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Please discuss the factors, both professional and personal, influencing the career decisions you have made that, in turn, have led you to your current position. What are your career goals for the future, and why is now the appropriate time to pursue an MBA at Name? How will you avail yourself of the resources at NAME to achieve these goals? 

Turkish news nowadays carry vivid images which have become terrifyingly commonplace: the surface of the sea littered with dead sheep; a landfill explosion leading to a number of deaths; vendors offering radiation-contaminated tea for half-price; a little girl's death resulting from her fall through an open sewage manhole in her schoolyard; radioactive waste sold to unsuspecting scrap dealers; a twenty-year-old tanker breaking into pieces, spilling hundreds of tons of crude oil into the ocean and killing sea life all around.

The frequency with which these environmental disasters fill Turkish news broadcasts -- along with the obvious insensitivity of the authorities towards both environment and health issues -- prompted me to learn about ways to prevent these types of disasters. At the age of fifteen, I decided to focus my studies on environmental sciences in order to equip myself with the technical tools I would need to make a real contribution.

After earning a master's degree in environmental sciences, I completed a professional international management certificate program in order to gain a management perspective of the field. I then realized that, in order to effectively combine my technical knowledge and management skills, I needed to accumulate real-world experience. Specifically, working at a large company would allow me to develop insight into various industries, as well as an overarching vision of the international business arena.

I have now worked for nearly two years in the energy and environment group of Koc Holding, Turkey's first and biggest diversified conglomerate. As a project engineer, I am mainly responsible for our holding companies' environment and energy sector investments. This position has given me the opportunity to interact with businessmen from all over the world, thereby expanding my international perspective. Because of my outstanding work performance, I was chosen to attend various meetings with local and international governmental bodies such as OPIC, IFC, and the World Bank. It is highly unusual for a young associate to represent the company at such events, and my self-confidence -- as well as my management skills -- was further enhanced by that successful experience.

While working in various business lines, including the automotive industry, consumer durables, and the energy sector, I have realized that the root cause of many environmental problems is financial. I believe that many people in the environmental sector are so ignorant or insensitive that they will cheat customers to increase profits. Furthermore, businesses do not prioritize environmental investments; as a result, insufficient funds are allocated to adequately prevent problems. For instance, despite a population over eight million people, Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, still lacks a properly operating sewage system. In most of the areas of the city, waste water is discharged directly into the Bosphorus.

In the long term, I hope to help solve my country's problems by starting my own environmental-services business in Turkey. The company will serve both local and international customers by providing cost-effective, adaptable solutions ranging from waste management to safety management. In order to accomplish this goal, however, I must deepen my knowledge of the field. Despite my experience, I still lack some important knowledge and management skills, especially in finance, marketing, and entrepreneurship. I am also aware that my knowledge of American environmental issues is insufficient. Since dealing with aspects of international business will be an integral part of my job as an entrepreneur, it is essential that I fill in these gaps.

The NAME School's MBA program is the perfect bridge from where I am to where I want to be. I am attracted by the inventiveness and uniqueness of its entrepreneurial and finance programs, and believe that I will increase my practical knowledge of entrepreneurship by interacting with my classmates. I value the fact that at NAME entrepreneurial education does not stop at the classroom, but rather continues through internships and extracurricular activities. I feel that a business school for entrepreneurs should balance a dose of theory with real-world application, and NAME's curriculum and hands-on experiences through associations, internships, and the management field study provide such balance.

I am also drawn to NAME because of the school's emphasis on teamwork and technology, reflected by such exciting courses and programs as High Technology Entrepreneurship, International Finance, 12-week field application projects, and the global immersion program directed to teach global thinking and global action. Additionally, the school's profusion of student groups and its flexible entrepreneurial program -- with electives from 200 courses -- will allow me to tailor my course of study directly to my career interests. It is precisely this flexibility that I plan to draw on while at NAME and beyond, by taking advantage of (and contributing to) the school's strong international alumni network.

Above all, a NAME MBA will help me strengthen both the finance knowledge and the entrepreneurial skills necessary to secure a position as an environmental specialist in a multinational American-based firm. Such a position, in turn, will prepare me to accomplish my long-term ambition of building my own company. By developing and maximizing the technical knowledge and managerial skills I have already accumulated, NAME will allow me to ultimately make a concrete and substantial contribution to Turkey's environment. 

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Although my experience in the United States has been challenging and rewarding, it is in Brazil that I aspire to make my greatest personal and professional contributions. Regrettably, the Brazilian political and economic situation has been characterized by a state of national crisis and disorder. The country's need for economic development and foreign investment is tremendous. While many attempts have been made to promote foreign investment in Brazil, the current volatile situation has been a strong deterrent. It is within this convoluted environment that I intend to apply my business skills and knowledge. My career goal is to create and run my own business consulting firm in Brazil, providing international firms and investors with the leadership, guidance, and partnership required to thrive in the Brazilian business environment. As a Brazilian, I do not see any other role I can play with more passion or desire. 

