ESADE MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines [2021 – 2022]

The ESADE (pronounced eh-SAH-day) MBA program in Barcelona, Spain, is a great option for applicants looking for a program that requires fewer than 2 years out of the job market but also provides an internship and even an international exchange option. ESADE offers a 12-month MBA, a 15-month option that includes an internship or exchange program, and an 18-month option that includes both an internship and an international exchange opportunity. Graduates do well: 90% secure a position within 3 months of graduating, increasing their salaries by an average of 113% over their pre-MBA earnings within 3 years of graduating. This really is an international student body: the 186 students in the class of 2020 hailed from 45 countries, and 85% of them choose to work outside of Spain upon graduation.

Resume/CV requirement

Please upload a copy of your Resume/CV.

The ESADE application form does not prompt the applicant to describe his/her accomplishments in each position, but allows space for a job description for each role. Savvy applicants will make sure that their resume/CV highlights the initiatives they led and the impact they made in each role.

ESADE MBA essay #1

Which aspects have you improved on during your academic and professional career so far? Which tools or values have helped you achieve this? (Maximum 3000 characters including spaces)

ESADE provides a “transformative” experience, but to benefit from it fully, students must be open to transforming. This essay provides an opportunity for you to demonstrate that you recognized areas in which you can improve, and then take action to do so. Among the most important aspects to ESADE are leadership, teamwork, and organizational skills. The second part of the question is asking for applicants to analyze what enabled them to make these improvements: personality traits, introspection, trusted mentors, and even a comprehensive professional evaluation system may be among the tools that applicants have found most useful. Sharing a story or two in this essay that show both the improvement and the tools/values at work will engage the reader and set a tone of interest for your entire application.

Check out our podcast interview with Judith Puigbo, Associate Director of MBA Admissions >>

ESADE MBA essay #2

How will your background, values and non work-related activities enhance the experience of other ESADE MBA students and add to the diverse culture we strive for at ESADE? (Note: The goal of this essay is to get a sense of who you are, rather than what you have accomplished) (Maximum 3000 characters including spaces)

ESADE has less than 200 students in each class, so each of them must be active to create a lively campus. This essay offers applicants an opportunity to demonstrate how they have helped create community in the past – on campus, in professional and social organizations, in their neighborhood, even in their family life. If an example from a professional environment is the one that best illustrates a value, then, yes, feel free to use it.

ESADE MBA essay #3

What are your motivations in pursuing a full-time MBA at this point in your life? Describe your mid-term and long-term visions for your post-MBA career path. What is it about ESADE you think will help you reach your goals? (Maximum 3000 characters including spaces)

This is a standard goals question. Applicants need to demonstrate that their goals are ambitious but fully realizable. Anyone whose goals are not seen as reasonable cannot be accepted because they will graduate unhappy at the discovery of that reality – after losing 12-18 months of their lives and €72,000 of their hard-earned (or borrowed!) money.

ESADE MBA essay #4

Complete two of the following four questions or statements:

1. 1. I am most proud of…
   2. People may be surprised to learn that I…
   3. What has your biggest challenge been and what did it help you learn about yourself?
   4. Which historical figure do you most identify with and why?

(Maximum 3000 characters including spaces)

All of these essay prompts aim to uncover interesting aspects of your background, both professional and personal. These questions provide applicants a chance to round out the admissions committee’s understanding of who they are, what obstacles they have faced in their lives, and what they’ve accomplished. These are very brief essays of approximately 180 words each, but stick to the character limits.

ESADE MBA essay #5

Please provide any additional information that you would like to bring to the attention of the Admissions Committee. This may include gaps in employment, your undergraduate record, plans to retake the GMAT or any other relevant information. (Maximum 3000 characters including spaces)

If you need to explain any of the standard issues – your direct manager doesn’t know you’re applying so you couldn’t ask him to write a recommendation, you completed your coursework in December but did not receive your diploma until the following May, etc. – then this is the place to make those clarifications. Even if you do not have any of these loose ends to tie up, you may use this space to add further clarification about who you are that just didn’t fit anywhere else. 

You’ve worked so hard to get to this point. Now that you’re ready for your next achievement, make sure you know how to present yourself to maximum advantage in your ESADE application. In a hotly competitive season, you’ll want a member of Team Accepted in your corner, guiding you with expertise tailored specifically for you. Check out our flexible consulting packages today!

ESADE MBA application timeline for 2021 – 2022

Deadline	Application submitted by:	Feedback given by:
1	October 5, 2021	November 23, 2021
2	November 23, 2021	January 18, 2022
3	January 11, 2022	February 15, 2022
4	February 15, 2022	March 15, 2022
5	March 15, 2022	April 19, 2022
6	April 19, 2022	May 24, 2022
7	May 24, 2022	June 7, 2022
8	June 7, 2022	June 28, 2022

By Jennifer Bloom, admissions consultant at Accepted for 20 years and Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW). She is an expert at guiding you to produce application materials that truly differentiate you from the rest of the driven applicant pool. If you would like help with your application, Jennifer can suggest a number of options that work with any budget. Want Jennifer to help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!

• Why MBA?, a free guide to writing about your MBA goals
• How the ESADE MBA Program Aspires to Make a Positive Impact, a podcasat episode
• Early Career Management and European MBA Programs with Jamie Wright, a podcast episode

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