MBA application essays are one of the main requirements that prospective MBA degree-takers need to fulfill. Application essays help the school’s board to discern whether your experiences and background are suitable for the degree you’re applying for, and if your attitude will make you a worthy member of the school’s academic community. Also called statement of purpose, admission essay, or MBA essay, MBA application essays also serve as a venue for applicants to explain whatever inconsistencies there may be in their submitted documents and records.
What your MBA application essays should say
Say you didn’t pass certain classes or you got a relatively low score. Through your MBA application essays, you can explain why that happened and how you learned from the experience. Don’t enumerate excuses and shallow justifications, this is not what admissions committee members want to see in your MBA application essays. Instead, own up to whatever faults you had that led to your low GMAT score and focus on how you learned from the experience. Remember, MBA application essays can be a venue for explanations, but not a list of excuses and a document of scapegoat-naming.
If your academic records are not that remarkable, MBA application essays can also help you gain an edge over the other applicants who have statistically impressive transcripts. Just because an applicant has a 4.0 GPA doesn’t automatically mean that he or she has higher chances of getting into a business school. What most admissions committee members look for in MBA application essays are factoids and tidbits about the applicant that jump out of the page. When reading MBA application essays, they want that added value – that oomph – that would make an applicant worthy of an MBA degree from their school.
Everything in your mba application essays should be in moderation. Keep that in mind when you’re writing your MBA application essays. You want your admission essays to stand out but at the same time, be wary of certain beliefs, principles, and standards that the institution upholds. You may want the content of your MBA application essays to be different, non-conformist even, but be careful about sounding subversive. They want someone who will contribute and make changes to the community, but not overthrow authority.
You will find in various books and websites that MBA application essays should reflect the real you. It may sound like a cliché to you, but it’s true. One of the main reasons business schools ask applicants to submit MBA application essays is so they can get to know the applicant beyond the grades, and the out-to-impress data written in your resume. MBA application essays should provide the admissions committee with information that they won’t be able to derive from the other documents you submitted. In the end, your MBA application essays should reflect the different facets of your personality and professional attitude that would convince committee members that you’re deserving of admission into their business school.
