3 Steps to Manage the Attention of the MBA Admission Team

I noticed one common trait between my 8-month son and an average web reader. Both have an attention span of 8 seconds. This is a 2-second drop from the 2000 trend when an average web user was not bombarded with desktop notifications or the buzzing of mobile phones every other minute. We were in the much calmer Nokia phone era with little novelty attached to entering the web. What was worse - the dial-up connection made the act of connecting to the internet a painful ritual.

Fast forward to a 100 Mbps world and you see the MBA Admission team with volume goals constantly distracted with a bombardment of social media, and email alerts, screaming; “look at me.” Even if the admission team switch off their phone while reading your essays, the 100th essay with phrases like “My dream is to,” “I have always wanted,” “With the HBS MBA program, I hope to”,  zone them out to a happy place, vowing to come back only when your words grab her attention. Just because it is the MBA Admission team’s job to shortlist interesting candidates does not mean they have to read all the sentences recycled in the essay. A quick scan will reveal whether your essay is worth reading.

The Anti-Writing Strategy

When we write for the blog, the mandatory subheading, bullet points, tables, and images ensure that when you scan for information, at least one of the elements in the page will grab your attention and interest you to read from the start. When you can’t find anything stimulating from a quick scan, you will most likely skip this article. In essays, you have to follow the opposite. Don’t use any phrase or sentence that the essay reviewer on quick scan reveal familiarity. Read the Sample essays only for getting a general sense, and not for capturing words or phrases. If the reviewer can find familiar phrases, they will stereotype you to make the review process easier. Don’t give them a chance. Make them do the work, but surprise them with an interesting narrative.

Defy Expectations

When I exhausted all the tricks from the babysitting handbook, I used a simple technique to keep my son calm. I defied his expectations. The toys were the same, and the room his familiar environment, but I changed how the toys interacted according to my imagination and created a new world for him. My son was hooked and started repeating what I have taught him. In essays, you can’t change the standard structure – the beginning, the middle and the end, but you can remove the overused transitionary words/phrases (“To conclude”, “In addition”, “However”, “Therefore”, ”In order to”), the clichéd conclusions and the opening line that have become a meme after a creative writer rephrased an applicant’s essay in 2014.

Use Processing Fluency

Familiarity improves likeability according to the work of Schwarz & Clore, 2007. Admission team, like other people, equates familiarity with truth and therefore trust. Without gaining trust, you would be perceived as a less likable applicant. Despite meeting the entry criteria (GMAT, GPA, and Experience), applicants are rejected when the words they use lack fluency. Using unique phrases without alienating the admission team is a tricky act.

Managing Attention Span without alienating the Essay Reviewer (Quick Tips)

1) Use simple sentences devoid of any jargons.

2) Use a higher frequency of simple sentences over compound sentences whenever possible unless the word-limit pushes you to merge two ideas into one coherent sentence or the repeated use of simple sentences interferes with the narrative.

3) We have explained the step-by-step process to create an Interesting narrative in Winning MBA Essay Guide.

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