EssaySnark

  • about
  • contact
  • help
  • sign up
  • login
CLICK FOR MORE!
  • Essay Questions
    • Harvard
    • Stanford
    • Wharton
    • Chicago Booth
    • Kellogg
    • MIT Sloan
    • Tuck
    • NYU Stern
    • Columbia
    • Yale SOM
    • Berkeley Haas
    • UVA Darden
    • Duke Fuqua
    • Michigan Ross
    • UCLA Anderson
    • Cornell
  • Strategy Guides
    • MBA Reapplicant Guide
    • Pitching Entrepreneurship as Your Post-MBA Career
    • Applying to European Business Schools
    • School-Specific MBA Application Guides
      • Harvard 2022 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Stanford 2021 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Wharton 2021 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Kellogg 2021 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Chicago Booth 2021 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Columbia 2021 MBA Strategy Guide
      • *MORE SCHOOL-SPECIFIC GUIDES HERE*
  • MBA Consulting
    • Free essay reviews
    • What stage are you in?
    • Military MBA
    • BIPOC Program
    • Testimonials & Reviews
    • Guest Posts
  • My SnarkCenter
    • My Strategy Guides
    • My Favorite Posts
    • Discounts & Offers

Compare and contrast (don’t do it)

December 26, 2011 by EssaySnark - Discusses Wharton, Columbia 5 Comments

Today is Christmas.

Well it’s not literally Christmas – Christmas was yesterday – but yesterday was Sunday – which means we get today off as the “official” Christmas. Even though everyone did their eggnogging and gift-unwrapping yesterday. Today they’re all at the mall returning those presents and getting what they REALLY want.


And rest assured, EssaySnark did not write this blog post on Christmas.


We wrote in back in September or something, and kept bumping it forward in our little blogger calendar until we found a day that we didn’t have anything else to say. 


So guess what? Christmas it is. Or the day after. Or whatever. ‘Cuz you can bet we’re not reading essays and writing blog posts today.


Here’s your stale advice to carry you through the post-holiday hangover. (You are writing essays today, aren’t you?)


Onwards….


When telling a school how fabulous you think it is, it’s tempting to do the old standby, compare and contrast. What we mean here is, don’t say “Columbia is the only program that…” or “Wharton has the best blah blah blah…”

Why should you NOT do this? Three main reasons:

  1. Chances are, you’re gonna be wrong about whatever it is you’re citing. We see it all the time: A BSer claims in an essay that the school they’re trying to woo is the only one that has XYZ program or initiative or option — but actually, that’s a feature that’s common to many schools. This comes up with the cluster system, for example; many bschools divide students into clusters or cohorts that they spend the whole first year with. Some schools are moving away from this, but it’s still very common. Or action-based learning; this is practically a Ross trademark, but other schools have co-opted it and are now using the same-exact phrase. 
  2.  The other problem with this compare/contrast? Things change. If you say “NYU has more female students than any other top program” then you might be correct one year, but the next year, someone else will beat their numbers.
  3. The most important reason not to do this? It is an empty compliment to the school – it’s telling them something they already know. If you really care about Feature X of the school, then instead of fawning over them about how they’re the only one that has it, you should talk about it in a personal way. What does it mean TO YOU that they offer XYZ thingamabob in an MBA education? How will you use it, why is it relevant to you? To just cite the thingamabob is not helping you; it’s parroting their website. Figure out how to integrate a statement about the importance of said thingamabob into your pitch, and then you’ll have something worth crowing about.*

The schools are pretty darn familiar about what they have — and what their peers have. (Well, sometimes they are… EssaySnark has heard adcom peeps say completely inaccurate things about their peers in info sessions — we won’t say who!). You risk tripping yourself up unnecessarily if you do this compare/contrast thing. It doesn’t help you. Don’t do it.

*  *chortle* parrots? crowing? hahaha EssaySnark cracks ourself up

Filed Under: general tips Tagged With: please don't do this Bschools: Wharton, Columbia

« Previous: Guest post! A .500 batting average ain’t that bad!
Next: Don’t be a dolt. »

So who the heck is EssaySnark, anyway?!

We're the snarky experts in MBA admissions!

Sometimes amused and often appalled by what candidates write in their MBA applications to top bschools, EssaySnark created this little blahg to share common mistakes. Learn from them and avoid making admissions directors laugh (or want to hurl) when they read your essays. If you are hoping to have your essay reviewed anonymously on the blahg for free, submit it for consideration.

Want EssaySnark's personal assistance with your MBA applications? Start with our menu of consulting services and please read the Help FAQ to learn how we operate. Still have questions after doing all that? Email Team EssaySnark at gethelpnow at essaysnark dot com.

Good luck on your apps, Brave Supplicant!

