At Menlo Coaching, we noticed that most MBA essays will fall into one of a number of categories: personal essays, career goals essays, behavioral essays, etc. Read ahead for our expert guide on approaching these essays for Foster School of Business.
New for 2026-2027: Foster now asks applicants to disclose any use of AI tools on the application via the Foster Integrity Statement. The school’s guidance is that AI may assist in refining your essays, but it should not create them — advice we would give anyway: the stories, and the writing, need to be yours.
The Foster School of Business “blends experience and professionalism” to create a community of peers who are eager to work and enhance their capabilities in the business world. The class sizes are kept purposely small, enabling closer connections and communication between classmates and the students and faculty. Through the story you relate in your essay, the admissions council is looking to see if you reflect the same values that the school does. UW Foster is looking for students who are entrepreneurial, team-players, and pioneering. The best way to represent that you possess those qualities is through the type of essay you choose to write.
You’re not the only one hoping you’ll have a job after you’ve graduated with your MBA. Admissions committees are looking for students who are motivated and clear in their intentions so that when they get a job post-grad, they’ll be more willing to speak positively of their experience in the program. And, of course, in the hopes that their alumni will earn enough money to become a donor to the school one day.
There are three aspects to the career goals essay:
Your aspirations need to be convincing, ambitious, and realistic. Foster is looking for applicants who have meaningful goals grounded in their past experiences, and it’s important that you relate that notion in your essay, however it applies to your experience in life.
Foster’s second required essay is now built around the school’s mission statement: TOGETHER – WE FOSTER LEADERS, WE FOSTER INSIGHTS, WE FOSTER PROGRESS – TO BETTER HUMANITY. You choose the part of the mission that resonates with you and back it up with a specific experience in which you put it into practice. That makes this a behavioral essay at heart: the values you claim only count if a real story proves them.
The admissions committee is looking for applicants that are self-reflective. Whether it’s through a setback you’ve experienced, or how you dealt with situations that have gone awry, the school is looking for students who are resilient and able to learn from their mistakes.
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Do not overexaggerate (or underexaggerate!) the situations you decide to write about. Be honest about what happened; Foster is looking for genuine people to join their campus community, and they are less likely to admit an applicant who has overinflated their prior experiences.
Last but not least, make sure to describe what you learned and how you implemented this in a subsequent situation. This is an expected element of the behavioral essay, even if it’s not directly written in the prompt. Prompts that deal with these topics can be daunting, especially when they require you to write about a weakness you have or a failure you’ve experienced.
In addition to these essay types, UW Foster also offers applicants the opportunity to write optional essays to expand on gaps in your resume or other potential weaknesses in your record. Keep in mind that this essay is meant as an addition, so try to keep it short and concise.
Foster also invites applicants to write an optional “Nurturing Our Community” essay, in which you can demonstrate your commitment to inclusion and belonging, a cornerstone of UW Foster’s mission, as stated on their website:
At the Foster School of Business, we embrace inclusion and belonging as two of the foundations of both successful business strategy and a world-class educational experience. We share the University’s dedication to promoting the understanding and appreciation of human differences, and the constructive expression of ideas.
UW Foster
Writing strong, coherent, genuine stories is an essential part of your MBA application. These essays are meant to help you stand out among many other applicants, so it is worth your time to do the work and write about situations unique to your life and that you truly learned from.
Feeling stuck with Foster MBA admissions essays? Our dedicated application consultants are here to provide personalized guidance and support every step of the way. Connect with us to streamline your admissions journey.
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Lainie Blum Cogan
Sr. Consultant & Director
Education: BA, MA
Since 2008, Lainie has worked with a wide variety of MBA applicants, including dual-degree candidates, nonprofit entrepreneurs, PE professionals, and more. A published author, Lainie draws on her writing and storytelling abilities to help applicants target top programs, and her track record includes acceptances from every M7 program—plus hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarship awards.
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