Applying Oneself, Creatively

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One of the submissions was from Whit Hammond, an incoming student who decided to submit photos of a tree house that he had built on South Whidbey Island, near Seattle, during his high school and college years. The tree house, nestled in the natural foundation of a tree and outfitted with a sleeping loft, propane fridge, and wood stove, was an extension of his passion for nature and craftsmanship, he says, and was an item that he never thought he'd be able to weave into a typical business school application. "It sort of affirmed my belief that I was applying to a school that has the same values that I do."

Tom Carney, a manager for General Electric (GE) who will attend Leeds this fall, says he found it refreshing that the school gave students a chance to deviate a bit from the standard essay questions. He submitted a Chinese scroll with the characters for "pride," "courage," and "passion" on it, an item that he designed while on a trip to China. He later gave about a dozen of these scrolls to his team of engineers as a holiday gift.

"I was glad to see that they stayed away from the standard questions, like 'What do you want to do when you grow up and why are you a good fit for the program.' Those are all typical and you feel like you have to have a right answer," Carney says.

No More Sushi

While some students embrace these more unusual questions, others panic when they realize they need to impress an admissions officer with their wit and imagination, says Linda Abraham, an admissions consultant for Accepted.com. "There is very little neutrality. Usually, some say, 'Hey, I'm going to have some fun with this,' while others react with just one big, 'Oh no.'"

So what should an applicant do if they find themselves stumped by a quirky essay question? They should try to look at the question in the context of the entire application, Abraham says. For instance, she will usually ask students a series of directed questions until they home in on an experience or project that can aptly convey their personality. "You have to look at the points you want to get across in the application as a whole and then you fit the puzzle together," she says.

Isser Gallogly, executive director of NYU's MBA admissions office, is familiar with the angst these questions can sometimes cause students. Gallogly says the school's third essay question has become "legendary" among business students. It asks students to describe themselves to an MBA classmate, using whatever means they like. "At first, people say, 'I don't want to be creative. I'm terrible at Pictionary,'" says Gallogly. "But as soon as they start to do it, they find it to be incredibly enjoyable and get really into it."

The NYU question used to be open-ended, but some parameters have been added in recent years. The admissions office banned perishable items after they received a box of homemade sushi that got delayed in the mail and arrived at the office rotting. They also discourage items such as worn clothing and electronic media.

Standing Out

Even with those restrictions, there's still plenty of room left to be inventive. In recent years, students have submitted stuffed animals with customized sound chips, snowboards, and action figures. Gallogly once met with a young woman who poured out the contents of her purse and proceeded to describe what each item expressed about her. Some students choose to approach the question by writing a conventional essay, which is "completely acceptable," says Gallogly. "It's certainly not an art contest. It's whatever speaks to you as a person."

The creative questions are just one additional way candidates can distinguish themselves from their peers in a competitive applicant pool, says Chicago's Martinelli. Chicago typically includes an essay in its application that encourages students to think outside the box, she says. In the past, the school's creative essay question has asked students to design a mascot for the University of Chicago or give recommendations for a book, play, or movie. The school's addition of the four PowerPoint slides is just another avenue for self-expression.

The answers students submit for Chicago's creative essay questions usually don't come into play when admissions officers are first sifting through applications. It's only as they begin to narrow down the pool of applicants that they take a closer look at those responses, says Martinelli. "When you're crafting a class, those are the elements that really stand out and make a difference."

Check out the slide show to see examples of some creative submissions from B-school applicants.

Damast is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com.