What You Can Learn from Zootopia About Setting Realistic MBA Goals

Zootopia, one of 2016’s top box office hits (grossing over $1 billion dollars), is an animated Disney movie showcasing impressive visuals, funny moments and a powerful theme of acceptance and inclusion. Seemingly a children’s movie, nods to iconic films and television shows such as The  Godfather, Breaking Bad, and older Disney works  prove to  entertain the whole family. In this entry, we will use this popular movie to illustrate how to strengthen one of the most  important aspects  of your MBA  application: identifying your ambitious, but achievable, post-MBA goals. Showcasing Your Achievements Like many MBA applicants, Zootopias main character, Judy Hopps, has excellent academic credentials (valedictorian of her class) and big goals. Judy also has an idealistic view of Zootopia  (the city in which she lives), believing that anybody can be anything. Although she  has  initial success in becoming the first rabbit cop amongst heavyweight mammals (such as buffalo, rhinos, and elephants), she still faces many struggles  in her career. Lessons Learned: As you write your MBA application essays, highlighting your various distinctions and achievements including  any  barriers you have broken  or obstacles you have encountered and surpassed (or hopped over)   will help  showcase that you possess the ability, drive and perseverance necessary  to achieve your future goals. Ability to Overcome Challenges The movie also deftly shows how Judy had  to grow through prejudices and biases, both of others and of herself, while still keeping her idealism and her belief that she can make an impact on her anthropomorphic world. Seeing Judy win over the trust  of her boss, who doubted her abilities to get the job done, makes us believe even more that she can achieve great things in the future. Lessons Learned: Sharing personal, vivid anecdotes of the struggles you have faced and how these challenges have helped you evolve and mature will make  your business school application more compelling. Sharing your failures, weaknesses, and realizations will allow the Admissions Committee  to understand and relate to you better. Remember, you dont have to be perfect nobody is! Using your essays to showcase  your  self-awareness,  how you have handled adversity, and how you have grown will make it more convincing that your post-MBA goals are not driven by blind idealism, but are grounded in reality and are actually achievable.  For example, if your  future  goal requires  working with regulators and big businesses across various industries to create social impact, it would be a good idea to share experiences of the similar challenges you have faced in the past, and how you have effectively collaborated with counterparts representing different agendas. As you identify your bold post-MBA goals, show that you have the experiences, skills and expertise that are necessary to accomplish these goals.   Be sure to refer to specific episodes in your past that display  your awareness of what happens on the ground, and that your path to  your goal  is based on a well-thought-out plan, with the next step being an MBA at your target program.  You could also identify the unique  benefits you would gain from an MBA at this particular program, enumerating the necessary steps to achieving your objectives. Outlining these various details will help convince the Admissions Committee that you know what you are getting into, why you need an MBA, and how you will succeed after graduation. Applying to business school? Call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today, or take our free MBA Admissions Profile Evaluation  for personalized advice for your unique application situation! And as always, be sure to find us on Facebook, YouTube, Google+  and Twitter. Written by Edison Cu, a Veritas Prep Head Consultant for  INSEAD.