All MBA Application Related Tips

With the word limit going down for most MBA Application essays, applicants have to be judicious with the use of words. The acceptance rate of top schools is in the 5-8% range, and applicants cannot rely on the general advice that experts offer, and stand out from the competition. They have to find strategies to be more persuasive. We have compiled a list of five steps that would make the essays more persuasive:

Like -> Understand -> Agree -> Remember -> Enthusiasm

Find out more about writing persuasive MBA Application Essays

During the orientation session in a leading Business School, when MBAs were asked “Who among you are clueless about your short-term goals?”, 87% of the participants raised their hands. So much for clear post-MBA goals. AdCom would rather admit candidates who can articulate their goals than an aimless wanderer who look at professors or classmates for inspiration.

Find out the truth

When MBA Applicants are asked to write about conflicts and how they resolved it, they confuse conflicts with challenges. We have faced both in a professional environment, but challenges are more frequent in our daily work schedule. Learning about accounting is a challenge for someone new to the job but learning about accounting in two weeks or risk losing the job is a conflict – not with another person but oneself.


Here are three categories of conflicts that are worth mentioning in an MBA Application Essay

When was the last time you saw a movie and felt emotionally connected to the story? I bet the movie that you were impressed breaks away from the routine that we are all used to.

If we capture the same routine in our narrative, would it look interesting? 90% of writers cannot do it. How can you then include the routine or the obvious in MBA Application essays and expect to connect emotionally with the Admission Committee?

You can - Find out how!

“I was always good with numbers” - a promising MBA Aspirant wrote for The University of Chicago Booth School of Business MBA Application Essay. Agreed – the word limit has halved by 50%, and the numbers of essays have come down by 75% but that does not mean you communicate your strengths in 4-7 words.


Here is how you follow the “Show Don’t Tell” Approach

Admission Committee (AdCom) might squirm if you sound like a religious fundamentalist not because they do not respect your belief in a higher power, but MBA Application Essays are the last place that you expect a serious applicant, promoting his faith.

Some applicants have argued that their core values have been influenced by their religion. Fair Enough but with word limit, essays offer little space for explanation. Find out why spirituality works in MBA Application Essays

MBA Admission committee (AdCom) analyzes essay for two things: how you see yourself, and how you see the world.

For the applicant, the essay is his sales letter but for the Admission team the essay is just another attempt by the applicant to prove his fit for the school. With the acceptance rate in the range of 5-10%, AdCom is expecting a mediocre essay.

Your job with the essay is to break the expectation. Here is how you should include the Turning Point and Impress the Admission Team

Authority sparks images of God like figures dictating commands, and the obedient followers taking every word as the truth. For MBA Admissions team, this is not the definition of respecting authority. They are looking for your response to truth.

Lack of respect for authority can make you a great Entrepreneur, but Business Schools are conventional educational institutions with clearly defined authorities – professors, faculty members and school representatives.

Here is why Respecting Authority is Important in MBA Admissions