DO: Complete your app dataset early – it will take more time than you expect!

DO: Proofread carefully, including cross-checking dates and data across your resume and transcripts!

DO: Follow each school’s instructions, and don’t assume that the way one school does it is the same as how any other one will!

DO: Request a waiver for the app fee early if you qualify for one! This usually includes U.S. military (active duty and veteran) plus alumni from TFA, TFI, TFC, the Peace Corps, and a few others – check with your school!

DO: Ask admissions if you have a question! This year we’ve been spotting a high number of errors in different schools’ app forms. If something does not make sense, it could be a mistake — or, if enough applicants get confused by it, then it’ll be useful feedback for the admissions ops team, so that they can change the wording or add more instructions! Always ask if you’re unsure of what they want!!

DON’T: WRITE YOUR ANSWERS IN THE APPLICATION FIELDS IN ALL CAPS! IT’S LIKE YOU’RE SHOUTING AT THE ADCOM. IT’S REALLY ANNOYING AND THEY WON’T LIKE IT.

DON’T: Use exclamation points! They almost NEVER belong in an application or an essay! They just DON’T!

Got any MBA app tips to suggest to your fellow BSers? LEAVE ‘EM IN THE COMMENTS!

In honor of the founding of our great country of America, we offer you this broadcast from Snarkville today, Independence Day. We hope you’re out there having barbeques and picnics and parades, all American Brave Supplicants! The Fourth of July is traditionally our YOU NEED TO GET STARTED ON YOUR ESSAYS, STAT!! milestone, however you can knuckle down on all of that stuff tomorrow. For today, enjoy the fireworks! And we will leave you with this little speech, adapted and modified from its source , which seemed appropriate in honor of the season.
 

In case you can’t tell by this ridiculous post, Team EssaySnark is off for the U.S. holiday today. Be safe!

Yesterday we started telling this tale of the BSer with an extended application process – in this case, a many-years extended.

To recap:

We first did a Comprehensive Profile Review for them back in Fall 2012. Then they disappeared on us for a full admissions season, until we were surprised to get a request for a Post-Mortem. Otherwise known as a Reject Analysis.

The rejected app we were asked to analyze was from that initial app season, back in 2012. This BSer was ready to give it a go again in 2014. On this particular app – to a very difficult school – they’d done a halfway decent job but there were some unforced errors. Things they could’ve done differently. Not sure it would’ve made a difference at this particular school, but still. Always a little sad for us to see that after it’s too late to be of help to them. (Hint hint. Getting help on your essays before the app has been rejected is the ideal order of things.)

We laid our full assessment out in black and white, explaining what that one school probably was reacting to in the negative decision they got, and also pointing out opportunities for better positioning if they were to try for any other school in the future.

Then they disappeared on us. Until about a year ago, when we got this:

Hi EssaySnark, thanks for the post-mortem feedback. I didn’t apply in the most recent application cycle. My updates are from 2012-13. I was waitlisted by Sloan for Round 1 and then rejected. I was accepted to Yale SOM and would have attended, but the school where I work suffered a crisis that compelled me to stay. I’d like to apply Round 1 to HBS, GSB, Sloan, and Haas and Round 2 to Tuck, SOM, and maybe Ross. Do you have any advice about this list? Thanks in advance!

Great set of schools, and of course it was super encouraging to see how much progress they’d made on their original attempts two years prior. We had a few back-and-forths with them, and then they signed up for our 8-Guide Bundle, a customizable assortment of our school guides, which we always think is a smart move from anyone who’s serious about this stuff. 😉

And then, the summer went by, and Round 1 deadlines passed, and lo and behold, we started getting news of some progress being made! First there was word from this BSer that they were interviewing at a Great School in Round 1, and then come December, we heard that they were accepted there and one other! The final exchange from them was this:

Thanks for the congratulations! I’m still very excited. Of course you can post my story! EssaySnark has been such a great help to me. Please let me know anything I should do to help.

We did in fact ask for them to write up their own version of events but they went radio silent on us after pinging them several times, so we figured we’d do it ourselves, since we see a few worthwhile takeaways here:

1. Be prepared for this to take more than one year – it’s common for many people and there are vast and sundry reasons for that.

2. We always respect those who go it alone (that’s why so much of what we offer is through this self-service / do it yourself model) and this person had huge successes doing exactly that, with some strategic requests for our professional input along the way.

3. Timing is everything! And be flexible and open, since your priorities may change as you progress through the process. This person ended up accepted to totally different schools than they were originally considering when we first met them.

Love seeing successes like this.

And BSer, if you’re still around and feeling motivated to write up your own version of events with any other perspectives or insights or angles that we missed – we’d love to have it! Same goes for all those other people we’ve worked with over the years who still stalk this here blahg. If we’ve not yet posted your story we sure would love for the chance! You can reach out through our contact form or send whatever you’ve got to Team EssaySnark at gethelpnow at essaysnark dot com.