While Brazil offers opportunities in many industries, I intend to focus in the construction and real state development industry. Brazil already has many large and competitive construction companies, but there are still substantial opportunities for growth and development. With a population that exceeds 150 million people, Brazil represents the seventh largest market in the world and the largest economy in South America. Not surprisingly, Brazil's biggest business partner is the United States. Still, American companies have yet to recognize the country's full potential. The markets for automobiles, personal computers, and pharmaceuticals are far from saturated and benefit from an ever-growing demand for such goods. 

I plan to operate within this niche by extending the knowledge I have acquired in the United States -- leading projects and identifying opportunities -- to Brazil. My firm will guide international firms and investors from the initial stages of market identification through site selection, construction, and start-up with partnership, knowledge, and confidence. 

The broad and well-grounded knowledge of the engineering and construction industry I have acquired during my five years of experience with Fluor Daniel forms the foundation for my enterprise in Brazil. Through Columbia's MBA program, I plan to further build on this foundation by leveraging the experience in engineering and international management I have accumulated both in Brazil and in the United States. 

I have performed the design of several massive industrial and chemical process structures, such as a $430 million chemical plant for Wellman in Mississippi and the rebuilding of a $350 million Milliken carpet plant in Georgia. I have always been in the forefront of my profession, searching for innovative ways to solve engineering problems by integrating knowledge and technology, reducing cost, and increasing design serviceability. 

Over the past two and a half years, my passion for this industry has deepened substantially. I have been involved with the execution of several large construction projects. I have led the $410 MM General Motors project in Brazil and, currently, the $450 MM Aladdin Hotel and Casino project in Las Vegas. Brazil proved particularly exciting, since there I took on the dual role of lead contractor and cultural ombudsman. Decisions and discussions took on greater importance as I integrated opposing interests, developed common values, pushed cooperative continuity, and attained the objective -- project completion with collective success -- while interpreting language nuances and cultural disparities. Experiencing the first-hand impact that a project of that magnitude has on the local community was one of the most fascinating aspects of the experience. It was exciting to witness the changes that the new plant was already promoting in the area. 

New businesses were flourishing on a daily basis. This is precisely the type of impact that encourages me to further grow, develop in my career, and pursue my goals. 

The Aladdin Hotel and Casino project in Las Vegas has also been a unique experience. Cost overruns, schedule delays, low morale, and management disrespect had been rampant over the previous year. It has been up to me to change the status quo, secure project stability, and achieve success. Leading the changes on the Aladdin project has served to reinforce my belief that values such as honesty, integrity, consistency of purpose and actions, accountability, and respect form the basis for one's position as a leader. These values have provided me with a strong and solid foundation to perform my work. The results to this point have been very encouraging: a 40-story hotel tower, completed on time, within budget, and exceeding the industry safety records. 

While I am certain that my professional experiences so far will prove extremely valuable in achieving my goal, I seek an MBA in order to acquire the knowledge of the commercial aspects of real estate business, develop acute marketing and finance skills, and refine my management abilities. I have selected Columbia's program for several reasons: curriculum, location, global environment, and reputation. Columbia's curriculum specifically addresses and focuses on the knowledge and skills that I need to acquire in order to achieve my goals in Brazil. The school's real state development track (which I intend to pursue) is second to none. I also plan to take electives in international business in order to obtain the skills I need to launch my business. Finally, I will take advantage of the numerous elective courses in finance and economics. 

Columbia's teaching method is equally important for me. I believe that, while certain subjects can be better illustrated utilizing case studies, other concepts are best mastered through lectures. At the same time, cross-discipline group projects are ideal in simulating an actual business environment. Columbia's program features all three of these methods. I believe this approach will provide me with a holistic perspective of business, maximize my learning experience, and allow me to contribute the most as a student, as a professional, and as an individual. 

Columbia's location plays a very important role in my program selection. New York City's plethora of resources is unparalleled, and the proximity to great firms and institutions offers unmatched opportunities for me to forge professional contacts. Having lived in Las Vegas for over a year, I am used to a complex, dynamic city, and I know from experience that I thrive in such environments. 

The international focus of Columbia's environment reflects the type of environment that I have worked in. Throughout my career, I have worked with an international and diverse group of brilliant individuals. Starting in college, at the Construction and Automation and Robotics Laboratory, I worked with individuals from China, Korea, India, Ecuador, Jordan, and Egypt. There I developed an appreciation for the synergy that a diverse group of individuals can generate. At Fluor Daniel, I continued to work with an international body of professionals. I have no doubt that Columbia will be a perfect match for my abilities and desires. 

