Is there anything else you think the Admissions Committee should know about you to evaluate your candidacy?

Sample One

I believe my GPA is not a true reflection of my academic abilities, as the unique nature of my undergraduate education led to a challenging academic experience. VMI provides a very rigorous education that features a "plebe" environment the entire freshman year. This fourth-class system has numerous non-academic duties, and the resulting average freshman GPA has traditionally hovered around 2.0. Despite being active in the Medal system, I was able to earn Dean's List honors a total of four times, and graduated within the top twenty-five percent of my class.

I have also chosen to continue my education by taking a Calculus class, from UCLA Extension, and a Statistics course, from UC Berkeley Extension. These classes have greatly enhanced my quantitative reasoning skills, giving me a strong background in the fundamentals of business math and statistics. I received an A- in my calculus class and currently have an A in statistics, and will complete my statistics course by November.

My work experience also has been primarily quantitative in nature, and I am very comfortable conducting numerical analyses. As an underwriter, I performed financial analyses on several different factors to derive an appropriate rate for employer groups’ health coverage. My present job at Clarins leverages my prior financial experience, and I assist clients by modeling, through Microsoft Excel, employee contribution rates across different tiers, by a percentage of desired cost. I also conduct an analysis on current and proposed insurance plans to determine if the offers are financially competitive.

I strongly believe I will be able to handle the academic course load of the Ross MBA program. My military undergraduate experience has taught me time management skills and how to remain focused while balancing numerous responsibilities. The statistics and calculus courses I am taking will provide me with the necessary background to excel in Ross' first year curriculum. Finally, my quantitative work experience will help with my transition into the rigorous academic environment present at Ross School of Business.

Sample Two


I believe my undergraduate transcript does not fully reflect my academic ability. A more accurate measure of my academic ability is my GMAT score, an A grade in a Quantitative Business Analysis class I recently completed, and various professional licensing tests and certifications which I’ve passed since leaving University.

During college, I allowed my plumbing company to dominate my energy and schedule. I replicated my family’s entrepreneurial behavior and worked like mad to grow the business. In the second semester of my freshman year, when the business took off and cash was flowing in, increasing my client base became my primary focus. Bennet Plumbing quickly became a vision for an entrepreneurial future rather than a means to pay tuition. Youthful naiveté teamed with a constantly full docket of clients led me to see my undergraduate business major as redundant, that I had already found success in business. I subsequently allowed my class commitments to slip and eventually switched to a creative writing major, a move geared more towards practicing a long-enjoyed hobby than one of academic or professional exploration.

In hindsight, I see that not only did I fail to calculate the value of a fully engaged academic experience, I failed to consider the context in which my business was growing. Near the end of college, when property values in the area began to fall, my clients disappeared. The equity that had been fueling my profits was gone and with it, the business and entrepreneurial future I had worked to create.

For a more accurate assessment of my academic ability, please consider my GMAT scores, and that in 2005, I passed the Series 6 and 63 securities licensing tests, as well as licensing tests needed to sell various types of life and health insurance. Between 2006 and 2007, I passed tests to become a licensed mortgage broker in four states. In 2009, I obtained certification as a Financial Products Derivative Specialist, and, as I stated above, I attained an A in a Quantitative Business Analysis class at UC Berkeley Extension.

Since my undergraduate days, I’ve worked to create a future and career vision with a much broader scope. My dreams of running a small business in my hometown have grown into dreams of changing the economic landscape of rapidly decaying communities. I have full confidence in my ability to achieve that goal and to meet and exceed the rigorous academic demands of a Ross MBA.

Sample Three

The flexibility that Ross offers students to design a custom dual-degree program is an important reason for my application to Ross. I intend to design a custom MBA/MS in Computer Science with the Rackham Graduate School, and I wish to briefly elaborate upon my reasons for pursuing this dual degree.

The networked world generates new data each day; discerning patterns and identifying signals amidst these data requires developing algorithms that process billions of records and perform sophisticated analyses. My work at Quantcast, a startup with $26 million in venture funding—where our CEO still writes code—and my discussions with successful Silicon Valley entrepreneurs have made it clear that advanced computer science knowledge is fundamental to a successful technology startup.

Through the MS program, I intend to enhance my knowledge of statistical and numerical methods as they apply to data-mining and machine-learning; the Ross MBA’s focus on management, strategy and entrepreneurship will enable me to identify industry trends, make the right inferences, and use my technical skills to develop new products. This joint curriculum, designed in consultation with faculty from both schools, will help me build a company that provides technically innovative services that are easy to use and attain market leadership. Startup success depends upon the ability to successfully develop and execute an innovative idea. This custom dual degree at University of Michigan will prepare me to realize my ambition.