Tips for Creating the Best Admission Essay

Business school admissions offices look at more than just GMAT scores and transcripts when considering admission for students in MBA programs. The essay portion of the admissions process is also an important way to show why you belong in business school. The essay is a great way to show who you are as an individual and gives you the opportunity to stand out as an applicant. The Princeton Review says, “The essays are your best chance to sell the person behind the resume. They should tie all the pieces of your application together and create a comprehensive picture of who you are.”

Creating a great admission essay takes a lot more than discussing your positive qualities and why you believe you should be admitted to the school. Admissions staff want to make sure that you are a good fit for the school and for the program, so that you are able to succeed. Many admissions essays prompt you to answer a very broad questions such as, “describe a time when you tried to reach a goal that was challenging and frustrating.” Questions like this are really open to whatever experience that you have had.

The Economist tells business school applicants that it is important to start preparing for the essay as soon as you have made the decision to attend business school. “Keep a notebook and jot down anything interesting that comes to mind. An inspiring lecture, a disappointing performance review, an enlightening conversation with a friend, a travel experience, running a marathon, a stimulating book—all of these can be terrific material for your essays.” Keeping a notebook with ideas will help you to prepare for the essay and give you more options to choose from instead of trying to remember experiences the day you are writing the essay.

Another important thing to keep in mind when writing your admissions essay is to make sure you are answering the question posed to you. This may seem like an obvious point but it is one that essay writers make a lot. Do not get caught up in the anecdote you are discussing. The point is to answer the question and use your life experiences and background to support your answer. Writing a concise essay that sticks to the point can show that you can execute tasks and follow directions. While keeping that in mind, it is important to read all of the directions for the essay carefully and make sure you are adhering to all of the requirements. Keep an eye out for word count requirements as well as multiple questions in the original essay question itself.

Before submitting your MBA admission essay, it is vital that you check for spelling and grammar errors as well as your writing style. Have someone else proofread your essay to make sure that it makes sense and answers all of the questions posed to you. Make sure that your essay is constructed in a cohesive manner and that all aspects of the essay fit and are accurate.

The Economist also advices applicants not to try and complete more than one application at a time. Taking on too much at once can really hurt your writing. Completing the application essay will take longer than one day to prepare and write the actual essay. Some application essays will require almost 40 hours of preparation and writing time. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get it right.

Everyone works in different ways. It is important to identify your own work style and create a plan that will be most useful and constructive for you. Whether that is to work during the day or at night after work, or to spend time creating a plan and an outline for your essay or to sit down and immediately start writing, it is important to identify your work habits and use that knowledge to your ability. Planning for the MBA essay is much like planning for GMAT study. It is important to take as much time as you need to really make sure you are completing a solid essay.

When writing the essay, it is important to always be yourself and to really show why you are a good fit for their school. Become familiar with the program’s objectives and show how you can compliment those objectives and how you will be a good fit for the school. In the end, the essay is the admission’s first look at who you really are as a candidate, so make sure you are putting your best foot forward!

 

About the Author