McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin
The great benefit of studying business at McCombs Texas is that this school follows a multi
disciplinary approach that makes its students get a very holistic picture. The top rated school is
not amongst the top 10 but definitely is counted amongst the top 50 schools in the world. The
essay questions are also clear, focused and give enough scope for the intelligent student to sell
himself/herself. So go ahead! Do some personal marketing, early admission applications start
to be accepted from November.Application deadlines 2016-2017 :
Round1 : 13; Oct 2015
Round2 : 12; Jan 2016
Round3 : 31; Mar 2016
Class Profile :
Average Age : 28
Work Experience : 5 years
GMAT Scores : 690
Undergraduate GPA (average) : 3.40
International Student : 24%
Application Components:
Application Fees :application fee $200, Non-refundable.
GMAT or GRE : official test scores are to be submitted to UT Austin using the following score codes: GMAT: 396-44-45
TOEFL or IELTS : Submit official test scores to UT Austin using the following score codes: TOEFL: 6882 (TOEFL test scores expire two years from the test date.).
Letters of recommendation : The admission committee require one recommendation from a person who has supervised your work and/or has assessed your performance during your career.
Essays :
Essay 1 : Select only one communication method that you would like to use for your response:
- (i) Write an essay (250 words)
- (ii)Share a video introduction (one minute) Video Introduction URL:
- (iii) Share your about me profile. About.Me Page URL:
Optional Essay: Please provide any additional information you believe is important and/or address any areas of concern that will be beneficial to the Admissions Committee in considering your application (e.g. unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, academic performance, significant weaknesses in your application, or extenuating personal circumstances).(250 words)
Career Goals :
1. Immediately after graduation, what are your short-term career goals? 150 characters.
2. Ten years and beyond after graduation, what are your long-term career goals? 150 characters.
3. Please characterize yourself as best as possible: (Choose one of the following)
- Career Enhancer: you seek opportunities for advancement within your pre-MBA profession
- Career Explorer: you seek to make a career change, but are looking for the program to help you understand what possibilities exist for you
- Career Switcher: you seek to evolve from one career path to another, with the hope of changing your professional functional area and/or industry upon graduation
- Entrepreneur/Founder: you run or wish to start your own business upon graduation
Essay Q. The Texas MBA is built around four key pillars of leadership. Describe an experience that you have had that clearly demonstrates your leadership as it relates to one of our four pillars: 1) Responsibility/Integrity; 2) Knowledge/Understanding; 3) Collaborative/ Communication; or 4)
Worldview of Business and Society. (Limit: 650 words)
The last minute crisis had the team in an uproar! The client's crucial need was acknowledged and accepted, but just one person in the team had the requisite knowledge, skill and interest in carrying out such a monumental task. When my manager hesitantly asked me if I was up to the challenge, I lost no time in accepting wholeheartedly, taking command in a crisis and leading some of my peers in a critical exercise.
The development of the ......................... of the client over the IP network. The massive has many phases and teams working on different modules. A part of the Call Processing group working on the core module-the softswitch, I was doing my regular work till the client came up with a unique requirement.
During the xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, millions of telephone calls are generated to test the product's load capacity with dummy subscribers. Just before the first field trial
of .................. required: ................................................-depth knowledge of Java, functionality of web based applets and database management systems. Hard core programming and mentoring skills were required as members had to be ramped up quickly to perform this additional task.
I was the only member of the team with requisite knowledge, having done extensive work on Java at my under grad level. My flair for arts and interests in designing was well known and my manager, lately impressed with my flawless completion of the database management systems, was confident of my ability to create a visually appealing yet ................. He assigned a couple of peers to work for a couple of hours with me. With a deadline of 4 months, I had to design, develop and test the applications for a field trial.
This chance to bail my team out of a tricky situation necessitated exercising leadership, knowledge transfer and mentoring of new attaches, who were sketchy about Java. Taking up the task was a risky endeavor as a failure could mean major delays in the first trial. I needed to brush up my knowledge myself on the underlying protocol allowing web based phones to make calls and actual product ..................... for this top-priority project. I did the required study and disseminated it quickly to my team members. Taking care that all their queries and concerns were resolved swiftly, I expanded my technical knowledge to the extent where later I performed many other assignments based on this knowledge.
The exhaustive requirement document needed extensive brain storming, which I led. A key understanding which underlined all our efforts was the fact that the user interface had to be explanatory yet simple to operate. ...................... design was accepted with minor tweaks but designing for the web-based phone proved tougher. I kept my team motivated, contributing and pro actively learning. My third design for the phone was finally accepted. We completed the development in 3.5 months, a record considering the many aspects, languages and protocols. Going onsite for deployment, I conducted the demonstration and creation of subscribers and ensured customer satisfaction.
The trials transpired in the most rigorous conditions to test the product in the most extreme conditions, but the applications performed splendidly. My manager was ecstatic and this first team leadership role helped me troubleshoot a pressing problem. It enhanced client confidence in my organization's ability to deliver. Timely completion of this project, with just my knowledge and enterprise endowed me with assurance of my technical finesse and leadership ability. I now recognize that the knowledge bulwark is most critical, along with adaptability, can-do ability and collaborative attitude for successful task completion.
