(Image: Cobb Gate at University of Chicago; rights to image not owned by MBA Conquerors)
ESSAY 2
An MBA is as much about personal growth as it is about professional development. In addition to sharing your experience and goals in terms of career, we’d like to learn more about you outside of the office. Use this opportunity to tell us something about who you are… (Minimum 250 words, no maximum.)
UNDERSTANDING THE ESSAY PROMPT (Creator's commentary will be made available for this essay so you can understand it more in depth)
Many ways to go about this essay! Some people think it would be better to find a unique quality about yourself- a spike factor, as Rotman School of Management calls it and give the school an idea about how your spike factor makes you unique. Nothing wrong with it, you can always do that. Some people take the approach Duke takes, telling them random things about themselves. Again, not a fan of that for this essay but you can take that approach too- giving them an idea of different kinds of things that led to your personal development. But here is the fun part! Your whole life must have been filled with life changing events that led to something- I hope!
This brings me to our approach at MBA Conquerors. We want this essay to serve as a complement of your essay 1- goals and motivation, where you show the admissions team, what got you to the motivation to get an MBA. In other words, what life events led you to come to the doorstep of University of Chicago's Booth School of Business (Explains the Cobb Gate image at the top)! Now while your essay serves as a complement, I believe, just how we did Chuck's Stanford Essay about giving an idea of major events in life that got him to that point, it would be great if you can recreate something similar in the light of Booth's MBA Mission that says- "At Booth, our mission is to create knowledge with enduring impact, and influence and educate current and future leaders. Leaders like you!" And never forget- the Chicago approach and also try to align yourself with it. Definitely don't forget the following two words- enduring impact.
So, understanding all of those things, follow a similar structure to write: Walk the adcom through different phases of your life, no more than 150-200 words each in a concise fashion. Turn each of the story into a piece of a puzzle about you, which by the end of it will be pieced together to let the adcom know that you really have come to the doorstep- Cobb Gate- of Chicago Booth because your life led you to this point. Don't try to force things into it because quite honestly, you are at their doorstep so why will it feel forced? I would recommend a virtual limit to 1000 words and only exceed it if absolutely essential or if without it, the whole essay will fall apart.
As for Michael Scott, we already know that he has left quite an enduring impact on the lives of the people around him. For Michael Scott's life events- which apparently all revolve around his coworkers and the office- come to think of it, as do most of ours but his are more fun, we will be using different time jumps to give an idea of how his essays could be. While you check out this picture below from University of Chicago, don't forget that right below that is the essay of Michael Scott!
(Image: Rockefeller Chapel, University of Chicago; image does not belong to MBA Conquerors)
ESSAY RESPONSE
Before you begin reading this, please note that anything in italics and in brackets is not a part of the actual formal essay, so we have decided to create two versions- one where the essay response is more fun with pictures to jog your memory for a nostalgic experience and second where the redundancies have been removed! Here we go! I prefer to call it the Michael Scott story.
Version 1 (Nostalgia)
In the goals essay, you learnt about how paper industry is something I am passionate about (because I was about to throw a book in the face of a student who said it was a dying industry and turns out my own coworker and mentee doesn't believe in it...) but I never got to tell you about the people who I spent most of my time around and all the fun things we did together as a community.
Just to walk you through it pretty quickly, my childhood and teen years were just never fun enough for me (as someone with a drive to push people into new things that we can have fun with together as friends). So when I joined Dunder Mifflin as a salesman, I knew that I wanted to be the regional manager of the branch (because when I ask them to be my friends and do things with me, they cannot say no) with such a diverse group of people who were no different than a family to me. Being the best salesman may have gotten me to the regional manager over the years but the actual success came from a shift in the culture that left an enduring impact on the company.
