The way to set yourself apart in your MBA applications is to show what you have done in your career and what you have experienced in this life that makes you a whole person. That sentence may be hard to parse into action. You may be wondering, “OK great, but how do I write my […]
Continue reading...($) “How much should recommenders material overlap with the stories I relate in my essay?”
Basically, the title. And here’s what we say in response! Premium content starts here… ———– ———– Premium content ends.
Continue reading...($) When you’re asked to identify a weakness
A perennial angle on many schools’ MBA essay questions is an angle asking about strengths and weaknesses. That typically comes up not as a direct question, but instead they ask you to present a challenging experience or your key leadership story or maybe your biggest failure and then discuss what you learned from it. Some...
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($) Another warning about tone.
The subtitle of this post may as well be: Don’t be a jerk. 🙁 Or put less snarkily: It’s kinda important for you to come across as a decent human being in your apps. Premium content starts here… ———– ———– Premium content ends.
Continue reading...($) “Halp! What do I do with all these stories?” aka how to identify your theme – especially for HBS!
We worked with a Brave Supplicant recently who was having a tough time implementing some of the feedback we were offering on their Harvard essay. They were trying to write about their professional experiences but things weren’t coming together cohesively. In case you need a reminder, the prompt for Harvard Business School is: “As we […]
Continue reading...The proof versus the promise.
We’re reblahgging this gem from the snarchives that we just rediscovered at random – from way back in 2011! Dang we’ve been doing this a long time. Some posts are timeless. Amazing video from Pixar University: Very inspiring, touching on themes of innovation, collaboration, and even improv — though frankly, we weren’t sure if […]
Continue reading...($) What are “Awards and Honors” in an MBA app?
We covered the question of extracurriculars earlier, so let’s also tackle the category that strikes fear into the hearts of Brave Supplicants everywhere: the Honors and Awards category on the MBA app. Premium content starts here… ———– ———– Premium content ends. Want more help on this part? EssaySnark’s Accomplishments & Achievements App Accelerator […]
Continue reading...($) What your HBS essay should not be.
This came up when we were helping a very motivated Brave Supplicant with understanding feedback on our Essay Decimator essay review at the end of last season. This applicant had fallen into the trap that many, many applicants fall into: Their HBS essay was boring. And there was a very specific reason why it was […]
Continue reading...($) Writing essays for complex environments: When is a deep dive beneficial?
Since we’re in WRITING TIPS! mode again, with the ramp-up to Round 2, let’s continue the topics we started last week with identifying stellar stories to write about in your MBA essays. We’ve been coaching you on strategies for what to include and how much detail to go into, and how to write about the […]
Continue reading...($) Stanford GSB: Optional (not optional!) stories of impact
Once again this year, the Stanford GSB has an “optional” assignment as part of their MBA application: Write up to three statements of how you’ve made an impact in some area of your life. There are many questions of strategy that must go into your decisions of what to write about. The first one which […]
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