Part 5 (2/2)
CHAPTER 11
Writing Your Essay One of the most crucial components of your admissions application is your essays Adet to know h your work experience, your undergraduate grades, and your GMAT scores
Many B-school applicants look upon the essay requireotten through as quickly as possible They throw together so that may orthat the rest of their credentials will beYou canor awful essays Taking the time to coetting into the B-school of your choice
Before you begin crafting your essays for any application, take a look at the big picture
What are your coths? Are there any weaknesses you'll have to overcoainst the overall class profile?Be Consistent”When writing your essay, be sure to make your story consistent hat your reco about you”- MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business School of Business WHAT MAKES AN ESSAY EFFECTIVE?
Writing effective essays requires serious self-exa You will need to pay close attention to the content, style and mechanics, and distinctive qualities of your essay
Content Most B-school applications require that you write one to three essays The essay questions asked probe for infor future students They often relate to characteristics of the program as a whole You are, for example, more likely to find a question about your work in tearam that emphasizes tea the essay questions carefully is vital in constructing an effective essay ”Making do” by using an essay written in response to one question to answer a somewhat similar question posed by another school only indicates to the second school that you are not a serious applicant
Parts of a PackageMost business schools require est light, think of each response as part of a package rather than an individual statees Be bold; stick to the subject; use strong iet to know you- Adapted from ”The Write Stuff,” Neeek/Kaplan's Careers Neeek/Kaplan's Careers Think about ill set you apart, make you memorable and attractive as a student If you are asked what your greatest strengths are, you don't want to say they are hard work and punctuality Since no one will say he is lazy or late for work, hard work and punctuality do not distinguish you fro just another financial analyst in a sea of financial analyst applicants, perhaps you are the financial analyst who raises dogs and volunteers at the local animal shelter, or the one who had to assu a strike, or the one who has applied her political science background to looking at e Eastern European markets Whatever you say, be sure you have examples to back it up
Much of this self-analysis should have occurred during your search for an MBA program with an appropriate fit If it didn't, you need to do it now By cross-referencing your employment record, your personal characteristics, and desired MBA prograood exa o beyond your current job experience for essay topics Although ignoring your job co, feel free to discuss other events that help define who you are For exanificant acco one professional, one coh this approach ically, it does enable you to provide a range of personal insights as you answer a single question
Style and Mechanics Start by outlining your answers to each essay question Consider what you want to say and take the time to outline the major points that you wish tolead will get the reader interested in what you are trying to say Once you have written the first draft, put it away for a while before you begin to edit in successive rounds Editing your essays is a very iotten away from the essay and allowed it to settle before you sit down and take it apart
Schools are pretty specific about how long they want your essays to be Adhere to their guidelines Short and clear is good; long and wordy is bad One of the firstthat ”thorough” and ”comprehensive” are sufficient qualities for their essays They try to include as th liic intent Application officers dread reading these bloated essays You're ai for a crisp, precise style hich you can convey your hten your language to a point at which you have not used any extraneous words At the sa to read Extra-sins and tiny type are not the solution, either Keep your essays reader-friendly Remember that your essays are just two or three of thousands the reviewer h”Feedback and revision are useful to any writer Spell-check is only a starting point”- Params, Dolan School of Business, Fairfield University Candidates rite well have an advantage in the application process because they can state their case in a concise, co manner Write in an active voice; less effective writers co will not co down an otherwise ie effectively, you must also strive for clarity of content You should be clear in what you are trying to convey without using slang or jargon Endeavor to make your sentences shorter, eliminate any repetition, and hts well Give the reader more information than can be found in the other parts of your application You don't need to restate inforht tone is an i effective essays On the one hand, you want to tout your achievements and present yourself as a poised, self-confident applicant On the other hand, arrogance and self-io over ith ade, but don't refer to yourself in the first person too much Tell the reader what you have learned or contributed without sounding pompous Before you submit your application, be sure that you're comfortable with its tone as well as its content
Do Quality Work”Take the time to construct a ritten essay Do not attempt to write a one-draft essay because you received an 'A' in English 101; focus on what the school of business is requesting Many students go off on soent and never answer the question Quality is the operative word in these cases, not quantity”- Greg Gomez, Admissions Director, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville If you choose to sub a high-risk, high-reward strategy You e of your creative talents, but if you're confident you can pull it off, go for it Be aware, though, that what may work for one admissions officer may fall flat, or worse, with another Adie is to stand out in the applicant pool in a positive way Don't let your creativity obscure the substance of your application
Be sure to read your essays in the context of your entire application Does the total packageconsistent? Have you deement skills, and personal characteristics? Most iood about the application? After all, you don't want to be rejected with an application that you don't believe represents the real you
Finally, get someone you trust to read over the essays Make sure that you have conveyed what you were trying to convey This is the one area of your application that you have complete control over and (with hope) aood essay cannot always overcome a poor academic record or GMAT, it is your chance to ihtful, ritten response to the essay topic
Making Your Essay Distinctive The discussion above describes the qualities of a good essay, one that won't be dismissed by even the reat essay? Depending on the a to put in, you can write an essay that will stand out from the crowd
Like other parts of your application, your essay is a ives you more freedom than any other coht This is not the time to be blase Unless they ask for it, don't dwell on your weak points You want to highlight your most marketable qualities Draw attention to your achievenificance so that the reader's potential questions are answered
Remember Coh' in one of my first annual reviews I used this as the topic of one of ths and weaknesses I gave the essay to my employer to read and asked her for a recommendation She was able to back up my story and was touched that I remembered her comment”- MBA, Fordham University One of the best ways to be distinctive is to sell your i real-life exa essay, for example, about how much you learned in your current position and how the experience and knowledge you've gained inspired you to apply to business school will give readers what they want-a quick iot that way, and why you want to go to their school
”Distinctive” means that your essay should answer the questions that ad essays: What's different about this applicant? Why should we pick this applicant over others? Authentic enthusias about parts of your life or career that are interesting and relevant will help grab a reader's attention
Use the Right Ter art [atproduction at Sotheby's] But in B-school terGraduate School of Management; quoted in Neeek Neeek/Kaplan's How to Choose a Career and Graduate School How to Choose a Career and Graduate School COMMON ESSAY QUESTIONS
Every application is unique, but most will include essay questions that fall into one of several basic types The good news is that once you've crafted responses to these questions, you won't have to start each application from scratch You will, however, need to make sure that every application (especially the ones with fewer questions) provides the level of insight that you wish to present Here are the kinds of questions you can expect to see: 1 Describe (one, two, or three) significant accomplishments, and discuss why you view the to get a sense of what you consider ihout the application review process, the coement aptitude but also the kind of person you are The events you choose to write about say a lot about you, as do the reasons you consider theet a sense of what you consider ihout the application review process, the coement aptitude but also the kind of person you are The events you choose to write about say a lot about you, as do the reasons you consider the an MBA? Where do you hope to be five years from now? Ten years?
