Cambridge Judge MBA

Rankings | Class Profile | Employment Report | Sample Essays | Interview Questions

Cambridge Judge MBA – Introduction

The Cambridge Judge MBA comes from a top-ranked international university. It is one of the best one-year programs in the world, boasting more than 40 nationalities represented in a cohort size of around 200. Students begin in September and finish the following August. Curriculum-wise, the school boasts a rigorous 12-month program that includes 14 required core courses and nearly 50 elective offerings to choose from. Students can decide to concentrate on a variety of areas from energy and environment to finance to social innovation.

The school as a whole continues to put a strong emphasis on tech and entrepreneurship. Cambridge boasts “Silicon Fen,” which is the largest cluster of tech startups in Europe. The school has an Entrepreneurship Centre and a startup accelerator dubbed Accelerate Cambridge.

The Cambridge MBA proves to be a very worthwhile degree, especially for someone wanting the degree at an accelerated pace in an international setting. For more details Click Here…

Cambridge Judge MBA Rankings

Cambridge Judge MBA Class Profile and Employment Report

Cambridge Judge MBA Applications Tips

Essay 1: Please provide a personal statement. It should not exceed 500 words and must address the following questions:

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

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

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

Quick essay Tips – To write career essays for Cambridge MBA program, a very simple structure to follow is

1. Explain your current position and work experience → 2. State your short and long term goals → 3. Skillsets you have acquired throughout your career so far → 4. Explain what you currently lack to attain your short and long term goal → 5. Show how an MBA from school like Cambridge can help you bridge the gap in your skills to achieve your short term goal.

Detailed Essay writing Tips – The best and an easy approach to write this Cambridge application essay is to break it into two parts:

• First Half – explain “what are your goals and why you need an MBA”
• Second Half – establish ”Why or how the Cambridge MBA program is the perfect fit for you?”

First Half – Goals and why MBA?

Start with a strong introductory paragraph on who you are and what are your desired goals from an MBA.

Eg: “I am an engineer with four years of experience in the IT sector leading projects for clients across multiple countries. In the short term i want to transition from a software developer role to a product manager role” 

For the main body, start on a strong note, show what skills you already have. B-schools in general prefer to see strong academic track record, progress in professional career, client management exposure, leadership and international experiences. Highlight some of your key achievements with numbers or awards that you may have received. Show your outstanding performance via the promotions or opportunities to lead or international deputation.

After establishing the strengths of your profile, move on to show how the limitation of your current role and skills are hindering your future career progress or desired transitions. Establish the need for upskilling yourself which can only be done via an MBA at this stage of your career. Talk about how an MBA can enhance your business acumen, leadership skills, soft skills for communication and presentation or provide you the network to grow your career or business.

This sets the context for your “Why MBA” argument. The first half of the essay explains what you already have and what you lack to grow in your career. Lastly how an MBA can unlock opportunities for you to grow. 

Second Half – Why Cambridge MBA?

To answer the – “why Cambridge MBA” part of the essay, build your argument on 3-4 points which helps you fulfill the gaps in your skill set and achieve your goals. Reasons to choose the Cambridge MBA program should align with your reason to do an MBA as mentioned in the first half of the essay.

Ensure your reasons portray a holistic approach to how you intend to gain/upskill from the MBA program. An easy way to structure can be to break it down across three buckets –

• Inside the class – what excites you the most about the Cambridge MBA program in regards to the academic curriculum? Is it a particular specialization? Range of Electives? Quality of Professor?  Feel free to name drop a few.
• Outside the class – outside of the academics, how do you plan to make the most of the opportunities available at Cambridge? Clubs? Networking event? International exchanges? Leadership seminar? Speak with Alum, current students and find specifics which perfectly aligns with your needs to achieve your goals in a particular industry or function.
• Outside of campus – show how the overall school brand, alumni network which you would carry and be a part of long after your campus stint can help you build a successful career in the long term.

Closing argument

Summarize your entire essay in 3-4 lines and confidently portray how you believe the Cambridge MBA program is the perfect next step or logical step for you to achieve your career goals and how you would be a great fit and valuable addition to the class if selected.

For Cambridge MBA essay samples, you can also read some of the great essays written by our clients here on the sample essays page.

Essay 2: Describe a difficult decision that you had to make. What did you learn from this and how have you changed as a result? (up to 200 words)

Think through the difficult situations you had in life – big or small. Most people fall back to professional experiences but it is strongly advised to go beyond professional stories. It may be easier to bucket and think across three areas – professional, extra-curriculars, personal.

Then pick one of the stories that you think is impactful.

When illustrating examples, an easy method to follow is the STAR methodology. Situation → Task → Action → Result.

Start with describing the situation or problem at hand to give a background to the reader. Explain what was expected out of you to do and the consequence of the task. Explain how this difficult situation drove you to take certain initiatives or steps. Explain why it was a difficult decision to make. Lay out the clear alternatives you had and why you chose on over the other. Explain what challenges you faced in the course of taking certain actions. Show what the outcome of the action was and what are the results that you obtained. Explain what did you learn from this experience. Conclude by showing how this experience has tested certain qualities and how it has made you a better person.

Essay 3: Describe a time where you worked with a team on a project. What did you learn from the experience and how might you approach it differently today? (up to 200 words)

Think through a team project you worked upon as a team member or a leader. It can be from your professional environment or from volunteering activities. Then illustrate the story using STAR Methodology Situation → Task → Action → Result.

Start with describing the team activity you were involved with to give a background to the reader. Explain what was expected out of you to do and the consequence of the task. Explain how you contributed to the team goals and Explain what challenges you faced in the course of taking certain actions. Show what the outcome of the action was and what are the results that the team attained. Explain what you learned from this experience. Conclude by showing how this experience has tested certain qualities and how it has made you a better person.

Essay 4: If you could give one piece of advice to your 18-year-old self, what would it be? (up to 200 words)

You can talk about either a different career path, a missed opportunity that you let go for personal or other reasons, a quality that you want your younger self to possess etc, Whatever the case may be substantiate it with clear examples, giving proper background and justifying why is this the piece of advice you wanna give to your 18 yr old self. It is important to describe what your life could have been if this advice was taken earnestly when you were an 18 yrs old.

When illustrating examples or stories, a recommended framework is to follow STAR Methodology Situation → Task → Action → Result.

Start with describing the situation you were involved with to give a background to the reader. Explain what was expected out of you to do and the consequence of the task. Explain what challenges you faced in the course of taking certain actions. Show what the outcome of the action was and what are the results. Explain what you learned from this experience. Conclude by reflecting on what piece of advice would have helped you better in this situation.