The Trouble with MBA Admissions Writing

There are exclusive, exact considerations to be made for all types of admissions writing. Your application essays give the admissions council a fair idea of who you are. Your undergraduate record and your GMAT scores give an idea of your academic skills. But the essays and recommendations, especially, are the most important elements that your selection. Clearly, it means that your goal is to give the admissions committee a lucid picture of who you are. You need to sound self-reflective and narrative in a much directed way to prove yourself worthy of an MBA program. 

Consider the following MBA essay questions:

• What goals are you committed to and why? How do you envision our school contributing to the attainment of those goals?
• What are you most passionate about and Why?

Applicants find these questions pretty challenging because they demand intellectual and emotional honesty along with authenticity of the information you are providing. Most of us have rarely got opportunity to reflect like this in our day-to-day careers, but reflecting what we actually are in our essays is what the best admissions essays really look like. An admissions essay is a not just a thought on your past, rather it is a forward-progression promise. You must put efforts on making your readers understand what you are trying to convey about yourself in your essay.You need to choose a compelling story; to fit with new structural frameworks; and demonstrate thoughtful self-reflection and meaningful connectivity between life events. Your essays must sound undeniably authentic and the ‘voice’ should be unique to the author.

Despite of having excellent academics and wonderful years of work experience applicants often write hazy essays of their inspiration story. You need to translate your achievement story into an exceptional essay. You need to bring life and energy to an essay. 

Think about the following best practices when crafting your MBA admissions essays:

1.    Before you begin the writing process, recall all that you have to tell. Recollect your major life events (personal and professional), your accomplishments, and your motivational sources so far.
2.    Consider your essay the most important part of the application package— your essays and resume should convey a complete, consistent brand?
3.    Exercise some creativity and innovation to make your success story exclusively narrative.
4.    Always get a second opinion from a person who knows you, as well as a person who doesn’t. Sometimes people observe certain qualities in us which we are blind to.
5.    Lastly, remember that MBA admissions writing demand a certain degree of strategy, but not rigidity. So, dare to break the pattern—tell your own story—and tell it well.

To write an application essay, you must begin with a strategy in your mind. It will tell you the right mix of attributes that you need to pack in your essays.

• What should be the right balance of personal and professional traits in your essays?
• A list of different subject areas that you must cover in your essays.
• Specific Dos and Don`ts for you.
• Other tips and suggestions for your essays and your resume.
• A definite action plan.

The final point to consider in your strategy is timing. Make sure you give adequate time to each component of your application package. You must have enough time with you to read, re read and add points to your essays till they reach the table of the admission committee.