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We’re down to the wire. Deadlines are coming at us every day, and we’re getting very close to the end of Round 2. Yet, despite the tight timelines, many of you are just settling in to write your essays and bang out some applications. And it is for you procrastinators of the world that I’m writing this post. For those of you that are just beginning your essays and need some direction, some guidance, some magic to get your words …
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QUESTION: I’m having trouble with the essay questions that ask me to describe my greatest life achievement. No matter how hard I try, I completely freeze up. After all, I’m getting my MBA so that I could have achieve great things in the FUTURE. I just feel that what I’ve got to say is boring… Any ideas? ANSWER: I find it hard to believe that you’ve had NO great life achievements to date. Yeah, an MBA is going to help …
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It always happens at the worst possible moment: Brain freeze. Writer’s block. Complete mental shut down. There you are, ready to crank out some application essays and… nothing. Just a blank screen… and a blank mind. Which would be OK if you didn’t have 6 applications to submit in round 2 and only 5 weeks to get ‘em all done (along with your LORs, resume, and… your full-time job). So what do you do? Cry? Chug a pot of coffee? …
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QUESTION: I have a question related to Stanford’s first essay. When I think about what matters most to me and why, a strong, guiding force behind many of the decisions I have made is my desire to best serve God through serving others. So I’m wondering if it would be appropriate for me to talk about religion/spirituality on this essay. If so, is it too cliche or risky? ANSWER: Yes, my friend, you CAN talk about religion in your applications. After …
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QUESTION: I believe most b-school applicants intend to land a different job (either in another industry or in another position, or both) after they get their MBA. But I’ve heard you say that adcoms don’t like career-switchers. So how do I deliver an essay that speaks my mind and is honest, and, at the same time, convinces the adcom? ANSWER: It’s easy, dude. Don’t talk about career changes in your essays for the adcom. I know that doesn’t seem to …
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QUESTION: I am working on the third essay for MIT application: Please describe a time when you had to make a decision without having all the information you needed. (500 words or fewer, limited to one page). For this kind of topic, it is OK to write something not work-related, but purely personal? Like a life decision, etc? Will this kind of topic fit in with the application, or is should all essays be focused on work and business? ANSWER:  …
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Not unlike The Transformers, there’s more than meets the eye in explaining your responsibilities for work experiences. What you tell your friends or colleagues is not the same info the AdCom needs to read about. You’re not passing info from one side of the table to the other, you are promoting yourself. It’s a pitch. And that pitch needs to be carefully crafted. And exact. And very, very specific. Let’s look at an example that’s not so hot: Responsible for …
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We’ve got quite a team of MBA admissions experts here at PE, full to the brim with helpful advice for applicants. Rather than keep it to themselves (that wouldn’t be very fair, would it?), they are going to share their tips and tricks right here, every month. This month they’re talking about pitfalls, obstacles and hurdles in MBA applications…and what you need to do to overcome them. So, what are those obstacles? And how can you get past them? DAMON: …
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Look, there are a lot of people out there competing for the exact same spots in MBA programs as you. And, not to be a Debbie Downer here, but contrary to what you might think, many come from very similar backgrounds as you. So how do you set yourself apart from the crowd? How do you show the man or woman reading your application that you’re not just like everyone else they’re going to see in that overwhelming stack of …
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Oh, MBA admissions committees. Always wanting applicants to show the love. To prove that their school is the best and there is nowhere anyone would rather be. Makes sense. No one wants to be second best, not even the world’s top MBA programs. And if you’re spending the time and money to apply, you should want to be there, right? Right. Yet this question trips up tons of folks. How do you…do it? Well, it’s easy. Sorta. The key to a …
