Keeping everything short but sweet when writing admission essays

Every main argument/point that you raised on the essay should be supported by any of the following: facts, theories (on some instances only), experiences, or statistics. Still, be direct to the point and avoid going in circles. One thing the Committee of Admissions members really hate is an essay that has no direction, no focus and shoots off useless trivia. Don’t fall for this trap- it would be your undoing in the application process.

Being honest and original in your application essays

To be honest does not mean you have to put down each and every weakness you have. It’s actually a common question on essays (what is one of your glaring weaknesses?), and the key here is to answer it. Answer it simply, don’t apologize, and impress upon them how you are working on this particular failing. To be honest also means avoid exaggerations in reference to your accomplishments. This is an amusing question but worthy of your attention: if it was an accomplishment worth writing, then no additional honking of your own horn is needed right?

As much as possible, go for originality. In narrating experiences, go as deep (personal) as you could make it. This would assure you the Admission officers have not heard it for the hundredth time.

To put it all in a cap: brevity would keep your narration easy to read, honesty would allow the readers to know you much better, and the originality would help your document stand out from among the countless essays.

Related questions:

1. What is meant by an admission essay that is out of focus?
2. Why is honesty a must on one’s MBA application essay?
3. In the essay, should one apologize for his/her weaknesses?

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

You have to know what makes the program and school suitable for your plans

Do you already have an MBA school in mind? Why did you choose this school or this specific program? These are some of the questions you have to ask yourself first. What kind of career do you want to have? Can that MBA school give you the right training? You have to ask yourself these questions to know if you are going to tread on the right path.

You need to set realistic expectations

Why are you going to obtain an MBA degree? To have an easy way climbing the ladder of success? If yes is your answer to the this question, experts would say, get real! Although an MBA degree would offer better career opportunities, it does not guarantee a sweat-free success in your field. This is why setting realistic expectations is very important. It also pays to be realistic with the admission application process. Expect a very tough competition. You have to anticipate success, but you should also prepare for failure.

You need to find the right motivations

The life of an MBA student is not easy. You really have to balance your personal life and the demands of MBA school. Expect your life as an MBA student to be full of ups and downs. Because of this, it is necessary for you to find the right motivations. Your motivation will keep you going on despite the obstacles. Let this be your guide when writing about your MBA application essays and pushing through with the application process.

Related links:

Stating Preferred Specialization – ips on getting an MBA degree
MBA School Networking – What to do in MBA school
MBA Degree Programs – All about MBA degree programs and application
MBA Application Forms – All about MBA school application
http://www.bschooladmissionsformula.com/participate-in-clear-admit%E2%80%99s-free-mba-admissions-strategy-webinar-%E2%80%93-last-one-of-the-season/ – All about MBA school admission and application

What’s commendable

The MBA Channel is rife with MBA articles.  The tab/button feature is a clean way to make navigation through these articles and categories fast and easy.  Each tab has a drop-down menu that contains subcategories of the highlighted category tab. Browsing the MBA Channel does not only provide you with static information but also connects you with the rest of the business world.  News and events all over the business world provides you with a buffet of ideas that may be incorporated into your business or education.  MBA Channel even has a search engine that can pore through the site based on a particular category: articles, schools, or events.

The design is clean and professional-looking.  It also features very little ads, and whatever ads are present are related to what MBA channel is all about: business and business schools.  Not all articles, however, are given titles that are neither drearily formal nor uncreative.  The article An Embarrassing Story sounds like it could have come from a personal blog site, but it is not.  It is actually a business news article.  By the time you have clicked it, you are hooked.  You must be if you are into MBA schools and business yourself.

The downsides

Though MBA Channel is a great site to explore, the true blog part is still in need of more entries.  Given that most of the information is already featured in the rest of the site, readers may need more readable entries as those in the MBA Channel blog.

The highs

The articles in the FIND MBA BLOG are organized by categories and the months that they were written. An article can belong to more than one category.  The article  A Sneak Peek at Stanford’s Annual Cool Product Expo can be found under California, Media & Design and Energy & Natural Resources.

