MOST COMMON LOR QUESTION TOPICS (loosely in order of frequency)

1) Relationship

Ex. What is your relationship to, and how long have you known the applicant? Is this person still employed by your organization? If not, when did he/she depart? (Columbia)

Ex. Please comment on the context of your interaction with the applicant. How long have you known the applicant and in what connection? If applicable, briefly describe the applicant’s role in your organization. (250-word limit) (HBS)

Ex. Describe your relationship to the applicant. Are you, or have you been, the applicant’s direct supervisor? If not, what is the nature of your relationship? How long have you known the applicant and how frequent is/was your interaction with them? (UC Berkeley Haas)

2) Peer Comparison

Ex. Please compare the applicant’s performance to that of his/her peers. Does the applicant have the potential to become a senior manager? (Columbia)

Ex. Description of applicant’s peer group. (Duke Fuqua)

Ex. How does the applicant stand out from others in a similar capacity? (MIT Sloan)

Ex. How do the applicant’s personal or professional characteristics stand out positively or negatively from others who are in a similar capacity? (Michigan Ross)

3) Interpersonal/Team Skills

Ex. How effective are the applicant’s interpersonal skills? (Stanford GSB)

Ex. Please provide an example of a time when the applicant was particularly successful at interacting with others in a team (employees, peers, managers, etc.); how was the applicant successful? How does the applicant compare to his/her peers in this dimension? (Wharton)

Ex. Please provide a representative example of how the applicant interacts with other people. (MIT)

Ex. Comment on the applicant’s interpersonal skills (effectiveness in establishing and maintaining relationships; working with supervisors, peers, and subordinates; willingness to work in a team environment (Duke Fuqua)

4) Constructive Criticism/Feedback Response

Ex. How does the applicant accept constructive criticism? (Columbia)

Ex. In what areas does the applicant need improvement or growth? If you have had the opportunity to provide the applicant with constructive feedback, please provide specific examples of the feedback and the applicant’s response to it. (Duke Fuqua)

Ex. Please describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant’s response. (250-word limit) (HBS)

Ex. Describe the most constructive feedback you have given the candidate. Please also detail the circumstances that caused you to give the feedback. (Stanford)

Ex. Provide an example of constructive feedback you have provided to the applicant. How did the applicant receive this feedback and what efforts did the applicant make to address the concern? (Wharton)

5) Weaknesses/Areas for Improvement

Ex. In what areas does the applicant need improvement or growth? If you have had the opportunity to provide the applicant with constructive feedback, please provide specific examples of the feedback and the applicant’s response to it. (Duke Fuqua)

Ex. In what ways could the applicant improve professionally? If you could change one thing about the applicant, what would it be? (Columbia)

Ex. What are the applicant’s most noticeable weaknesses? (1500 characters)

Ex. What do you consider to be the applicant’s major weaknesses or areas for improvement? (LBS)

Ex. Which of the applicant’s personal or professional characteristics would you change? (MIT Sloan)

Ex. What are the applicant’s three greatest weaknesses or areas in need of improvement? Cite specific examples. (UC Berkeley Haas)

6) Strengths

Ex. Please provide a short list of adjectives describing the applicant’s strengths. (Columbia)

Ex. What are the applicant’s most outstanding abilities or characteristics? (1500 characters) (Cornell Johnson)

Ex. What do you consider the applicant’s primary talents or strengths? (Duke Fuqua)

Ex. What do you consider to be the applicant’s major talents and strengths? (LBS)

Ex. What are the applicant’s three greatest strengths? Cite specific examples. (UC Berkeley Haas)

7) Impact/Legacy

Ex. 5. What impact has the applicant had on the organization in which s/he works? (1500 characters) (Cornell Johnson)

Ex. Please provide an example of the applicant’s impact on a person, group, or organization. (MIT Sloan)

Ex. What (if any) legacy has this candidate left on your organization? (Stanford GSB)

Ex. What significant contribution has the applicant made to your organization? (UC Berkeley Haas)

Handling Setbacks/Challenges

Ex. Provide an example of a time when the applicant did not meet expectations. What was the outcome? How did s/he handle the setback? (Wharton)

Ex. Describe how the candidate deals with challenges. (UCLA Anderson)

9) Ethics/Integrity

Ex. Comment on your observations of the applicant’s ethical behavior. (Columbia)

Ex. Please comment on the applicant’s personal and professional integrity. (1500 characters) (Cornell Johnson)

10) Leadership/Management Potential

Ex. Please compare the applicant’s performance to that of his/her peers. Does the applicant have the potential to become a senior manager? (Columbia)

Ex. Please comment on the applicant’s potential for leading an organization. (UC Berkeley Haas)

Ex. Comment on the candidate’s aptitude for strategic thinking, leadership, and/or management. (UCLA Anderson)

11) Career Progression/Biggest Developmental Area

Ex. In what developmental areas has the applicant changed most over time? (LBS)

Ex. How has the applicant’s career progressed over the time that you have known him/her? How does this growth compare to his/her peer group? Please describe the peer group that you are comparing this applicant. (Wharton)

Ex. Comment on the candidate’s career progression to date. How would you describe his or her potential for professional growth and development? (UCLA Anderson)

OUTLIERS/PROBLEM SPOTS

Describe how the candidate has generated support from others for an idea or initiative. (Stanford Peer)

What one quality of the applicant do you wish all of your staff possessed? If you could change one thing about the applicant, what would it be? (Michigan Ross)

In the Berkeley MBA program, we develop leaders who have “confidence without attitude” or “confidence with humility”. Please comment and provide examples of how the applicant reflects this Berkeley-Haas value. (UC Berkeley Haas)

Please give examples of the applicant’s performance for any “Top 2%” rating from the table. (Cornell Johnson)

What do you think motivates the candidate’s application to Columbia Business School? (Columbia)

Interesting: Choosing someone who is not a “peer”, not giving recommenders enough time.