To give some examples, let's begin with diversity day. When I joined our office, I knew how we were not very sensitive to other cultures (like Stanley & Darryl and their hiphop music or Kelley and her food that I have to eat with my filthy hands, or Dwight and his Lord of the rings stuff... Wait, does Dwight count? or we have to color code it? ....We have to cut this out? whyyy? Is it because of Dwight? We can remove him) and how celebrating it in a fun unique way will reignite our passion to be more inclusive of everyone when we organize any new themed activity like birthdays, or Christmas (or many other things that will help us have fun) that can celebrate these diverse cultures around the world. The creativity of the event was admired by everyone who participated enthusiastically in the event which led us to many more successful events to come such as women's appreciation day, bring your daughter to work day, (Bachelor's party for Phylis with Ben Franklin role-player in the Conference room, and for Bob Vance with Elizabeth in the warehouse), and sexual harassment awareness, etc. to promote an inclusive work culture while bringing people together.
Many different group activities followed over the years to bring the staff together as friends like the Dundies, an award function to celebrate the work of my people with fun categories (such as bushiest beaver, hottest in the office, tight ass, don't go there after me, cutest red head award etc.,) to celebrate their uniqueness with the office. Other than the Dundies, we also had many other things such as, the casino night where my former boss (and crazy ex-girlfriend who got a beautiful baby without my consent or genes) graced us with her presence showing support to our cause (AIDS). I also organized a gay awareness workshop to help people become more sensitive of our accountant, Oscar Martinez, who had just come out (even if I pushed him out of the closet, he still came out so that is on him not me. .... You're saying that is not how it works? .... You will remove it? Uggghh). I also wanted us to show Phyllis, our salesman, how much her wedding means to us and decided to surprise her at her wedding- I made sure that I would sincerely support her disabled father by pushing his wheelchair as we walked her down the aisle (but the idiot ruined my plan and got a standing ovation from everyone for getting up and walking her down the aisle himself).
All these efforts paid off as the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch became the most profitable branch as our new CFO witnessed. A merger was on the horizon and Dunder Mifflin family, a close knit community welcomed the Stamford branch in with open arms. I organized an orientation that left everyone from Stamford branch so stunned to see our unique culture that they were speechless. (Over the next few weeks, Jim got in a relationship with Karen from Stamford and she really did not like it when they broke up and left. But Andy who later was sent to anger management came back just fine. I guess a prank is too hard for Stamford to take. But that is all on Jim not me)
Our collective strength grew over the years as we worked as one when we knew someone else was in trouble to support their growth. For instance, during our surprise fire drill organized by Dwight, our top salesman, Stanley almost had a heart attack because of the rigour of the work and stress. I organized a stress relief session to help people deal with it better and everyone showed their support! Another instance where we ran a 5K Marathon for a cause (rabies) after finding out that one of our employees got it, something that was diagnosed when she had a tragic accident (with a car that I was driving .... can we cut this one out?). Everyone showed up to visit her at the hospital to show support and also joined the marathon to support the cause. (Jim also signed the cast of Meridith and later told Toby about it and Toby came up to me to talk to Jim, whom I thanked for being so kind.) Not only in crisis, but just as we did for Phyllis, I orchestrated a flashmob for Jim and Pam on their wedding where everyone joined very enthusiastically. This collective support only helped us grow as the best branch when Dunder Mifflin was acquired by Sabre.
Upon the acquisition by Sabre, the culture shift was becoming obvious as Sabre had their own way of doing things. The employees showed resilience to adapt to this major shift but due to the strong bonds and inclusive culture we had developed over the years, the effect seemed to be clear as their office coordinator became more receptive to the Scranton way. Joe, CEO of Sabre, was kind enough to visit branch more often (and use our conference room as her personal meeting room, ruining my plans to organize any workshops.) As I developed a stronger connection with Joe, I stepped up to help Sabre in the moment of a crisis by issuing a public statement to the press on behalf of the company. In that situation, the honesty of my (friends) coworkers impressed me because they showed how much they trust me in defending them in cases of crisis, which no company is immune to. But our culture reinforced my belief that Dunder Mifflin Sabre - Scranton Branch is here for the long game.