My career aspirations are ambitious, but I am certain that I will attain them and thereby become a driving force in Brazil's business economy. I turn to Columbia not just for its reputed excellence, but also for the key qualities of its environment: global, strategic, driving, challenging, and interactive. This is precisely the type of environment in which I have worked and succeeded; it is in this type of environment that I will continue to thrive.

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Fourteen years ago, I decided that I wanted to live in the United States, where I could succeed in any career path I might choose. For a high school student in the small Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan, this was a lofty ambition. After five years of crusading against socialistic bureaucracy, I finally boarded a plane to New York in 1991. I had finally achieved the goal that I had set for myself: I was free, in America, to determine my life's path. 

At first I was not certain about what I wanted to do with my future, but in the summer of 1993, my plans solidified. While I was visiting my parents in Kyrgyzstan, a friend of mine suggested that I call the American Embassy and ask for a list of organizations that might need a Russian/English interpreter. After calling a few such organizations, I began working for a group that was considering investing $10 million in the development of tourism in Kyrgyzstan. The group, though geographically diverse, all hailed from English-speaking nations: an ecologist from Australia, a lawyer from the US, and a specialist in handcrafts from England. They shared the common goal of helping the Kyrgyz economy to recover. (After the collapse of the USSR, Kyrgyzstan became an independent country, and a variety of international organizations have taken the opportunity to try to jumpstart the new economy.) After a month of working with this group, I knew that I wanted to enter the international business world and help to remodel the socialist economy in my homeland. I enrolled in Moscow State University and graduated in 1996, with a degree in International Trade. 

The next crucial step in my career advancement is to earn a master's degree in international business. I am eager to learn the psychology of the American corporate world. In addition, I want to acquire a solid grasp of marketing, with a particular interest in the marketing development of the Eastern European and Central Asian regions. Based on the courses the Robinson College of Business offers, as well as its academic reputation, I believe that it will fulfill my needs perfectly. My short-term professional objectives, therefore, are to gain admission to Robinson and to receive excellent grades while enrolled. I am prepared to engage in a challenging curriculum, made particularly difficult by my situation as a single mother. I will strive to set an example for Gabriel, my seven-year-old son, so that he too will learn to persist in attaining his goals. 

A few weeks ago, while reading a Russian newspaper on the Internet, I saw an advertisement for some American fat-burning pills. The English meant something like "Five minutes on your lips, all your life on your hips," but the Russian translation sounded extremely vulgar. As this amusing advertisement demonstrates, cross-cultural skills are critical to international business, but are often overlooked. My ability to speak Russian fluently and my understanding of Russian, Kyrgyz, and American cultures will help enable me to succeed in the global business economy. I think that my intercultural capabilities will be a major contribution to the Robinson student body, as well as an asset to my future career in international marketing. 

Along with my cross-cultural savvy, I also hope to bring to Robinson my previous academic experience in international marketing. My final project in Moscow State University was titled "Marketing of Russian Products & Services Abroad Using Stock Company Volga-Dnepr." I spent six months researching and writing my thesis on Volga-Dnepr, a joint venture of the British company Heavy Lift and the Russian company Volga-Dnepr, and a leader in the Russian cargo transport market. I spent most of my time in the marketing department, observing the creation of a company's portfolio, its advertising strategies in the international market, and its relationships with Russian and foreign clients. The experience proved absolutely fascinating, and I hope to encounter similarly exciting academic endeavors at Robinson. 

After studying international marketing in-depth and graduating from Robinson College of Business, I hope to secure a position with a company that operates in Eastern Europe, CIS, or an ex-Soviet republic. My long-term professional objective is to find a job that fully utilizes my unique educational and cultural background. My ideal job would be with a marketing department--I would like to be involved in promoting new products and enhancing the image of current ones. Furthermore, I am interested in conducting marketing research, and building new relationships between American and Russian companies. I might also enjoy working for an international company here in the States, or perhaps in a company like USAID. Eventually, regardless of what career path I choose after earning my degree at Robinson, I would like to return to Russia and teach Russian and Kyrgyz companies the key principles of international marketing. I know that I may be aiming high with my career objectives right now, but I have learned from my life thus far that I am capable of achieving my dreams if I set my mind to it. As Henry David Thoreau wrote, "In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, they had better aim at something high."

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One of my most important accomplishments occurred during my association with a restaurant chain, for which I served as director of real estate. As a relatively new corporation, this business realized that it could only grow by opening more outlets. I played a key role in helping it achieve that critical objective. I was responsible for opening nine additional stores (there were six when I joined the company), which brought company sales from just under $10 million to $27 million by the time I left.

