Berkeley Haas MBA Essay Guide (2025 Entering Class)

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Required Essay #1: What makes you feel alive when you are doing it, and why? (300 words maximum)

Required Essay #2: What are your short-term and long-term career goals, and how will an MBA from Haas help you achieve those goals?

Short-term career goals should be achievable within 3-5 years post-MBA, whereas long-term goals may span a decade or more and encompass broader professional aspirations. (300 words max)

Required Essay #3: One of our goals at Berkeley Haas is to develop leaders who value diversity and to create an inclusive environment in which people from different ethnicities, genders, lived experiences, and national origins feel welcomed and supported.

Describe any experience or exposure you have in the area of diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging whether through community organizations, personal, or in the workplace?

Candidates seeking consideration for mission-aligned fellowships may use this space to reflect on their commitment to the mission of those fellowships. (300 words max)

Required Essay #4 – Video: The Berkeley MBA program develops leaders who embody our four Defining Leadership Principles. Briefly introduce yourself to the admissions committee, explain which leadership principle resonates most with you, and tell us how you have exemplified the principle in your personal or professional life. (Not to exceed 2 minutes.) Please review the Defining Leadership Principles in advance and take time to prepare your answer before recording. You will be able to test your audio-visual connection before recording. Video essays should last 1-2 minutes and may not exceed 2 minutes. 

F1GMAT's Haas MBA Essay Guide

Read 18 Sample Haas MBA Essays

1) 6 Samples Essays for Haas MBA What Makes you feel Alive Essay

  • Sample Haas MBA What Makes you feel Alive Essay (Non-Profit with AI-Driven Salary Validation) (289 Words)    
  • Sample Haas MBA What Makes you feel Alive Essay (Design as a tool for Change) (294 Words)    
  • Sample Haas MBA What Makes you feel Alive Essay (Flying and AI in Healthcare)(300 Words)    
  • Sample Haas MBA What Makes you Feel Alive Essay (Failing and Learning from a Diverse team)(294 Words)    
  • Sample Haas MBA What Makes You Feel Alive Essay (Affordable Education and Satellite Technology) (295 Words)    
  • Sample Haas MBA What Makes you feel Alive Essay (Future-Proofing the Underprivileged) (Climate Change) (300 Words)    

2) 3 Sample Essays for  Haas MBA Goals Essay

  • Sample Haas MBA Career Goals Essay (Technology Consulting to Strategy) (299 Words)
  • Sample Haas MBA Career Goals Essay (Product Management to Venture Capital in AI) (299 Words)
  • Sample Haas MBA Career Goals Essay (Corporate Finance to Consulting) (298 Words)

3) 3 Sample Essays for Haas MBA Essay DEI

  • Sample Haas MBA Essay on DEI  (Building Inclusive Teams to Address Domestic Violence Among Native Americans)  (299 Words)
  • Sample Haas MBA Essay on DEI  (Silicon Valley and Black Entrepreneurs) (293 Words)
  • Sample Haas MBA Essay on DEI (DEI in Design) (297 Words)

4) 6 Sample Essays for Haas Four Defining Leadership Principles Video Essay

  • Sample Berkeley Haas MBA Embody Four Defining Leadership Principles Video Essay (Questioning Status Quo & Beyond Yourself) (Team Building – Technology)  (279 Words)
  • Sample Berkeley Haas MBA Embody Four Defining Leadership Principles Video Essay (Student Always) (Adaptability, IMPACT Oriented and Intellectual Curiosity) (254 Words)
  • Sample Berkeley Haas MBA Embody Four Defining Leadership Principles Video Essay (Questioning the Status Quo, Beyond Yourself) (Adaptability, IMPACT Oriented and Intellectual Curiosity) (232 Words)
  • Sample Berkeley Haas Embody Four Defining Leadership Principles Video Essay (Small Business) (Adaptability, and IMPACT Oriented) (270 Words)
  • Sample Berkeley Haas Embody Four Defining Leadership Principles Video Essay (Beyond Yourself and Questioning the Status Quo) (Adaptability, Leveraging Power for Good and Impact-Oriented) (256 Words)
  • Sample Berkeley Haas Embody Four Defining Leadership Principles Video Essay (Beyond Yourself) (Adaptability and Leveraging Power for Good) (255 Words)

How-To (Berkeley Haas MBA Application)

  • How to Answer the Haas Makes you feel alive Essay?
  • How to answer the Berkeley Haas Short-term and Long-Term Career Goals Essay?
  • Haas’ leadership-oriented curriculum
  • How to interpret Haas General Management curriculum
  • How to quote Experiential Learning
  • How to answer the Haas Essay on DEI
  • Understand Berkeley-Haas’ MBA Defining Leadership Principles Before Writing MBA Essays
  • How to Answer the Berkeley Haas MBA Embody Four Defining Leadership Principles Video Essay

+ The Art of Storytelling

+ Leadership Narratives

+ Review Tips

+ Persuasion Strategies

+ The Secret to "unleashing" your unique voice+ How to write about your Strengths

+ How to write about your Weaknesses

+ How to prepare and present for the Video Essay

Who Should Buy Haas MBA Essay Guide?

If your essay looks too bland, Haas MBA Essay Guide will show you, with examples, on how to use the elements of Storytelling like Incorporating "The Struggle", Using Emotional connectors, narrating the Journey and the use of Chronology, Vividness and Active Verbs to transform your essays.

If you are stuck in the Writing process, Haas MBA Essay Guide will show you how to silence the Analytic Mind and overcome mental blocks.

If you feel that the essays are not persuasive, Haas MBA Essay Guide will teach you how to use the W-Pattern narrative, Contexts, Turning Points and "The Show Don't Tell Approach" to write a Winning MBA Essay.

If you don't have enough leadership experience, Haas MBA Essay Guide will show you how to highlight non-obvious qualities like Trust, Focus, Listening Skills, Personal Responsibility, Humility, Self-Knowledge, and other secondary traits to prove your leadership.

If you don't know how to review your essays, Haas MBA Essay Guide will demonstrate how to improve readability with the power of iteration, and maintain your original voice by removing review biases.

Pages: 354

Entering Class: 2025

Author: Atul Jose, Founding Consultant (F1GMAT)

Over the past 15 years, Atul Jose has helped MBA applicants gain admissions to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, MIT, Chicago Booth, Kellogg, Columbia, Haas, Yale, NYU Stern, Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, Cornell, UCLA Anderson, London Business School, INSEAD, and schools in the top 30 global MBA ranking.

Through F1GMAT's Essay Guides, Atul is bringing the secrets of creating persuasive essays into an easy-to-read format.

Note: If you are targeting more than 3 top schools including Haas, learn more about Winning MBA Essay Guide (Includes Sample Essays and Strategies for Haas MBA)

Reviews: 

 

“Haas MBA Essay Guide” is a gold mine of writing tips for Haas and on creating memorable narratives. A five star from me." - Verified Purchase

"As an applicant who had completed the draft version of the Essays, I decided to purchase Haas MBA Essay guide after becoming a fan of F1GMAT's Newsletter. Right away, my writing style was challenged. I had to rewrite my essays to include stories, values and goals. My essays look much better. Thank you!" - Verified Purchase
 
"Leadership essays are the toughest. So after exhausting my search, I finally reached your tips page. The samples are brilliant and you taught me how to connect childhood experiences to leadership experiences." - Verified Purchase