All MBA Application Related Tips

Transcripts verify your academic performance, and recommendation letter affirms your competency at work, but your involvement with non-profit through volunteering and your entrepreneurial initiatives need much more than a certificate of participation, or a ‘single line’ in a resume. 

There is a thin line between a Manager and a Leader. As a leader, you are expected to have worked with more than one person, persuaded them to follow your suggestions and impact the team in a positive way.

Emotion is everything in an essay. We are not talking about the over sentimental account of how your Dog died, and how that led to your non-profit initiative. “Where are the phrases that show your emotions?” The applicant was silent for 1-minute, and replied “What?” Business School will reject the recommendation letter like essays that are to the point but like thousands of other essays - bland.

Take the risk, and capture emotions in equal measure when you describe the actions you took

When you are writing your MBA Application Essays, don’t just randomly write about your leadership experience. Instead, check whether your experience falls within the four leadership examples that the MBA Admission team is expecting.

Read: Four Examples of Leadership (MBA Essays)

The applicant had wonderfully weaved a story of failure and retribution with high points and low points marked carefully in the 500-word essay. One glaring problem stood out in the essay. The Boss, who was the opposing force in the essay, was described in just three words. The characterization felt one-dimensional in an otherwise masterful essay.

You can avoid creating clichéd Villain Characters in the essay with these three techniques

Who are you - Superman, Peter Parker, Rocky, or Frank Abagnale Jr.? What we learned reviewing hundreds of essays during Round 1 and Round 2 deadlines is that almost all applicants fall under four categories: Superman, Peter Parker, Rocky and Frank Abagnale Jr.

Who are you?

If you have seen Memento, you know the power of Chronology, to be more precise – the reverse chronology. What the peculiar narrative does to the audience is that it forces them to miss the loo break. Every scene, clue, or characters in the sequence create questions in our mind. Did the new character kill the wife? Is the guy who is helping the hero, the real villain?


Find out how to use Chronology, Vividness, and Active Verbs in MBA Application Essays

It is impossible to write freely from the heart when the word count is restricting your creativity. Forget word count for the first draft, and silence the analytic mind. Most applicants targeting top MBA programs are gifted analytically, but essays require your right brain to function at an optimum, capturing honest emotions.

How do you do it?

Here is how…

Most MBA Application Essays are filled with hyperbole about small achievements, the applicant often taking credit of key team members. We had to warn an applicant that his chances of impressing the reviewer are low if he keeps hogging the credit on every other line. He replied, "I was the smartest of them. I made sure that the team performed.” We tried to put some sense into the self-obsessed applicant, but it did not work.

Learn How to switch Point of Views Interestingly in MBA Application Essays

The essays that do not leave any mark are the ones where the experiences do not connect with the reviewer’s experiences. Unless you can inspire the reviewer, you are at the mercy of numbers (GMAT, GPA and Experience), and competition (Round 1 vs. Round 2 Application volume).

Find out how Mental Association determines the Winning MBA Essay