This is a tough thing to self-diagnose but it’s really important to understand if you’re going to present essays of authenticity. If your essay starts getting very flowery — if you are introducing metaphors about life and your writing sounds earnest — it’s likely suffering from being overwritten. Premium content starts here… ———– ———– […]
Continue reading...($) Storytime
You may have thought that we were going to tell you a story today, based on that title. But no. It’s more writing advice. And, you’re probably not terribly excited by hearing more writing tips from the ‘Snark — butchyaknowwhat? You’ll be writing essays this weekend, probably. And this technique around essay storytelling is actually […]
Continue reading...($) Is it OK for your essay to be overlimit?
In most cases: Yes! By a little. Except in cases where it’s not. Last week we talked about whether it’s OK for your essay to be underlimit, and when you saw that, you were probably all, “Gee thanks EssaySnark but that is not the problem I have.” Let’s dig into some scenarios when overlimit is […]
Continue reading...($) What if your essays are underlimit?
You’d think the adcoms would appreciate short-short essays. After all, most of them have ridiculously small length limits on their essay prompts these days — apparently getting shorter all the time (we’re looking at you Michigan Ross). Wouldn’t it even be better to come in under the limit on what you’re saying in response? Premium […]
Continue reading...The means must justify the ends
It’s technically a holiday in the U.S. — Labor Day, where Americans are supposed to having end-of-summer barbeques and final beach trips and all. But not this year, because coronavirus, and actually, never in Snarkville, because deadlines. Yup, it’s happened. The deadlines are here! We’re busy reading essays and apps in case you’re feeling nervous […]
Continue reading...($) 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...($) WRITING WEEK: Don’t be cagey
To continue on with Writing Week: There’s this thing where writers start stuff in the middle of a story. It even has a name: in medias res Please don’t do that in your MBA essays. Premium content starts here… ———– Premium content ends. So why do BSers write like this? Well, part of […]
Continue reading...($) WRITING WEEK! Day 2: Reduce the Fluff Factor
It’s Day 2 of WRITING WEEK on the EssaySnark blahg! In case you missed our starting post: Don’t cheat your reader. Today we’ll talk about combining essay-writing strategy and tactics. When you have hardly any space in a bschool essay, you need to make every word count. Seems obvious, right? If it were, then we […]
Continue reading...WRITING WEEK! Day 1: Don’t cheat your reader out of a proper.
OMG it’s the end of August! September is almost here! YOU SHOULD BE WRITING ESSAYS!!! To support you in that, this week we’re dedicating the blahg to posts about writing. This will be a fairly random assortment of tips and tricks for putting together a strong MBA application essay (today, with puppies). You may want […]
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…...
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