It was my assignment to find and lease appropriate sites for our new restaurants. This was a complicated process for a number of reasons. For one, due to construction restrictions and a brisk economy, there were very few buildings available in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area. This created a landlords' market, with high rents and conditions not generally conducive to restaurant expansion. In this environment, I had to be especially resourceful and aggressive in order to do my job. Then, once I found a location that met with top management's approval, I was in charge of negotiating the deal. Such deals are complex because one is negotiating not only with landlords and attorneys but also with space planners, contractors, the city, and the health department. In the case of spaces in regional malls, I often had to work with the in-house architect and construction supervisor, as well as with the owner's design review committee. It was necessary to understand and comply with the requirements of all these various entities, although negotiation was always very much a part of the process. In my earlier experience as a broker with a major real estate firm, I operated from a different position, representing a buyer or a seller. As real estate director for a corporation, I was suddenly an in-house principal, part of a corporate team, and it was essential that I take into account how the details of each deal would affect our business. The restaurant chain is a real estate-driven business, so my work and accomplishments were particularly vital to the company's success during this crucial phase of its development.

Another of my most important accomplishments was helping the homeless through my work for a foundation, of which I am a co-founder. This experience was remarkable because it afforded me the privilege of making a positive difference in the lives of others. The foundation achieves its goals in a number of ways. For example, for one local Family Living Center, we brought together builders and developers (who provided their services on a volunteer basis) to upgrade existing facilities, some of which were quite old and decrepit. I coordinated the work of construction teams doing the improvements. I would define the scope of the project and then assist the general contractor in subcontracting the work. I also had to go through the city permit process, which was quite unusual due to the fact that ours was a structure for the homeless.

Also, for three consecutive years, I was the operations man for a major 10K Race for the Homeless, which I originated and which was designed to raise both money and the public's consciousness of this problem. Each year about six months of planning and work would be required to set up the event, which involved many elements. Among other activities, I had to coordinate all aspects of the race with the city, police, and fire departments, establish the course and have it certified, secure the cooperation of affected neighborhood groups, and set up a complex management structure (to recruit and train volunteers as well as handle a myriad of other details). During the three years I was involved, participation in the event increased threefold and the amount of funds raised increased fourfold.

During a recent spring, I was presented with an opportunity to make a big difference in another person's life. At that time there was a six-car pileup on a highway in northern California. Heading north on the freeway just moments after this accident occurred and when the road was still open, I found my attention riveted to one particular car--crushed like an accordion--that was on fire with its driver still inside. I quickly pulled to the side of the highway, parked my car, jumped out, and ran to the car on fire. Its occupant, a teenage boy, was in a state of shock. I attempted to calm him down and then, with the help of another motorist, I used a crowbar to open the car's door. I extricated the driver from the wreckage and carried him to the side of the road before his car became totally engulfed in flames. The boy suffered a broken leg and hip, but he survived. My act was heralded in the newspapers and recognized by a citation from the highway patrol and the county in which the event occurred, but this hardly equaled the feeling I received from having saved this boy's life. Mine was a totally spontaneous and unpremeditated act, but I regard its consequence as one of my greatest accomplishments.

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As a Marketing Manager with ADP's corporate marketing department, I have been assigned to lead various product-specific marketing initiatives supporting a diversified group of business segments. Among these tasks, none was more important to the strategic direction of the business than leading the development of ADP's web site adp.com. 

ADP, a leading $5 billion technology company with over 425,000 clients worldwide, lacked a consistent or aggressive Internet strategy. Instead, each business unit or division was driving its own website strategy and execution. More often than not, the result was a fragmented message: a cluttered, company-centric website that failed to effectively communicate our broad range of products and services. Despite its market leadership, ADP was meeting neither the expectations of users nor the needs of clients. The company was also missing a tremendous marketing opportunity and risking losing market share because our competition was operating at a far higher level than ours. Realizing that corporate marketing could add value across the company's business segments, I initiated and led a plan to redesign the website and fully leverage the Internet as a marketing channel to drive branding, product awareness, and sales leads through an integrated and path-driven website. 

My role was specific: develop a strategy to improve navigation, communicate the complete range of ADP's products and services, optimize the flow of traffic to drive leads for the business segments, persuade visitors to purchase ADP products and services online, and create a platform for ADP's evolving E-business strategy. This initiative was highly challenging because of the complexity of the service offerings, the diversity of the business, and the overwhelming political bureaucracy within the organization. 

With a limited budget, limited resources, and limited supervision, I designed a four-phase strategy to re-evaluate the current website and replace it with an active, path-driven site. The strategy included a review of the company's current navigation and content, a strategic assessment mapping navigation and functionality against corporate and divisional objectives, and the design and architecture of the site. Furthermore, we developed a plan to validate our recommendation with market feedback through client and prospective client focus group interviews. 

