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Cornell Johnson MBA Sample Essays

Cornell MBA Winning Application Essays

  1. A statement of your goals will begin a conversation that will last throughout the admissions process and guide your steps during the MBA program and experience. To the best of your understanding today, please share your short and long term goals by completing the following sentences and answering the enclosed short answer question (350 words maximum): How has your experience prepared and encouraged you to pursue these goals?*
  2. At Cornell, our students and alumni share a desire to positively impact the organizations and communities they serve. How do you intend to make an impact during the next several years of your education and/or career? (350 words maximum)

Cornell MBA Winning Sample Essays – 1

Cornell Goals Essay 1: A statement of your goals will begin a conversation that will last throughout the admissions process and guide your steps during the MBA program and experience. To the best of your understanding today, please share your short and long term goals by completing the following sentences and answering the enclosed short answer question (350 words maximum):

Immediately post-MBA my goal is to work as a(n)

Targeted Job Role* – Associate, Investment Banking 

Targeted Company* – JP Morgan

Industry – Financial Services 

In 5-10 years post-MBA my goal is to work as a

Targeted Job Role* – Vice President, Investment Banking

Targeted Company* – JP Morgan

Industry – Financial Services

How has your experience prepared and encouraged you to pursue these goals?* (350 Words)

Completing puzzles has always been my favourite pastime. I consider puzzles to be building blocks of a well-rounded individual. Over the years, puzzles have contributed robustly to building my cognitive, and emotional skills. These early problem solving exercises via puzzle especially mathematical numericals based puzzles spurred my interest in pursuing a career in the Financial Services Industry. 

I acquired a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Temple University, Philadelphia and a few years later, passed the CFA level I examination. After my bachelor’s I returned to my home country Nigeria and I have worked in the Finance department of an NGO, made a switch to one of the largest Commercial Banks in Africa and I am currently working with a boutique investment banking firm. 

At the United Bank for Africa, I worked closely with various global International Institutions  to raise and structure funds for the Bank. Through this experience, I learnt how financial institutions are key to nation building and how to manage these client relationships efficiently. After developing client relationship management skills and the basic understanding of how a financial services company works, I have now delved into a boutique Investment Banking company, offering Financial Advisory services. As a senior analyst at SEL Capital & Finance, I lead the team to identify investment opportunities across various sectors in Africa and provide project finance advisory services for our clients. 

Working in commercial banks and boutique investment banking has enabled me to see the real impact of my work in the development of my nation. These experiences have motivated me to continue developing my skills in the investment banking world and that is why i aspire to pursue a career as an investment banker. After consulting my mentors and carefully thinking about existing skillset, I would love to further my career at a global financial services firm such as JP Morgan or goldmanSachs.

Given my previous experiences in the financial services industry and a reputable MBA from Cornell, I am confident that I will have a stern foundation required to succeed in my short term goals as an Investment Banker.

Cornell Essay 2 – Impact Essay : At Cornell, our students and alumni share a desire to positively impact the organizations and communities they serve. How do you intend to make an impact during the next several years of your education and/or career? (350 words maximum)

Being born and brought up in Nigeria have made me witness the harsh realities of poverty and underdevelopment. Though Nigeria is blessed abundantly with human and natural resources, it is still faced with a fundamental lack of access to basic education and health services which are necessary for the development of the country.  

I started my career with Dangote Foundation which represented a huge milestone in my life. The organization worked with internally displaced people in the Country, donated to several causes and sent volunteers to teach in deprived schools. Being a part of these groups in various events afforded me the opportunity to make a difference as I was able to improve the well-being of  my immediate and wider community. 

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic meant a lot of less privileged families in the country were left much poorer and bereft of access to education. To lend a helping hand, I started my own NGO named Ife-Oma which means “Good Thing” in my native language. Ife-Oma aims to enhance education in Nigeria by providing funding and mentorship to the less privileged youth in need. We commenced our first cohort by enrolling five elementary children  from a neighboring school on a full scholarship. Our  aim is to support and see them through to their College education and enable them to achieve their career goals and aspirations.

My work at Dangote Foundation gave me the inspiration to start my own NGO and now in the long term I want to grow Ife-Oma into a leading NGO to provide education access to the poorest in Nigeria. At Cornell I aspire to learn how to scale NGOs and create a much larger impact. I also wish to motivate my fellow peers about exciting opportunities in Africa for career development or for giving back to the community. If I can inspire my peers to join me in my cause or the wider Cornell community to consider Africa for their future endeavours, it would be my own little contribution to play a part in nation building and to help propel the continent.