UCLA Anderson: Kicks Off Application Season

Interesting: Application now live.

Columbia B-school Deadlines (September 2011 Entry)

ESSAYS & ANALYSIS

Essays

You must complete two essays. An optional third essay will enable you to discuss any issues that do not fall within the purview of the required essays. Applicants who are reapplying within 12 months of a previous application for admission are required to write only a single reapplicant essay. Please note you may only apply once to a given term of entry. Knight-Bagehot Fellows: Please use the space allocated to the first essay for the Wiegers Fellowship Application essay.

Essay 1: What are your short-term and long-term professional goals? How will Columbia Business School help you achieve these goals? (Maximum of 750 words)

Analysis: Please see: The MBA Goals Essay

Essay 2: Please tell us about yourself and your personal interests. The goal of this essay is to get a sense of who you are rather than what you have achieved professionally. (Maximum of 500 words)

Analysis: Please see: The MBA Personal Essay

Columbia’s LOR Questions here.

HBS Deadlines 2010-2011

ESSAYS & ANALYSIS

“Essays for the Class of 2013

As an opportunity to present your distinctive qualities, your essays are an important part of your MBA application. You will be asked to submit your personal statements online with the balance of your application materials. Essays should be single-spaced. Please limit your response to the length indicated.

All applicants must submit answers to four essay questions. The first two questions are required of all applicants. The remaining two essays should be in response to your choice of the next five sub-questions.

Joint program applicants for the Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Kennedy School must provide an additional essay.”

Essays:

What are your three most substantial accomplishments and why do you view them as such? (600-word limit)

Analysis: Clearly, this essay can be a cornerstone of the leadership portfolio that HBS so highly values. And chosen correctly, the topics can serve as much more than a “greatest hits” list. Basic considerations include:

- balance between personal and professional – for more experienced applicants, I recommend emphasizing professional, perhaps 2:1
- timing – more recent accomplishments will have more impact
- variety – your choices should reflect a range of accomplishments and skills, most notably leadership

A more subtle consideration is how much your accomplishments support your career vision (see below), if you choose to answer that question, i.e., your accomplishments can show the progress you’ve already made towards your goals. In that case, you should consider ordering them chronologically. Your reasons for choosing these accomplishments will vary from person to person, but they should show what you value, how you think, and how those things differ from other applicants with similar accomplishments.

Editing hint: for powerful storytelling in such a short space, concentrate on action, action, action, with just enough context to understand the situation, results, and, of course, the importance of the accomplishment to you.

Please see: The MBA Leadership Essay

What have you learned from a mistake? (400-word limit)

Please see: The MBA Failure Essay

Please respond to two of the following (400-word limit each):

What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience?

Analysis: Of course the direct approach of discussing your thesis or classes is fine if you have something substantial to say about them and/or they demonstrate your intellectual capacity. At the same time, the topic can be much broader than that, including paid work during school (especially if you paid for school yourself), overseas study or travel, internships, athletic or artistic accomplishments, community involvement/leadership through clubs, campus organizations, volunteering, student government, etc. If your undergraduate GPA is below average, such topics can also help explain why.

What is your career vision and why is this choice meaningful to you?

Analysis: The main difference between this question and a typical MBA goals essay is the edict to explain your personal connection to your goals. HBS has included this component for many years, but it takes on added importance in such a competitive application environment. (Wharton introduced their version last year.) Want to be a consultant? Drive the re-birth of the finance industry? Start a non-profit? So do thousands of other applicants. How are your reasons different from theirs? How do they connect to you? Don’t be afraid to get personal here. In fact, the more personal the better. And here’s the kicker: if your reasons are that strong, then there should hopefully be evidence of your commitment somewhere else in your application, most likely among your “three substantial accomplishments”.

Please see: The MBA Goals Essay

Tell us about a time in your professional experience when you were frustrated or disappointed.

Analysis: Since you have to reflect on your own mistake above, I assume the frustration or disappointment in this case should be directed outwards, towards a co-worker, boss, your or another team perhaps, or even a social problem (e.g., poverty, disease). You can’t simply describe what bothers you, though, (e.g., laziness, irresponsibility, inefficiency, miscommunication, unethical behavior) without including your successful efforts to fix whatever was broken, either in that or a future instance. After all, leaders don’t complain. They improve.

When you join the HBS Class of 2013, how will you introduce yourself to your new classmates?

Analysis: A pretty free-ranging question, analogous to last year’s “cover letter to the Admissions Board” essay, but directed at your future peers, who might very well be more interested in your expertise on micro-breweries of the Pacific Northwest, than in your work accomplishments. For HBS, this seems like a pretty “soft” question, but one of a trend I see among top MBA programs (examples from last year include Booth’s slide presentation, UCLA’s audio/video essay, Cornell’s “Your Life Story”) designed to draw out sides of you that would otherwise remain hidden.

Joint degree applicants:

How do you expect the joint degree experience to benefit you on both a professional and a personal level? (400-word limit)

HBS LOR Questions can be found here.