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MBA INSIDER: SAMPLE APPLICATION ESSAYS Columbia: Essay 1 QUESTION: What are your short-term and long-term career goals? How will a Columbia Business School MBA help you achieve these goals? (Limit 1000 words)
My long-term career goals entail working as a positive catalyst in the development of a more entrepreneurial environment in Canada by influencing public policy and creating aggressive venture capital investment programs. I intend to bring about the creation of public and private venture capital partnerships, drawing on my professional and academic experiences as well as the study of such programs in other countries, to stimulate growth in this area. I believe that Columbia is the right place to pursue this goal, not only for the school's traditional strengths in finance, but also for innovative programs in entrepreneurship and social enterprise. The opportunity for students to take classes outside of the Business School, in programs like International Affairs, also fits perfectly with my career goals.
As a young Canadian with extensive international experience, I have mixed emotions about having left the country to pursue career opportunities. While I have grown both personally and professionally by living and working abroad, I have often reflected on how national attitudes and government policy have limited aggressive entrepreneurial activity in Canada. When I left Canada several years ago, I did so with the intention of ultimately returning to apply the skills and experiences that I gained abroad. Recently, I began working with [deleted], a group of young Canadians working to improve opportunities for talented young people domestically. The project struck a nerve with me as I left Canada, in part, due to the absence of an aggressive, risk taking culture. The aim of the group fits well with my goals and aspirations and I have had significant input on how the entrepreneurial spirit in Canada could be stimulated to compete for talent with the United States. I plan to eventually return to Canada to found public and private partnership programs aimed at stimulating opportunity growth for entrepreneurs, implementing the skills and lessons I have learned in Asia, Europe and the United States. I believe that there is significant need for improvement in order for Canada to become, and remain, a country capable of attracting and retaining talented young entrepreneurs. One of the goals of [deleted] is to address the regularity with which talented individuals from most every field go abroad to pursue their professional development. My primary long-term goal is to work with government agencies and private corporations to create a first class venture community in Canada, drawing on lessons gleaned from similar programs in the US and elsewhere. Obviously, such ambitions are not achieved quickly or easily and there are many short-term goals that must be achieved in order to build a foundation from which to work towards long-term goals. Over the course of the next few years, I intend to complete an MBA, ideally at Columbia Business School, which will provide me with an academic base from which to pursue my career goals. In addition to education, I will need to develop my professional experience in both public policy and entrepreneurial finance. My current position, at [deleted] has required me to become deeply involved with the Small Business Administration and specifically, the [deleted] program. I intend to continue, and increase, my involvement with this program over the course of the next ten months, prior to attending business school. I plan to learn more about the workings of this program, as it has demonstrated significant success in stimulating entrepreneurial activity. At the same time, I do not believe that any program is perfect, so I plan to research and consider opportunities for improvement. An internship within a Canadian governmental agency will be necessary in order to gain a better perspective on exactly how I can influence public policy and create the kind of programs that I intend to. My goals in completing such an internship would be to learn first-hand, about current public policies affecting the entrepreneurial community and to establish contacts, in the private and public sectors, that I will work with to make my ideas reality. During my MBA study, I would hope to pursue opportunities abroad, in the form of a full term or perhaps independent study for a shorter period of time. The availability of such opportunities at Columbia certainly attracts me. Following completion of my MBA, I plan to extend my experience in three key fields: public policy, entrepreneurial finance and international business. I will pursue opportunities internationally (including those in the US), working with other entrepreneurial-minded people to study, create and implement combinations of aggressive public policy and private financing opportunities for new companies. In my career, I have met many people who share ideas similar to mine that I am excited to work with. I am anxious to further develop my skills to help me achieve all of my goals and I believe that Columbia offers the best opportunity to do so. Pursuing a Columbia MBA is a natural progression, from both a personal and professional standpoint. The Columbia name is internationally recognized, many political leaders have completed this course of study and professionals in the private equity industry regard the program as being highly innovative. My interests in public policy, entrepreneurial finance and international business would all thrive at Columbia Business School in ways not possible at other schools. Being located in New York, with international students, professors and curriculum, there is the opportunity to focus on the aspects of my career that are most important to me. The public policy strengths at Columbia are also of great interest to me, as I believe that as globalization continues to progress, there will be an increasing blurring of the line between business and public policy. I plan to pursue a career at the crossroads of these two historically divided disciplines. My academic, professional background and personal interests will make me additive to the overall learning environment of the Columbia Business School and I would make a valuable asset for classroom discussion. I possess the intelligence, creativity, determination and compassion necessary to excel at Columbia and after. The combination of these attributes with the management, interpersonal and analytic skills offered by the MBA program at Columbia would ultimately prepare me to return to Canada to pursue my career goals. Over the course of the past five years, I have attended university in [deleted] and worked in Seoul, London, and New York. Each one of these living situations has taught me something about myself, the world and has shaped my ideas about the contributions that I wish to make. A course of study at Columbia would enrich my life personally and professionally, but I also believe that the business school would be enriched by my attendance. 
BW MALL
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