Advice on the Three Types of Video Formats used in MBA Applications

Advice on the Three Types of Video Formats used in MBA Applications

Sep, 29, 2026

This blog post is based on advice I provide to my clients applying to MBA programs that use video essays, such as Booth, INSEAD, Kellogg, MIT Sloan, UC Berkeley Haas  and Yale. For random questions, I also provide my clients with school specific past question reports as well.

 

There are three types of Video Essays:

 

1. You upload a recorded video or your own.
2. You have the question in advance but will be asked to record it on the school’s online system.
3. You don’t have the question(s) in advance and will be asked to record it/them on the school’s online system.

 

 

One thing that all three types of videos have that they should provide a great first impression of you. This is speed dating.  FOCUS ON PERFORMANCE!!!!

 

Let’s look at each type and how to prepare.

 

 

You upload a recorded video or your own. 

 

What all successful versions of this video do: Answer the prompt directly.

 

The most famous such question is certainly the MIT Video Question 1.  The question itself has changed.  For 2027 entry (Class of 2029), it is:

“Every applicant has a story that can’t be captured in a resume. Take up to 90 seconds to share yours: who you are, where you come from, and what’s shaped the person you are today. Be conversational, be yourself. We can’t wait to meet you.

Videos should adhere to the following guidelines:

• No more than 90 seconds long
• Single take (no editing)
• Speaking directly to the camera
• Do not include background music or subtitles
• Speak authentically to the camera — in your own words, as if talking to a friend. Avoid reading from a script or pre-written response.”

 

 

How to make the video:

1. Write a script. It will mostly likely be too long. (Once you add in breathing, facial expressions, in acting you might do, and speaking a speed to heard effectively, assume a one minute of speaking equals a script of 90-120 words. You are making script so you know what you want to say and can do say in a way that will appear sufficiently personal.  If you are great at memorizing script, wonderful, but if not focus on using it enough so you know what you want to say when you record it.
2. Have your script reviewed by your admissions consultant or whoever else you are getting advice from.  While an AI will give you advice on anything, be careful with that. A trusted human advisor paid or unpaid is best.
3. Make an initial video. If your script is too long at this point, edit it down again.
4. Don’t look like you are reading the script. Memorize it sufficiently to feel comfortable presenting it without obvious reading.
5. Have your trusted human advisor review your video, taking feedback into consideration, alter the script as needed. You would have to be incredibly stupid or desperate to use an AI to evaluate a human performance.  A friend, partner, parent, anyone who watches TikTok, YouTube, or other short content can provide feedback on human performance. Just use someone whose opinion you value and who will give you honest feedback. If I had to do this I would ask my wife, who is by far, my harshest, most constructive, and best critic.
6. Record until you have an acceptable take.  Doing this last minute is not great. Doing this when you are tired and look exhausted is to be avoided.  Record under optimal conditions for purpose of making a strong positive impression. Practicing and taking multiple takes is likely the best way to get a good one minute.
7. A good take is one where you look authentic and don’t appear to be reading while talking and don’t look like you are simply reciting something you memorized.
8. Remember the focus is on making a positive first impression, so speaking at a speed that is comfortable for your listener is important.  I find that some of my Indian clients naturally speak rather fast and have to slow down.  On the other hand, I have had Japanese clients who spoke too slowly and needed to increase their speed.  If you think speed will be an issue, have someone who can judge that give you feedback.
9. Most instructions say, don’t edit it. They don’t want a well-produced TV commercial, but a single take video.  AUTHENTICITY ROCKS!

 

Other considerations:

1. Regardless of where you film this video, you should focus on how well the viewer can hear your voice and see your face. Recording outside is fine as long as you have a mike good enough for a high quality audio recording.
2. Don’t focus on props or location first, focus on content. If you have props and/or location that complements your content, that is fine as long as it is consistent with the instructions provided by the school.
3. Humor or irony can be used effectively but you need to make sure that will work for your audience. If you are using humor, it is especially important that you test it out with people (consultant, friends, alumni) who can fully consider what you are saying from the perspective of an admissions officer.

 

 

You have the question in advance but will be asked to record it on the school’s online system.

Please see the above as what it is there generally applies.  Scripting and feedback is critical here as well.

The difference is that any feedback anyone provides on test recordings should be completely focused on how you deliver your response and the content of the response and they need not be concerned with video or audio quality.

UC Berkeley Haas uses this format for Required Essay 1. This is a question that they previously asked for in written format and now want a video:

“Briefly introduce yourself, then tell us what makes you feel alive when you are doing it, and why?

Please share something about yourself that may not be evident in other parts of your application. We are looking for an authentic and introspective response that demonstrates how you will contribute to the MBA class and culture at UC Berkeley Haas.

You will be able to test your audio-visual connection before recording. Video essays should last 1-2 minutes and may not exceed 2 minutes. You have two (2) attempts to record your video essay.”

 

A good answer to this question actually takes time to develop because it consists of three components, self-intro, what makes you feel most alive while doing it, and makes it clear how you will contribute at Haas.  I would treat scripting this with a significant amount of effort. It actually is harder than writing an essay because you have to speak out the answer.

 

 

 

You don’t have the question in advance and will be asked to record it on the school’s online system.

My suggestion is to go over past questions but given the possible range, just understand that you will have to likely handle a question you have not seen before. Schools typically employee systems like Kira that have a huge range of questions, but past reports and whatever topic specific advice the school provides are good indicators of what you should expect. This is the most common video question type and is used by Booth, Kellogg,  INSEAD, MIT (Video Question 2),  and Yale, et al.

General Advice for Preparation:

1. When answering an unfamiliar question, focus on the following in the 10-20 seconds typically given prior to recording: Understand the question and quickly formulate a topic.
2. In your response  (typically with a 1-minute limit) focus first on providing a direct answer to the question and then elaborate.  This is not a time for an initial high context response but for a rational clear short and direct answer. Use remaining time for elaborating on your answer. (See 7 below for question types that you should have strong content focused answers for. They are the exception to the totally random question)
3. Given that you will have very little time, focus just on the question and don’t think about overall strategy or being particularly clever if that will undermine your ability to give an effective response.  Being mindful albeit at high speed is likely to result in a better answer.
4. While you can understand the range of possible questions to some extent, it is not inherently going to help that much depending on how big the school’s question bank is and how much structure they apply to question types used.  (7 below is the exception).
5.  Except for  7 below, writing scripts based on what has been asked before is probably a total waste of time, better to use such questions or ones like it as a drill.
6.  For my clients, I provide feedback.  Except for 7 below, rather than bothering with scripts,  I focus almost exclusively on my clients’ ability to provide well structured answers, overall approach likely to relate to similar questions, and performance. If you have someone review audio or video recordings, tell them that the quality of your response should be judged on the clarity of your answer, your performance (speaking and body language), and less so on the actual content with one question class exception. See next point.
7.  QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD HAVE SCRIPTS FOR. While you should not focus primarily on content, this does not apply to questions like Why MBA? Why this school? What will contribute?  (INSEAD frequently asks questions like those) What are your goals?   Tell us something about you that is not found in your resume/application (Kellogg asks this). If past video reports for the school include such questions be ready for them and prepare strong content. With such questions having your consultant or other trusted advisor review is a good idea.