The “why MBA” aspect to your pitch in your MBA essays is not just literally stating why you think an MBA is necessary to achieve your goals — though that’s obviously an important part! The most sophisticated “why MBA” essays are about positioning YOU towards THIS SCHOOL. There are two angles of “why MBA” that […]
Continue reading...Interested in moving from engineering to business?
Or basically any independent contributor role, where you’re giving specific parts of the project to go off and execute, and someone else is responsible for the big-picture view, and for communicating with everyone across the team and department, up and down the chain of the organization? If so, we invite you to go read this […]
Continue reading...($) Already have a Master’s degree? Why do you also need an MBA now?
Some schools don’t really focus on this issue but a few of them do – including Tuck in particular, who in the past wouldn’t even consider a candidate with a prior MBA or MBA-similar degree, like the PGP from India. They are (somewhat?) loosening those restrictions in the new admissions climate but even if you […]
Continue reading...($) What you’re optimizing for
Today’s post is to elaborate on a question we recently received from a Brave Supplicant who’s trying to figure out next steps in career, education, and life. This person wanted our input on whether a particular job change they were considering would make it easier for them to get into a top MBA program in […]
Continue reading...($) Backup plans and next steps: What if it’s looking like you might not get in?!??
Some of you are starting to worry, which may or may not be justified. If you tend to be a worrier, you already know that about yourself, and you may intellectually recognize that you’re doing it, and be unable to stop. Worrying in this case only adds to your stress levels and is not productive, […]
Continue reading...($) WRITING WEEK! Day 4: The problem of the parrot.
You may be wondering why we’re spending so much time talking about issues of writing style on a blahg that’s supposed to be about strategies for getting in. A good set of essays for an MBA application will answer the question that the school has posted in its essay prompt. That goes without saying. Anyone […]
Continue reading...($) essay critique: Wharton “What do you hope to gain professionally?”
This is supposed to be the final day of our recent Writing Week (post 1 here if you want to catch up!) however today we’re going to veer off in another direction and post an essay critique for Wharton. This was sent in by a Brave Supplicant recently and we got another one that we’re […]
Continue reading...($) Citation needed.
No no no no no — not really. We may have titled this post “Citation needed” but PLEASE do not include footnotes or references or links or what have you in your essays!!! No no no no no. HOWEVER: You do need to establish from whence comes the statements you make!! Premium content starts here… […]
Continue reading...($) In your career goals / why MBA essay, everything needs to line up just so.
When you’re putting together your pitch for admission to the business school of your dreams, the task really is about assembling chunks of content that fit together into an argument. (See: Good first drafts aren’t written. They’re assembled.) That’s what a pitch is, right? You’re making the case that you belong at that school. Premium […]
Continue reading...($) A question to explore before starting to understand why you want an MBA
Most readers of this blahg who are pre-MBA are in the age range of about 26 to perhaps 32 years old. There’s some older folks too but today’s post is more focused on this age range. When you’re trying to figure out what to say in your MBA essays about why you want to go […]
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