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NUS MBA Application Essays 2020-21

 

Essay 1: How do you plan to spend your time on The NUS MBA to transform yourself personally & professionally? Briefly describe your experience to date, and how this and The NUS MBA can help you achieve your mid and long term career goals. (350 words)

Essay 2: How have people, events, and/or situations in your life influenced who you are today? (250 words)

Optional Essay: Is there any additional information relevant to your application that you’d like to share with the Admissions Committee? (200 words)

NUS MBA Winning Sample Essays – 1

 

NUS Essay 1: How do you plan to spend your time on The NUS MBA to transform yourself personally & professionally? Briefly describe your experience to date, and how this and The NUS MBA can help you achieve your mid and long term career goals. (350 words)

“Almost 1/3rd of the food produced in the world is wasted while 690 million people go hungry globally.”

I started my career as a software engineer but for the last 7 years, I have dedicated my life to social causes and worked at grassroots levels to ensure every child gets an education and no one sleeps hungry.

I am currently the founder of – “Waste No More”- an initiative focused on eliminating food hunger in Indonesia. We currently have partnerships with more than 10 large scale donors like grocery chains and hotels to collect and distribute approximately 1500 meals every week in Jakarta and its satellite city. We currently reach out to 5000+ beneficiaries across 22 communities. Now my long-term goal is to build a social enterprise mobilising technology-driven solutions to reduce food wastage in South East Asia and Indian Subcontinent.

As the founder, I wear multiple hats, but I spend significant time growing two critical aspects of our program – building partnerships with food donors and expanding the volunteer base. I have extensive experience in leading operations at the grass-root level for social organisations. Now in the short term, I want to upskill my business acumen, learn the strategic approach to continuously grow, and understand how to lead social enterprises to global success. I believe that an MBA from NUS followed by an experience of managing program operations at international organizations like Gates Foundation can get me exposure and help me understand how to scale social initiatives.

NUS MBA Essay 2: How have people, events, and/or situations in your life influenced who you are today? (250 words)

Back in 2013, when I was working at Accenture, my watchman came to my house and explained how his eldest son had failed 3rd standard in primary school for the 2nd time. He asked for a little help in teaching and motivating his kids to learn.

While I had no formal background in teaching, I agreed to teach and see if I could motivate them. I started teaching his son and a few other 5-8-year-old kids at home every day. That 1 year proved to be a powerful lesson for me in the virtues of patience and perseverance. Capturing the imagination of students who had lost interest in studies required me to think outside the box and come up with unconventional methods of teaching. Finally, I was able to build the conceptual foundation which helped these students pass their exam.

I was teaching these kids how to learn and pass mathematics exams but in turn these kids ended up giving me much more return. After seeing the smile of their faces and gratitude I got from their parents, I found a new purpose in life, and the confidence to create a real positive impact. This inspired me to bid adieu to my prospering IT career and work in the social sector full time. It was not easy to convince my parents and husband of my decision to switch sectors especially when I was taking almost 70% pay cut.

But with my newfound purpose in life, I was determined to chart a new course for myself. Looking back at all the impact that I created, I feel proud and my family is now very supportive of my career and the work I am doing.

NUS MBA OPTIONAL ESSAY : Is there any additional information relevant to your application that you’d like to share with the Admissions Committee? (200 words)

I would like to use this opportunity and tell the admissions committee about my full-time work at Waste No More. It is a volunteer-driven organisation where we do not take any monetary donation. I have dedicated myself wholly to the benefit of society and have not taken any salary for the last 1.5 years.

I moved to Indonesia because of my husband’s relocation for work purposes. In India, I was working with non-profit organisations in the education domain. In Indonesia, I encountered a troubling reality – with extreme poverty and no food to feed their children, education was a luxury these families just could not afford. Hunger was a much more pressing problem in these communities.

That’s why I changed my focus from education to hunger and started Waste No More. It was never a for profit organisation but a volunteer driven movement. Our expectations from our volunteers were just to do food collection and distribution, and our donor partners to donate surplus food.

We have never raised any money or asked for monetary donations. Due to this I haven’t taken any salary for the last 1.5 years and solely focused on growing waste no more through volunteers.

FOR NUS MBA SCHOLARSHIP APPLICANTS ONLY (250 words): 1.Please indicate the type of Scholarship you are applying for, and describe your fit for this scholarship.

I want to apply for scholarships promoting women in business and social entrepreneurs, positively impacting society. I believe my six-year experience in the social sector, and as the founder of a social initiative in Indonesia, makes me a strong fit for such scholarships.

When I started my career in the social sector with Avanti and Atma, I used my software engineering experience to launch a Remote Accelerator Program for Atma that increased our reach by 40%. As part of this, I worked with 40 women-empowerment NGO heads to build their leadership skills and create plans to overcome their most pressing challenges. These experiences taught me how to work with limited budget and still inspire people from diverse backgrounds to contribute for social good and.

After I moved to Indonesia due to family reasons, I decided to start my own initiative – Waste No More. Stepping into founder shoes has allowed me to grow a resilient leader where I have managed to establish partnerships with more than 10 large scale donors and inspire XXX volunteers to distribute approximately 1500 meals every week in Jakarta.

Despite not taking any salary at all for the last 1.5 years, my work in the impact sector gives me a great sense of satisfaction  and Post-MBA, I would love to continue working in the impact sector. However, I am cognizant of the high MBA tuition fees and thus, a scholarship can go a long way in keeping the burden of an MBA loan low, allowing me to continue working for the community’s welfare.

FOR NUS SCHOLARSHIP APPLICANTS ONLY (250 words): 2.Briefly share how you plan to “pay it forward” as a student and alum of the programme if you were awarded.

If I am awarded a scholarship, I would plan to “pay it forward” in primarily three ways.

First, I aim to continue working in the development sector. My short term goal is to join an impact organization like Gates Foundation and work preferably in the agricultural-development sector. Additionally, I would volunteer with organizations focusing on girl education and women empowerment providing them pro-bono consulting to address their most pressing growth challenges leveraging my experience from Atma consulting.

Next, I would aim to bring in more opportunities, through partnerships, for the NUS students and alumni to get involved in the impact sector for their close-to-heart causes in the form of internships, projects, volunteering or even periodic financial contribution. I would also guide individuals, as and if needed, to create new engagements while being part of the Sustainability, Ethics and Impact club.

Finally, in the long run, I would like to pay my gratitude forward by contributing to the scholarship funds at NUS so that future generations of students can continue to benefit from such scholarships the same way I would.

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