Here's what others have said about this:

  1. Cheetarah1980 says

    December 26, 2011 at 3:13 pm

    While I haven't researched every school around, I am pretty sure that Ross is the only school that provides the MAP experience. While other schools have experiential learning classes, the duration of MAP puts it in a league entirely by itself. Even schools with "labs" and "immersion" programs don't seem to offer the level of practical experience that MAP does. From my understanding MAP is pretty much a classwide internship before your internship. So maybe that's the only case where a student can say that Ross is the only school that can meet a particular need through that program. I would think this is especially appealing to career changers.

    Merry Christmas Essay Snark. Hope you got some awesome presents cause you've played a big part in making sure that Christmas came early for many BSers.

    Reply
  2. ccatcher says

    December 26, 2011 at 5:31 pm

    @Essaysnark: A question about Cornell's second essay-
    You are the author for the book of Your Life Story. Please write the table of contents for the book. Note: Approach this essay with your unique style. We value creativity and authenticity.

    What's the expectation here? A list of bullet points coz that's what tables of contents are usually like.
    I feel more like writing an essay covering the major inflection points in my life. What's the time span one is supposed to cover?

    Reply
  3. essaysnark says

    December 26, 2011 at 7:46 pm

    @Cheetarah1980 – sorry but disagree. Columbia Master Classes are very similar to MAP: semester-wide, small-group, real-world consulting projects. The main diff is that CBS MCs are in Y2, vs Ross MAP is Y1. HBS FIELD seems to have a similar goal for Y1, though they're still molding what FIELD will be. Stanford does partnerships with the d.school tackling real problems. Wharton is moving in this direction, too. Ross was def one of the first (in fact, we were irritated to see that HBS Dean Nohria is trying to claim HBS as the innovator in this area!!). But MAP is not the only beast of its kind in the wilderness.

    Thx for the kind Xmas wishes – as nerdy as it sounds, the best gift that we can get is for awesome candidates like you to get in!! So please, everyone, do your job and give EssaySnark more gifts!!! 🙂

    @ccatcher: Expectations are very literal: create a TOC. Make it a TOC, make it your Life Story. An essay is NOT what they want. The best TOCs start at the beginning and cover the whole story. 🙂

    Sorry to be so snide, but it's literally what they're asking for. Cover the highlights of your past and project forward your plans for the future. Use concise titles – avoid writing out huge sentences as the chapter headings, since that's not what you'd get in a book. Beyond that, the arrangement and execution of the TOC is up to you!

    Reply
  4. essaysnark says

    December 26, 2011 at 7:47 pm

    So funny that when we wrote the above post, we thought we would not be reading essays today… *sigh*

    Reply
  5. ccatcher says

    December 27, 2011 at 7:46 am

    Thanks ES

    Reply

Tell us what you think. Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sign up for the 'Snark via email

Enter your address to get weekday blahg posts by email.

UPCOMING MBA APP DEADLINES

  • (expected) Columbia J-Term/ED app to open
    in 0 weeks
  • INSEAD Jan '23 Intake Rd 3
    in 2 weeks
  • INSEAD Jan '23 Intake Rd 4
    in 1 month, 4 weeks
  • Harvard Round 1: Sept. 7
    in 3 months, 1 week
   
Get The MBA Countdown and get week by week guidance to plan your summer and get your apps done!
 
   

CLASS OF 2025 MBA APPLICATION STRATEGY GUIDES

From a BSer:
"love the guide books!"




    The 2022 Harvard MBA Application Guide - updated for the Class of 2025!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Harvard Business School!
   
   

Brave Supplicants' latest reviews on The 'Snark


2020-21 r1 candidate
Apr 19, 2021
 by 2020-21 r1 candidate on Waitlist Assist
Please get this if you have the resources!

I would recommend EssaySnark to every waitlisted candidate! I was waitlisted by one of HSW in R1 this... Read more

hopeful
Feb 11, 2021
 by hopeful on MBA Interview Prep: Custom Practice Questions
Helpful

Just wanted to say thank you for these questions! A lot of them were really tailored to my profile, ... Read more

George
Apr 10, 2020
 by George on EssaySnark
Great Starting Point

I thought getting over the GRE/GMAT hurdle was fairly straightforward--disciplined study then test execution... Read more






Not sure where to begin with EssaySnark?
Our Snark Selector
will tell you!



   
Get started now - without doing any work! The Comprehensive Profile Review will help you start your strategy for your MBA applications.


EssaySnark® is a registered trademark. All content copyright © 2010–2022 Snarkolicious Press · Privacy Policy

Where should you start with EssaySnark?

Which EssaySnark service is right for you? Answer a few questions to find out!

This field must be set to Everyone - then in the Settings -> HTML -> After Fields screen there's JavaScript to hide it.
Sending