Why You Won’t Get Into A Top Business School With Your Poorly Written MBA Essays
So you’re applying to top business schools and you’ve completed the GMAT, visited some schools, and now you’re slowly coming to the realization that the next part of the process is one that’s been haunting you from the very start:
MBA ESSAYS!
Don’t fret. If you’re not a good writer, it’s okay. There’s hope.
I know because I’ve been there.
While I hired a university admission consultant to help me with my writing, I learned a lot on my own and discovered various ways to improve my writing skills so I could write high quality essays.
There are three things you need to know in order to be on your way to writing successfully.
1) Research
I know what you’re probably thinking. What does research have to do with your writing skills? Not a whole lot. BUT…. it helps. When I started writing my essays cold, it was hard to even write anything at first without having some knowledge about the topic I chose. Whether it was the actual school, my career goals, what an MBA actually meant, or anything else, you need to be well informed about what it is that you want out of your entire MBA experience.
Think about it, no research equals very little to write about. How exactly is that going to help you start writing? You get my drift.
2) Know Thyself
Do you know why you want to go to business school? You really don’t have a lot of time to tell me really. You have to be instantaneous with your answer and if you really are having trouble answering this question, then you need to go back to question number 1. The difference here is that you need to dig deep and understand the reasons for putting your life on hold for this MBA. Your answer better be something NOT having to do with earning a higher income and definitely not because you need something better to do with your life.
Get on Google and start looking at what most common MBA grads do with their degrees. What are they doing now? Where are they working? How is that different from what they were doing pre-MBA? If you do this, you’ll find that you are starting to understand yourself and your reasons for going to business school.
3) Start to Brand Yourself
As you start to develop a sense of what business school is all about, you will probably be tempted to write an essay or two. Definitely be patient. An MBA essay is not just any kind of essay. It’s a sales document in some sense. How you pitch, brand, and sell yourself, will have a lot to do with how you present the overall application. A lot of will also rely on how well you can tell your personal story and how your life experiences connect with each other to create this outstanding individual called YOU!
If there are holes and gaps here and there, it will not look very good. There are many resources out there to help you brand yourself but it all starts with understanding what YOU are all about.
So as you’re getting ready to dive into the application process, be sure to spend time learning about what you’re getting yourself into. I can’t tell you how many times I see applicants dive into the application and write rubbish because they have NO clue about the process. Be smart about it and take time to learn about it and I promise you that you will be happy at the results in the end.
