Michigan (Ross) Application Essays for 2010-2011

A couple of weeks after releasing its application deadlines for 2010-2011, the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business has released its admissions essays for the coming year. Ross has made some very significant changes to its essays this year. While the school's Round 1 deadline is still more than three months away, now is a great time to start mapping out your application strategy, starting with these essays.

Here are Ross's admissions essays, followed by our comments in italics:

Michigan (Ross) Admissions Essays

1. Introduce yourself in 100 words or less.
   
   Wow... Short and sweet! This question is new this year, and it's the quintessential "elevator pitch." You have just four to six sentences to highlight what the admissions committee absolutely must know about you. This is not an exercise is seeing how much information you can cram into 100 words. Instead, your challenge is to distill down your candidacy to no more than several key points that 1) demonstrate your fit with Ross and 2) help you stand out vs. the competition. This essay will be a super-summary of the rest of your application, so don't be bothered if some of the content here seems to overlap with what's in your other essays.


2. Describe your career goals. How will the Ross MBA help you to achieve your goals? (500 words)
   
   This question is also new this year. It is essentially the typical "Why do you want an MBA, and why this school?" question. Remember to keep it realistic and to demonstrate that you understand what a Ross MBA will and won't do for you as a young professional. Note that many similar questions start with "Describe your career progress to date," but this essay is only forward-looking. Still, any discussion of your career goals will likely include at least some background on what you've learned and accomplished. So, you should plan on succinctly discussing what you've done until now.


3. Describe a time in your career when you were frustrated or disappointed. What did you learn from that experience? (500 words)
   
   This question is also new, and replaces a question on last year's application that asked for an applicant's most significant professional accomplishment. This new question gets much more at the "emotional intelligence" that we hear admissions officers talk about wanting to see in applicants. While this isn't explicitly a "failure" essay, an example of a time when you failed is fair game here. Other possibilities are a time when you had to deal with a difficult co-worker or a time when you had a hard time winning others over to your way of thinking. These would all make for good demonstrations of how you've dealt with adversity. And remember that the second half of this question is the most critical: What did you learn from this rough patch in your career? (And, how did it make you a better person or more successful professional later on?) That's what Ross admissions officers most want to know.


4. Select one of the following questions:
   
   • What are you most passionate about and why? (300 words)
   
   • We expect that Ross MBAs will not only be effective leaders, but also effective teachers. How will you contribute to the learning experience of your peers at Ross? (300 words)
   
   Both of these questions are new. The first one is very much like Stanford's famous "What matters most to you, and why?" question, and requires an honest response about something that truly moves you. Again, the second half of the question is the meatiest part: You can be passionate about anything, but what really makes great responses stand out is when the "Why" part is memorable, believable, and contains specifics about how you have acted on that passion. Are you passionate about bicycling? Great. Now explain why, using specific examples... All in 300 words!
   
   Regarding the second question, when you hear the word "diversity" used to describe a business school classroom, this goes beyond race or gender. This also refers to the experiences (both personal and professional) that you bring to the classroom. Your job here is to demonstrate those experiences and convince the Ross admissions office that you'll actively contribute these in the school's "action-based learning" environment. Ross doesn't want wallflowers in the classroom, so don't look like one!


5. Optional question: Is there anything else you think the Admissions Committee should know about you to evaluate your candidacy? (500 words)
   
   As always, only use this essay if you need to explain a low undergraduate GPA or other potential blemish in your background. No need to harp on a minor weakness and sound like you're making excuses when you don't need any. More generally, if you don't have anything else you need to tell the admissions office, it's okay to skip this essay!

If you want to learn more about the Ross School of Business, download our Ross Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. And, as always, be sure to subscribe to this blog and follow us on Twitter!

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Michigan (Ross) Application Deadlines for 2010-2011

Attention all Ross applicants! The University of Michigan's Ross School of Business has released its application deadlines for the coming year.