The first phase encompassed an overall program review, analysis of all current ADP and industry Internet market research, a web traffic audit, and internal interviews with senior management. In familiarizing ourselves with current industry practices, we also reviewed ten competitors and twelve business-to-business leaders' websites. These 22 sites were carefully evaluated for their relative strengths and weaknesses in the areas of navigation, content, degree of user-centricity, and organization. The second phase included a design exploration. Working together with a web design firm, we developed five different design options. In phase three, we gathered market feedback through focus group interviews conducted with both clients and prospects based on the current web site and on the new design options. The final phase involved feedback-based revisions to the designs, which will be presented to ADP's Executive Committee in April and launched in May 2000. 

The project was a success. Our recommendation was received with exceedingly positive feedback by both the business units and the Executive Vice President of Marketing. In addition, I have been awarded with the honor of presenting the project to the Executive Committee in April. Our long-term goal is to develop an entire adp.com team dedicated to servicing clients and marketing on the Internet. 

The management skills I have gained from this project have been invaluable to my career growth. I have learned the value of qualitative and quantitative research, experience in fiscal management and project management, and the importance of matching corporate strategy to Internet strategy. More importantly, the experience has taught me the value of gathering senior management "buy in" through the progression of a project. I was able to successfully gain the support of senior management by maintaining open communication and making them part of the process. Ultimately, this support was critical to the success of the project, which has brought my department and me increased visibility within the company -- a development that, in turn, has led to more important projects. Through the success of adp.com, I am now regarded as an effective and respected manager who has the ability to analyze and lead complex projects from concept to completion while gaining the support of senior management.

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Choose a recent experience in which you acted as a leader. Briefly outline the situation, then describe your leadership role, how you were effective, and what you learned.

My most significant leadership experience occurred during a recent Bain & Company project for a major telecom firm in Brazil. I was assigned to lead 25 client staff members -- all of them much older than me -- in evaluating the firm's 584 dealers on a tight deadline. I must confess I was initially frightened by the task, since my peers would be counting on a recently arrived consultant. 

Yet the team was excited about the project. To leverage this motivation, I delegated as much responsibility as possible. During one meeting, for instance, we were discussing what kind of information we needed from our dealers when one member claimed he would not be able to translate into practice the ideas I was proposing. Realizing that he would lose motivation if I simply told him what to do, I let him design the part of the evaluation sheet he was complaining about. He did a great job and became one of the team's most active members. 

To follow our progress closely, I divided the project into four parts. After each part was completed, I evaluated the results and reported them to the group. Moreover, I always encouraged my peers to celebrate their achievements. Combining these incentives allowed me to show them that, although their performance had been fine, they needed to make an even greater effort to complete the project successfully. 

I quickly earned the respect of the team: members often asked for my opinion and informed me about the latest results. I believe that this development was largely due to my ability to recognize that people do their best when they share responsibility for the outcome of a project. More importantly, I discovered that successful leadership is closely related to the capacity to motivate others through clear and continuous communication.

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For the first 20 years of my life, my activities--and self-confidence--were circumscribed by the fact that I was a chronic allergic asthmatic. I was underweight, not as strong or as well as my peers, and unable to participate normally in sports. At night I was unable to sleep without an inhaler beside my bed. I was forced to ingest heavy medication on a daily basis.

At the age of 20 I started running (slowly at first), because I discovered that this exercise--although routinely precipitating a mild asthma attack--would later enable me to sleep through the night. Very gradually, my runs became longer. My strength improved, the severity and frequency of my attacks lessened, and soon I was able to discontinue all medication. More remarkably, after about seven years I was actually able to run 20 miles with no problem at all. This accomplishment was an enormous confidence booster, as it demonstrated that a normal, healthy life was possible for me and that I could achieve anything if I set my mind to it.

Eventually it was a logical step for me to progress into competition. I found myself running in marathons and, finally, competing in triathlons. In 1983, in fact, I successfully competed in the Hawaii Ironman triathlon, arguably the most arduous and certainly the most celebrated single-day athletic endurance event.

I have assiduously pursued aerobic exercise for the past 11 years, ever since I discovered that such endeavors were finally possible for me and were the means by which I could attain physical strength and well-being. It was a long and arduous road--from huffing and puffing (and wheezing) my way through tentative one-mile runs to involving myself in the rigors of the triathlon--but I was determined to become fit and to stay fit.

It has made all the difference.

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I met Erika two years ago. She grew up in a provincial Mexican town called Leon. According to the region's conservative customs, women are expected to marry and serve their husbands. Practically all women there accept their fate; Erika is one notable exception. Rebelling against the constraints imposed on women, she risked social rejection by persuading her parents to let her study engineering in Mexico City. She hoped to influence people's lives and become a well-rounded individual. 

At that time, there were only two women studying engineering at the university. Professors didn't expect a woman to become a good engineer and didn't dedicate much time to her, so she had to put in twice the effort to obtain the same grades as her male classmates. She graduated with honors and decided to join P&G, where I met her. Very soon, her strong business vision and leadership skills earned her a fast promotion to brand manager. However, she felt that P&G was not giving her all the skills needed to help people, so she enrolled in a London MBA program. 

