Sometimes we give feedback to BSers and we can just see the eye-rolling that it triggers on the receiving end.
We get really down into the weeds with you when we’re going through something like a career goals plan or reading an MBA essay.
A common example is when someone says something like, “I want to work for an international consulting firm.”
Here’s what we said in response to this type of thing a few months ago for an early-bird BSer who was out hunting MBA worms:
What is the “international” aspect to all of this? Obviously you do have significant overseas experience from your career to date, but that element is missing entirely from this pair of future goals statement. Remember: Every word counts! If you want an international career post-MBA then that needs to be properly specified and integrated. If you’re just trying to identify a type of firm you’re targeting, well OK but why does “international” matter?
Is “international” meant to show the size of firm? A better way to do that is to name names. What firms exactly are you targeting? What do you have in mind for the specific companies you’re interested in? Including those can be way better.
A similar issue is when someone says they want to work at a Fortune 500 firm. That is MEANINGLESS. It’s almost as bad as saying you want to go to an M7 school.
When you look at a sentence you’ve written for an essay — especially one where you’re stating your post-MBA goals — then we invite you to closely examine every single word.
What are you actually SAYING with it?
Is it a collection of buzzwords?
Or does it mean something?
WHY do you have each of those adjectives in the sentence?
Can you back them up?
Is there substance here?
This is how you can take your MBA app from generic and run-of-the-mill and the same stuff that everybody is saying, and elevate it to one that’s personal and specific to you.
Or another word for “personal and specific” is “authentic.”
Adcoms love authentic.
Tell us what you think.