Michigan Ross Application Essay Tips, 2025-2026
This year, Michigan Ross condensed its essay questions and added a note regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Let’s take a moment to discuss how you can best position yourself through your essays for this year’s applicant pool.
Part 1: Career Aspirations
What is your short-term career goal, and how will Ross’ philosophy in Action-Based Learning help you achieve it? Please be specific. Please answer both parts of this question. (300 words)
This is a straightforward and traditional essay prompt; Ross wants to know what you envision for yourself professionally in the years right after you graduate, as well as what your motivation is for pursuing this path. Be explicit in describing your short-term career goal, and make sure to build a compelling story as to why it is a fitting choice for you, including how your background or interests have prepared you for your stated goal. Maybe a work project got you excited about pursuing a leadership position, or maybe a personal passion is driving a career change. The “why” shows that you have been thoughtful in selecting this career aspiration and creates a compelling story.
For the second part of this question, explicitly name how you believe Ross will help you achieve your goal. Michigan Ross’s full-time MBA program emphasizes learning by doing, a methodology based on the belief that real-world experiences foster the most profound growth. To thoughtfully address this part of the prompt, familiarize yourself with Ross Experiences in Action-Based Learning (REAL), and consider the benefits of such an immersive learning environment and how you envision leveraging it.
You might wish to reflect on past experiences when practical application significantly enhanced your learning. Discuss how action-based learning has affected your growth and why it’s a critical aspect of your educational journey. For instance, you might highlight a project where you led a team to solve a complex problem, emphasizing the stakes involved and how the experience honed your leadership and decision-making skills.
Regardless, you must articulate how REAL will uniquely benefit you. Identify specific aspects of the school’s MBA program, such as the Multidisciplinary Action Project (MAP), student-led investment funds, and international consulting opportunities, and explain how these will equip you with the skills and knowledge you need to excel in your career. Connect these experiences to your personal and professional development goals.
Part 2: How will you make an impact at Michigan Ross?
Michigan Ross is proud to support a community of leaders and impact makers. As a future member of this community, we want to know more about who you are and what drives you. Please choose 1 of the following prompts to tell us more about what makes you stand out beyond your academic and work experience. List the prompt you are answering at the top of your response. (200 words)
- What makes you unique?
- Can you provide a specific example of how you’ve overcome a personal challenge?
- What makes you excited to get up each morning?
- Describe a time when you made a difference in your community or with an individual.
The purpose of these prompts is to give Ross’s admissions committee a better idea of who you are as a person and how you view yourself — kind of a peek “behind” your resume. Every word counts here; the tight word count is intentional to force you to focus. Ross is guiding applicants to share more about themselves in a very direct and focused way. Show the adcom who you are as a person and what unique experiences and insights you would bring to the MBA class.
Most of the prompt choices focus on your personality traits and actions you have taken in the past. Use your answer to demonstrate to the admissions reader how you are like no one else. Try to find examples that give insights into who you are and that complement information in your resume, rather than repeating it, and don’t be afraid to share non-work-related examples. Incorporate details that will make your responses clearly and undeniably your own, and be sure to focus on what you have learned from the experiences and how those takeaways have contributed to the person you are today.
Most applicants will probably assume that they should discuss only positive experiences or accomplishments in their answers to these prompts, but keep in mind that sharing an example of how you failed or made a mistake and learned from it can be an effective way to show growth. Relating a challenging experience can demonstrate that you are self-aware and can learn from obstacles, so the resulting essays can often be great, as long as you focus on how you grew from the experiences you relate. Ross is most interested in authentic, unique personal stories that illustrate the qualities candidates would bring to the MBA class. Consider sharing an item that cemented your resolve to work toward your future goals or a personal story that highlights your values. Be sure to allocate more words to the “why” and fewer to the “what.”
Optional Essay
Is there something in your resume or application that needs a brief explanation? Appropriate uses of this essay would be the explanation of an employment gap, academic outliers, choice of recommender, completion of supplemental coursework, etc. You may use bullet points where appropriate. (250 words)
By stating outright that it’s okay to use bullet points in your response to this prompt, Ross is clearly indicating that it just wants the most relevant information here. This is not your chance to share another story you think is interesting but that will not actually add to the admissions committee’s knowledge or understanding of you in any meaningful way. So, provide this optional information only if one of the suggested situations applies to you (“an employment gap, academic outliers, choice of recommender, completion of supplemental coursework”) or some other element of your candidacy would benefit from further clarification. One example would be if your recommender is not your direct supervisor. Or maybe you have a disciplinary issue in your past that could be mitigated by some explanation. At any rate, there’s no need to make your response any longer than it needs to be (or even to respond at all!) — just communicate any critical information.
Note: Ross graduate admissions recognizes the appropriate use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools for providing guidance and suggestions. If you use Artificial Intelligence (AI) software in the creation of your essay answers, you are required to use the APA in-text citation “Personal Communication.” Rule: (Communicator, personal communication, Month Date, Year); example: (OpenAI, personal communication, September 1, 2024).
For the first time, Ross has offered guidance about using generative AI in your application. What does that mean for you? Two things:
- You need to be transparent about any use of AI in creating your essay responses.
- You cannot let AI do the writing for you.
It’s perfectly fine to use tools such as ChatGPT to brainstorm ideas, get feedback on structure, or get help with phrasing. Ross acknowledges that AI can be a useful support. Just be sure to acknowledge that you’ve used it — and more importantly, make sure your essays still sound like you.
As someone who reads a lot of MBA essays, I can tell you this: it’s very obvious when applicants lean too heavily on AI. The tone becomes generic, the stories feel flat, and the personality disappears. The whole point of your application essays is to help you stand out, not blend in.
So use AI wisely, but let your own voice lead the way.
In Stratus Admissions’ blog post How to Get into Michigan Ross School of Business, you will find information on a variety of the MBA program’s offerings, such as MAP, the Erb Institute, the MTrek Program, and the Zell Lurie Commercialization Fund.