When she returned to P&G, she was promoted to director. She had been planning to start a non-profit organization to help illiterate women when her mother was struck with cancer. Without a moment's hesitation, she left her promising career to achieve her goal in life: helping others. She now spends half of each day taking care of her mom and the other half teaching illiterate women. 

Erika has had a deep influence on me. What I most admire about her is her strong belief that we have the responsibility to help others become better persons. She lives according to this credo, which she has used as a guideline since she was very young. She has shown me the importance of a attaining a balanced life and contributing to society while accumulating practical skills. Most recently, she has encouraged me to obtain an MBA, because it gave her the skills needed to complete her development and help others.

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Identify someone you regard as a hero, a leader or role model whom you admire. Describe how this person has influenced your development. 

My single most influential hero is my father. He has transmitted two principles on which I have founded my actions and success: hard work and honesty. 

My father worked harder than any man I know to arrive where he is today. Fifty years ago, growing up in the aftermath of World War II, he was the third son of peasants in the poor Southern Italy. He left his family at the age of 10 to study in a school one hundred kilometers away -- fifty years ago, that was an enormous distance. By the time he entered university, he had to work to support himself. He was often tempted to return home and work in the fields, but he felt a moral obligation to improve the conditions of his parents, and he felt that the best way to do that would be by acquiring a solid education. Thanks to his persistence and hard work, he is now a high school headmaster. 

My father likes to repeat the Latin saying "gutta cavat lapidem," which means "a drop of water can break the rock." I have always felt that I have a duty to improve my father's life -- to go on breaking as much rock as possible, so to speak. The second principle I abide by is honesty. At the age of 14, I decided to attend a school in the city where my father worked. Since he is a politician, he decided to move to another town, in order to avoid a conflict of interests. He refused to follow the bribery and corruption rampant in his professional field. I therefore want to be a leader like my father, who is widely respected for his achievements and moral integrity.

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Describe a failure or setback in your life. How did you overcome this setback? What, if anything, would you do differently if confronted with this situation again?

While working towards my PhD, I spent the summer of 1995 as an intern at Ford Research Laboratories (FRL). I was working in the industry for the first time, and I found every aspect of my internship to be exceptional. I had a supportive boss who gave me the freedom and resources to define and manage my project. In addition, I was provided a nice apartment for the summer and had great roommates. The whole experience was memorable.

By the time I returned to Wisconsin to continue my doctoral research, I knew I wanted to work at FRL. I planned to finish my PhD by the end of 1996, and I had been offered an internship at FRL again for the summer of that year. I accepted it, hoping that I would obtain an interview for a full-time position. Sure enough, my supervisor was extremely pleased with my performance and wanted to hire me. He asked me to stay on at Ford and finish up my thesis while he obtained the necessary approval to interview me. Meanwhile, I was so sure this was where I wanted to be that I did not even search for other jobs. 

Right at that time, Ford had a quarter of poor profits, and FRL announced a hiring freeze. It was November of 1996, and I had just submitted my dissertation. Since I was no longer a student, I could not use the university job placement services. Moreover, as an international student I had a unique problem: my employer had to agree to sponsor me for a work visa. 

After searching for a couple of months, I was finally offered a position at ITT Automotive. It was a nice job, but definitely not one I had dreamt about. Besides, the position was in Ohio, and my wife worked in Detroit. I spent a year and a half at ITT as their in-house expert in metal casting and computer-aided engineering. I benefited from the experience and obtained a fresh perspective working in a smaller organization where I had to be versatile. But I still wanted to be in research, and my job duties at ITT offered no scope for research. To remain an active researcher in metal casting, I proposed research projects that would help ITT improve its process development capabilities. With the support of my management, I initiated these projects in addition to performing my assigned duties. Meanwhile, I kept in touch with my supervisor at FRL. A year after I joined ITT, he mentioned that he was moving to a different division at Ford and had recommended me for his spot. A month later I was interviewed by Ford and offered his job.

I enjoy being back at Ford and working in the same city as my wife. I realize that I was partly responsible for the problems I faced. I was obsessed with working at FRL. I lacked the maturity to understand that it never hurts to keep one's options open. I should have interviewed with other research labs while I was at school. Given the choice, I could always have chosen FRL. 

Today, I do not see research as the only creative and challenging career path. I have enjoyed being in research, and now I desire to move on to other challenges.

