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Ermahgad! Proof for all advice EssaySnark is spewing!

November 23, 2020 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

You honestly don’t have to go read this highly technical paper that discusses information design and how written communication is processed and understood by the human brain…. But you could. If you were like fully bored with your life and just waiting for Wednesday afternoon to arrive so that you can log off your computer and celebrate the arrival of four full days without Zoom, then you could go read that article right now as a way to pass the time until then.

(For those of you not in the U.S., this is Thanksgiving Week! Most Americans will be moving into holiday mode with force as of Wednesday! Thursday is the official Thanksgiving, and of course Friday is otherwise known as Black Friday, where even EssaySnark will be participating with some deeply discounted offers for essays and stuff!)

Hopefully you’re not traveling anywhere for the holidays just ‘cuz you know coronavirus 🙁 but if you happen to be stuck in an airport with nothing to read — or even better, if the anxieties of 2020 have put you in a sleepless phase, where you are experiencing insomnia at night, well do we have the article for you! It’s from an academic journal called Frontiers in Psychology – the Educational Psychology edition (who knew that such a field existed!!) and it’s called PowerPoint® presentation flaws and failures: a psychological analysis and how could that NOT sound exciting to you?!??

Here’s a key point that actually is very, very relevant to the task of writing MBA admissions essays!

We often warn BSers to remember their audience when they’re putting their stories on the page in support of an argument being made in an assay — and the “remember your audience” thing can be remarkably difficult to do! That’s because your brain has been conditioned to think in the terms you’re using, as a shorthand way of communicating with others on your team, and it becomes so steeped in your everyday world that you forget that there ever was a time when those words were foreign or unusual for you.

Because think back: Wasn’t there a time when you were new to your job, when you attended meetings every day for weeks on end, always feel TOTALLY AND HOPELESS LOST? That everyone around you was speaking a foreign language or something, or they were members of an exclusive club, and nobody had thought to give you a key?

The “remember your audience” point is critical to clear communication — and this academic paper proves it!

Here’s what the authors have said — their paper is in the context of designing a good PowerPoint slide, but it applies equally well to an MBA essay:

(1) Unfamiliar (for that audience) concepts, conventions, formats, terminology, and symbols may not be understood. Moreover, when they are understood, they will likely require effortful processing (which will be accomplished only if the audience is highly motivated).

To say that in even simpler terms:

Don’t make your reader work so hard!

If you’re writing about something even marginally technical, or using jargon, acronyms, or lingo that’s specific to your world, then your admissions reader will have to use “effortful processing” — meaning, they will have to work hard, mentally, in order to figure out what you’re saying.

And, even more important: This “effortful processing” will only be done if the “audience if highly motivated” — and guess what?!!!

THE ADMISSIONS READER AT MANY TOP SCHOOLS IS NOT THAT MOTIVATED.

Yes of course, they claim that they are “reading to admit” which Wharton loves saying (which honestly isn’t actually true because if it were, then they would admit everybody!).

The problem is that reading MBA admissions essays is exhausting, and oftentimes utterly boring, and heck, there’s a PANDEMIC going on, and people are just worn out from 2020.

Your audience is, guaranteed, not “highly motivated” when they are reading your essay.

So what do you do with that information?

Knowing that, you make your essay easier to read!

You take on the burden of communication, and you rework and revise and rework again the words on the page, so that they are simple and concise and clearly stated.

(And, potentially, you may want to seek out help from a qualified admissions consultant who knows about issues like this! Who will help you see how your writing ain’t all that clear as you thought, and point out where changes still need to be made.)

In the ramp-up to Round 1, we hosted a Writing Week here on the blahg, where we gave all sorts of incredibly targeted advice on the nuances and mechanics of good essay-writing. The first post was here if you want to check all of those out. You don’t have to go read academic research on how to construct a good PowerPoint or what criteria are needed to support the brain’s processing of information for your admissions reader. You can read all about it here on the EssaySnark blahg! The advice offered here has been honed from over a decade of providing guidance to applicants who actually make it in. We’d love to help you with your applications too!

 
 

 
 
You may also be interested in:

  • The Stages of Learning: Why getting help on your essays is so useful
  • If you really wanna do a good job on those essays, do this.

 
 

Filed Under: writing essays

« Previous: ($) You can’t write your introduction first. It won’t make any sense.
Next: ($) When should a Columbia Regular Decision MBA app get submitted? »

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.

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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
   
   

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