MBA Essays: Silence the Analytic Mind

The first version of essays submitted to our Essay Review Service is mostly a rehash of the resume. When we ask, “Why are you reiterating the resume” in your essay, the answer is universal. “The word count is 500 or 350 words. We can’t help but include facts and ignore ‘our feelings’? “. The first drafts are so dry that we don’t find any ‘spark’ in the applicant. After the Life Audit questionnaire, we learned that the applicant is a three-dimensional personality with feelings about goals, success, and failures.

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…

1)  Find Events that evoke Emotions

The first task in capturing honest emotion is to search and list all the life-changing events. Go to each event one by one, and measure how you feel about the event. Imagine the key actors in the event – you, your teacher, your boss, your colleague, a mentor, or a contemporary. What were the circumstances? What were the problems that you were trying to solve? What were the obstacles? What were your strengths and weaknesses at that time? With a vivid detailing of the event, you would feel more intensely about the event. The event, which you feel strongly about, is what you should write.

2)  Answer the ‘Why’ question

Another flaw that we have observed in MBA Application Essays is the excessive focus on the how, what and where part instead of the ‘Why’. The narrative is filled with words when the ‘where’ and ‘what’ part is answered. It is essential to offer context, but the most important question that you have to answer is the ‘Why’ part. As an evolutionary being, we depend on other’s experience for our survival. Have you wondered why you slow down near an accident site? It’s not that we are sadistic creatures dying to see blood or flesh dangling on the metal, but we have to see ‘why the accident’ happened. First instinct is to answer the ‘how’ – a truck crossed the path, the driver did not break on time, or the signals were faulty. Then our natural survival instinct kicks in – “Why” he could not divert from the accident – that is the life lesson we are picking from the accident.

3) The Unique Voice

When we ask the applicants to capture their true feelings, they go on a tangent making controversial statements about an ethnic group, an observation about an organization or criticize an individual. That is not what we meant by unique voice. Controversy does not sell in MBA Application Essays. Don’t plugin your prejudices. What we mean by your unique voice is the free flow of phrases or words that came from your creative mind. The day you polish the words to fit with the ‘MBA’ vocabulary, your uniqueness dies. When the first draft is created, these phrases look ridiculous, but by the 2nd or 3rd iteration, you will capture two or three unique phrases in the essay, just enough to make a memorable opening or a philosophical reflection about an event.

4)  40% Fact , 20% on How and 40% on Motivation

An analytical mind thrives on facts. What were the deadlines for the project? What were the target sales numbers for the quarter? What was the qualification of the team? What were your weaknesses?

‘What’ , ‘When’ and ‘Where’ questions covers the facts, and in most cases gives a context about your problem, but it should only cover 40% of the essays, preferably spread across the essays. 20% of the essays should focus on the ‘How’, and 40% on the ‘Why’ part. Why did you choose one individual over the other for solving the problem? How did you solve the problem? Why do you feel that an MBA in necessary? Why now? That is why most application essay questions ask a lot of ‘why’ questions. They reveal your motivation.