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Please comment on the following quotation, giving relevant reasons and/or examples from your personal experience to support your answer: "Mistakes are the portals of discovery" -- James Joyce 

When I was still a teenager, I spent many hours reading comic books and frequenting comic book conventions. When a friend proposed that we launch a business to sell these colorful collectibles, I could hardly contain my excitement. Even though such a venture required a large sum of money (especially for a teenager), I was swept up in thoughts of a lucrative payoff and made the investment. Despite our intimate knowledge of our product, however, we could not compete with the discounts neighboring dealers could afford. I still own some of the comics we were unable to sell; they are physical reminders of my premature entry into the business world. 

Even though my investment was a failure in terms of finances, I do not regret the result. Without it, I might never have developed the drive to learn more about what had gone wrong. After my short-lived comic book store experiment, I knew I would need to refine my understanding of business and economics if I wanted to succeed the next time around. I began reading the business section of the newspaper and became fascinated by what gave profitable companies their edge. Eventually, I successfully pursued an internship at Smith Barney, where I developed the skills necessary to analyze companies through fundamental and technical analysis. I have drawn on these skills regularly at my current position, where I must continually keep up with recent developments and formulate conclusions about companies and industry trends. 

Years after we closed down our comic book business, I had another experience that taught me about my own weaknesses. Just before I was promoted to Team Leader at PIMCO, I successfully trained new recruits by refraining from micro-managing them and encouraging independent thinking. I began my new assignment as Lead convinced that all I needed to do was repeat that approach when supervising a seasoned team. What I did not understand was that new recruits felt the need to impress, which made them more self-motivated in their responsibilities. I had expected the seasoned group members to be proactive and self-sufficient, and I was disappointed when several associates missed their deadlines. Frustrated, I tried to single-handedly compensate for their failure, putting in excessive overtime. After three weeks of this frantic work schedule, stressed out and exhausted, I realized that a group effort was necessary and decided to figure out why the team was not functioning efficiently. 

I started out by getting to know members of the team better, ascertaining their different strengths and motivations. By adjusting the way I interacted with each associate, I dramatically improved our morale, and as a result our output increased. Furthermore, I discovered that when workloads were delegated properly -- based on individual skills and capabilities -- deadlines were met far more frequently. Once again, an early failure spawned long-term success. The lesson I learned about accommodating professional diversity has become a central part of how I do business, not only with employees at PIMCO, but also with clients and underwriters. 

My most memorable and enduring learning experiences have stemmed from suffering the consequences of my own mistakes, and those lessons have shaped me into the person I am today. In this respect, James Joyce's concise observation that "mistakes are the portals of discovery" could not be more accurate. In the short term, my mistakes were costly and painful, but they allowed me to refine my interests, such as my taste for finance, as well as my interpersonal and leadership skills. I hope to share my hard-earned lessons with other students at Stern. I believe that, by exchanging these types of lessons with classmates from various backgrounds, I will actively contribute to Stern's dynamic learning atmosphere.

Sample Essay

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I was born 31 years ago in Alabama, where my father was on temporary assignment as an engineer for a company with a military aircraft contract. Our stay in the South was brief, however, and I was still an infant when my parents returned to their native New Hampshire with my older sister and myself.

Within six years, another sister and two brothers were born. We all lived in a cozy ranch-style house on six acres. I have many pleasant memories from my time in this home, which was located at the end of a long, tree-lined dirt road. The setting was beautiful, there was space to roam, and a picturesque river was within walking distance. For a while my father continued to work for the same company, which was developing an experimental aircraft. When this company failed, though, he became a radiation health physicist for the state.

Mine was the classic small-town upbringing in many respects. The values I learned were typical for someone growing up in a community in which everyone knew his neighbors and in which family and religion played important roles. I always did well in school and was quite popular with my peers. Sports, especially baseball, were my passion from an early age. I played on a series of different baseball teams, including one that made it to a local championship. I was even part of an all-star Little League team when I was 12. My mother was eager for me to test my aptitude in other areas as well, and so she involved me in art, piano, guitar, and tap dancing, none of which engaged my interest as much as sports.

My parents were fairly devout Catholics and raised their children accordingly. I was an altar boy at church and spent four years at a private Catholic boys' high school. While there I attended an institute which groomed upcoming seniors for leadership positions in the student body. I exercised what I learned as a group leader at special religious events as well as in programs for retarded children.

The most memorable event of my youth was, sadly, the breakup of my parents' marriage. I will never forget the day a moving van pulled into our driveway and my mother announced to my brothers, sisters, and me that we would be relocating to another house. While I had known there were problems between my parents, this was still an unexpected and shocking development. I was a sophomore in high school, and my idyllic world was shattered. My mother, who was a registered nurse, began working again, spending long hours in a nearby hospital. My brothers, sisters, and I, who had always had the normal sibling conflicts, became much closer in the aftermath of our parents' split, and our new rapport was a source of comfort to all of us. But there were other, less positive ramifications. I did not do well in school that year, at one point skipping class for a month. Somehow I recognized on my own that I needed to be living in a more disciplined environment than existed in my mother's home and, as a result, returned to my father's house, where I lived during the balance of my high school years.

