How to write good MBA essays?

Essay Writing Tips

1. To make your essays effective you have to churn your mind by spending few hours introspecting. Discover your real strengths and motivations.
2. Think about your achievements; identify personal traits behind the achievements. Talk to friends and colleagues. Honestly assess yourself and objectively evaluate the feedback you receive from others. All this can take time. Start earlier; do not leave this exercise till the very end. The effort you make now will show in your essays and in the outcome of your applications.
3. Research the schools you wish to apply; list what they value and special features in their programs. Why do you consider these values and features important for your career progression? While developing the essays match yourself with the school.
4. Here are some qualities that business schools want their potential students to possess.(Leadership , Ability to work with others (team work), Interpersonal skills , Analytical skills, Ethics , Self Confidence, Ability to take risk and quantify risk, Ability to recognize opportunity, Communication skills, Management skills, Motivation , Creativity, Intellectual ability, Career focus, Self discipline, Ability to work in different cultural environments.)
5. Use the list as a reference and build your essays by expanding on those that are applicable to you. Always try to present some anecdotes to substantiate your qualities. Once you have identified the traits and stories to project them, look for ways of using these stories to answer specific essay questions of different schools. Furthermore, look for ways of projecting multiple traits through a single story.Tell the committee members why you’re qualified to attend their business school.
6. Make the right balance of personal and professional traits in your essays. Top business schools look for applicants with all round abilities.
7. Be focused; determine what the question is asking. Ensure that your MBA essays answer the question that is asked. Stick to the specified word limit.
8. Describe how your presence will contribute to the business school’s unique community.
9. Have a distinct introduction, body, and conclusion. Write and edit your essays till the time you are sure they project you well.
10. Proofread it for spelling & grammatical errors. Use several different types of sentence structure/words. Use a thesaurus.
11. Remember that your essay must be a freestanding document. Make reading your essay easy for your reader!
12. Consider a “sales pitch” in the essays. Give schools a reason to recruit you. Clearly list down traits you want to sell yourself on and make business schools overlook areas that you are weak on.
13. Always say something about yourself that you did not state anywhere else in your application. Do not repeat any facts or figures as it will be mere waste of an opportunity to tell more about you to the admission officer.
14. Make your personal statement about “YOU”, not about any abstract theories or concepts.
15. If you’re using the same statement for many business schools, be sure to cut-and-paste carefully as you personalize each one.
16. Never dwell on any negatives in the essays, unless you plan to show how a negative incident had a positive impact on your life and influenced your decision to attend business school.
17. Make sure your essay and all statements say exactly what you intend and there are no apparent contradictory statements.
18. Never sound arrogant. Confidence is strong enough. Never offend your audience. This statement will be read by admissions professionals, business school professors, and students.
19. Avoid passive voice. Use the active voice, which is considered much stronger style of writing.
20. Never use industry terminology without explanation.
21. Never use “big” words to sound intelligent; this sounds foolish and detracts from the essay.
22. Never try to be cute or funny; it will only backfire. Never whine, beg, or plead for admission.
23. Convince the reader, Distinguish yourself, Demonstrate sincerity & Write in a fashion that keeps the reader’s attention. This is the key to success for getting into your dream B-school.

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