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Cornell MBA Winning Sample Essays – 2

A statement of your goals will begin a conversation that will last throughout the admissions process and guide your steps during the MBA program and experience. To the best of your understanding today, please share your short and long term goals by completing the following sentences and answering the enclosed short answer question (350 words maximum):

Immediately post-MBA my goal is to work as a – Associate, McKinsey & Company, Pharmaceuticals, and Medical Products Division

In 5-10 years post-MBA my goal is to work as a – Director of Commercial Operations, Pfizer, Rare Disease

How has your experience prepared and encouraged you to pursue these goals?*

I have always had a passion for intellectually stimulating problem-solving assignments. During my childhood, I used to participate in various intra-school mathematics competitions, and soon after, in my adolescence, I took upon solving puzzles in magazines and newspapers. Fast-forward a few years to college, and I worked towards solving a real-world problem of uplifting the poor with no collaterals through an initiative called Vendors. Though Vendority was a failure, the firsthand experience of working on a real-world problem was exceptional.

My elder brother, Manager at Deloitte Consulting, often mentioned his intellectually stimulating and challenging nature of work as a consultant. Motivated by my brothers, I too joined a consulting firm (ZS Associates) post mine under graduation. After I joined ZS, I was fascinated with the Consultants’ approach towards solving a problem. At ZS, I consulted clients and develop analytic solutions to business problems that clients faced in managing their portfolios. Overtime with projects, I gained insights into commercial operations and improved my problem-solving skills.

During the 1.5 years at ZS, I developed and implemented a new technology stack, R-Shiny, to improve our analytic results and forego the limitation of using Excel/VBA. The R-shiny technology team now has more than 15 members and has built solutions in diverse practice areas such as Market Research, Forecasting, Promotion response, etc.

After successfully contributing to ZS and the businesses of clients, I have realized that consulting is what I want to continue at least in the short term horizon. Post-MBA, I plan on taking a strategic role. The guidance from my seniors further helped me to identify my capabilities and areas of strength. After analytics experience on the operations aspects, the time is ripe to elevate my role, invest in learning and focus on the strategic aspects of the problem/business with a new skill set. The MBA will bridge the knowledge gap, and provide me with a 360-degree view of businesses and help me develop perspectives on modern-day challenges that businesses face. 

At Cornell, our students and alumni share a desire to positively impact the organizations and communities they serve. How do you intend to make an impact during the next several years of your education and/or career? (350 words maximum)

My father had a long and successful career in hospitality, and he used to contribute to the local restaurant community by providing pro-bono consulting services. My father passed away in 2014 and I decided to pick up a pro-bono consulting effort from where he left off. 

The dine-in restaurant sector in India is seeing a massive downslide in customer footfall because of the burst of online food delivery startups like Uber Eats and Zomato. Utilizing my consulting experience from ZS Associates, I have been helping three restaurants since 2017 to better manage their operations and increase revenue & profits.

At one restaurant, at the back end, we analyzed data from cash registers to identify food/order patterns and optimize the amount of food preparation and inventory models. On the front end, we converted the space into a co-working space to better utilize the large sitting areas.

By employing this two-pronged approach, we managed to increase revenue by ~20% in two months. This has given me an opportunity to give back to the hospitality community, that my father served for 40 years, and at the same time make a meaningful contribution to a struggling family-owned business.

During my years at Cornell, I plan to prepare myself well for the challenges and opportunities in the Consulting industry by joining Big Red Consulting to gain first-hand experience of various consulting assignments and, at the same time, add value to clients, nonprofits, and the community. I also look forward to joining and seeking a leadership position in Johnson’s Consulting club to gain strategy development, competitive positioning, and leadership skills.

Post completion of my MBA at Cornell, I plan to continue my pro bono consulting services and expanding them from hospitality businesses to other family-run businesses such as gymnasiums. The goal is to apply acquired knowledge and gradually expand services from adding operational efficiency to providing strategic business insights/direction. I believe the education, values, and experience at Cornell will help me create a more significant community impact while helping me achieve my professional short-term and long-term objectives.

