What MBA Application Essay Reviewers Want?

If you assume that MBA Application Essay reviewers look at your Essays with a set of evaluation criteria without getting swayed by their personal biases and emotions, be aware that they are humans like us, evolved over millions of years, and operate their minds with two questions – “What is important” and “What is scarce”.
 
More than emotions, evaluating an essay is an intense exercise. With the tiny 3-pounder brain taking up 20% of our total energy, it is no wonder that as humans, we don’t want to waste our mental energy on trivial activities. We would rather spend most of our energy on survival – getting food and avoiding danger. There is no difference between the diligent reviewer and the quick reader. Both would like to avoid the trivial essays, and spend most of their times on the articulate ones. Why? It gives them a better social status.

Social Status

As with any social groups, the Essay reviewer’s persona demands that they remain impartial, and read essays without any personal bias against any community, profession, country, or race, but deep down primal emotions dictate most of her thoughts. Reading through tens of articulate essays increases the chance of the reviewer to read the winning essay, and picking the right candidate. Even if the essay reviewer reiterates that she was just doing the job, deep down, she is looking for appreciation from the peer group, and with recognition, climb the social status ladder. What attracts the appreciation are the reviewer’s ability to pick candidates who encapsulate the culture of the school, the temperament of a leader, and the humility of a matured professional.

Fast Decisions

We make thousands of decisions every hour; most of them have become part of our unconscious mind. Had it not been the unconscious mind, we would have been overwhelmed by the daily chores. But what is interesting is that every time we make a decision, the pleasure-inducing neurotransmitter – dopamine is released. Yes, the same neurotransmitter that is released when we have sex, drink booze, do shopping or watch our favorite movie for the nth time. When we have a natural bias towards making decision, the essay review process creates the perfect environment to make the fast decisions – “reject the applicant”, “waitlist the applicant” and “consider the applicant.” With awareness about the deadlines and the acceptance rate (5-10%), the reviewer has the incentive to eliminate the candidate. Read 8 Must Read Tips for your MBA Application Essays to avoid being categorized in the “Rejected List.”

Eliminate Exaggerated Essays

By spotting essays where applicants exaggerate their role, achievements and experience, reviewers can eliminate the falsified and trivial essays. We have not read a single essay where the candidate has not exaggerated at some levels. It is natural for us humans. In a survey of professors in the United States, 95% of them reported that they were better than other teachers, and interestingly 96% of college students said that they were better than others in social skills. We tend to overrate our abilities, achievements, contribution, and charity. Most exaggeration is spotted when applicants with similar experience from the same organization quote different roles, or the revenue for the project exceeds the total revenue for the company. You might think that you are the only one applying for a top MBA program. Do you hear a non-stop typing in the next cubicle? Your colleague is completing his Harvard MBA Essay.

Mental Shortcuts

According to Cognitive psychologist George A. Miller, the number of objects an average human being can process at the same time is 7 ± 2. Agreed, an MBA Application essay reviewer is above average but if you bombard the reviewer with facts after facts, and interesting characters after characters, she will go for a coffee break to replenish the lost mental energy. God forbid if the reviewer has set a quota on the number of coffee breaks, she will let her automatic mind take over the decision-making process, which will be eventually based on personal biases, and typecasts of your demographic. When you plan the essays, fix the total number of data points and characters to under nine.

Emotional Trigger

They don’t want to read the hundredth essay about running half-marathons or backpacking to Europe. What they want is the emotional reasons for running the half-marathon or the ‘life lesson’ that you intended to pick with the journey. Reviewing essays is an emotionally detached exercise. As an applicant, you are not sitting next to her, giving the puppy eyed look, or begging for a better future. You are applicant #535, and they are doing a job. Unless, you include the right emotional trigger words, writing about extra-curricular activities and your achievements, as a news report, does not trigger the emotional mind of the reviewer. There is a reason Paul Krugman’s Op-ed piece in New York Times is one of the most read article compared to better-written and reported series. We are suckers for personal opinions and emotions. That is how we learn lessons of survival: One on One from other human beings.

Evidence of Altruism

Although giving away your hard-earned money for Charity is an altruistic act, for MBA Application, it is a copout, unless you invested most of your money to start a non-profit. With 72% of Americans donating money, the 10-15% contribution annually has become the norm. The competitive altruism has enabled the US to rank #1 for Charity, according to the World Giving Index. The essay reviewer is looking for evidence of altruism in time, effort, and commitment. Unless you can show that you were involved with a non-profit continuously, and demonstrate the goals achieved, your essays will not move the reviewer.

For the admission committee, selecting candidates who meet the basic academic competence required to complete the MBA program is an important criterion. That does not mean that scarcity does not move them. There are scarcities of essays where an applicant takes full responsibility of their actions, and write their essays taking the reviewers through the actual journey. We have written a hands-on practical essay-writing guide that will teach you how to write a compelling essay; the one that the reviewer will select. After all, she needs the credit for selecting a Winning Essay.