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How to Write Effective Application Essays (A Step by Step Guide)

Webinar attendees can schedule a complimentary admissions assessment from a former MBA admissions officer by visiting: http://learnmore.acceptu.com/webinar Get feedback on your candidacy: strengths, weaknesses and recommendations for improving your competitiveness

For a copy of this presentation, visit: http://learnmore.acceptu.com/essay

An introduction to AcceptU
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AcceptU is an MBA admissions counseling group comprised entirely of former admissions officers from top 25 MBA programs. Our counselors provide 1-on-1 virtual support (by phone, Skype & email) that has given hundreds of applicants a competitive advantage and placed them into the business schools of their choice.

The team behind AcceptU

Co-founder Marc Zawel (Cornell, BA; UNC Chapel Hill, MBA) is author of the top-selling admissions guidebook, Untangling the Ivy League. He ran the admissions advisory board at UNC & conducts alumni interviews for Cornell. Co-founder Stephen Friedfeld (Cornell, BA; Columbia, MA, Rice, Ph.D.) is the companys COO. He has 10+ years of experience in admissions at Princeton and Cornell. Stephen also worked as an admissions consultant from 2007-10.

AcceptUs counselors are all former MBA admissions officers from highly selective top 25 programs (including Columbia, Cornell, Emory, Stanford, UNC and Wash U), putting them in a unique position to provide the inside knowledge and guidance that applicants need to differentiate themselves and get admitted.

How to write effective essays agenda

Overview of MBA admissions essays

Why are they important and what can you expect? Figure out your best means of tackling the essays. Why are you interested in an MBA and what makes you different? Engage the reader, keep it brief and to the point. Advice gleaned from reading and reviewing thousands of essays.

Step 1: Get organized

Step 2: Start the self-discovery

Step 3: Put pen to paper

Tips from AcceptU experts on strong topics and how to stand out
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How to write effective essays agenda

Overview of MBA admissions essays

Why are they important and what can you expect? Figure out your best means of tackling the essays. Why are you interested in an MBA and what makes you different? Engage the reader, keep it brief and to the point. Advice gleaned from reading and reviewing thousands of essays.

Step 1: Get organized

Step 2: Start the self-discovery

Step 3: Put pen to paper

Tips from AcceptU experts on strong topics and how to stand out
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Why are application essays important?

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Admissions officers want to learn more about you and your background. Some programs do not have on-campus interviews and rely on essays as a means of better understanding an applicant. The essay gives a voice to the application. Strong writing shows thoughtfulness, analysis and communication. Admissions to top 25 programs is highly competitive. The essay can help you move from qualified to admitted. The essays can help you address any weaknesses and/or extenuating circumstances. Own your story.

What can you expect with the essays?

Most business schools require 2-6 essays.

Essays can range from a 140-character tweet to 1,000+ words. Essays can cover a variety of topics but are most often centered around why you are interested in an MBA, why you feel the program is a good fit and what you can bring to the school. Its not as easy as sitting down and penning a draft. You likely have not written a personal essay like this in some time. Essays are not just about a polished piece of writing. Its showing your ability to pick appropriate questions and topics. Start your essay writing as far in advance of deadlines as possible. They will end up taking longer than you estimate.

Essays are time-consuming.

How to write effective essays agenda

Overview of MBA admissions essays

Why are they important and what can you expect? Figure out your best means of tackling the essays. Why are you interested in an MBA and what makes you different? Engage the reader, keep it brief and to the point. Advice gleaned from reading and reviewing thousands of essays.

Step 1: Get organized

Step 2: Start the self-discovery

Step 3: Put pen to paper

Tips from AcceptU experts on strong topics and how to stand out
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Step 1: Get organized

Dont just start writing your essays.

First, determine how many essays you will be writing, the respective application deadlines and the essay questions.
Try to broadly arrange essays based on topic. For example, leadership, challenge or Why MBA? This will give you some sense of whats in front of you. Its not as easy as writing one essay for each topic and using it across multiple schools. You may be able to reuse content across multiple schools but this should not be how you approach essay writing. Why? Work on a school by school basis. This will help you build a more compelling portfolio of essays. You should think of essays as a package, not standalone. In sum, what do these stories tell about you? There are advantages of starting with essays for your top choice as well as for your lowest choice school. Or, start with the school whose deadline is closest.