Here they are, followed by our comments in italics:

Michigan (Ross) Admissions Deadlines
Round 1: October 11, 2010
Round 2: January 5, 2011
Round 3: March 1, 2011

There are virtually no changes to Michigan's MBA application deadlines this year. The most noteworthy change is that the Round 2 deadline was moved back by three days, gibing you a bit more breathing room to finish your application after the holidays. The school's Round 2 and Round 3 deadlines are virtually unchanged from a year ago. The school's notification deadlines are also almost the same, with the lone change being that Ross's Round 2 notification will come one week earlier this year.

If you want to learn more about the Ross School of Business, download our Ross Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. And, as always, be sure to subscribe to this blog and follow us on Twitter!

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Dean Robert J. Dolan to Step Down at Ross

Last week Robert Dolan, Dean of the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, announced that he will step down at the end of his second term, due to end in summer 2011. His announcement signals the end of what has to be one of the most successful runs by a dean at a graduate business school over the past decade.

Perhaps the most obvious sign of Dolan's impact on the school is its name: In 2004 the U. of Michigan Business School received a $100 million gift from Stephen M. Ross, founder of The Related Companies and majority owner of the Miami Dolphins. Ross's gift helped transform the school, literally -- in January, 2009, Ross opened its new state-of-the-art building, fondly referred to as Big Orange or The Big Orange House by some students and alumni.The building's opening signaled a great deal of achievement for the MBA program under Dolan's tenure.

More Than a Fancy New Building
Academically, Dolan also oversaw a significant evolution of the school's program. Ross is one of the leading proponents of a teaching method known as "Action-Based Learning," which is similar to experiential learning in that it fuses traditional classroom instructional models with myriad real-world scenarios and opportunities for hands-on learning. This, along with a renowned multidisciplinary projects approach, has given Ross a reputation for being a cutting-edge business school.

Under Dolan the school also launched and expanded its Ross Leadership Initiative (RLI), which puts students into situations where leadership strengths are fostered and weaknesses are exposed (and addressed). If the description or mission of the program sounds vague, know that Ross has a very detailed roadmap for how RLI develops students. It begins with what is called a "foundation session," which is a six-day orientation process (mandatory for all students) that starts with theory, ideas, and self-analysis.

What's Next for Dolan and for Ross?
While it's too early to start speculating who will replace Dolan at Ross, he did have this to say about the upcoming search process in an email to the Ross community:

I am proud of what we have accomplished together since the summer of 2001 and how we have worked together--through a historic naming gift, an ambitious facilities project, and several economic cycles--to strengthen the School and maintain its tradition of excellence.

More information about the process for determining a new Dean will be forthcoming. In the meantime, there is important work to be done, and I very much look forward to pursuing it together during the remainder of my term.

We don't yet know where Dolan will go next (or whether he even knows), but with so many other high-profile dean positions open or soon opening at other top business schools, one would have to think that Dolan's next stop could be another top-ten MBA program.

If you want to learn more about Ross, download our Ross Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. If you're ready to start building your own application for Ross or other top MBA programs, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today!

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Six Terrific Professors at Michigan (Ross)

Continuing our series of admissions insights clipped from Veritas Prep's Annual Reports, our in-depth insider's guides to 15 of the world's top business schools, this week we look at six of the Ross School of Business' most popular professors. (Our Annual reports are absolutely free with registration, but we thought we'd share some snippets here to help get you started in your Ross research.)

The Ross faculty is populated with many prominent business leaders, researchers, and teachers. Among Ross students, there are a handful of professors who are considered a "must" to have for a class, due to their reputation both as educators and as experts. This list isn’t merely a collection of famous names, but rather the instructors that Ross students deem to be essential for the full experience.

These notable professors include:

• Aneel Karnani, Associate Professor and Chair of Strategy. Known among Ross students as a "tell it like it is" straight shooter, Professor Karnani is most notorious for his ongoing academic battle with fellow Ross faculty member C.K. Prahalad. The two have been going back and forth about a concept known as "bottom of the pyramid" (exploring the market potential of the world's poorest people) for years.
  What students appreciate most is how candid Professor Karnani is about his work and his viewpoints and how willing he is to discuss somewhat controversial positions in class. All of this takes place as part of his interest in global competition – one of his two chief areas of research and instruction, with the other being basic strategic management.


