The Haas School of Business at Berkeley has shared its Executive MBA application essays for the 2023-2024 application cycle. This year, the school’s application features two short, required essays.
For those interested in the Haas EMBA Program, take a look at the latest class profile to assess whether the school may be a good fit for you. With 75 students in the 2024 class, the Berkeley Haas EMBA program is tiny: it has about one-third women, about half students born outside the U.S., and about 10% underrepresented minorities.
Below, please find the upcoming application deadlines and our analysis of the Berkeley Haas EMBA application essays.
The 2023-2024 Haas EMBA Application Deadlines
Round 1: October 30, 2023
Round 2: February 1, 2024
Round 3: April 2, 2024
2023-2024 Berkeley Haas EMBA Application Essays
Berkeley Haas EMBA Essay 1: Personal Story
To help admissions get to know you please share something about yourself that may not be evident in other parts of your application. Examples might include information about your family, culture, hobbies, and lived experiences. Please avoid professional topics. (300 word limit)
With 300 words at your disposal, your thoughts must be clear and your pencil sharp. You want to choose ONE thing in the list of facets that make up your identity. You do not want a short list. Choose something that is defining for you, which means you need to be able to articulate exactly how it defines you. Does it impact your choices? Has it impacted your career? Or is it simply an aspect of you that enlightens your priorities, professional or spiritual. It could also be an event.
Start with a sentence or two describing the aspect you have chosen: “From childhood I grew up in the forest in Amazonia.” Or “I am a Master chess player.” Or “I am a tango dancer and have traveled to 38 countries dancing.” Then spend the rest of your word space telling the Admissions Committee what that means to you or how it has determined your path—OR determines your future choices: Because I grew up in Amazonia, I witnessed both the beauty and the devastation of the environment, and this has motivated me to protect endangered species through my work.”
By the way, about its essays Haas says, “There is no right answer. We just want to get to know you better.”
Berkeley Haas EMBA Essay 2: Professional Statement
As a working professional, you have developed unique skills, knowledge or experience in your career. Please summarize your primary area of professional expertise or knowledge. Highlight any aspect(s) that makes you unique or sets you apart from your peers. (150-word limit)
Berkeley Haas EMBA Essay 2 is about your professional experiences. In this essay, you have even fewer words, so you want to get to the point quickly: “In my work at Shell Oil I developed expertise in the extraction of oil through the XXX specific technology. This technology is on the cusp of extraction science, and I am one of 8 people in the oil industry to know it inside and out.”
If you do not have the fortune to distinguish yourself quite so singularly, try to find special things you bring to the table and link them quickly to what that means in practice in terms of your goals: “My analysis of expert opinions in chemical spills litigation has given me expertise in the areas of chemical cleanup and monetary assessment of damages, which positions me to excel with firms that specialize in environmental consulting.”
This is not a time to be humble: Focus on what makes you great.
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