…getting a gift like this dropped from the heavens cannot be passed up. You probably did not watch the Democratic debates last night but apparently there was…. an essay question asked of the candidates? A classic format for many top schools is to ask you to talk about a significant challenge and what you learned […]
Continue reading...($) Embroider it on a pillow.
But please don’t write it in an MBA essay. We originally started this blahg because we saw too many earnest MBA applicants (aka BSers) saying earnest MBA applicant things in their essays. That was nine years ago (and we’d already been reading MBA essays for many years before then). Alas, not much has changed. 🙁 […]
Continue reading...A BSer’s Journey: Round 1 Update!
Can you believe we’re halfway through the Fall already?!?? Can you believe that Round 1 is this far along??? Can you believe that it was way back in July that we first heard from our intrepid Brave Supplicant who’s sharing his story with us????? Nope, we can’t either! Here’s an update on app strategy, approach, […]
Continue reading...($) Look back over your life
Writing essays may be akin to navel-gazing. You need to understand who you are and where you’ve come from. One of the most difficult parts of writing many essays is coming up with the “lessons learned” out of a story. Schools like Tuck and Kellogg specifically ask you what you learned from an experience. It’s […]
Continue reading...($) Lessons learned in essays: “This experience taught me…”
Ah those well-meaning BSers. They’re always trying to say the right thing in their essays. Here’s a snippet of an essay that we get all the time: When I started being a better listener, and not being so assertive with my opinions, I started realizing that my teammates were guided by different values and experiences....
While much of the blahg is available completely for free, the content here is reserved for members with full blahg access only ($9.95/month for six months, cancel anytime). Please login to view this content or purchase a membership.
($) When you’re asked to identify a weakness
We covered this last year in the context of interviewing in our post “Don’t be fake” and today we’re going to drill down into it again, since 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...
While much of the blahg is available completely for free, the content here is reserved for members with full blahg access only ($9.95/month for six months, cancel anytime). Please login to view this content or purchase a membership.
essay critique: HBS essay 2 “done better”
You know the question: “Tell us about something you wish you had done better.” You get 400 words to lay it down. This is what one Brave Supplicant offered up: September 15th, 2009 was the worst day of my life. Two months after his pancreatic cancer diagnosis, my father was back in the hospital to...
While much of the blahg is available completely for free, the content here is reserved for members with full blahg access only ($9.95/month for six months, cancel anytime). Please login to view this content or purchase a membership.