Show Don't Tell: MBA Essay Tips

“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. An explicit statement about your strengths or weaknesses does two things. First, it shows a lack of creativity. Second, it gives the AdCom the opportunity to play the “Critic,” and list the evidences that reject the claim. Even if the evidence is admirable, the essay review becomes checking whether the evidence is “Good enough.”

We are not suggesting rambling on without any coherence but remember the golden rule of selling - “Show Don’t Tell”. If you have a great product, demonstrate it. If you have a great profile – write at least 3-4 sentences showing your achievements. Don't restate what is already written in the resume.

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

1) Write what you feel about your profession

Initial draft will have clichés and exaggerations but keep writing. Once you stop thinking about writing, “to the point,” your true emotions will flow. Don’t stop now. Forget about word limits. You will edit the words in the next step.

2) Edit out sentences

Read the draft carefully, and remove any sentences that don’t capture your singular dominant emotion. If you hate your job – so be it. If you are looking at an MBA as a “change agent,” stick to that agenda, but focus on “one” emotion.

3) Appeal to the Heart

You should not write personal account of misfortune, and make the essay a sympathetic tale of your journey but don’t go to the extreme either, and restate the achievements written in the resume. There is a middle ground. Unlike novels where you have the liberty of unlimited words, essays require conveying emotions with a pinch of numbers. Most importantly, appeal to your authentic self, and you will connect with the admission committee.
 
 “I was always good with numbers” could have been written as:

“When my friends struggled with Math in Grade 8, I was looking forward to my next assignment. Although I was never a studious person, numbers attracted me. It revealed more truth than fancy words. The journey towards a solution was filled with turns and missteps, but each step showed what I was capable of. I learned to persist. I learned to find another way. You might exaggerate in conversation and writing, but number to me is about Integrity. It is when you can’t hide the truth from yourself.”

One sentence has become eight sentences, but that one paragraph reveals the thought process, and the appreciation that the applicant has for numbers, more than any certificate or statements. It is evidence that the applicant did not choose finance because her friends did the same. She was attracted to the subject from an early age. Her fascination with numbers is more than the mental stimulation that follows the solution. For her, solving a math problem is about persistence, finding another way, and most importantly testing her limits.

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