Cambridge Judge MBA Application Essay Analysis 2021 – 2026

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Welcome to this article in which we’ll discuss the Judge Business School at Cambridge, UK. If you’re applying to Judge this year, 2018-19, you have come to the right place.

 

Let’s first look at the program. The first thing that sets Cambridge and Judge apart is that though the B-School is relatively new,  have this connection to this university, it’s a tradition! Cambridge is over 800 years old. Just imagine! That’s a lot of history. This is where Sir Isaac Newton actually held Chair. This is the place where the whole university system started. These are things that very few schools can boast of!

 

The second aspect is, If you’re looking for a one year program then yes, Judge has a  great one year program. There are very few one-year programs. Typically, you have two-year programs but the UK usually has a one year program, and of course, Cambridge is one of the best. A one year program entails accelerated learning, so if your opportunity cost is high, this might be the place for you.

 

The third thing is the fact that you’re in an English speaking country if you’ve decided to go to the UK.  The economy and Brexit apart, it’s an English speaking country, and it is culturally very similar. From an Indian perspective it makes a lot of sense to go to UK rather than to a place like France and Spain where language can be a huge constraint for you. Also, back home in India, and in many the other Asian countries, Cambridge has a brand value. You’re going to be Cambridge educated for rest of your life.

 

The last aspect, about the program itself is their curriculum. If you look at the website, they talk about their unique curriculum where they say it’s not just going to be about learning within the classroom but also through all the other activities that you do outside the class, be it Business Plan competitions , conferences that you will attend, or exchange programs, and so on. In fact, this is true for typical European MBA programs as opposed to US MBA programs. US MBAs have a  very quantitative rigour, while in a European MBA, UK MBA, it’s a lot about the experience and the ideas to transform you in that one year.

 

 

2018-2019 Cambridge Judge MBA Deadlines

 

 

 

 

2018-2019 Cambridge/Judge Essay Questions

 

There are three main essays that the Cambridge MBA application requires.

 

 

 

Essay 1

 

Personal Statement

 

This is similar to a Statement of Purpose, which you may have heard of when you were in college. Let’s look at each of the questions.

 

 

What is the function, what industry, what geography, and what are the potential employers and f titles you can potentially get? You must be very specific, especially for the short term goal. For the long term goal, maybe it’s okay if you’re not so specific; you can talk about personal aspirations, something that is more of a passion. You have a little leeway to talk about other things. However, whatever you say, it has to be aligned with what you have done. Which is why the second part asks “ What skills/characteristics do you already have that will help you achieve them?” This tells them that you’re the best equipped to reach those goals. So it’s very important for you to make that connect.

 

 

 

Here, they ask for very specific things that you’re going to be doing. So again here, there are looking at whether you have the required focus. Have you already planned on what you’re going to be doing in Cambridge? Maybe you want to work in Europe, in which case you’re probably learning another language. One of our students who went to Cambridge actually learned German. In India, we have Max Mueller Bhavan; he learned German from there.  The whole idea was to say that he was already equipping himself for a career in the UK.

 

Another student who wanted to get into the financial world, and had a CA ICWA finance background, ended up taking a CFA. He took CFA level 1 and 2. Why? Because you’re already equipping, you’re not putting everything on an MBA degree and saying that you’re banking on this MBA degree to get a job. This is before you get an MBA.

 

Then, within the MBA program, what is it that you would like to do at Judge. There is a plethora of options; what is it that you’re specifically looking at doing? Articulate this well.

 

 

In this case, my suggestion would be to not tread the unsure path. You need to tell them you’re very sure about this but you could possibly talk about a Plan B. Plan A could be to get into consulting, but your Plan B could be to get into operations within a company. The reason behind providing Plan B is to make the school comfortable that this is a person who knows that sometimes the best of our plans don’t work out and we need to have a back-up in place. They wouldn’t want someone coming and saying, “I am putting all my  eggs in this one basket called Cambridge MBA.”

 

How would you structure these 500 words?

