At the McCombs School of Business, you will be part of an active and diverse community. How will you use your personal strengths and unique experiences to enrich the McCombs community during your two years in the program?

Sample One

Since an early age, balance has played a critical role in my personal growth. I define balance as embracing new activities and perspectives that challenge me, broaden my worldview, and ultimately allow me to enrich my work environments and communities. Consciously maintaining a balance in all elements of my life has trained me to be versatile and has helped me develop numerous strengths. My team leadership and adaptability skills have grown most under this philosophy.

My life-long passion for team sports culminated in a leadership role as a member of Colgate’s Division I lacrosse team. Although I was not the most physically gifted athlete, I compensated for my lack of innate skill with a dedicated work ethic, uncompromising team loyalty, and strong performance under pressure. A consummate student, my experiences during the first years on the team taught me that the most effective leadership style requires a mix of leading by example and leading by instruction. Recognizing that I was developing these attributes, our coach selected me as captain my senior year. In turn, I leveraged this strength to help lead the team to the Patriot League regular season title.

Subsequently, I have applied the team leadership skills developed on the field to my career, where I have led several teams. Most recently, I partnered with the Global Head of a new sales team at AllianceBernstein to execute the strategic direction of the company. In this role, I have collaborated with multiple levels of stakeholders to determine that we should shift the firm’s sales strategy from one focused on equity products to one oriented towards alternative investments.

Although I have been successful in my post-collegiate career, my career alone does not define me. I am deeply involved in several non-work activities, adapting to each activity’s demands in order to meaningfully contribute. In particular, I embrace and thrive in a diversity of environments. To maintain ties to nature, I annually climb fourteen-thousand foot mountains in my native state, Colorado. To maintain ties to team sports, I captain a club lacrosse team and race for a cycling team in New York. To maintain ties to the arts community, I supportively patronize emerging artists and am a young member of the MET. My most meaningful non-career activity, however, has been my work with two philanthropic organizations in New York: the Fresh Air Fund and Year-Up. Each group supports at-risk urban youth from New York’s five boroughs. My involvement has been balanced between ground level support, tutoring Fresh Air Fund students and mentoring Year-Up participants, and fundraising support, ensuring the organizations have resources to achieve their goals.

While my adaptability and team leadership skills will allow me to immediately contribute to the MBA program, I believe my perspective on seeking balance is the strength that will enable me to truly enrich the McCombs community. I plan to share my experiences and skills with fellow students while leveraging the full resources of the school to gain not merely a degree, but a broadening educational experience.

Sample Two

Living in Malaysia was a defining moment in my life. I attended an international school where I developed an appreciation for diversity as I interacted with people from countless countries and societies. My experiences living and traveling abroad also shaped many life choices I made going forward. I chose to attend Tufts University because of its diverse population, international relations coursework, and extensive study abroad opportunities.

These international experiences have been beneficial thus far in my career, namely in working with global teams at Fossil. These skills will also be an asset to the McCombs community, enabling me to effectively work with diverse classmates on team assignments and club activities. My understanding of other cultures will help me relate to my international peers, serving as a link, when needed, between international and domestic students. While at McCombs, I plan to be an active member of the International MBA Student Association and Graduate Marketing Network. I believe that the purpose and team building on which these associations are built are fundamental components to both a well-rounded MBA experience and an extensive global perspective.

Living abroad also instilled a desire to give back to my community. My family participated in a number of company-organized community outreach events in Malaysia, inspiring me to serve my community since. After college, I decided to focus my efforts on two organizations where I feel I make a substantial impact: Vickery Meadow Learning Center, an ESL center in an impoverished neighborhood, and Attitudes and Attire, a women’s outreach program. My work with both organizations involves helping diverse people turn their lives around, whether it is through teaching English or offering job interview advice. These are highly rewarding experiences as evidenced by my long-standing tenure at each. I strive to hold a leadership role in the Net Impact Student Club, and leverage my business knowledge to help solve social issues in the Austin community. I also plan on making an impact on the Net Impact Club and McCombs community by proposing new local organizations, namely ESL centers, so that my peers can experience their inspiring nature and create personal relationships with the greater Austin community.

I also believe that my retail industry experience will add richness to classroom discussions, and my knowledge of trend identification, strategic data analysis and sales forecasting will be valuable for case studies. Furthermore, because of the entrepreneurial spirit at Fossil, I have sharpened my persuasion skills, as I often propose visual statements or other initiatives to the executive team.

Both my diverse upbringing and retail industry background will bring a fresh perspective to the McCombs classroom and community. Moreover, my involvement in the McCombs community will not end at graduation; I plan on being a dynamic member of my local McCombs alumni chapter. Exposure to diversity and investment in the community are key initiatives in my life, and I intend to make a significant impact at McCombs, both as a student and an alumna.

