Using money as the prime motivation

It is important that you include your motivations in your essay. However, you should not emphasize money as your motivation. Otherwise, you may leave a negative impression on the readers’ mind. You can cite your interest in the field or your experiences as motivating factors. These things would give the admissions committee an impression that you are already mature and that you can really commit yourself to MBA.

Not having a clear set of goals and expectations

Another fatal flaw you have to avoid is being vague in your goals and expectations. As much as possible, you have to project yourself as an organized and goal-driven individual. You can do this by setting a clear goal and having realistic expectations. This way, the admissions committee would know that you have a clear objective and that you know more about the path your are going to take.

Failing to mention how you fit into the program and MBA school

Another thing you have to emphasize in your essay is your quality which makes you worthy of a spot in an MBA school. You have to convince the admissions officers why you deserve a slot in the school. By stating your experiences and goals, you can show the admissions committee that you deserve to be in an MBA school. Just make sure that you are sincere in your writing. Remember, the admissions committee can see through your lies.

Related links:

MBA Program Application – All about getting admitted into an MBA program
Avoiding Jargon – How to get into MBA with your essay
Using Essays Effectively – Tips on making your essay effective
Essay Writing Tips – All about tips on writing essays
Effective Writing Tips About tips on effective writing

Go into details about your motivation

One of the things you can talk about in your essay is your reason or motivation in pursuing an MBA study. Sharing this personal information would set you apart from other applicants. Even if you have the same reason as other applicants, if you go into the details of your reason or motivation, you would surely come up with a unique essay.

Share a personal story or cite particular instances in your life

The purpose of your essay is to bring to light your qualities and experiences that are not presented in your resume. Your MBA essay is your chance to talk about your experiences that made you who you are. You can cite some of these experiences in your essay, but make sure that they are related to your application. Since the MBA application essay is supposedly short, you can just choose one or two experiences that changed your life or motivated you to pursue an MBA study.

Tell them what makes the school and particular program the perfect choice for you

One way to convince the admissions committee is to tell them why you deserve to be in that program. You can tell them about your skills and goals that make the school and program the perfect choice for you. You have to state clearly why you are worthy to be in that school.

Before you start writing your own essay, you should read an excellent MBA sample application essay. You can use this as a guide when you write your own.

Related links:

Essay about Skills – On writing an MBA essay
MBA Essay topics
MBA application essays – All about MBA application essays
MBA Writing Tips – Tips on writing MBA essays
Admission Essay writing – How to write MBA admission essays effectively

How well you respond to the essay questions that a business school requires for admission figures greatly on your acceptance chances.  The essays are designed to let admission officials get to know the candidate better and determine whether he or she is the right fit for their program.  Aside from that, essays also test the candidate’s ability to follow instructions and provide the best output set by the essay parameters and limitations.  Thus, writing an effective essay shows how well you grasp the purpose of the essay and presents how you provide the best output with those in mind.

Plan carefully what you want to write

First, plan what you want to put down on paper.  But even before you go to this stage, you should be clear on why you wanted an MBA in the first place.  You should know the reasons why you think having an MBA will help your career and yourself as a person, and how you can contribute to your organization and community.  Once you have these all thought of, it would be easier to answer the personal MBA application essays as you already have a foundation of beliefs and goals to rely on.  If you haven’t set your head straight on the reasons for wanting an MBA, you would not be able to express yourself more clearly and have an effective essay.

Answer the questions truthfully

As mentioned earlier, the MBA application essay is a way for admission officials to gauge your personality.  If you answer the essays using run-of-the-mill answers just to be safe, you won’t get far.  The best answers are those that come from the heart.  It may sound cheesy, but it’s true nonetheless.  In a more practical sense, you should answer the questions based on your experiences, abilities, and personal goal.

Keep it concise and stick to the word limit

Keeping your essays short and concise shows that you have consideration for your readers, good writing skills, and effective communication skills.  Doing so in your essay shows that you know what to say and how to say it.  Though some may think being long-winded look impressive, it really isn’t.  One has to remember that admission officials read hundreds of these essays every day and using long expressions won’t get them excited or interested in your essay.  So, do them a favor and keep it short.

If you really have a good message, a short simple expression that captures the whole idea is better than a long one that appears like showing off.  And do stick to the word count.  Admission officials have tons of these essays to go through, thus the word limits.  And another thing, keeping to the word count shows that you respect the instructions given in the essay.

An effective essay will benefit you a lot in your MBA application. Being effective in the essay is not that difficult to manage. It’s all a matter of knowing what to say, how to say it, saying it from the heart, and sticking to the limits.

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Regardless of the essay question, discussing your preferred specialization in your MBA essay is a good idea.  As long as you keep your discussion related to the essay question or topic, you show that you have a pretty good concept of why you’re taking an MBA, where you want to be, and how you are a right fit for the school that you’re applying to.

Writing about your goals

When you talk about your planned specialization, you can show more about your character, your particular goals, and the reasons why you chose that field.  Since these essays are meant to let admission officials get a better feel of your personality, discussing your specialization plans on the essay will give them plenty of that.  You may discuss particular events, achievements, and skills that you have to further make your case as to why you think your chosen specialization fits your abilities and talents.