 

My suggestion would be to first talk about your background. Who are you? Where is it that you come from? What do you possess? Based on this, where do you want to go? What are your short term and long term ambitions? Then talk about what you are going to do to bridge the gap. This could beat the MBA program or outside of it. So I would probably put around 150 words for each of the three parts and then 50 words for the starting and the finishing. Make sure that you have a strong start, and a strong finish. All put together, this essay should be about 500 words. Again, this is a very classic career goals essay.

 

 

Essay 2

 

 

The term “spectacular failure’, if you search for it, you realize it’s a management term that is sometimes used to say, “it’s a huge failure but it’s a failure from which I learned something.” I have heard that in Australia they have elite fighter pilots, and one of the questions that they ask them is “Have you failed at any point of your life?” and if they have not failed, they are actually NOT considered for the program. Guess why? Because they feel that if they have not handled failure, they will not know how to handle failure in the future. It is not a shame to admit failure. A lot of us wonder how we can tell someone that we failed. Well, trust me! Everyone fails in their life at some point or the other.

 

What is important here?

 

How did you bounce back? What did you learn? How does that make you a better person? How are you able to apply this learning to all your future endeavors ? That is what they are looking at! Don’t worry! Whatever your failure, don’t try to mask a success by talking about failures. Some of the mistakes students make is that they start writing “Oh, my project was in the doldrums. We had this….and we’ve been making losses…but…” and they eventually talk about how they eventually became successful. Don’t do that. If it’s a failure, just say you cut your losses and moved on.You could pick a personal or professional incident;  it could be something you learned from a relationship, or maybe something that you learned at work. Just describe the failure, and what you learnt.

 

 

Essay 3

 

 

A lot of your MBA experiences is going to be about teamwork. Most of the events, conferences and competitions are all student run. Hence, they are looking for someone who can gel well with others. Here, I would probably first talk about the differences, the diversities in the team. It is very easy to gel well with people who have very similar experiences but if you worked in a team where people have different backgrounds, different experiences, different exposure, you need to say how you were able to build a consensus.  The idea is not to say that you wielded a stick and told them that this was how you wanted it, but say whether you were you willing to let go of something, did you negotiate on something. So they would like to know more about this.After you have done this, say how you became a better person as result of that. How do you take this forward?.

 

I will give you an example of what someone had written about team-work. He said “One of my biggest problems was dealing with another team member. The problem was that whenever I asked him for anything, he would always say he couldn’t do it, and he would never go out of his way to help me. He is a negative guy.” Then he wrote that was one instance when the team member actually came to him and said “Hey, you know, I feel that you’re struggling at this point. Would you like me to help you?”  and he helped him in that particular case. The writer of the essay then asked the team member why he always said he wouldn’t do something when he was clearly helping now.  The team member answered, “Whenever I help someone, I would like to do a 100%. I don’t want to extend my help and then make you feel that I am here and I am not able to work on my promise.” That is the mindset he got to know. It’s always about learning something. That’s the whole idea behind an MBA experience. That’s what this essay is about.

 

So this is pretty much what we have for the Cambridge MBA Program. If you’re looking at applying to Judge we would love to see if we can work together on it. Why don’t you just go ahead, and click on this link below!

 

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We are sure that you are looking to do an MBA. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be checking out our article on how to draft the Cambridge Judge MBA application essays for 2020-2021, right? If you are looking to apply to top business schools outside the US, you can definitely consider applying to Cambridge as it is consistently ranked as one of the top B-schools in the world.

So, if you have made up your mind to apply to Cambridge Judge Business School this year or if you wish to know how to crack the B-school’s essay questions for this year’s applicants, you have come to the right place.

But before we get into the Cambridge Judge MBA application essay analysis part, here are a few points that you need to know about the B-school.

Getting things straight

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The Cambridge Judge Business School is a part of the 800-year-old Cambridge University and hence, it carries the legacy with it. So, when you apply to the B-school, you are in fact part of the larger Cambridge community giving you access to a larger pool of alumni and network.

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Imparting knowledge the right way

The one-year MBA program at Cambridge Judge Business School, which by the way is one of the best one-year programs, goes on from September to September. And as it is just a year’s program, you get to grab the return on investment faster.