Sample Three


One way I’ll enrich the McCombs community during my two years in the program will be by sharing my passion for community service. Giving back is incredibly important to me for a number of reasons, most prevalently because there were times in my youth when my family was on the receiving end of charitable giving. That experience left me with a deep and unwavering commitment to the people and organizations that help families through hard times. I’ll be eager to share this passion by challenging my fellow students to use their unique skills and knowledge to improve the lives of less fortunate people. At McCombs I’ll look to bring my experience as a Life Circuit board member to the Board Fellows program and will work with Net Impact to organize a student trek aimed at meeting and evaluating successful nonprofits in an effort to share best practices and strategy with local nonprofits.

Another way I’ll enrich the McCombs community is by bringing a unique, creative perspective, both inside and outside the classroom. Since graduating with a degree in creative writing, I’ve continually found ways to apply the creative processes I refined in college to problems and opportunities in business. When the Life Circuit faced the inherent challenge of maintaining long-term communication with the homeless youths on the street, I developed an outreach program that relied on social networks, public library computers and a small but spirited troop of volunteers. When LOCO converted to a new data management system, I developed alternative uses for the program that significantly improved my team’s data mining efficiency. At McCombs, I’ll continue to deliver creative solutions and ideas, specifically in terms of innovative approaches to economic development and social capital management.

I’ll also enrich the McCombs community by sharing my passion for health and wellness. Living an active lifestyle became an important part of my life a few years ago when I set out to compete in an Ironman Triathlon, which is a 140.6 mile race composed of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a full 26.2 mile marathon. I had never been much of a runner or biker, let alone an endurance athlete, so the experience was a transformative process. My goal was to go from “everyman” to “Ironman”, and after roughly eight months and over 700 hours of training, I was able to do just that. Going through that transformation motivated me to help others live healthy lifestyles. Now I’m passionate about creating inroads to wellness for novices like me and I write about these efforts on my blog. We all live busy lives and often experience fitness in waves of motivation. However, I have a core belief that when it comes to wellness, a small effort goes a long way and we are all much closer to a healthy life than we realize. Through student clubs, forums, and launching events such as fitness themed fundraisers for nonprofits, I’ll spread this philosophy and passion at McCombs, where I expect to find many students eagerly trying to maintain balance between work, school and personal health.

Sample Four

If I did my job correctly, no one would ever know. If I did it wrong, then I would be responsible for an international incident or worse, death. Over the past eight years, my leadership ability has grown through active practice, mostly in high-pressure situations. I reached the pinnacle of my flight training half-way through a combat deployment to Iraq when I was one of three Lieutenants out of twenty-four to be designated as a Mission Commander. This responsibility entailed supervising two $70 million jet aircraft, their crew, ordinance, and ordinance delivery while over a hostile country. Fortunately, I was never responsible for a mission gone wrong. Being a Mission Commander enhanced my problem-solving skills, especially with limited resources and time. I learned to act decisively and deal with problems quickly as they were often life or death situations. When I wasn’t in command, I learned to assertively follow, developing my teamwork skills. During training flights, I led groups by constructing a mission plan, presenting the plan, executing the plan, and debriefing the group on our execution. This constant planning, presenting, and evaluating honed my analytical and presentation skills—valuable skills to any organization. I hope to enrich the McCombs community by applying these strengths of leadership, teamwork, presentation, and analytical skills in class, on team assignments, and in student organizations.

Additionally, my tenure in the Navy has provided me with a wealth of experiences unlikely to be found in any other setting, civilian or military, which will enrich the McCombs community with a different perspective. I worked on strategic planning at the Combined Allied Air Operations Center in Qatar during combat operations and spent over a year living aboard aircraft carriers. I have undergone survival training, living in the desert without food for a week, evading capture, and finally enduring a mock Prisoner of War camp. As a flight instructor, I teach junior personnel how to manage the complexities of planning and executing an airborne tactical mission. Furthermore, since no other organization in the world operates or thinks like the U.S. military does, I bring a unique method of problem-solving and a different perspective on business case discussions and group projects to the classroom. To ensure that I am on par with my classmates in the technical aspects of an MBA education, I have taken a pre-MBA math course.

Outside the classroom, I plan to actively participate and pursue a leadership role in a number of activities. I’m studying to take the CFA Level I exam so I can contribute as a member of the esteemed MBA Investment Fund. Additionally, I will join the Finance Association and hope the Golf Association will accept me despite my high handicap. As a veteran, I will be active in the Armed Forces Club.

My career has exposed me to many enriching experiences and developed a number of skills pertinent to the private sector. I hope to contribute these experiences and skills to the McCombs community during the next two years.