UNC Submitted...

Mark, you are on the ball, man! I am nowhere near pushing the "submit" button on any of these....

I wondered if you would give me any inside info on how you handled the "obstacles" question?

Describe the major obstacles or challenges you have faced in pursuit of your goals. Tell us how you addressed these challenges and how they have shaped you. (800 words maximum)

With the way it's worded, it's just super-broad and open ended. It sounds like you need to start with general obstacles and go from there, but I would prefer to come with a few goals and describe their associated challenge(s) and the way they've "shaped" me. It seems more organized, but then puts the emphasis on goals, rather than obstacles. What did you do?

Anyone have other ideas?

amy

Amy,

I didn't do this one, so caveat, etc.

However, I think your approach is fine, as long as you make sure that you clearly indicate the challenges you faced. Ideally, these challenges should be strategic in nature - i.e. aligning a team - not "the printer broke so I had to run to Kinko's with only 20 minutes before the meeting!".

Similarly, focus on introspection here - make what you learned tangible and if you can, tie it back to how it will relate to your MBA.

For instance, lets say you had a project where you were asked to maintain a project plan, milestones and work allocation. You had no experience doing this.

You might write something like:

At the tender age of 21, I was asked to lead our team's effort for marketing low cost butt plugs. (SO THIS IS THE TASK) As part of this responsibilty, I was required to develop a project plan, identify risk, manage resources, allocate workload and present project status to our Board of Directors on a weekly basis. (SO THIS IS THE GOAL) I had never done anything like this before and was petrified. (SO THIS IS THE CHALLENGE) Eager to demonstrate my abilities, I hung out in porn shops and asked about how they market butt plugs, called Ron Jeremy and had a long conversation and copied a project plan from a previous position. (SO THIS IS WHAT YOU DID TO SUCEED). In the end, I was able to market the butt plugs to new segments we had not previously considered, including dogs, cats, and hyenas. We were able to increase our overall market share by 9840293% and I was awarded the Butt Plug Master(tm) award, typically reserved for best performing project managers. (SO THIS IS THE SUCESS). My experiences leading a team, sucesfully managing timelines and projects and developing a keen sense of time management have been helpful throughout my career. (AND HEREIS THE LESSON LEARNED) I also believe I can bring these skills not only to my own coursework and extracurriculars, such as the Sexy Club, while at UNC, but also to my study group helping all of us suceed. (AND VIOLA, YOUR LESSONS LEARNED ARE TIED) After all, if I can market a butt plug to a hyena, I can market myself to you right? Let me in now you bastards or my next butt plug brochure will include a photo of the dean on the cover. (AND SEAL THE DEAL)

It's obviously written as a joke, but the general structure I'd suggest is there.

Set the stage. (10%)
Show emotion, passion and introspection. (10%)
Explain BOTH what you did and FELT (50%)
Briefly describe the result (10%)
Tie it back to your school (20%)

Bloody brilliant, rhyme.

You never cease to amaze us with your inside knowledge of our proclivities. (I mean, you knew about that girl who was a prostitute, and now me, and my passion for marketing butt plugs to qaudrupeds.)

As I was working on this one, I thought I'd write about growing up completely broke in a trailer court in my crappy little town in rural Wisconsin. But before I knew it, the essay became about the challenges associated with growing up as the only child of a very hard-working single mother who just couldn't be there for me much.

I was glad it came out that way as it A) followed the format of the question better and B) was a way for me to really show who I am and where I come from.

I am also pretty sure that some part of it can be adapted to a Stanford essay. Recycling is good for the planet.

BTW, Rhyme, I met swgotz, another I-Towner, the other night. Planet GMATClub is a small one.

cheers, all. And Happy New Year.

amy

Dont believe a thing he says about me. It's all lies!

Well, he told me you would say that everything he said was a lie and he said that i should believe him. So, you know...

ROFL...You create magic with words.....

Working on that big Word doc on everything I've ever done in my entire life.

It says this:

4. Extracurricular Activities and Varsity Sports in College - Please list in order of importance to you.

* Activity and Years Involved
* Position (specify elected, appointed or member)
* From Month/Year to Month/Year

Does it seem goofy to anyone else that they're asking for years involved AND month/year info? So I guess it should look like this:

Volunteer Lunch Lady Protection Brigade (Member)
Freshman/Sophomore Years
Supreme Wielder of Numchucks (Elected)
September 1997 to May 1999

Seriously? Or am I just being lame? Besides, my activities didn't magically begin and end with the academic years.

I have to say, UNC's app seems less intuitive than the others.

Numchucks, cool ! Liger is pretty much my favorite animal

To those of you that have or are applying to UNC, I don't see a place to submit my transcript....is it not required? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

I'm sure they want your transcript. Maybe they expect you to mail it. Call the school.

Don't call the school! Simply consult Amy's Application To Do List!

Mail transcripts, not in envelope, one package:
Reg-Mail
Kenan-Flagler Business School
MBA Admissions
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Campus Box 3490, McColl Bldg., Room 2114
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3490 USA

Slacker Mail
Kenan-Flagler Business School
MBA Admissions
Room 2114, McColl Building
Campus Box 3490
Skipper Bowles Drive
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3490 USA

Funny note - they want the original, with the seal. But they don't say antying about needing it in the sealed envelope with a signature across the flap. That seems strange to me, but I am going to go ahead and play dumb and send them without their envelopes. At the last minute, I decided to apply to Duke, who also wants the 'script in the envelope. THat makes me short one, so whatever. I am exactly following the rules.

Fun!

PS Note that above "slacker mail" is the address you use because you have to pay FedEx to overnight it 'cause you're a slacker and didn't send it last week. That's what I am using.

And because you really shouldn't trust some whack-o with such important info, here's the link.

https://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/Progra ... transcript

Submitted on Friday with 1 hour and 14 minutes to spare. I am a parragon of advance planning.

(for those of you who are struggling to shorten your essays, advance planning is redundant, but I like it anyway. I think shows intent and force.)

I'm in as well.

710. 3.95. only 3 years of experience
Looking at sustainable enterprise.

My whole WHY DUKE essay was about CASE. I think it tied together nicely, as I was able to talk about coursework in sustainable enterprise, activities through CASE, and career stuff through CASE. Covered many of the bases while being focused.

We'll see what they think!

Do you have a non-profit background ? If yes, you might even get a CASE scholarship provided you agree to pursue a non-profit internship.

yeah, i saw that scholarship. I set up an appt with Matt Nash, a CASE guy, for while I am there.

The scholarship looks right up my alley, except for two key points:

1. I don't know if I want to do a nonprofit summer internship. I might, but on the other hand, I will have been doing nonprofit stuff for 6 years by the time I enroll. It seems worthwhile to do something else for a bit.

2. Similary, I want to work in the Community Investment Division of a place like Citigroup or Chase immediately following grad school. I feel it's important to spend some time in the corporate side of my field before returning to happyhappy-do-gooder-land.

So I am going to talk to him about this stuff while I am there.