Washington Olin MBA Sample Essays
Essay 1: In the space that lies between statistical evidence and carefully honed ethics—in a place where numbers and people intersect—we find incredible opportunity and untapped potential. Share with us your untapped potential and help us understand how Olin can help you achieve your post-MBA goals. (500-word maximum)
Essay 2: At Olin we build conscientious leaders who take extreme care to create a community of inclusion, respect and collaboration so that each person’s value can be fully recognized and realized. Please share your passions, hobbies, interests, greatest accomplishments and/or achievements. (100-word maximum)
Optional Essay: Is there anything else you’d like to share? If so, please provide any additional information not previously addressed in the application that would help the Admissions Committee assess your candidacy. (250 words maximum)
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Washington Olin MBA Sample Essays – 1
Olin MBA Essay 1: The space that lies between statistical evidence and carefully honed ethics—in a place where numbers and people intersect—we find incredible opportunity and untapped potential. Share with us your untapped potential and help us understand how Olin can help you achieve your post-MBA goals. (500-word maximum)
In 2020-21 India was hit by a very severe covid-19 wave and all our business came to a standstill. We had more than $600,000 worth of inventory stuck.
With stuck inventory and no future orders, I dipped into my own savings to pay my 200 employees but in the next town hall meeting, I laid down the hard facts. As a leader I believe in open honest communication and I never wanted to cut people but our choice was either to take a deep salary cut or let go of the 40% employee base. To my surprise almost all of my staff agreed to deep salary cuts and were even willing to work without salary for a few months. This is the first time where I as a leader was seeking help from my own employees and they all stood by me. This humane side of my employees truly showed me that the company is not built just by profits and numbers but it is built by the people who work there.
As business started opening, my staff worked overtime in completing purchase orders. As a result of our dedication and motivation we closed the year with a 35% year on year profitable growth. Through this incident I believe I explored a previously untapped humane side of myself as a business leader and took my company in the right direction without laying off a single staff.
Also I have realized that my company has hit the growth stage where our business has become more conservative, process-oriented, slow, and less innovative. We have been following the same ways of my father and his father before him. I now want to infuse fresh ideas and energy into the business. I want to see the bigger picture and not just from the vantage point of a single industry or field.
To achieve this I need a formal business education in Business from esteemed schools line Olin that can equip me with a strategic business acumen and leadership skills. Olin has one of the top rated entrepreneur programs which includes Creative Thinking and Leading the Creative Organization course that will allow me to develop an innovator mindset and network with like minded people. The entrepreneurship & venture capital association will help me to meet like minded entrepreneurs.
The experience and qualification will significantly improve my prospects to make my business adapt to these changes in difficult times. I need to be equipped with strong business, analytical, strategy, and operational skills that can only be achieved through a theoretical and practical management education provided by esteemed schools like Olin. Post-MBA, I am confident to return to India and lead my company Aman apparels. I want to apply the knowledge I learned through my MBA and upscale my fathers company in the Indian market. In the long term, I aspire to grow my family’s manufacturing business to international markets with the help of an international MBA.
Olin MBA Essay 2: At Olin we build conscientious leaders who take extreme care to create a community of inclusion, respect and collaboration so that each person’s value can be fully recognized and realized. Please share your passions, hobbies, interests, greatest accomplishments and/or achievements. (100-word maximum)
Since Childhood, I have had a passion for sports, especially Football (Soccer). I was an avid soccer player, and won several inter-school and state competitions. I was also elected as the sports captain. I am a huge Barcelona fan and I have also had the pleasure of meeting my Idol Lionel Messi in person.
Apart from sports, I have adopted a blind association. Once, I got a chance to meet a few blind people and I was deeply humbled and moved by the challenges they faced. This motivated me to start an initiative at my company to fund the Association.
Olin MBA Optional Essay : Is there anything else you’d like to share? If so, please provide any additional information not previously addressed in the application that would help the Admissions Committee assess your candidacy. (250 words maximum)
I would like to take this opportunity to highlight that my GPA in undergraduate is a little low. I started an entrepreneurial venture during college which forced me to divert a little attention away from academics. I would like to request the admissions committee to consider my GMAT score of 750 as a more accurate benchmark of my academic potential.
Also I would like to highlight that because I run my own business I don’t really have a manager. That is why I have decided to take my recommendations from my vendors and clients partners with whom I have regular business deadlings
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Washington Olin MBA Sample Essays – 2
Olin MBA Essay 1: Share with us one of your strongest values. Help us understand how that value connects to your career aspirations. Please include the following in your response: Target function and/or industry; Desired company or organization; Skills you will need to develop; Necessary connections and/or experiences (350-500 word maximum)
One value that is close to my heart is a continuous learning attitude. I have always emphasized exploring at every point of life and more importantly peer learning. I have worked with diverse teams, learned from their experiences and fine tuned my thinking process.
I am an Electronics and Communications Engineering graduate with ~5 years of consulting experience at Deloitte Consulting, India. Throughout my stint at Deloitte, I have worked with clients from diverse industries such as TMT, Healthcare, Life Sciences, Government & Public Sector. I have led teams for the delivery of multi-phase client engagements in accounts that are spread across the United States and Europe. Owing to my excellent performance and knowledge on the subject, I have received an Outstanding award every year.
I was also chosen for a 6-month assignment in Mexico, to set up a new practice of Marketing Cloud at Deloitte. During this stint, I worked closely with Mexican partners at Deloitte, who were leading the set-up of this practice. I was responsible for introducing Marketing Cloud in the projects which were using other Marketing Automation tools. Exposure to various engagements at Deloitte has exposed me to working in a diverse and multicultural environment, inculcating the values of inclusiveness and continuous learning in me.
While working with the partners in Mexico, I learned how managing a firm requires extensive knowledge of various business processes and an understanding of an end to end business workflow. As someone who aspires to become a partner at a Big4 consulting firm such as Deloitte in the long run, I realised I do not possess such holistic business understanding and management skills. While my stint at Deloitte has helped me acquire crucial consulting skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, data analytics, I believe an MBA from Olin will impart me a thorough grasp of business fundamentals, gain a global perspective on real-world business issues and reinforce my leadership skills.
Immediately after my MBA from Olin, I aim to join as a Senior Consultant in one of the Big 4 Consulting Firms. In this role, I will assist management executives in a wide range of strategic issues and help them recognize new growth potentials by suggesting a collaborative approach backed by analytical and robust business plans. Through this experience, I will gain hands-on experience in solving strategic business problems and also how to manage and deliver C-Suite expectations. These learnings will be critical in achieving my long term goals of becoming a Partner at Big4.
I firmly believe the rigorous MBA curriculum at Olin will hone my skills and help me acquire deep insights into various industries in an organization. While core courses help me gain an overall business understanding, electives and projects such as Experiential learning will help me apply the learnings from the classroom and solve real-world business problems.