Sample Essay

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Please provide us with a summary of your personal and family background. Include information about your parents and siblings, where you grew up, and perhaps a highlight or special memory of your youth.

I grew up on a small cattle farm in Donegal, just ten miles from the border separating the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. My father has retired due to health problems, and my now mother runs our farm. Every year, without fail, she produces 30 cows for the local market. Although my ancestors have lived on the same piece of farmland since 1642, while I was growing up my family was very poor. 

I have three younger brothers, currently aged 25, 19, and 14, each of whom has a unique character. Alan is a sensitive soul -- the poet amongst us. Brian is a natural fighter, a feisty Irishman. James, the baby of the family, is now a teenage wheeler-dealer and the most likely to inherit the farm. As for myself, I was the archetypal "big brother": bossy, no doubt, but always eager to lend advice, jump into a game of soccer, or wipe someone's tears away. Because of our scarce resources, my brothers and I shared almost everything, from toys to farm chores. 

Apart from helping my brothers, I had other duties that resulted from being the eldest. When I was a teenager, my father was periodically ill with a heart ailment. Because my mother had to care for my younger siblings and monitor my father's care, I took on the responsibility of managing our farm during his absence. I often had to balance my schoolwork with such tasks as milking the cows and repairing the tractor. These experiences had an enduring impact on me. In fact, my desire to be an entrepreneur and to someday manage my own business stems from this period. I also learned some lasting, if elementary, business skills. For example, starting at age 16, I often attended cattle sales in our rural Irish community, where I would haggle with much older and extremely shrewd farmers over the price of cows. Just ten years later, I found myself using those very same negotiating skills in the conference rooms of the U.S. Senate. 

My mother came from a poor family, but notwithstanding her excellent grades, her parents pulled her out of school at age 13 to work. Despite her own lack of schooling, she encouraged us to pursue higher learning. One of my most vivid memories of the way she looked out for our interests concerns an episode during which my elementary school teacher labeled me a slow learner. At age eight, I was made to repeat a grade and channeled into a "special needs" program. Unsatisfied with this "official" diagnosis, my mother began tutoring me herself after school. She soon discovered that, rather than failing to understand the material presented in class, I had already absorbed it and was thus merely bored. Moreover, the teacher had mistaken my intellectual curiosity and natural inquisitiveness for a failure to understand the concepts that she was teaching. Sticking to her guns, my mother insisted that the administrators return me to the regular class. Having achieved this, she always saw to it that I had access to stimulating material. 

My father, who left school at age 14, is a hard-working man. He is easygoing, with a dry sense of humor and a gift for imaginative storytelling. Although his peers frowned upon education and couldn't understand why he was working the farm alone while we went off to school, he held a different view. He lavished us with support, and he is still the first to offer encouragement for any venture we pursue.

Although I grew up in a wonderful family, I was also born into a society that was divided along ethnic lines. The fact that I was a Presbyterian in the Republic of Ireland had a major impact on my life. In 1971, the year prior to my birth and just before my country's political troubles exploded, the Republic of Ireland's census recorded a population of just 125,685 Protestants. Within this Protestant community there were only 16,052 Presbyterians, a mere 0.54 percent of the total population. 

Unlike most Protestants in the Republic of Ireland, who are usually from the professional classes and live far from Northern Ireland, my family had neither the shield of social class nor distance from the border to protect us from Ireland's ancient quarrels. As a result, we were sometimes the victims of harassment from the local Catholic majority. To walk the streets of the nearest town in the uniform of my Protestant high school was to invite taunts and occasionally physical violence. Sporadically, even terrorism affected our lives. In 1978, my mother's cousin was killed in a bomb explosion, and earlier that decade my uncle barely survived an assassination attempt.

In 1990, I left Donegal to attend university in Dublin. Although Dublin is far removed from the Northern Ireland conflict, my ethnic background continued to influence my life. A direct challenge to my values came during my third year in college, when I met my future fiancee. Our socio-economic backgrounds were nearly identical (we were among the few Trinity students from poor, rural families) except for one thing: she was Catholic, and I was Presbyterian. As we grew closer, I was faced with the task of confronting my own deeply held prejudices as well as those of my tightly knit family. I faced this challenge directly but sensitively, helping my family to accept and cherish our relationship. 

Looking back at my upbringing today, I appreciate just how fortunate I am. My family created a loving home in which I was able to develop the self-confidence that I need in order to overcome many of the challenges that I face in my career. In addition, growing up in a family of very modest means, and being conscious of my parents' sacrifices, has given me a powerful sense of drive. From my own experience, I realize that many people have not had the chances to succeed that I have been given; I am therefore determined not to squander the opportunities that I receive.