What Reviewers Look For in the MBA — Georgetown McDonough Essay
This rubric looks for a specific experience, clear reflection on what that experience means for the option you chose, and a practical way you would contribute to the Georgetown MBA community. It also checks that your writing is clear, professional, grounded in your own actions, and responsive to every part of the prompt.
MBA — Georgetown McDonough Essay review
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What We Check
Whether the selected option is supported by a stated experience whose setting, the writer’s part in it, and relevant actions or observations make the claimed experience assessable from the essay itself.
Whether the response explains the meaning required by the selected option: a perspective for Option One, a leadership quality and its relevance in an AI-integrated world for Option Two…
Whether the response states a plausible, experience-linked way the writer hopes to contribute to the Georgetown MBA community.
Mistakes We Flag
- Relying on labels instead of an experience
- Saying you are a leader, resilient, or collaborative does not show the reader what happened. Name a setting or episode and explain what you did, decided, noticed, or were responsible for.
- Claiming success without explaining your role
- A project or team result needs context. Connect the outcome to an action, decision, or constraint that shows your part in the experience.
- Using a slogan instead of reflection
- Broad statements about AI, diversity, integrity, or excellence do not explain your thinking. Define the perspective, quality, or criterion and show how it shaped a judgment, choice, or relationship.
- Naming Georgetown values or activities without a contribution
- Saying the school is a fit, listing clubs, or saying you will network does not explain what you will bring. Describe a behavior you would offer, along with the people, setting, or collaborative activity involved.
- Using titles or traits as proof
- A title such as manager, founder, or lead is not evidence by itself, and neither is a trait such as innovative or visionary. Show the action you took, who or what it affected, and what followed.
How this rubric reads your essay
- Built from published reader guidance — the sources are listed below.
- Scored per section against defined criteria, not general impressions.
- Calibrated for consistent scoring, so a better draft shows up in the score.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long can this essay be?
The published Georgetown essay limit is 500 words when you are responding to a published selected option.
Do I need to write about hardship for the life-experience option?
No. Educational, familial, cultural, economic, social, or other individual life experiences can support the response; hardship is not required.
Does the leadership option require an experience involving AI?
No. Your experience should illustrate the leadership qualities you identify, and you should explain why those qualities matter as AI becomes more integrated into lives and careers; AI does not need to have been part of the event.
What should I say about contributing to the Georgetown MBA community?
State a plausible, experience-linked behavior you hope to bring and identify who in the MBA community would receive, join, or use it. All three published options ask about contribution.
Read the application writing guide
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