Describe the unique qualities that attract you to the specific undergraduate College or School (including preferred admission and dual degree programs) to which you are applying at the University of Michigan. How would that curriculum support your interests? (500 words maximum)
The essay should clearly explain your interest in the Ross School of Business. Feel free to include additional interests -- as applicable. Avoid describing the University of Michigan, the Ross BBA Program, or our rankings and class statistics. Rather, highlight what's important about and to you. Focus on your unique interests and goals and explain how the Ross BBA supports them.
Three immense white blades slowly circled around and around, perpendicular to the ground, at the top of a white stalk that seemed to stretch to the heavens. I stared, intrigued, from behind a car window as my dad and I passed by the behemoth and its brothers and sisters. It was then, on a car ride past a central Washington wind farm more than four years ago, that I decided I wanted to start a renewable energy business. I was previously aware of the perils climate change posed but had no idea what I could do to counter them. Those wind turbines made me realize that I could stem the effects of climate change by providing an alternative to energy sources that pollute. Since then, I have only grown more enthusiastic about founding an environmental technology company, though I have broadened my parameters for what my business could do. Whether my business will contract recycling services to cities previously without, produce clean energy, or provide some other good or service, I don't yet know. I do know, however, that with an education from the Ross School of Business, I will make my company succeed.
The Ross School of Business provides its students with a hands-on, application-based business education. That is ideal for a future entrepreneur like me because if I am to run a business I am going to need experience, not vague theoretical knowledge, to tackle obstacles I face. I want to attend Ross not only because of the exceptional general business education I would receive, but also because of how closely many aspects of the school fit with my desired career path. The Global Enterprise and Sustainable Development course run in conjunction with the Erb Institute and various other sustainability-related courses offered at the University of Michigan, for instance, are quite pertinent. These courses would offer me insight into how the environmentally-friendly goods and services industries are run and how environmentally conscious businesses are operated. Having previous knowledge of the market and business practices of the type of business I want to run could prove quite valuable when I actually am working in that industry. Ross' entrepreneurial electives such as New Product and Innovation Management and Entrepreneurial Management would provide me with valuable information on how to capitalize on technological advancement and manage a company where that is the focus - essentially what I want to do for a career. Entrepreneurial clubs and events at Ross, like the Entrepreneur & Venture Club and Entrepalooza, would be quite helpful in honing the skills and connections I need to fund, market, and operate a start-up as well.
I may not start my own business before or right after I graduate, but the Ross School of Business and its related institutes and activities will train me so that whenever I do, I will be ready. With an education from Ross I will be able to make a difference, to do my best to help save the world.
Hello,
This essay is pretty solid. You hit most of the "must haves" for an admissions essay. You talk about your desires and how the school will help foster the realization of goals. The one aspect that I would advise that you add is talk about SOMETHING you have done in sustainability so far. What headway have you made in starting your business? What organizations are you apart of now? Are you a practicing "green person" now in your day to day life? By adding these, you will make your application more rounded and substantive. -AAO
