Will Your Goals Convince the Adcom to Accept You?

As we’ve discussed before, thinking deeply about your goals is an important step for an MBA applicant. Being able to articulate in specific, concrete terms both what you want to do and why you need an MBA to do it is a key part of the pre-application thought process. Having a clear, convincing goal is not only crucial to your application, but it will also help you get the most out of your b-school experience, since you’ll go in with a clear idea of what you are looking to get out of the experience.

How can you make your goal so compelling that it makes the reader root for you? How can you inspire the adcom to think, “Wow, it would be great if they could achieve this goal!”?

You’ll need to take your goals to the next level with “goals plus”: show the adcom how your goals developed from your experience and describe your motivation and vision.

• Experience:show when, where, and how your goals developed.
• Motivation: this is the pivot point when you became engaged and captivated in some way so that you knew you wanted to pursue a given path.
• Vision: demonstrate the broader impact of achieving your goal.

These three elements work together in your essay, and you’ll likely combine them. Here is a brief example, taken from a sample goals essay:

“Last year, when I was in Taiwan advising a global financial services company on consolidating its Asia strategy, I found myself thinking what a shame it was that my relationship with the client proved responsive rather than proactive. With my knowledge of the region’s changing demographic and logistical realities, I could have recommended strategic opportunities a year ago to prevent the client from getting bogged down in redundant acquisitions and incompatible markets. Following that experience, I envisioned a new consulting paradigm resembling primary care medicine, based on a long-term, prevention-focused relationship between the consultant and client.”

In this example, adding experience, motivation, and vision transforms the goal from static to dynamic.

There are three other advantages of “goals plus”:

1. Basing your goals in your experience enhances credibility.
2. Adding the personal context for your goals – how they developed from your experience and where your motivation comes from – also adds an element of story, which is more engaging and memorable than pure exposition.
3. Your goals inherently differentiate you and, because it’s your story, it’s naturally unique.

If you’re struggling with writer’s block as you sit down to tackle a goals essay, you’re not alone! But you also don’t need to struggle. Just take some time to think about your experience, motivation, and vision – and you’ll be on your way to a goals essay…“plus.”

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Why do you need an MBA? Will you be ready to answer this important question – for the adcom and for yourself? Learn proven strategies for defining and refining your goals. Read Why MBA today!   Linda Abraham is the founder of Accepted, the premier admissions consultancy. She has coached MBA applicants to acceptance for over 20 years. The Wall Street Journal, US News, and Poets & Quants are among the media outlets that seek her admissions expertise.