There are multiple levels of revision that need to go into a good MBA essay.
Obviously the most important is the content strategy. That’s what we focus on with the Essay Decimator MBA essay review service, and it’s also why we have the App Accelerators, which are purpose-built services dedicated to helping you nail down your content strategy in core areas of your application.
Another aspect of your essays is the actual presentation: The layout on the page, the formatting of the file (for those essays that are uploaded instead of copy-pasted into the application). The font.
Don’t get us started on the font! (Actually, please do — or better yet, go read this which captures a common issue that can generate a rantfest from The ‘Snark).
The aspect of essays that is actually easiest to address is the visual perception that they offer.
One thing to be conscious of: Walls of text are uninviting. If you have an answer to, say, one of Stanford’s “optional” questions about the impact you’ve had personally or professionally — which is limited, it only lets you write 250 words — please still format it in a friendly way. One paragraph is not great. It’s just this block of information.
Instead, it’s often even a good idea to break longer paragraphs up, even if it’s one single story.
Along those lines, an essay of 1,000 words or more is going to have even more paragraphs.
In a long paragraph, look for where there’s a shift in tone or energy in the story. Break there.
Often, the first chunk is establishing the setup and naming the circumstances, who was involved, the problem you had to face, and then there’s a natural shift when you start presenting how you overcame the challenges and took actions to create the results. It may work to break the story at that spot.
And, consider breaking for the final point, too, where you include a recap of the main point with your takeaways. Conclusions are critical! Even in short-answer responses.
Another tip: Shorter sentences are often easier on the reader
These tips are not going to matter if your content strategy is not optimized. But they do make a difference in terms of how your writing is experienced by your reader.
You don’t want to give the reader a headache when they open up your essay.
Small decisions count too!
These are aspects of essay writing to attend to once you have the content fully baked in.
Tell us what you think.