one of the leading retailers worldwide with a presence in 10 countries across 4 continents. While working at ABC, I have made contacts with the export department of ABC America and I spent one month in Shanghai, China training local employees. These valuable experiences have helped me gain exposure to the international environment. I have witnessed the business interests of ABC shifting from South America and US to the Asia-Pacific region: the ABC group has 24 stores scheduled to be in operation by the end of 1999. In 1998, ABC had the highest sales volume, U.S.$ 789 million, and the highest growth rate, 23.7%, among its competitors in Taiwan. These figures are a clear indicator of Asia's retail market's potential. With this change, people with retail business training, effective marketing skills and understanding of international business will have more opportunities to succeed in the global market. As I am eager to contribute to the future growth and development of Asia's retail market, my main career objective is in this area. My past three and a half years of work experience has been concentrated, yet extremely diverse. Through various job positions within ABC, I have had opportunities to observe the latest trends in consumer needs, to sharpen my negotiation skills and to learn management methods. I started as an assistant to the store manager of the ABC Taichung store. I have been promoted three times to reach my present position as the Department Head of Merchandise Division. Although I have attained considerable personal and professional growth through these experiences, I feel that my business knowledge and marketing skills are not sufficient to face the ever-changing global environment. To better prepare myself for a multinational managerial position, I need to acquire formal business training and to learn business administration on a global scale, with a focus on marketing and business strategy. Taking into account my educational and professional experiences, I am seeking a top quality master's program that can further strengthen my training. After carefully reviewing the graduate programs of the top United States and European business schools, I am especially interested in the Kellogg MM program. From various sources of information and personal experiences with Kellogg MM alumnus, I have come to admire what your program has to offer. The main factors underlying my desire to enter the Kellogg MM program are (I) Kellogg's strong curriculum and faculty; (II) Kellogg's focus on teamwork and its cooperative and encouraging learning atmosphere; (III) a diverse student body and an internationally-oriented curriculum, which helps students learn from one another and forge a global perspective; (IV) your outstanding placement office: I am immensely impressed with Kellogg MM's list of recruiting companies and it's successful placement records. Coupled with the offerings of the alumni network, the Kellogg experience does not mean just a degree, but invaluable career and business opportunities for its graduates. Upon receiving my MM, I plan to seek employment with a well-established American or European retailer who has interests in developing in the Asia-Pacific market. I am confident that with my past working experiences and advanced business education, I will be a highly competent manager in this growing market. My short-term objective is to conduct a feasibility study of various Asian countries to analyze the local conditions. With results from the feasibility report, we can determine whether we should enter the market. Countries such as Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Korea are politically stable, have low inflation rates, are open to foreign investors, and most importantly, have retail businesses still in the infancy stage. With these factors in mind, the potential for development in this region is almost unlimited. The next step is to set strategies for the retailer to successfully adapt to the specifics of the local environment. Our strategy must track the rapidly changing shopping habits of Asia-Pacific educated customers. I plan to become an active contributor to Asia Pacific retail business. My ultimate career aspiration is to become the Asia Pacific regional director of my company. I believe that being able to think globally and act locally is my biggest asset. I am convinced the Kellogg MM program will fully satisfy my educational and professional needs and assist me in attaining my career goals. Learning from world-renowned scholars, I wish to acquire cutting-edge knowledge to strengthen my quantitative and analytical skills. I expect that through interaction with fellow students, I can gain further international exposure and broaden my global perspective. If given the opportunity, I believe my experiences and background will add to the flavor of the Kellogg MM program.

《範例二》

題目： Be your own career counselor. What aspects of your personality or background present the greatest obstacles(s) to achieving your goal? 顧問說： 這一類問缺點的問題，常令同學十分頭大，"怎麼可以寫自己缺點呢？" 所以很多台灣同學就挑一些無關痛癢的小事來寫，不過這又會讓b-School覺得同學很沒誠意，所以在拿捏方面要特別注意。 Essay內容： Being a woman in Chinese society has been the greatest obstacle to achieve my goals of pursuing a career as an executive decision-maker. Traditionally, man cannot accept woman in leadership positions. This problem is much more serious in the Chinese society. Chinese men believe that the personality of a woman is contradictory to that of a leader. This is caused by the fact that in traditional Chinese society, women are typically raised to be passive and dependent instead of being aggressive and independent. People feel a woman should rely on her femininity and tailor her life to serve her man and take care of the children. The work place is reserved for men only. I still remember clearly that the director of our department in university used to preach to us, "Why did you girls choose an education in management? You are just going to become a housewife after you get married. We could use our resources to train more male managers had you chosen a major in some other field." I was aggravated to hear that an educated scholar was permitted to make such an insulting and unjust statement about women. However, his attitude towards women was shared by the Chinese society as a whole. Having worked for several years after graduating from University. I find it much more difficult for me as woman to earn the respect from my co-workers, both men and women, than my male counterparts. I must constantly prove myself and never make any mistakes. However, the gender prejudice my society implants has only made me a stronger person. I believe in my ability and view myself as equal in ability as men. I work harder than any men at ABC and have demonstrated that women can hold managerial positions as well as men. Many aggressive and well-educated women are ready to take on the challenging position as a leader. In a highly competitive global economy, companies can not afford to waste valuable human resources and leadership. I wish to absorb new ideas and explore my leadership potential from the training offered by your MM program. I am determined not to allow my being a woman to be my obstacle being leadership position.

