Host: What is it that admissions committees want to hear?

David Petersam: They want to hear the sincere truth. A lot of applicants think that they can tell them what they want to hear. That doesn't work very effectively and the reason is simply because the applicant is going through this process for the first time, the admissions officer reviews thousands of applications every year. So the admissions officer has much better knowledge of what sincerity looks like than the applicant. So the golden rule is, be sincere, explain the reasons why you want an MBA, why you are a match made in heaven for the program, what your future career goals are and what you have to contribute to the school and don't worry if your answer looks different than someone else's. Given your unique profile, your unique answer should be a little bit different from someone else's.