• M.P. Narayanan, Professor and Chair of Finance. Professor Narayanan teaches in both the full-time MBA and EMBA programs at Ross and specializes in capital management and strategic growth. Known to pick up a racket and swing it with some of his students, Professor Narayanan is known and loved for making finance as simple and easy to understand as possible. His stated goal is to help students "connect the dots" between simple concepts and complex outcomes and he often does that through clever and entertaining metaphors.


• Christie Nordhielm, Clinical Associate Professor of Marketing. Recruited away from Kellogg in 2004 after being one of students' favorites there year after year, Professor Nordhielm is well known for her "Big Picture" method for strategically breaking down marketing problems. In fact, she was one of the first pieces in Dean Robert J. Dolan's vision for the school, which was to teach students how to be thought and action leaders in every segment of business. Having known about Professor Nordhielm's revolutionary framework (formally known as The Big Picture: Integrating Marketing Strategy and Execution), Dolan made it his first order of business to nab Kellogg's 2003 Professor of the Year. At Ross, Professor Nordhielm is teaching her marketing framework to not only individual classes and sections (as she did at Kellogg), but also to the entire faculty. With a style suggestive of her early career in advertising (at Leo Burnett), Professor Nordhielm is a engaging speaker who also presents seminars to top companies as well as to the Ross Executive Program (run through the Marketing Center for Excellence, which she also heads up). Finally, she is also a singer and songwriter who often has friends over to her house for an evening of singing. While she is extremely available to students, she draws the line at the singing parties.


• Andrew Hoffman, Holcim Professor of Sustainable Enterprise. Professor Hoffman teaches at both Ross as well as the School of Natural Resources & Environment, and also serves as the Associate Director of the Erb Institute. He has published seven books and over 70 articles on sustainability and is a thought leader in every conceivable area of environmental impact on business. That said, Professor Hoffman's actually most popular for his Bargaining Behavior and Influence Skills course which almost always has the highest "market clear" price under the Ross bidding system. In some years, it will take more than half of a student's bid points to land a spot in Professor Hoffman's class.


• Gautam Ahuja, Professor of Strategy. A much decorated professor at the University of Texas, Ahuja has continued to rack up awards since coming to Michigan in 2003, where he was named the best professor in the entire PhD program in 2004. He is often cited by Ross students as a favorite professor despite his broad involvement in multiple programs and his research on innovation and technology as it relates to strategy has been groundbreaking.


• Linda Lim, Professor of Strategy. Often described as "plugged in," Professor Lim is a foremost expert on Southeast Asia and aims most of her research at that area of the world. Known for bringing her research to the classroom, Professor Lim's students enjoy looking at multinational problems from multiple angles, and often find themselves discussing her op-ed pieces or interviews from major publications. Her World Economy course is a very popular option for those students seeking to complete one of Ross' unique strategy requirements for graduation.

Today's blog post was clipped from our Ross Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. If you're ready to start building your own application for Ross or other top MBA programs, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today!

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Michigan (Ross) Admissions Essays for 2009-2010

As we round out our analysis of the top business schools' admissions essays for the coming season, today we look at The University of Michigan's Ross School of Business' admissions essays. Ross's essays actually carry over completely unchanged vs. last year, and so our analysis remains pretty much the same.

When a school keeps its essays the same, that suggests that its essays are working well for the admissions office, meaning that they do a good job of helping the admissions team separate out the great applicants from the merely good ones. So, make sure you're sufficiently answering the questions they ask! That's always important advice, but in this case it's even more important (if that's even possible!).