《範例三》

題目： Through the course of your life, what would you identify as your most valued accomplishment? (2-3 paragraphs each) 顧問說： 挑重要的！我們知道你的accomplishment很多，但要挑b-School有興趣的來寫。 Essay內容： My most valued accomplishment is my successful training of the employees of the first ABC store in Shanghai, China. My job was to prepare the local employees for the grand opening and to teach them western retail methods, such as ordering, stocktaking and inventory controls. These concepts were completely foreign to the local employees. This assignment was extremely challenging because I was only twenty-four years old and inexperienced compared to my colleagues. Furthermore, the low morale and unfriendliness of the local employees toward Taiwanese people made this assignment even more difficult. Although we spoke the same language, we had a hard time understanding each other and communicating due to our dramatically different ideological background. Despite these factors, I still accepted this assignment with great enthusiasm because it was an excellent opportunity to understand the business environment in China. I kept an open mind, keen ears, and a deep sincerity to help others to learn. Instead of holding firm prejudice, and allowing them to affect my performance, I listened carefully to what they had to say and communicated my beliefs to them. As I listened to the local employees, my job became much easier. They adopted as quickly as employees from any of our other stores. This unique experience further strengthened my belief in people's ability to learn when properly motivated.

《範例四》

題目： You have been selected as a member of the Kellogg Admissions Committee. Please provide a brief evaluative assessment of your file. (1-2 page double-spaced) 顧問說： OK！OK！這題是同學發揮的時間了，老王賣瓜，要自誇喔！記得：標準型MBA都是自信滿滿的！ Essay內容： After reviewing Lin Pei-Yi's application file thoroughly, I find her to be one of the few rare students who stand out among Kellogg's outstanding pool of applicants. Lin's file presents an excellent MBA student profile and is a perfect fit for Kellogg's student body. Academically, Lin Pei-Yi has a high GPA, increasing every year, from 3.56 in her freshman year, to 3.75, 3.76, and a perfect 4.00 in her senior year, resulting in a 3.74 average. She also scored a high TOEFL score 653 and a high GMAT score 680. Although these scores are not a perfect indicator of a student's ability, they do provide a good preliminary screening and show Lin Pei-Yi's academic ability, both analytically and quantitatively. Lin Pei-Yi's near perfect TOEFL and GMAT scores prove that she has a fluent command of English, a definite requirement for a successful student at Kellogg. More importantly, Lin Pei-Yi not only performed well academically and received high TOEFL and GMAT scores, she also proved herself at work. After Lin Pei-Yi graduated from National Taiwan University, she began her career in retailing business at ABC, the second largest retailer in Taiwan, where she was promoted three times in her first four years there. She began from entry level and worked her way up the hierarchy. In her employment, Lin Pei-Yi developed an impressive resume and acquired varieties of work experiences. She has worked in both food and non-food sections, and has been in charge of marketing, promotion, human resources, merchandising, import/export, and negotiation. Lin Pei-Yi has developed a number of private label products from the beginning planning stage through the final advertising and promotion stage. Her experience in training employees for the first ABC store in Shanghai proved her capable of motivating a team. Lin Pei-Yi 's four years working at ABC, a multinational company has prepared her for the global business environment. Her work experiences and accomplishments have demonstrated her managerial and leadership potential as well as provided her with the necessary business knowledge for a successful and rewarding learning process at Kellogg. On a more personal note, Lin Pei-Yi has a unique cultural background. She was born in Taiwan but spent many of her summers attending camps in the US from age four to fourteen. Lin Pei-Yi's childhood experiences have allowed her to develop the ability to adapt to new environments. I believe she has learnt not to judge others on the superficial level and to appreciate individual differences. Lin Pei-Yi's unique cultural background makes her a very interesting person. Lin Pei-Yi's diverse experiences and pertinent business knowledge will benefit and enrich the Kellogg community. She has developed global visions and is well informed of the world's fastest growing area, the Pacific-Asia region. She is sure to contribute to the MBA community by offering valuable personal insights from her extensive experiences in retailing, especially in the merchandising area. Lin Pei-Yi is a well-qualified applicant for the Kellogg School of Business.