Adh the reasons for going to business school, that you're co of what the experience is all about Although they don't expect you to necessarily map out your entire career path, they will look for you to deths and weaknesses?
Answer truthfully Don't settle for ”pat” responses When discussing your strengths, you hlights your strengths, if length permits Answer truthfully Don't settle for ”pat” responses When discussing your strengths, you hlights your strengths, if length per about weaknesses can be tricky The co for evidence of self-awareness and s For example, if you apply to a case method school that requires classroom participation and you write that you are uncoroup, the committee will question whether you can thrive in that environ yourself the sa a weakness that's really a strength (”I'm so honest that” or ”I'm so committed to my employees that” ) is a coht-and it may turn off so eak aspects of your application, do so in a straightforward, nondefensive rades, unpleasant professional experiences, or difficult personal circuht way can help you turn a potential pitfall into a strength
4 Describe an ethical dilemma you've faced, and discuss how you handled it
With this question, admissions officers will evaluate not just your ethical ”cority They want to see how you think through situations in which there are no easy solutions Remember, not all dilemmas involve ethics, and not all ethical situations are dilemmasAdmissions officers know that applicants won't all have faced the same situations What's most important is that you dement and learn from difficult personal circu else you would like the admissions committee to know about you?
If you believe that you've presented everything you need tocase for ad here With thousands of essays to read, adainst you However, this question is also your opportunity to discuss anything you haven't yet had the chance to present For exaraduate performance is the weak link of your application, you can use this space to explain it Alternatively, if there's a gap in your employment record that is likely to attract attention, now is the ti in your application that the ad that they will not notice it They read thousands of applications and are trained to notice the unexplained inconsistency Write about it here-you et an interview to explain yourself
6 Describe a setback or failure and discuss what you learned froes that people learn as much from their failures as they do from their successes You ardless of the event you choose to discuss, here is an opportunity to dehtfulness and e
7 If you could effect one change at your current job, ould it be?
Ader) applicants have not yet reached levels at which they could es at work This question lets you flex your brain power in talking about changes you'd like to see It reveals holedgeable you are about business in general and your business in particular It also provides clues about how you think For exa picture issues, or do you focus on the details?
8 Describe a situation in which you demonstrated(teamwork/leadershi+p/ responsibility)
A question like this will give you insight into the personal qualities that a school considers especially important in its students Be sure to discuss the specifics of the situation Answer such questions as: How did you des? How did youthe details, you'll provide the adeet your application out Take time to carefully review your essay Set it down, don't think about it for a week, and then reread it as though you were reading about someone you don't know Be critical!
9 What do you do in your spare time?
This type of question provides admissions officers with inforers should be good communicators, able to make friends and socialize easily Show that you are committed to your leisure pursuits Describe how you first became interested in your hobby or activity and identify any ways in which you have combined interests in unusual ways Try to differentiate yourself (Take, for exa and poetry who published his work in a literary ht in a local bar) COMMON MISTAKES
We've asked two admissions officials frorounds to list what they consider to be the most common mistakes that business school applicants make in their essays The results of our mini-survey are reported below Make sure you don't make these mistakes in your B-school applications!
Adht Away Don't force your readers to plow through a lot of irrelevant material before they reach the meat of your essay-they will lose patience with you
2 Not Getting to the Point at All This is even more fatal than Mistake 1 Make sure that your essays are clear and concise
3 Using Buzzwords and Business Cliches Using the y possible won't set you apart fro an Appropriate Level of Detail Applicants often provide either tooto Proofread Spelling and grammatical errors are unacceptable
Ad What You Think Soain you adram, but beware If you provide an inaccurate reflection of who you are, but are adram, you may be very uncomfortable This can impact your ability to do well and to develop academically and personally, and can also inhibit the establish to Explain Crises in an Appropriate Level of Detail There is a fine line between too much and insufficient in such cases Explanations of crises and misfortune, for example, are essential if they impacted the student's personal and academic develop the reader with insight is useless and often detriore” and destruction also iatively I once read an essay that described how the death of a roommate affected the student's ability to concentrate The circumstances were horrific, and they were described in ”bloody” detail There are better ways to acco to Relate Goals and Plans to a Realistic Timetable You don't have to know it all, and it is naive to believe that you do Naivete, especially at the graduate level, is not a valued co and Gra, butstep