Here are the Ross MBA admissions essays, followed by our comments in italics:

Michigan (Ross) Application Essays
Long Answers:

1. 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? (500 words)


2. Describe your most significant professional accomplishment. Elaborate on the leadership skills you displayed, the actions you took and the impact you had on your organization. (500 words)

(Note the emphasis on leadership in the second question. Ross not only wants to know what you accomplished, but also wants to understand exactly what you did to make it happen. Also, note that this question also focuses on the impact that your actions had on your organization. More than your role or job title, admissions officers care about what positive impact you truly have on those around you.)

Short answers:

1. If you were not pursuing the career goals you described in Question 1, what profession would you pursue instead? (For example, teacher, musician, athlete, architect, etc.) How will this alternate interest contribute to your effectiveness in solving multidisciplinary problems? (300 words)
   
   (This question provides a good opportunity to show another side of you that may not otherwise come out in your application. As long as you can tie it back to one of the core dimensions in your application, don't be afraid to write about something that seems to be off the wall here.)


2. Describe your experience during a challenging time in your life. Explain how you grew personally, either despite this challenge or because of it. (300 words)
   
   (As is the case with all "personal growth" questions, the most important part is the second one -- describing what you learned and how you changed as a result. While many schools ask more job-related failure/challenge questions, Michigan's focus here appears to be a little more on your personal life. If your most compelling story is a professional one, that's not out of bounds, but make sure you can tie it back to what you learned and how you grew.)

Optional Question:

1. Is there anything else you think the Admissions Committee should know about you to evaluate your candidacy?
   
   (If you really do feel the need to explain something, then address it and move on. In other words, don't dwell on it or provide that weakness with more stage time than it deserves!)
   

To learn more about Ross, visit the Veritas Prep University of Michigan (Ross) information page. For even more advice on applying to Ross, download our FREE Veritas Prep Annual Reports! And, of course, be sure to follow us on Twitter!

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Michigan (Ross) Application Deadlines for 2009-2010

Late last month the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business released its application deadlines for the coming year. Regular readers of our blog will notice that the school's deadlines haven't changed at all vs. last year.

Michigan (Ross) Application Deadlines
Round 1: October 10, 2009
Round 2: January 2, 2010
Round 3: March 1, 2010

Note that, like many other top business schools' Round 1 deadlines, Michigan's first deadline is in early October. However, unlike some of those programs, Ross will still notify Round 1 applicants of their decision after the holidays (and after nearly every schools' Round 2 deadline). So, you should assume that your other schools' Round 2 deadlines will pass before you know your final application status with Ross.

For more advice on applying to Ross, visit the Veritas Prep University of Michigan (Ross) information page.

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What's in a name? Remembering Davidson Hall

One can learn quite a bit in business school. I learned quite a bit from business school. As a BBA student at the University of Michigan Business School (now Ross), I went to school each day in Davidson Hall, and each day when I passed under those words, I smiled. "Davidson" - and I always wondered how many of my classmates realized it - stood for Bill Davidson, owner of Guardian Glass, and, more importantly to me, the Detroit Pistons. Mr. D, as he was affectionately called by everyone who worked for him, died last week at age 86, saying goodbye nearly three years after the building that bore his name was torn down. His legacy, however, is one that won't, and shouldn't, be forgotten.

Mr. D's building was demolished to make way for a state-of-the-art facility for the newly-named Ross School of Business just a few years ago, and to his credit, Davidson embraced the change. It was classic Davidson, to be honest - for a man who, and I say this with reverence, came across as old-fashioned, and stubborn, he was seemingly always on the forefront of change. I first came to know his work as a young fan of the Detroit Pistons; as owner, he was the first to purchase a private plane for an NBA team (which is now standard) and in 1988 built an arena still considered to be among the class of the league...and did it completely with private financing. Unlike many owners who saw their teams as hobbies, Davidson ran his as a business, and considered these luxuries to be investments in his team success.