Logistics of MBA essay writing

Follow a methodical approach to essay writing.

Choose appropriate questions to answer. You want to answer questions that play up your strengths and give admissions officers a more complete picture of who you are and why you are different. Dont choose questions because you have already written a similar essay. Dont force a topic or story to a question that doesnt fit. Writing essays can be a time-intensive process. How long did you study for the GMAT? Are essays equally important? Establish realistic deadlines and hold yourself accountable (or have someone else a significant other, parent or friend do so). Set aside dedicated time to write. Twenty minutes in between lunch is not appropriate. Make sure you reflect.

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Put together a timeline for yourself and stick to it.

How to write effective essays agenda

Overview of MBA admissions essays

Why are they important and what can you expect? Figure out your best means of tackling the essays. Why are you interested in an MBA and what makes you different? Engage the reader, keep it brief and to the point. Advice gleaned from reading and reviewing thousands of essays.

Step 1: Get organized

Step 2: Start the self-discovery

Step 3: Put pen to paper

Tips from AcceptU experts on strong topics and how to stand out
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Step 2: Start the self-discovery

Before you begin writing, consider the following questions:

Why do I want to pursue an MBA? Why is this program the right fit for me? How will I be able to contribute in a way that other applicants wont?
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Consider professional experience, personal interests, diversity of background.

What is going to make you different from other applicants?

This is the key. Admissions is highly selective. As an admissions officer, why should you be admitted over equally (or more) qualified applicants?

Come up with a list of 3-5 key differentiators, these will form the foundation of your application essays.

Determine your differentiators

Your differentiators can be personal or professional.

I am a leader. I am a strong communicator. I bring (geographic, ethnic, socioeconomic or other) diversity to the table. I have unique past work experience or future career interests.

Get feedback from others.

Consider those that have known you for a longer period of time. You could even look back at old performance reviews or evaluations. Dont ask your parents or significant other. Find unbiased sources.

What are business schools looking for?

Dig deeper into the business schools on your radar. Are there specific values or characteristics that they are looking to identify in applicants? Some MBA programs are very upfront with the criteria. For example, UNC Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler says these are the most important:
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Leadership and organizational abilities Communication skills Interpersonal skills Teamwork abilities Track record of results Drive and motivation Analytical skills and problem solving ability Prior academic performance Career progression and career goals

Others are less up front, in which case, more research is recommended. (Talk to students, alumni, professors, etc.)

Align your stories with MBA programs

You know your strengths and differentiators. You know what business schools are looking for.
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Youre now on the right track to writing a compelling essay.

Before you begin typing away, remember: dont write what you think admissions officers want you to write. This is inauthentic.
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Be real. Be someone. Remember, this is the role of the essay in a sea of data points, you want to become someone who is likeable, someone who admissions officers would want to interact with and someone who would actively contribute to the campus community.

How to write effective essays agenda

Overview of MBA admissions essays

Why are they important and what can you expect? Figure out your best means of tackling the essays. Why are you interested in an MBA and what makes you different? Engage the reader, keep it brief and to the point. Advice gleaned from reading and reviewing thousands of essays.

Step 1: Get organized

Step 2: Start the self-discovery

Step 3: Put pen to paper

Tips from AcceptU experts on strong topics and how to stand out
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Step 3: Put pen to paper

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Okay, youre ready to get writing. Heres what to keep in mind. Follow instructions. Answer the question. Be direct, to the point and engaging. Creativity is rewarded, to an extent. Rely on examples to showcase who you are. Proofread, iterate and polish.

Follow instructions and answer the prompt

Follow instructions. If an essay prompts you to write an essay that is 500 words, write an essays that is 500 words.
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It doesnt need to be exact. Generally, plus or minus 10% is fine.