I kept the best thing for the last (-words cannot define this experience. How do you explain something that is the most beautiful person you have ever met but at the same time freaky with you in the office? And how do I define it when we had been juggling around with others but knew that we were perfect for each other? .... Inappropriate? Hey, Holly said that MBA Conquerors was the best company and you are really pissing on my shoes here. It is like dealing with Toby all over again. Holly said you were more attuned to me .... Fine, you tell me then if you already know so much about me.) Holly Scott, or Holly Flax when I met her, is the best thing that happened to me at Dunder Mifflin. I never thought that I could ever find someone in the workplace but Holly just made the place even more beautiful with her kind and collaborative attitude and adapting quickly to our ways. One could say that she was a natural Mrs. Scott. But in getting her, my (friends) coworkers played a huge role. When I was gonna propose to her everyone helped me arrange all the candles as I wished to ask her the question in fire and Pam, Oscar and Jim encouraged me, knowing that she is perfect for me. Later we did a little game where we tested our love for each other, leading to the place of the proposal. From our confession of our love to each other to our proposal, it was all in the office and supported by the brilliant community we had created. But then, came the time for the news that shocked everyone, right after the proposal, I told them that I have resigned to support Holly in Colorado.
The news came as a shock, and the time came for my last Dundies. They all held up a brave face on the best Dundies ever and for the first time in forever, my coworkers decided to surprise me in a dramatic turn of events at the bar. They asked me to join them in the conference room later that evening and we retuned from the bar only to find out, they had all worked together and taken time out of their busy schedule to write a song, "9 million 9 hundred and eighty six thousand minutes" dedicating it to the time I had worked there with them. Just touched me so much that next day, my last day, which I told no one about, I took people one by one and dedicated our time to the activities they loved the most. Be it paintball with Dwight Schrute or a special hand made gift for Oscar or all my clients to Andy Bernard, I wanted to make them feel as special as they had made me. I wished them goodbye and when I decided to start over, I knew that MBA would be a great start for me. And so it begins, a new adventure but the same spirit to leave as much of a long lasting impact on the lives of the people as I had done before.
(This was the full song-
Andy: Nine million, nine hundred eighty-six thousand minutes. We actually sat down and did the math.
Everyone: Nine million, nine hundred eighty-six thousand minutes. That’s how many minutes that you’ve worked here.
Pam: In costumes
Jim: And impressions
Toby: In meetings
Kelly and Erin: In cups of coffee
Kevin: For birthdays
Stanley: More meetings and
Angela and Phyllis: Email forwards you made us read.
Everyone: Nine million, nine hundred eighty-six thousand minutes. That’s like watching Die Hard eighty thousand times.
Meredith: You hit me with your car
Ryan: You helped me get off drugs
Creed: I watch you when you sleep
Oscar: I forgive you for kissing me
Everyone: Remember to call!
Darryl (while the rest are singing): You’ve got to remember to call!
Everyone: Remember to call!
Andy (while the rest are singing): Love is a gift from up above!
Everyone: Remember to call!
Kelly and Erin (while the rest are singing): Text or call or email or call!
Deangelo (on a high note): Measure… Measure your life in looove!
Everyone: Remember to call
Deangelo (while the rest are singing): Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Everyone: Remember to call
Deangelo (while the rest are singing): Yeah, yeah. You’ve got to remember to call
Everyone: Remember to call…
Deangelo (while the rest are singing): Ooooh Oooohhh!)
Personal note from the writer- I got to make someone feel this way and get this exact expression with a surprise, I still have the recording of that very moment. My message is, try doing something nice for someone sometime. It can be something so small as sharing this DIY series with others on local forums, WhatsApp and Telegram groups, takes less than a second and costs nothing extra.
Version 2 (For applications)
In the goals essay, you learnt about how paper industry is something I am passionate about but I never got to tell you about the people who I spent most of my time around and all the fun things we did together as a community.
Just to walk you through it pretty quickly, my childhood and teen years were just never fun enough for me. So when I joined Dunder Mifflin as a salesman, I knew that I wanted to be the regional manager of the branch with such a diverse group of people who were no different than a family to me. Being the best salesman may have gotten me to the regional manager over the years but the actual success came from a shift in the culture that left an enduring impact on the company.
To give some examples, let's begin with diversity day. When I joined our office, I knew how we were not very sensitive to other cultures and how celebrating it in a fun unique way will reignite our passion to be more inclusive of everyone when we organize any new themed activity like birthdays, or Christmas that can celebrate these diverse cultures around the world. The creativity of the event was admired by everyone who participated enthusiastically in the event which led us to many more successful events to come such as women's appreciation day, bring your daughter to work day, and sexual harassment awareness, etc. to promote an inclusive work culture while bringing people together.