If you check out their curriculum you will realize that they give almost equal weightage to qualitative and quantitative factors. Unlike B-schools in the US that have a very quantitative rigour, Cambridge Judge expects its students to gain experience outside the classrooms. And for this reason, the MBA program is designed in such a way that the candidates will have to work on two consulting projects, attend seminars, conferences outside the B-school and even work on a final project before they graduate. 

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With all this, the Cambridge Judge Business School follows a very unique curriculum and the MBA candidates benefit from all the different experiences and the kind of exposure they get once they join the course.

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What Cambridge Judge Business School is looking for

The one-year MBA program offered by Cambridge will have just around 200 students. As they strongly emphasize diversity, there is no student as a typical Cambridge candidate. The faculty members and the admissions committee at Cambridge are on the lookout for candidates who have performed well in academics, can showcase a clear career progression, have had international experiences and have a global outlook.

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Cambridge does a great job of getting to know their potential MBA candidates by inviting them for a two-day interview process on the campus. The shortlisted candidates will be given a campus tour, will have to attend college dinners in their ‘Hogwarts-like’ dining halls and give their interviews. This is a completely different interview process from other business schools.

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And here’s another difference: The interviews at the Cambridge Judge business school are conducted by their faculty members and nobody else.

What’s in it for you

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If you are an international student, here’s something that you need to know. The UK gives international students two years of post-study work VISa allowing the students enough time to find jobs and build careers. Isn’t that really great?

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Also, as mentioned in the beginning, once you join Cambridge Judge, you are not just a part of one institution. You are a part of a larger community which is the Cambridge University itself. This will help you build a larger network and have connections among candidates who are not just doing an MBA but other courses as well.

Moreover, you will be able to and will definitely have a lot to learn from your peers. They all come from different backgrounds and cultures. They all will have different experiences and learnings to share with you as well.

Cambridge Judge Business School MBA Essay Analysis 2020-21 

There are four essay questions that you need to submit if you need to complete your Cambridge Judge application. Through these four essays, they try to analyze your different aspects. You will get to know more about it as you actually go through the essay questions below.

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Cambridge Judge Essay Question 1

Please provide a personal statement.  It must not exceed 500 words, and must address the following questions:

i. What are your short term and long term career objectives and what skills/characteristics do you already have that will help you achieve them?

ii. What actions will you take before and during the MBA to contribute to your career outcome?

iii. If you are unsure of your post-MBA career path, how will the MBA equip you for the future?

Word limit: 500 words

 

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If you look at the question, you will understand that they are trying to get details about your career path. They want to know how you have planned out your career path and understand how you think Cambridge will fit into that.

Just like how we have mentioned in our other B-school essay analysis articles, we would suggest that you have good clarity on your career path before you start drafting this essay. 

It is not just about putting together 500 wors, right? It is about convincing them that they will not be making a mistake if they give you the admit.

Before you start answering the three questions, you need to give them a context. And by context, you should tell them about what you have learnt so far and about your career progress. You should be able to mention the transferable skills that you have acquired over the course of your career. It could be leadership skills or with some people, it can even be about understanding technology at the grassroots level and being able to implement it in any company! Your transferable skill will definitely be different from others’.

When you are stating your short-term goal, you need to be very specific. You cannot make a vague statement and expect them to be convinced. They need to know your goal exactly as it is to understand you better. So, be very specific when it comes to stating your short-term goal. But it is okay even if you are not that clear about your long-term goal. Let us say that your long-term goal is to become an entrepreneur. Don’t just state that and stop there. Mention what problem you wish to solve. Even though you don’t have to be really specific, there are certain points that you will have to mention to get clarity.

However, whatever you say, it has to be aligned with what you have done. Which is why the second part asks “What skills/characteristics do you already have that will help you achieve them?” This tells them that you’re the best equipped to reach those goals. So it’s very important for you to make that connection.

Let us look at the second part of the question. They want to know what actions you will take before and during the MBA to contribute to your career outcome.