While other MBA guide blogs will focus more on different MBA schools, Find MBA BLOG provides you with the opportunity to know what actual people think of the MBA program that they are or were in.  The interview articles are great additions to this MBA blog.  The interviews beat out school reviews in that the person interviewed is actually experiencing or have experienced what the program and the school are like.

Other interviews provide insights on what students have to expect after they graduate.  There is also an emphasis on the right values and attitudes that should accompany an MBA degree in order to succeed in business.  Readers will then know whether they are in the right field or not.

Aside from the impressive interviews, Find MBA BLOG offers a book review section.  Of course, the focus is still on MBA.  An interactive MBA school map for Asia is also included.  The map helps you find MBA schools per country in Asia.

The lows

While there are many helpful articles and interviews, the categories are less than helpful.  The categories are only helpful to those who are only looking for a few articles here and there.  But for those who want to use the blog extensively, it may not be as helpful.  This is because place categories can include a jumble of topics whose only connection is the place.  The categories are more like tags.  There should be a separate set of categories to set apart events, interviews, book reviews, and maps.  There should also be more maps and book reviews included.

What makes F1 GMAT different from other GMAT sites or blogs?

The blog site features not only articles that prepare you for GMAT but also features articles on the MBA culture.  These articles can be found under the “Interesting Reads” section.  There are also links to tips, tutorials, and techniques.  The blog actually shares specific techniques such as fast multiplication.  The writers of the site  take the different aspects of GMAT preparation in consideration.  The MBA culture articles get future GMAT examinees a taste of their future in MBA schools and beyond.  If the culture presented is not that appetizing, there is a chance to back down.

The blog is really very resourceful.  It includes business trends that provide insights to upcoming and current students who dream of having their own enterprise one day. F1 GMAT is actually a whole dream in a package.  The dream is made more tangible by all the technical help provided.  It has a directory of outside resources, articles, tutorials, and the like. Having all of them in one page of the F1 GMAT blog saves time for a GMAT reviewer.  It is a whole library of GMAT resources.

Are there things to improve on?

While there are tons of helpful links within the F1 GMAT, getting to those links when you are an actual reviewer is more challenging.  You can always go through everything if you want to take advantage of every bit of information.  However, if you are in a rush and need just one thing, you may have a hard time looking for that topic or resource.  The entries are all over the page.  There may be a section on popular content and interesting reads, but you have no idea if they are all that the site has when it comes to articles.  Other sections point to videos and outside links, instead of articles. Better categorizing is recommended to the site with probably, a user’s manual for serious visitors.

Why keeping your focus is important when writing your essay

Getting distracted when writing your MBA application essay is unavoidable.  Because you really want to impress your readers, you think of several ways to creatively write your essay.  You may have thought of including an experience that made you realize that an MBA degree can greatly help you achieve your goals.  You then start by telling that story or experience.  As you write your essay, you become so caught up in your story that you forgot to actually answer the essay question.  As a result, your essay is not that effective and the admissions panel will probably throw away your work and read the next entry.

To avoid veering away from the topic of your essay, it’s important to keep your focus.  One key here is to know when to include details about an experience you want to discuss in your essay.  Remember, the point of your essay is to convince the readers that you deserve an acceptance letter into the MBA school, and not to tell your life story.

Tips to stay on track in your essay

Now how do you stay on track as you write your essay?  One tip is to think of a catchy topic.  Then create an outline that’ll help give direction to your essay.  Throughout the personal statement, you should be able to come up with supporting statements that provide the right amount of details — enough to catch the attention of the admissions panel without veering away from your topic or thesis.

You can also let others read your essay and let them critique your work.  If a reader was somewhat confused as to what you are actually trying to say in your personal statement, then maybe you need to revise your work and remove some statements that are confusing or that don’t really contribute to the overall coherence of your essay.

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.

Photo Credit : adotjdotsmith

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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