Cornell Johnson Winning Essays-3

  1. Volleyball and Football (November 2010 to June 2012) – I represented my college in various college-level volleyball and football tournaments. Besides playing, I now manage a local football club to spread awareness about the benefits of outdoor sports and to encourage young children to come out and play.
  2. Vendority (June 2011 to August 2011) – To work in the summers of 2011, I co-founded Vendority. Through Vendority, we tried to help the poor, unfortunate people to set up their own fruit & vegetable selling business and earn a living. The initiative positively impacted the lives of two people during the two months of operations.
  3. Student Placement Cell (August 2013 to April 2014) – As a member of the planning committee, I was responsible for coordinating among participating colleges, organizations and students, for the placement/employment drives.
  4. Aarohan (January 2013 to April 2013) – Aarohan is a registered NGO that helps underprivileged children with their studies. I volunteered to help children of class XII to prepare for their CBSE and Under Graduate admission exams.
  5. Logical Reasoning Club (September 2011 to March 2014) – I founded the LR Club at college to bring together like-minded people interested in solving logical puzzles and quantitative problems. I club arranged various sessions to help peers develop problem-solving skills and prepare for various job interviews. I was an instructor at most of the sessions.
  6. Esports (June 2010 to June 2012) – I was the captain of my Counter-Strike team in college. I participated in and won various college level and independent Esports tournaments.

I have always had a passion for intellectually stimulating problem-solving assignments. During my childhood, I used to participate in various intra-school mathematics competitions, and soon after, in my adolescence, I took upon solving puzzles in magazines and newspapers. Fast-forward a few years to college, and I worked towards solving a real-world problem of uplifting the poor with no collaterals through an initiative called Vendority. Though Vendority was a short-lived summer project, the firsthand experience of working on a real-world problem was exceptional.

My elder brother, Manager at Deloitte Consulting, often mentioned his intellectually stimulating and challenging nature of work as a consultant. Motivated by my brother, I too joined a consulting firm (ZS Associates) post a year in an IT services firm. After I joined ZS, I was fascinated with the Consultants’ approach towards solving a problem. At ZS, I consulted clients and develop analytic solutions to business problems that clients faced in managing their portfolios. Overtime with projects, I gained insights into the commercial operations business of the Pharma industry and improved my problem-solving skills. I also set up a new technology stack – R and Shiny – at ZS and led the team of 15 members across two offices.

The experience of working across different practice areas such as Forecasting, Market Access, etc. helped me in my pro bono consulting assignments. The pro bono consulting initiative prepared me well for my next professional role – a management consultant – through real-world situational experiences.

After successfully contributing to ZS and businesses of clients, I have realized that consulting is what I want to continue in the short term horizon. Post MBA, I plan on taking a strategic role. The guidance from my seniors further helped me to identify my capabilities and areas of strength. After analytics experience on the operations aspects, time is ripe to elevate my role, invest in learning and focus on the strategic aspects of the problem/business with a new skill set. The MBA will bridge the knowledge gap, and provide me with a 360-degree view of businesses and help me develop perspectives on modern-day challenges that businesses face.

My father had a long and successful career in hospitality, and he used to contribute to the local restaurant community by providing pro-bono consulting services. My father passed away in 2014 and I decided to pick up pro-bono consulting effort from where he left off. 

The dine-in restaurant sector in India is seeing a massive downslide in customer footfall because of the burst of online food delivery startups like Uber Eats and Zomato. Utilizing my consulting experience from ZS Associates, I have been helping three restaurants since 2017 to better manage their operations and increase revenue & profits.

At one restaurant, at the back end, we analyzed data from cash registers to identify food/order patterns and optimized the amount of food preparation and inventory models. On the front end, we converted the space into a co-working space to better utilize the large sitting areas.

By employing this two-pronged approach, we managed to increase revenue by ~20% in two months. This has given me an opportunity to give back to the hospitality community, that my father served for 40 years, and at the same time make a meaningful contribution to a struggling family-owned business.

During my years at Cornell, I plan to prepare myself well for the challenges and opportunities in the Consulting industry by joining the Big Red Consulting to gain first-hand experience of various consulting assignments and, at the same time, add value to clients, nonprofits and community. I also look forward to joining and seeking a leadership position in Johnson’s Consulting club to gain strategy development, competitive positioning and leadership skills.

Post completion of my MBA at Cornell, I plan to continue my pro bono consulting services and expanding it from hospitality businesses to other family-run businesses such as gymnasiums. The goal is to apply acquired knowledge and gradually expand services from adding operational efficiency to providing strategic business insights/direction. I believe, the education, values, and experience at Cornell will help me create a more significant community impact while helping me achieve my professional short-term and long-term objectives.

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