Answer the entire question. It sounds obvious but its surprising how many applicants fail to actually answer the essay question.
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Write the question at the top of your prompt. If there are two or more parts to the question, answer them all. Do not try to tailor another essay to a question that doesnt fit. Reusing examples is fine. Reusing an entire essay can raise red flags.
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Is this school not a priority to this applicant? You need to think of your essays as a package, not as single essays. In sum, they need to tell a compelling and supporting story to your application.

Be direct, to the point and engaging

Be direct.
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Your space is limited. You cant tell your life story. Prioritize. This is an exercise in your ability to identify those examples that are most impactful. Always remember to emphasize: why an MBA, what you will bring and how business school + past experience = you achieving goals. Dont spend half your essay explaining a situation. Talk about the effect of that situation on you. Talk about how it changed you. Talk about what you learned. The essays are about you. Try not to use examples that are found in other parts of your application (like your rsum or letters of recommendation), unless they are particularly impressive. Dont be redundant. Give admissions officers a complete picture. This is a professional exercise in writing, but it doesnt need to be boring. Add life to your essays! Start with an engaging opener, use quotations, parenthetical comments, descriptive terms. Make your essay fun to read.

Get to the point.

Be engaging.
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Importance of examples and creativity

You do have some leeway to be creative if there is a purpose.

Look to the prompt for an indicator of how creative you can be. Some prompts will actually tell you to be creative. For others, try to think slightly outside of the box, more so with your story and examples and less so with the structure of the essays. Be fresh. This is not a business brief. Examples are critical to your essays. Examples help admissions officers understand the impact of your accomplishments as well as your future potential. Be authentic. Be likable. Admissions officers are humans. If you can make a real connection, youre more likely to get admitted.

Use real, vivid examples.

Proofread, iterate and polish

Your first draft should never be your final draft. Get objective feedback from an unbiased reader.
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Ask: Do I come across as likeable? Do I come across as compelling? Do I answer the question? Do I come across as someone who would contribute?

Feedback should be focused on grammar but, more importantly, content. Spelling errors or mistakes are not an automatic ding, but they do not reflect well on your attention to detail. Read essays out loud. If it doesnt sound like you, keep working on it until it does. Do not over edit. With each iteration, a little bit more of your voice can be lost.
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Ultimately, these essays need to be about you.

How to write effective essays agenda

Overview of MBA admissions essays

Why are they important and what can you expect? Figure out your best means of tackling the essays. Why are you interested in an MBA and what makes you different? Engage the reader, keep it brief and to the point. Advice gleaned from reading and reviewing thousands of essays.

Step 1: Get organized

Step 2: Start the self-discovery

Step 3: Put pen to paper

Tips from AcceptU experts on strong topics and how to stand out
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Final tips from AcceptU counselors

Dedicate time to the essays, they are important.

Can move you from qualified to admitted but dont go overboard, the essays are just another piece of your application in a holistic process. Possibly avoid risky topics (like ethics, religion, politics) and focus on topics that give the most insight into you. Buzz words (like synergy, valueadd, etc.) cause admissions offices to sigh. How are you different? How will your past experience + MBA = achieve your goals? What niche or role will you fill? Figure it out, build your story around it, be compelling and get admitted.

Be careful with topics and avoid buzz words.

Three most important things to consider with your essays:

To wrap up, today we learned

Overview of MBA admissions essays

Why are they important and what can you expect? Figure out your best means of tackling the essays. Why are you interested in an MBA and what makes you different? Engage the reader, keep it brief and to the point. Advice gleaned from reading and reviewing thousands of essays.

Step 1: Get organized

Step 2: Start the self-discovery

Step 3: Put pen to paper

Tips from AcceptU experts on strong topics and how to stand out
n

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How to Write Effective Application Essays (A Step by Step Guide)

Webinar attendees can schedule a complimentary admissions assessment from a former MBA admissions officer by visiting: http://learnmore.acceptu.com/webinar Get feedback on your candidacy: strengths, weaknesses and recommendations for improving your competitiveness

For a copy of this presentation, visit: http://learnmore.acceptu.com/essay