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You are here: Home / Snarchives for please don’t do this

What if you miss the deadline by only a few minutes or an hour?

September 15, 2020 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

We touched on this a tiny bit in yesterday’s post about word limits and figured it was worth speaking of further. It would really suck if you’re still getting your application done at 11:15pm when the deadline is at midnight and you only then discover that the school has a hard cut-off on their field […]

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Filed Under: application rounds Tagged With: EQ or lack thereof, please don't do this

Too much spin is a turnoff and becomes the opposite of an authentic presentation of yourself.

July 16, 2020 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

This is kind of general life advice which you already know, but we’ll issue this warning as you gear up for the months-long process of figuring out what to say in your essays to get into business school. Yes, you need to impress your reader. But there’s a fine line between writing about your achievements, […]

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Filed Under: general tips Tagged With: authenticity, please don't do this

Bad MBA essay typos (2019 edition)

February 7, 2020 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

This topic is a never-ending source of amusement / mortification / horror depending on who you are and what stage of the essay-writing process the typo was discovered in. If it’s EssaySnark discovering it in an essay review, it may be kinda funny, or for common mistakes like messing up when “it’s” needs an apostrophe […]

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Filed Under: app dataset Tagged With: please don't do this

($) 3 Innocent Mistakes MBA Applicants Make

May 9, 2019 by EssaySnark

(Besides not starting early enough. Which is the #1 mistake almost everyone makes, regardless of how much we warn about it. Pro Tip: It would be good to get started sometime soon!) While there are a near-infinite number of ways to muff up your MBA apps, there’s some common issues that we see crop up...


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Filed Under: planning your strategy Tagged With: please don't do this

($) Embroider it on a pillow.

November 28, 2018 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

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. 🙁 […]

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Filed Under: "show don't tell", lessons learned, writing essays Tagged With: authenticity, please don't do this

($) Being a “thought leader” is not a career goal.

September 18, 2018 by EssaySnark

BREAKING: Study Finds No One Quite Sure What The Hell “Thought Leader” Means — ADWEAK (@adweak) September 12, 2018     Sometimes people tell us that their long-term post-MBA career goal is to be a “thought leader.” (Apparently in Washington, DC, people say this on first dates , too.) This is not a career goal...


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.

Filed Under: "show don't tell", career goals Tagged With: please don't do this

Your resume should be just one page. Period.

September 14, 2018 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

We have a whole Don’t Do This tag here on the blahg which seems to get a lot of use and might be worth exploring. Today’s topic is something that hasn’t been mentioned recently even if we’ve said it plenty times in the past, so we’ll hammer it home again: MBA resumes must be one […]

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Filed Under: resumes Tagged With: please don't do this

($) “I saw my [friend/mother/grandfather] go through this experience and now my ambition is to…”

September 3, 2018 by EssaySnark - Discusses Berkeley Haas Leave a Comment

Today is technically a holiday here in the U.S. – but we’re around reading essays just as fast as you are writing them! For those trying for schools like Stanford especially, we have a post today on a common practice used in MBA essays that doesn’t usually work.   We see many essays that start […]

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Filed Under: career goals, family business Tagged With: please don't do this Bschools: Berkeley Haas

($) Do not overpromote!

July 16, 2018 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

Given our fraught public dialogue these days, the adcoms are becoming ever more sensitive to hype and propaganda in MBA apps. You don’t want to risk your candidacy by taking liberties with language! We don’t mean our standard exhortation about lying. Instead, we’re talking about hype. We have seen BSers inadvertently step in it when […]

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Filed Under: "show don't tell" Tagged With: please don't do this

“I want to quit my job and go to bschool”

July 6, 2018 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

We’ve seen this come up on a forum before and it’s come up with our clients. And the temptation is strong, for sure. Your job sucks. It’s boring. It’s one of the reasons you want to go get your MBA. And you’re definitely going to back to school next fall (right?). Why not quit the […]

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Filed Under: switching jobs before applying Tagged With: please don't do this

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From a BSer January 2020:
"love the guide books!"


CLASS OF 2023 MBA APPLICATION STRATEGY GUIDES

     
    The 2020 Berkeley-Haas MBA Application Guide - updated for the Class of 2023 application!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Berkeley Haas - refreshed and updated, with brainstorming exercises and structured maps to help you focus your stories!
   
    The 2020-2021 NYU Stern MBA Application Guide that covers the main essay, the EQ Endorsement and Pick Six!
SnarkStrategies Guide for NYU - discusses your requirements for the Class of 2023 essays!
   
    The 2020-2021 Columbia MBA Application Guide
SnarkStrategies Guide for Columbia Business School for 2020-2021 applications
   
    The 2020 Harvard MBA Application Guide - completely overhauled and updated for the coronavirus era!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Harvard Business School!
   
    The 2020-2021 Duke Essay Guide - covers the 25 Random Things essay and all the rest too!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Duke Fuqua - up to date for the current season!
   
    The 2020-2021 MIT Essay Guide covers the org chart, the contacts for two references, and additional tips for the cover letter and 'introduce yourself' video -- and everything else you need to know!
SnarkStrategies Guide for MIT Sloan MBA - totally revised for the Class of 2023!
   
    The 2020-2021 Tuck Essay Guide has been refreshed with latest insights and advice for your essays about "investing generously" and "why Tuck"!
SnarkStrategies Guide for the Dartmouth Tuck MBA - completely overhauled for 2020, to help you demonstrate how you are nice, aware, etc stuff!
   
    The Yale SOM MBA Application Guide for Class of 2023 candidates!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Yale SOM - updated for 2020-2021
   
    The 2020-2021 Chicago Booth MBA Application Guide - ready to go to support your Class of 2023 essay strategy!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Chicago Booth for this year's MBA app!
   
    The 2020 Wharton MBA Application Guide - even more advice on how to get to a win with those essays!
SnarkStrategies Guide for The Wharton School - with new tips for 2020!
   
    The 2020 Kellogg Essay Guide - with a full methodology to identify your 'lasting impact' and your 'values' -- plus tips on 2020 world events and applicability to your essays!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Kellogg MBA - updated and revised for the new realities of 2020!    
      The 2020 Stanford MBA Application Guide - for "what matters most" in your MBA application!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Stanford GSB for the Class of 2023
   
    The 2020-2021 UCLA Anderson MBA Application Guide - updated for Class of 2023 on "impact"!
SnarkStrategies Guide for 
UCLA
   
   

Brave Supplicants' latest reviews on The 'Snark


Apr 10, 2020
by George on EssaySnark
Great Starting Point

I thought getting over the GRE/GMAT hurdle was fairly straightforward--disciplined study then test execution... Read more

Apr 10, 2020
by George on Single Shot Express MBA Essay Review
Worth Every Penny

I used the Single Shot Express to decimate essay #1 at my first-choice school. Paired with the school... Read more

Feb 9, 2020
by KA on Waitlist Assist
Committed

You continue to blow me away with your commitment to us BSers! Thanks again for everything. It's been... Read more






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What were we snarking about at this time in past years?

  • 2020: ($) Deciding on a school: Qualitative factors
  • 2020: ($) Updating the admissions office on changes to your profile post-submit: GMAT/GRE/classes
  • 2019: ($) If you got into a top bschool and now you're thinking you're not going to go
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  • 2014: ($) Writing essays for MBA scholarship apps
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