But one should also remember to keep the discussion relevant to the essay question or topic.  Find ways to establish a close relation to the topic and avoid digressing.  By keeping to the topic, you also avoid making a litany of your qualifications, but instead, you can use those qualifications in a more meaningful and concrete way in helping you answer the essay question.  This also shows a lot about your writing and communication skills.  Since you’re able to relate your preferred specialization to the topic at hand, you illustrate your ability to relate and organize ideas in a way that will showcase your skills and personality without getting off track.  For good examples, you can check out sample MBA application essays to get an idea on how it’s done.

Also, you can further explain your reasons why you chose their school to apply to.  This shows that you selected their school after much thought and consideration, and that you think that their institution can help you achieve those goals.  This would send a good message as it shows that you did your homework on researching the MBA school and determining whether it would be a right fit for your career path.

And the best case that you can make for yourself when discussing your preferred specialization is that you show you’re a person of vision.  You illustrate that you have a clear concept of what you want to be in the future, and have a good idea on how to get there.  This is not just selfish promotion on your part, it can also be construed as having foresight and a plan for the future—qualities that any leader should have.  As such, you also present a case for yourself as having leadership qualities.

One may be afraid to discuss specialization plans as it seems as if it’s being cheeky or too assuming.  But that is not the case. Discussing your preferred specialization shows a lot about your character and your seriousness in pursuing your MBA. And these are things that should be present in your MBA application essay should you want to get accepted.

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One of the mistakes that MBA applicants make in their admission essays is that they include jargon in the mix, whether intentionally or unintentionally.  When done willfully, people think that jargon can make them look more professional and knowledgeable about their fields.  When done unwillingly, these people just forget themselves and write like how they would when communicating with people in their workplace.   Whatever the case, it spells out carelessness, lack of preparation, and poor communication skills on their essays.

As you know, getting to an MBA school means you want to learn managing a business in a specific field.  Basically, you’re gunning for a leadership position.  And when it’s about leadership, it’s necessary that the qualities of good communication skills and forethought are present in a leader.  If you use jargon intentionally, that shows that you can’t express yourself in other words besides jargon.  It also shows a lack of creativity and originality when you rely on jargon to get your message across.

So instead of making you look smart, using jargon just makes you look as if you’re using technical words to hide your poor communication skills and to intimidate your readers into believing you’re an expert in your field.  If you’re a real expert on a subject, then you can find ways of explaining yourself in a clearer way.  For those who use jargon unwittingly or just through daily use, it shows that one is not fully aware of the purpose of the essay.  You display inconsideration to the reader and use your language haphazardly.  Now these are hardly the qualities that you would look for in a leader, much less from an MBA applicant.

Here are some jargons that you should avoid in making your mba application essays:

•  Acronyms, especially the ones that are known only to your organization
•  Industry-specific technical terms
•  High-sounding but vague terms (for example, online enterprise development, human resources utilization)
•  Clichés. Though these belong to a different category, they can stand as jargon for the business language.  You always hear terms like “best of breed” and “value chain” in your organization.  They may sound nice, but they also sound rundown.

How to avoid jargon

Whether you’re writing for an MBA essay or your high school essay, the elements of good writing are the same.  You need to be clear yourself on what you want to express, work on the right expression, and get feedback on what you wrote.

1.  Make an outline before you write.
2.  Remember the purpose of the essay and your readers.
3.  Watch your jargon.
4.  Consult sample MBA application essays for some tips and mistakes to avoid.
5.  Read and edit your work thoroughly.
6.  Have someone non-technical read your essay and get feedback if it is an easy read.
7.  Read and edit again for jargons and cliché.

If you have good communication skills, you don’t need to use jargon to make you look smart.  You’d even look smarter if you get your message across without relying on technical terms.  By doing so, you show your confidence in your communication skills.

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University of Chicago Booth School of Business

An illustrious institution that has produced the likes of Kraft, Nabisco, Gillette and Oscar Mayer top honcho James Kilts is located in the heart of good old Windy City. Founded in 1898, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business takes pride in instilling effective guidelines and innovative approaches to business in its students. These students have then went on to become the greatest professionals in the business arena, and some have even become Nobel laureates. Check out the official website of Chicago Booth and choose among the full-time and part-time schedules and executive, Ph.D and MBA course offerings.

Harvard Business School

One of the more famous and top-ranked business schools in the country has churned out approximately 42, 012 living alumni, most of whom are respected leaders in their industries. Founded in 1908, the Harvard Business School (HBS) is best known for the quality education and training that it gives to its students. Its students have gone on to become renowned businessmen and leaders of trade, while some even went back to share their knowledge in the academe such as World Bank Senior Advisor John. H. McArthur and Ford Foundation Director of Investment and Financial Policies and current HBS Dean Jay O. Light. Visit the HBS website to check out the school’s MBA programs and schedules.

Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University)

Set your sights on one of the exceptional business schools in Chicago, the Kellogg School of Management of the Northwestern University. Established in 1908, the Kellogg School of Management is famous for instilling values such as teamwork and leadership among its students. Excellent instruction regarding business and trade strategies are taught in the MBA programs of Kellogg School of Management. Check out the school’s website for requirements such as MBA application essays and other requisites per program. Students can either take classes on a full-time or part-time basis.