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 Interviewing Guide
    • Getting Off the Waitlist
    • Applying in Round 3 mini-guide
    • Applying to European Business Schools
    • School-Specific MBA Application Guides
      • Columbia 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Harvard 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Kellogg 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • MIT Sloan 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Chicago Booth 2020 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

“I have to go to bschool because my career is at a dead end.”

December 11, 2015 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

We see this from time to time and while we have cautioned against it elsewhere on the blahg, it doesn’t hurt to mention it again. This advice was buried in this post for older MBA candidates and it also is related to some advice we offered up in this Duke essay critique post but the essence of it is this:

Even if you feel this is true, you cannot tell the adcoms that the reason you need an MBA is because your career is stalled and you’re at a dead-end job.

First of all: That is not a reason for them to accept you!

Sure that’s a personal reason for why you want to go to bschool but it’s not one that’s going to be very appealing to a complete stranger weighing your app.

Secondly: It’s saying that you’ve done a poor job of planning things!

If you’re currently stuck at work – bored, out of options, unable to advance – then that reflects on YOU! Poorly, at that! (Yes, we’re using a lot of exclamation points today! We feel strongly about this!)

 

Plus it’s like you’re holding the adcom hostage: “If you don’t accept me then I will have nowhere to go! I will be destitute and poor, out on the streets! Because I have no way to advance in my life today!”

How annoying is that!

It also implies that you’re not doing anything about your situation. Those who are stuck in their job either go get a new job, or change the dynamics of the one that they’re in. If you can’t advance because you don’t have the skills, then expand your skills. (Yes we know that you think that’s what bschool is for, but you can be doing it on a more limited basis even today without being in a formal educational program.) If you ask for responsibilities, and you’ve shown that you deserve more, they will be given to you. OK maybe not every single one – but if you ask repeatedly and you’re constantly turned away, then either find somewhere to work where you’re valued, or take it as a chance for self-examination. Maybe you could be doing better with the job that you have?

If you prove yourself to be valuable, and a key contributor, then opportunities will open for you. That’s how this world works. If you’re saying you cannot advance to any further position in your career, that it’s impossible, there’s no where to go, then the only way that would be true is if YOU’RE THE BOSS ALREADY.

Do you see the problems with this?

We never advocate any type of go-negative tone in the essays. It just isn’t the right place to be coming from. And we especially never see value in complaining about your circumstances to your adcom reader.

Because that’s essentially what you’re doing with this. “Waa waa waa, I’m stuck, I need you to rescue me.”

No thank you!

Some of your app strategy is about marketing. You’re positioning yourself to the positive based on what you say. You’re able to craft the reader’s impressions by how you lay out your answers. By talking about how you want to school in order to pursue something new, you’re automatically putting yourself into a more productive place. It’s a lot more fun to come at the essays from a “glass is half full” position than the opposite – both for you, in getting excited about articulating your ideas, and also for your reader when they open your app.

 

 

Filed Under: career goals, writing essays

« Previous: ($) “Should I submit more recommendations than the school asks for?”
Next: ($) essay critique! Yale SOM “deep and lasting impact” and “influence” »

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!

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

  • INSEAD Jan '22 intake Rd 1
    in 0 weeks, 2 days, 16 hours
  • INSEAD Jan '22 Intake Rd 2
    in 1 month, 2 weeks, 6 days, 16 hours
  • (expected) HBS Class of 2024 app requirements released
    in 2 months, 0 weeks, 3 days, 17 hours
  • (expected) Columbia J-Term/ED app to open
    in 3 months, 0 weeks, 1 day, 17 hours
  • INSEAD Jan '22 Intake Rd 3
    in 3 months, 2 weeks, 1 day, 16 hours
   
From a BSer January 2020:
"love the guide books!"


CLASS OF 2023 MBA APPLICATION STRATEGY GUIDES

     
    The 2020 Berkeley-Haas MBA Application Guide - updated for the Class of 2023 application!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Berkeley Haas - refreshed and updated, with brainstorming exercises and structured maps to help you focus your stories!
   
    The 2020-2021 NYU Stern MBA Application Guide that covers the main essay, the EQ Endorsement and Pick Six!
SnarkStrategies Guide for NYU - discusses your requirements for the Class of 2023 essays!
   
    The 2020-2021 Columbia MBA Application Guide
SnarkStrategies Guide for Columbia Business School for 2020-2021 applications
   
    The 2020 Harvard MBA Application Guide - completely overhauled and updated for the coronavirus era!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Harvard Business School!
   
    The 2020-2021 Duke Essay Guide - covers the 25 Random Things essay and all the rest too!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Duke Fuqua - up to date for the current season!
   
    The 2020-2021 MIT Essay Guide covers the org chart, the contacts for two references, and additional tips for the cover letter and 'introduce yourself' video -- and everything else you need to know!
SnarkStrategies Guide for MIT Sloan MBA - totally revised for the Class of 2023!
   
    The 2020-2021 Tuck Essay Guide has been refreshed with latest insights and advice for your essays about "investing generously" and "why Tuck"!
SnarkStrategies Guide for the Dartmouth Tuck MBA - completely overhauled for 2020, to help you demonstrate how you are nice, aware, etc stuff!
   
    The Yale SOM MBA Application Guide for Class of 2023 candidates!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Yale SOM - updated for 2020-2021
   
    The 2020-2021 Chicago Booth MBA Application Guide - ready to go to support your Class of 2023 essay strategy!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Chicago Booth for this year's MBA app!
   
    The 2020 Wharton MBA Application Guide - even more advice on how to get to a win with those essays!
SnarkStrategies Guide for The Wharton School - with new tips for 2020!
   
    The 2020 Kellogg Essay Guide - with a full methodology to identify your 'lasting impact' and your 'values' -- plus tips on 2020 world events and applicability to your essays!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Kellogg MBA - updated and revised for the new realities of 2020!    
      The 2020 Stanford MBA Application Guide - for "what matters most" in your MBA application!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Stanford GSB for the Class of 2023
   
    The 2020-2021 UCLA Anderson MBA Application Guide - updated for Class of 2023 on "impact"!
SnarkStrategies Guide for 
UCLA
   
   

Brave Supplicants' latest reviews on The 'Snark


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

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

Apr 10, 2020
by George on Single Shot Express MBA Essay Review
Worth Every Penny

I used the Single Shot Express to decimate essay #1 at my first-choice school. Paired with the school... Read more






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



What were we snarking about at this time in past years?

  • 2020: What did the Fed do with interest rates today, and why?
  • 2020: ($) "Will applying in Round 3 weaken my application next season?"
  • 2017: Success Story! Research and the right school targets bring results!
  • 2016: What ethics is not
  • 2016: ($) Why telling the truth in your apps is important.
  • 2015: Quiz Leaderboard
  • 2015: ($) Do bschools have quotas in admissions?
  • 2014: Extracurriculars and military applicants
  • 2012: "School X, or School Y with $$$?" (Part 1.5)
  • 2011: More reasons why a Round 3 application is not a good idea
My Tweets

See the Top U.S. Business Schools on a Map!


EssaySnark is currently available! We're accepting new clients! Standard turnarounds apply. If you're in a hurry, Speedy Review is available!

EssaySnark® is a registered trademark. All content copyright © 2010–2021 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