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MBA INSIDER: SAMPLE APPLICATION ESSAYS Southern Methodist (Cox): Essay 1 QUESTION: "What was your greatest accomplishment? What was your greatest disappointment."
My greatest accomplishment has been obtaining higher education. My drive to excel academically comes from within. My mother has only an eighth grade education, and I was the first member of my family to attend, much less graduate from, any college or university. I graduated from high school in a small Wisconsin town in 1986 and had a football scholarship to the University of Wisconsin. Prior to enrolling, I injured my knee, lost my scholarship, and was devastated, for paying for college had suddenly become impossible. I enlisted in the military to save money and, after serving two years in Italy, I completely funded my undergraduate and law school educations through work and loans.
I have consistently excelled in a variety of subjects at every institution of higher learning that I have attended. I obtained a 3.75 undergraduate GPA while working twenty to thirty hours per week. Following college graduation, I attended a top-twenty-five law school and graduated in the top quarter of my class. More recently, I have attempted to prepare for business school by further developing my quantitative background. I took a college algebra course this summer and obtained a 4.0 GPA. I am currently juggling part-time legal work with calculus, statistics, and macroeconomics courses and am maintaining an "A" average in each of my three classes. My greatest disappointment lies in a more personal arena. Unfortunately, my marriage to my college sweetheart, whom I had dated for ten years, proved unsuccessful. This failure is the most difficult emotional loss I have had to endure, for our brief marriage resulted in a 3 1/2 year old son, [deleted]. Like any failure, I have spent countless hours analyzing what I could have done to avoid the situation. Hopefully, this self-examination has brought wisdom that will enable me to be a better partner in the future. It has certainly made me more empathetic towards colleagues who are undergoing personal crises. I am saddened that I am not with [deleted] on a daily basis, but I am proud of the efforts that I have put forth to develop our current relationship. [Deleted] and I have always been separated by at least a five-hour drive, but, in spite of the distance, I have made frequent trips to ensure that my son has a father and knows that I love him very much. My parents divorced when I was very young, and I never had a relationship with my father. That fact alone inspires me to play an active role in [deleted]'s life, no matter what the geographic distance is between us. I know that obtaining my MBA far from [deleted] will be difficult, but, in addition to patience and a shared love for The Jungle Book, the past 3 1/2 years have taught me that love can overcome geography. As indicated by my greatest accomplishment and disappointment, I have learned that, despite one's best efforts, life does not always follow one's planned and preferred path. I have learned that an individual is equally influenced by his successes and by the obstacles that are placed before him and that he must be flexible enough to recognize the need for change. In my experience, success and joy can come from seemingly difficult situations. The benefits that have resulted from my pursuit of higher education have made the difficulties along the way worthwhile. I regret that my marriage was unsuccessful, but I am not sorry that it occurred, for without it, I would not have experienced the joy that my son has brought me. 
BW MALL
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