What Reviewers Look For in the MBA — Ross Application Essays
This rubric reviews whether your career essay names a specific short-term post-MBA goal and explains how you would use Ross offerings in your first role after graduation. It also reviews whether your second essay focuses on one chosen situation, clearly shows your actions, and reveals a motive, value, habit, or change beyond your career plan. Clear, direct writing and complete responses help the reader understand both what you plan to do and what drives you.
What We Check
Whether Part 1 states a short-term post-MBA goal concrete enough to test and connects it to your current or past work.
Whether Part 1 names Ross MBA offerings and ties each to something your first post-MBA role requires.
Whether Part 2 answers its chosen option with one bounded situation and your own actions in it.
Whether Part 2 shows what drives you or what the situation changed in you, beyond the career case made in Part 1.
Mistakes We Flag
- A vague career goal
- Broad phrases about making an impact or working at the intersection of technology and business do not explain the function you want to perform or the industry or employer type where you would do it.
- A list of Ross features without a plan
- Naming faculty, alumni, clubs, rankings, or action-based learning is not enough. Explain how a specific Ross offering would help you in your first post-MBA role.
- Too much long-term vision or backstory
- Part 1 asks for a short-term goal and how Ross will help in your first role. Lengthy career history or distant ambitions can crowd out the required answer.
- Trying to cover several Part 2 stories
- A short response is stronger when it develops one situation that directly answers one chosen option, rather than briefly summarizing several episodes.
- Naming a trait or lesson without showing it
- Saying you are resilient or collaborative, or ending with a general lesson, does not show what drove you or how you changed. Connect the quality to a specific action or moment.
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.
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Part 1 need to cover?
It needs to state a specific short-term post-MBA career goal and explain how you plan to use the Ross MBA and its program offerings in your first role after graduation.
Do I need to discuss my long-term career vision?
No. The stored prompt focuses on your short-term career goal, and a long-term vision is not required.
How long are the two essays?
Part 1 has a 300-word limit. Part 2 has a 200-word limit; the required line listing your chosen Part 2 prompt is excluded from the count in this rubric.
What should I do for Part 2?
Choose one of the three options, list that prompt at the top of your essay, and focus on one bounded situation. Show your own actions and explain what the experience reveals about what drives you or what changed in you.
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