When you answer this question, make sure that you just don’t talk just about Cambridge’s legacy. They know that already. You don’t have to tell them that. You need to tell them how you are going to utilize your time at Cambridge. How is the MBA going to impact you? That is what you need to answer.

Coming to the third part of the question, you need to give them even more specifics on how a Cambridge MBA is going to equip you for when you graduate. Here, you could talk about how the diversity that Cambridge offers will help you build a network. Or you can talk about how the unique curriculum followed by Cambridge is going to give you hands-on experience.

Given that you will be applying this year, during the time of COVID-19, see if there is anything specific that you can mention. They are always looking for answers that are sensible, different and unique.

Now, how do you split the words between each question in the essay: Utilize around 100-150 words to explain your transferable skills. You can use sound 150 words to write about your short-term and long-term career goals as well. Utilize the next 200 words to write about Cambridge and how it is going to help you.

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Cambridge Judge Essay Question 2

Describe a difficult decision that you had to make. What did you learn from this and how have you changed as a result?

Word limit: 200 words

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You can divide this essay into five parts:

• Context

• The options you had

• The decision you took

• The learning

• The change

You need to craft a story to write this essay. You need to give the context as to why you were in a situation in which you had to make a difficult decision. And then you need to tell them the options you had. The choices you had based on which you made the decision.

And then you tell them the decision you made. All this will make it clear to them as to why you took the decision. It could be even about having to let go of someone for a particular reason. That could be a difficult decision. And then what did you learn from it and how did you change? What is the change that this decision brought in your life?

This question is given by Cambridge to understand if you are self-aware and accommodative. They want people who can join them and make the best of their course. So, give them a good story from your life.

You can utilize 40 words for each part. But if you feel that there are certain parts that you need to use 50 words, feel free to use them and adjust them in the other parts.

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Cambridge Judge Essay Question 3

Describe the time when you worked with a team on a project. What did you learn from the experience and how might you approach it differently today?

Word limit: 200 words

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A lot of your experience at Cambridge is going to be team-based. You will have to contribute to projects while working in teams with your peers. Through this essay, they are probably trying to see how much of a team player you are and how you function when you are in a team.

Here’s how you can go about this essay. This is a format you can possibly follow:

• Situation

• Task

• Action

• Result

• Takeaways

First, you need to tell them when you had to work in a team. What was the project or situation that made you work in a team? And then you need to mention your task as a team member. What did you do particularly? This will give them more clarity on your role.

After this, you can write about any communication issues that came up or any other issues that came up that resulted in you learning something new. And in the part where you need to mention the takeaways, you can speak about how you would do it differently next time.

As you can see, this is a 200-word essay. You can probably make use of 30-40 words per section to clearly describe them.

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Cambridge Judge Essay Question 4

If you could one piece of advice to your 18-year-old-self, what would it be?

Word limit: 200

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When you are 18 years old, you are a little naive. And there are definitely a lot of things you would wish that you had known back then. So, you could write about one such thing with an example. That will be your essay.

Let us give you an example: Probably when you were in school, you thought that you won’t have to learn once you finish college. But now, you have realized that you will keep learning all your life. This could be something that you want to tell your 18-year-old self.

So, keep the essay personal and simple. GIve a good example and utilize the 200 words that you have here well.

Cambridge Judge MBA Application Deadlines

If you really want to get into Cambridge Juge Business School, you might want to keep these deadlines in mind. Moreover, with these deadlines, you can now plan your MBA application process better.

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Cambridge Judge MBA Application Deadlines

Round 1 September 07, 2020 

Round 2 October 19, 2020

Round 3 January 11, 2021

Round 4 March 08, 2021

Round 5 26 April, 2021

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So, here we leave you with the most important points and dates that will help you get into the Cambridge Judge Business School.

You can also watch this video to know what CrackVerbal GMAT Expert, Arun Jagannathan, has to say about drafting the Cambridge Judge MBA application essays.

And, if you feel that you need more help in drafting your essays or reviewing your application or let’s say, even brainstorming your ideas, you can always reach out to us.

You can click on the image below and get in touch with our expert.

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