McCombs has been fairly consistent with its essay prompts. Since the past 5 years, it has asked some variation of the “Introduce Yourself” essay with only slight tweaks.

This year, McCombs has added an additional statement to the essay prompt, steering you away from information that has already been covered in your resume and recommendation. The idea here is to present a holistic view of yourself encompassing both personal and professional elements. Think about the qualities, values, passions and achievements that you want to communicate through the essay and weave them into a story that gives a holistic picture of who you are. While your CV would cover most of the professional highlights of your career, you may want to use this essay to connect how your key values and interests have driven your personal as well as professional pursuits. It may be a good idea to add a few closing lines on how you will leverage your interests and experiences to contribute through specific platforms and opportunities at McCombs.

The choice between the two formats would depend on your personal expression style. If you are more of a quiet, thoughtful type who loves to write, the essay format would be a better choice. In contrast, extroverts with a bright personality and demeanor would find the video format working better for them. The video might require a little bit of extra work in terms of location, practice and editing but this would be worth the effort if you sincerely believe that it would present your personality better. While the school may not have any preference on the medium of your answer, a video done well can certainly get you some brownie points.