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Got a question about those MBA applications? Stuck on an essay? Need a little clarity? Chances are, you’re not the only one. Thankfully, Precision Essay founder and Harvard MBA Jon Frank has an answer… for everything admissions-related. And he’s going to share all of his answers with you, right here, every Tuesday. And on this lovely Tuesday, we’re going to talk about essays. More specifically, finding the perfect balance between personal and professional. Here goes: QUESTION: “What’s the best way to …
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THE TEMPTATION: “If I use fancy industry terms, they’ll be impressed because I’ll come across smaaaaart.” THE RESULT: “What on Earth is this kid talking about? I am lost… and bored to tears.” THE TRUTH: There are so many types of businesses and jobs and skills and terms to describe them all. Let’s just assume there’s too much to know, and therefore, no real need to know any of them (at least while I read your 500-word essay). Let’s, instead, …
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Part IV of the 4-part breakdown of this topic (by no means comprehensive—just a 4-part slice is all). Today we zero in on #4, the last piece in this thread. 1. Why do you want an MBA….. AT ALL? 2. Why do you want an MBA….. AT THIS EXACT MOMENT IN YOUR CAREER? 3. How will OUR SCHOOL…. help………. YOU? 4. Of all the bschools on earth, why are you interested in US? Everyone’s favorite by far. And the one …
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Part III of the 4-part breakdown of this topic (by no means comprehensive—just a 4-part slice is all). Today we zero in on #3. 1. Why do you want an MBA….. AT ALL? 2. Why do you want an MBA….. AT THIS EXACT MOMENT IN YOUR CAREER? 3. How will OUR SCHOOL…. help………. YOU? 4. Of all the bschools on earth, why are you interested in US? Now we’re moving into the Why School X portion. There two main ways …
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Part II of the 4-part breakdown of this topic (by no means comprehensive—just a 4-part slice is all). Today we zero in on #2. 1. Why do you want an MBA….. AT ALL? 2. Why do you want an MBA….. AT THIS EXACT MOMENT IN YOUR CAREER? 3. How will OUR SCHOOL…. help………. YOU? 4. Of all the bschools on earth, why are you interested in US? In Part I, we discussed why you’re gunning for an MBA degree versus… …
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This could easily make for a giant chapter in a book on tackling bschool application essays: how to navigate through the various permutations of: – Why pursue an MBA at this point in your career? – How will your education at School X help you achieve you achieve your goals? – Elaborate on your motivation for pursuing a graduate degree at School Y – What are your reasons for pursuing an MBA? These are just 4 examples. There are countless …
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Usually goes something like: How have you strengthened your candidacy since you last applied? Please reflect on how you have grown personally and professionally. Who here has seen the movie Iron Man? [Feel free to skip some of this stuff.] Well for those of you who haven’t seen it, (1) see it, it’s pretty tight and (2) here’s a bit of background before I make my patented absurd (but well-intended) analogy. Tony Stark is a pre-eminent industrialist, with an unusual …
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Kids can teach us a lot. First of all, they’re irrational beasts. “Reason” leaves the equation with a demanding child. But there’s a simplicity to their binary “I like” or “I don’t like” decision-making clarity. Big smiles, big laughs versus big frowns or worse… the dreaded tantrum. One amazing feature, common to most children, is their keen interest in a good story. What’s the mechanism here? What is it about a story that… grabs hold of these little irrational beings? …
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Next time you take a cab, and the driver asks what you do for a living, listen to your answer very very carefully. Something amazing happens. You instinctively use… simple language. Language that is clear, and communicable in the harried environment of a noisy cab, with a listener who might not have the same experience in your line of work as you do. This ability to communicate clearly is something we ALL possess, but RARELY tap into. Why? Because it …
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“Why School X” comes in a few different shapes and sizes. Example 1 — How will School X help you achieve your goals? Example 2 — What factors influenced your decision to apply to School X? These are just two examples, and each deserves its own post and breakdown because they are two very different beasts, but I want to make one general point. Way, way, way too frequently, we see the following structure: • “Wharton’s strength in finance will …
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Not to be confused with “Why MBA” or “How will School X help” … I wanna focus on the questions that ask some variation on “Why is now the best time for you to pursue an MBA.” One of my favorite approaches to THINKING about this is to play pretend for a second. Imagine three separate time periods: 1. Five years ago 2. Now 3. Five years from now (I’m saying “five” for simplicity sake. Really, it could be 3 …
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