Briefly describe your short-term and long-term career goals. Why is an MBA the best choice at this point in your career? What and/or who influenced your decision to apply to Ross?

Sample One

Creating the next generation of game-changing online services requires a solid grasp of marketing, strategy and computer science, coupled with an entrepreneurial ethic. My goal is to develop and monetize an online and mobile travel services platform that provides technology-savvy urban travelers with tools to create off-beat itineraries. Providing this service requires distilling millions of traveler experiences to generate personalized recommendations. My engineering training, technology experience in large financial companies and at an expanding Silicon Valley startup, combined with a Ross MBA, will allow me to build this market-disrupting company.

My early work at Acme’s India office, and subsequent two years as a consultant at California Technology Center honed my technical and analytical skills. I partnered with change managers and software architects on critical projects, like re-architecting Acme’s customer relationship management tools to automatically identify cross-sell opportunities. Executing projects, that impact millions of people, taught me to anticipate customer needs and preferences, helping me develop a keen user-centric mindset. Two years ago, I joined New Corp, an online-media startup, to have a more direct impact on corporate strategy. As employee #24 of a now 70-person company, I have participated in every aspect of the company’s growth—from inventing new products, to marketing and promoting them, to recruiting new talent. My work experience has built a strong technical foundation for my ambition of transforming the online-travel business. Building a technology startup requires fusing innovative ideas with strong technical, operational and leadership skills; my need to develop sound management skills motivates my pursuit of an MBA.

The Ross MBA, with its hands-on approach and multidisciplinary focus, is ideally suited to help me develop the skills necessary to build a successful company. The MBA curriculum offers me structured coursework in accounting, finance and marketing, while the RLI, my diverse classmates and access to world-class research will help me continually hone my leadership abilities and management skills. I am particularly interested in the high-tech entrepreneurship coursework at the Zell Lurie Institute; the ‘Dare to Dream’ program, for instance, is the perfect environment to experiment, build prototypes and transform my business idea into an actionable business plan. My participation in the High-Tech, and Entrepreneur & Venture Clubs, as well as an internship through the Marcel Gani Program will help me learn from successful entrepreneurs. Technology startups are inherently interdisciplinary, and I intend to design a custom MBA/MS in Computer Science program with the Rackham School, making the flexibility of the Ross program especially important.

I was truly impressed with the Ross school’s diverse and collaborative community during my visit to in September 2009. Student ambassadors Emily Neubig and Jason Horner expressed genuine admiration for the action-based curriculum, the MAP, and accessible faculty. Learning about ‘Husk’ and other entrepreneurial success-stories convinced me that Ross is uniquely conducive for brainstorming and developing innovative ideas, and could even lead me to partners and advisors for my startup. A Ross MBA will provide the ideal stepping stone for my startup, and I am eager to be a part of this dynamic community.

Sample Two

What do I want to be when I grow up? As a kid, I would have confidently answered builder, or maybe Batman. I spent hours building Lego structures, constructing them according to instructions, working to understand how parts fit together, and immediately tearing them apart, harvesting the pieces to form my own creations. For me, the process was equally as fulfilling as the result. The tangible results and challenge of manipulating unconventional parts to fulfill my own vision, and create products that were uniquely mine made these endeavors fulfilling.

While I still want to build, my aspirations have evolved from castles to constructing and leading my own manufacturing firm. In operations and entrepreneurship, I found the same challenges that were rewarding in my childhood adventures, but on a far grander scale. Building a successful enterprise requires the same understanding of how the pieces work together to form the whole, the vision and creativity to rearrange and improve them, and the careful planning and execution to make it work.

My experience so far has provided me with a sound understanding of enterprise architecture and the principles that guide an operation to success. I know how to keep customers coming back, manage flows, lead a large team, strategically execute vision, and successfully implement change.

I am pursuing an MBA from Ross to fill the gaps in my training. I need a better understanding of marketing and finance to ensure products sell and checks don’t bounce. Operations will always be my passion, but I realize that in order to take full ownership of the process, I need the tools to indentify successful cross-functional partnerships.

I am attracted to Ross because of its action-based collaborative approach to learning and the specialized curriculum of the Tauber Institute for Global Operations. I’m excited by the union of theory and practical experience in MAP, the team building exercises of M-Trek, and the interdisciplinary approach of TMI. My uncle went to Michigan for business school and attributes a large portion of his success to the skills he learned and friendships he developed during his time there. He and other Ross alumni I know speak of their time at Michigan with a decisive passion that attests to the caliber and success of the program.

Upon graduation, I want to assume a director level operations position in a mid cap growth manufacturing company. I’m attracted to the accelerated pace, innovation, and opportunity to make an immediate impact which growth companies afford. While I want to continue my path in operations management, I lack production experience, and want the opportunity to continue to learn in a structured environment before striking out on my own.

Twenty years later, my answer hasn’t changed. I still want to be a builder when I grow up. However, I want my legacy to be judged in terms of successful enterprises and superior products rather than blocks and bricks. An MBA from Ross will help me to realize my dream. I look forward to the opportunity to engage with and contribute to the Ross community.

Sample Three


My career path to date is a unique one. I first chose engineering since it was a degree that allowed for creativity in solving problems and creating systems. After falling in love with the art of science, I joined the CIA to be a nuclear technology and weapons analyst. I could not have been in a better position to challenge myself technically and broaden my analytical skills. I made the switch to consulting with BearingPoint’s Intel practice to understand the business principles involved when reforming and improving an organization. Going forward, I plan to build upon my strong analytical and interpersonal skills and utilize more creativity in my professional experience. I believe business school will facilitate this career transition. By complementing classroom training with international hands-on learning exposure, I will be in the best position to pursue my career goals.

Post MBA, I plan on pursuing brand management in the consumer goods industry, ideally for a luxury goods company. Brand management appeals to me as the role requires working with multiple departments and utilizing both creative and analytical skills. I have been educated as an engineer and my knowledge of business practices comes from working in consulting for a federal government client. Through business school, I will learn business concepts as it applies to private industry and international businesses. After business school, I will build expertise in the luxury goods industry and combine business fundamentals with brand marketing creativity and technology. Within 10 years, I plan to be in a leadership role, continuing to build a strong business network and encouraging women to enter the engineering and business fields.

After talking to alumni at the Forte Foundation event in DC, I was impressed by how diverse the student body at Ross is. The opportunity to learn from your peers and their diverse backgrounds and experiences, as well as being able to share your own, is exciting. The concept of action-based learning through a hands-on project in an environment that fosters team collaboration and promotes leadership also drew me to Ross. I am specifically interested in the Global Projects Course which gives students an opportunity to work on international projects when addressing business practices. Lastly, I am interested in the student-run clubs that bring in guest speakers and provide students with resources for planning their careers. The Luxury Goods & Retail Club is of most interest because it promotes success in various disciplines in the industry, from consulting to general management. All the above reasons influenced me to apply to Ross, which I feel will best prepare me to attain my career goals.