Haas Class of 2028 Essay Analysis

Haas released its 2025-26 application questions.

2025/26 essay questions

Essay 1: What makes you feel alive when you are doing it, and why? (1-2 minute video submission)

Essay 2: What are your short-term and long-term career goals, and how will an MBA from Haas help you achieve those goals?

Short-term career goals should be achievable within 3-5 years post-MBA, whereas long-term goals may span a decade or more and encompass broader professional aspirations. (300 words max)

Distance Traveled

At Berkeley Haas, we consider "distance traveled" as the contextual information that helps us understand the unique circumstances, challenges, or influences that have shaped your personal and professional journey.

We invite you to share aspects of your background, personal circumstances, or significant experiences that have meaningfully impacted who you are today and how you've reached this point. Please tell us how these experiences have influenced your perspectives, decisions, and aspirations, and how they contribute to the person you are becoming. (300 words max)

Optional Statement 

This section should only be used to convey relevant information not addressed elsewhere in your application. This may include explanation of employment gaps, academic aberrations, supplemental coursework, etc. You are encouraged to use bullet points where appropriate. (300 words max)

2025/26 essay question analysis

Essay 1

While a different delivery format than last year (video submission vs. an essay), the approach candidates take to this essay can be similar to prior years. Similar to Stanford’s essay 1, the key to making this a great essay is answering the “why” to whatever topic you choose. This will be hard given the tight time limit, so choose a topic that doesn’t require much explaining about what it is. If you cannot explain what makes you feel alive in 10-15 seconds or less, consider another topic. Also, be honest about what makes you feel alive, rather than choosing something that sounds "cool". Your authentic passion for what makes you come alive will be easier to convey if it is actually true!

When explaining why your activity makes you feel alive, bring the reader into your story by referencing the five senses; it will help your explanation be more memorable for the reader. Also try to weave in how the “why” helps you with other successes in your life. Has your activity helped you build key relationships you discuss elsewhere in your application? Given you the courage to start a business or negotiate for more responsibility at work? Something else?

Essay 2

Similar to what other schools like Wharton and Kellogg ask, this is a fairly straightforward question. The key here is to think about 2-3 experiences/resources that you will use in order to achieve your stated goal, and explain those links. It is better to discuss in greater depth a few reasons that an MBA (and Haas in particular) is right for you, rather than offering a laundry list of reasons.

Distance Traveled

While this is a "new" question for Haas, it touches on what they have asked for in the past (and other schools continue to ask for) - namely, what is unique about you that will make you someone Haas should be excited to have you join their class. Recent discussions with Haas and other top schools suggest an intense focus on ensuring their applicants are resilient and able to push towards success in a variety of environments. This is a question that seeks to learn how applicants have done that in the past.

One note, schools are not measuring the depth of the challenge overcome. Haas knows that applicants have faced a variety of challenges in their past, of varying magnitudes. They aren't judging "who has overcome the biggest challenge", so don't worry if you have lived a fairly "normal" life. Rather, they are looking to learn how you shape your actions to your environment in order to maximize your impact and achievements. Obviously, the more differentiated you can make your example, the more likely it will resonate with readers.

Optional essays

As with other schools, use this space to highlight important aspects of your application not mentioned elsewhere. For instance, if you have had to overcome especially difficult challenges when achieving the things you have (i.e. illness, divorce), this is a good place to discuss them.

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