I witnessed that success firsthand as a sales representative for his company, Palace Sports & Entertainment, in the early years of this decade. By then, some 15 years after building the Palace of Auburn Hills and truly beginning his entertainment empire, Davidson owned multiple concert venues, the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning, and the WNBA's Detroit Shock. He ran a tight ship - employees wore jacket and tie at all times, were prohibited from wearing facial hair, and kept rigid hours. But, more importantly, he ran a family, and saw his staff as that. Like a grandfather to most of us - salespeople in sports tend to be young and energetic - his words carried quite a bit of weight. "Mr. D would like it if we..." was all anyone needd to say, and the initiative commanded respect. We worked hard for him, but loved doing it.

He cared just the same for his employees at Guardian - perhaps even more so, as that was the business that earned him his fortune - and carried this incredible aura of love and respect throughout his businesses and the state of Michigan. He was fiercely loyal to his employees and his companies, demanding respect but giving it right back. My two favorite memories:

1) At the parade celebrating the Pistons' 2004 NBA Championship, he took personal exception to those in the media who nearly unanimously predicted that the Lakers would make quick work of the Pistons, grinning from ear to hear as he shouted some choice words at those who disrespected his team.

2) In 2003 we distributed our season tickets in packages designed to look (and perform) like lunchpails in the style of a blue collar, hardworking team. Mr. D, a multimillionaire who could afford anything he wanted, brought his lunch to work each day in that free, souvenir lunchpail.

I learned a lot in business school, but I think I learned quite a bit from the man whose name appeared on my business school, as well. Command respect by giving respect, and lead by example when it comes to keeping expenses lean and work ethic high. Invest wisely and don't let pride get in the way of doing the right thing. Hire good people and trust them to do the same. Thanks, Mr. D, from all of us who were fortunate to spend time in your school and your Palace.

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New Facility Opens at Michigan's Ross School of Business

The University of Michigan's Ross School of Business will welcome back its students from the winter break with its new 270,000-square-foot facility.

First announced in late 2004 after the school received a then-record-setting gift from real estate developer Stephen M. Ross, the building incorporates state-of-the art technology everywhere. Every classroom in the new building features three mounted video cameras and instant lecture-capture technology. Each study room has its own plasma screen Plasma screens hang in each group study room, and students can print, copy, and fax documents from anywhere in the building.

The new Ross building also features many leading-edge green technologies, including the use of recycled building materials, high-efficiency lighting and and heating/cooling systems, and water conservation technologies.

Despite its large size, the building has apparently held on to the close-knit, collaborative nature that the school's students appreciate. Plenty of natural light and impromptu meeting spaces mean that Ross students will always be able to grab a seat for a quick huddle on a team assignment.

For more advice on applying to Ross, visit Veritas Prep's University of Michigan Ross School of Business information page.

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Michigan (Ross) Application Essays for 2008-2009

University of Michigan's Ross School of Business has released its application essays for the 2008-2009 season. Our comments are in italics:

Ross Application Essays

Long Answers: (500 word max)

1. 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?



2. Describe your most significant professional accomplishment. Elaborate on the leadership skills you displayed, the actions you took and the impact you had on your organization.

(These questions are the exact same as those in last year's application. Note the emphasis on leadership skills in the second question.)

Short Answers: (300 word max)

1. If you were not pursuing the career goals you described in Question 1, what profession would you pursue instead? (For example, teacher, musician, athlete, architect, etc.) How will this alternate interest contribute to your effectiveness in solving multidisciplinary problems?



2. Describe your experience during a challenging time in your life. Explain how you grew personally, either despite this challenge or because of it.

(Also the same as last year. The "other profession" question provides a good opportunity to show another side of you that may not otherwise come out in your application. As long as you can tie it back to one of the core dimensions in your application, don't be afraid to write about something that seems to be off the wall here.)

Optional Question

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

(The natural tendency is to explain a weakness here, but no need to do that here if your application doesn't have an obvious weakness. If you do feel the need to explain something, then address it and move on. In other words, don't dwell on it or provide that weakness with more stage time than it deserves!)

For more advice on applying to Michigan, visit the Veritas Prep Ross School of Business information page.

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