Many different group activities followed over the years to bring the staff together as friends like the Dundies, an award function to celebrate the work of my people with fun categories to celebrate their uniqueness with the office. Other than the Dundies, we also had many other things such as, the casino night where my former boss graced us with her presence showing support to our cause. I also organized a gay awareness workshop to help people become more sensitive of our accountant, Oscar Martinez, who had just come out. I also wanted us to show Phyllis, our salesman, how much her wedding means to us and decided to surprise her at her wedding- I made sure that I would sincerely support her disabled father by pushing his wheelchair as we walked her down the aisle.
All these efforts paid off as the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch became the most profitable branch as our new CFO witnessed. A merger was on the horizon and Dunder Mifflin family, a close knit community welcomed the Stamford branch in with open arms. I organized an orientation that left everyone from Stamford branch so stunned to see our unique culture that they were speechless.
Our collective strength grew over the years as we worked as one when we knew someone else was in trouble to support their growth. For instance, during our surprise fire drill organized by Dwight, our top salesman, Stanley almost had a heart attack because of the rigour of the work and stress. I organized a stress relief session to help people deal with it better and everyone showed their support! Another instance where we ran a 5K Marathon for a cause after finding out that one of our employees got it, something that was diagnosed when she had a tragic accident. Everyone showed up to visit her at the hospital to show support and also joined the marathon to support the cause. Not only in crisis, but just as we did for Phyllis, I orchestrated a flashmob for Jim and Pam on their wedding where everyone joined very enthusiastically. This collective support only helped us grow as the best branch when Dunder Mifflin was acquired by Sabre.
Upon the acquisition by Sabre, the culture shift was becoming obvious as Sabre had their own way of doing things. The employees showed resilience to adapt to this major shift but due to the strong bonds and inclusive culture we had developed over the years, the effect seemed to be clear as their office coordinator became more receptive to the Scranton way. Joe, CEO of Sabre, was kind enough to visit branch more often. As I developed a stronger connection with Joe, I stepped up to help Sabre in the moment of a crisis by issuing a public statement to the press on behalf of the company. In that situation, the honesty of my coworkers impressed me because they showed how much they trust me in defending them in cases of crisis, which no company is immune to. But our culture reinforced my belief that Dunder Mifflin Sabre - Scranton Branch is here for the long game.
I kept the best one for the last - Holly Scott, or Holly Flax when I met her, is the best thing that happened to me at Dunder Mifflin. I never thought that I could ever find someone in the workplace but Holly just made the place even more beautiful with her kind and collaborative attitude and adapting quickly to our ways. One could say that she was a natural Mrs. Scott. But in getting her, my coworkers played a huge role. When I was gonna propose to her everyone helped me arrange all the candles as I wished to ask her the question in fire and Pam, Oscar and Jim encouraged me, knowing that she is perfect for me. Later we did a little game where we tested our love for each other, leading to the place of the proposal. From our confession of our love to each other to our proposal, it was all in the office and supported by the brilliant community we had created. But then, came the time for the news that shocked everyone, right after the proposal, I told them that I have resigned to support Holly in Colorado.
The news came as a shock, and the time came: for my last Dundies. They all held up a brave face on the best Dundies ever and for the first time in forever, my coworkers decided to surprise me in a dramatic turn of events at the bar. They asked me to join them in the conference room later that evening and we retuned from the bar only to find out, they had all worked together and taken time out of their busy schedule to write a song, "9 million 9 hundred and eighty six thousand minutes" dedicating it to the time I had worked there with them. Just touched me so much that next day, my last day, which I told no one about, I took people one by one and dedicated our time to the activities they loved the most. Be it paintball with Dwight Schrute or a special hand made gift for Oscar or all my clients to Andy Bernard, I wanted to make them feel as special as they had made me. I wished them goodbye and when I decided to start over, I knew that MBA would be a great start for me. And so it begins, a new adventure but the same spirit to leave as much of a long lasting impact on the lives of the people as I had done before- all 9 million 9 hundred and eighty six thousand minutes of it!
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