Just like many things in life, there are limits you should be mindful of when writing your MBA admission essay. Here are a few pointers that will aid you in this endeavor:
Don’t get too personal
A lot of times, applicants get carried away, narrating why his or her mother already has three ex-husbands. Anecdotes or family-related bits are fine if they are truly relevant to your MBA application and they do not distract readers from the real focus of the essay. Although the real focus is you, there are still limits when writing your essay. Be aware that the screening officers would not be interested in every little thing about you.
Don’t make it seem like you are the next best thing to Bill Gates
You may have graduated cum laude and, at the same time, played three straight years for the chess varsity. You’re a very dynamic individual, doing some socio-civic works on your free time. Even so, it’s not a good idea to be too confident about your qualifications. Instead of bragging about your accomplishments, talk about your goals and intentions sincerely. Focus on your MBA application and the school. Do not turn the essay into a mini-autobiography. Also remember that arrogance can really put off the readers of your essay.
Don’t let your emotions take full control
If you will read some expert advice online, you would see that they encourage applicants to appeal to the emotional side of the admissions panel. But if you overdo it, if 80 percent of the pages contains sob stories after sob stories, it would backfire. They might not waste any minute skimming through your essay, thinking that it’s out of focus. Remember that the admission essay is for your MBA application and not the story of your life. Use personal experiences to illustrate your where you get your motivations and drive to success. A personal story can also be used to show your real character, but better keep it short.
Related links:
Essay writing process – ABout MBA admission essay writing process
Communication skills – Discussing your communication skills in the essay
Evalauting your essay – About how to evaluate your MBA essay
Personal statement advice – Tips on admission essay writing
MBA admission essays – Guide to MBA admission essays
Pursuing an MBA degree is not easy. You have to invest money, time, and effort. The admission process itself is arduous, and the competition for the spot in the the MBA school is tough. This is why in preparing for your MBA school application, you have to know the barriers to your MBA admission.
Not knowing the right MBA program for you
One of the common mistakes of applicants is not knowing the right MBA program for them. Some decide on the program based on peer pressure or pressure from their family. You have to keep in mind that obtaining an MBA school admission and spending years in MBA school will be your responsibility. Your friends and family could not do the job for you. This is why you have to decide on your own. You can consider their advice, but you have to also base your decision on your interest and skills. Your former professors and colleagues can also give advice on the MBA program that would suit you best.
Disregarding the requirements of the MBA school
Every requirement of the MBA school is very important. This is why you have to make sure that you submit each required document. With regard to your MBA admission essay, you have to know first if the admission committee requires you to answer some questions in your essay. If there are questions, make sure that you address each of them in your personal statement.
False expectations from the MBA degree
What do you know about MBA school? Before you apply to an MBA school, you should know what to expect. Ask MBA degree holders about their experiences. Don’t ever expect that the life of an MBA student is a bed of roses. Getting an MBA degree is difficult. You should know this to prepare for the challenges ahead.
Related links:
MBA career goals – All about ways to gain admissions to the MBA school that you want.
Bad student habits – About the barriers to success in MBA school
Winning essays – All about getting into your chosen MBA school
Online MBA – About pursuing online MBA degrees
MBA application essay – How to pass the MBA admission process
Coming up with a topic or idea for your admission essay can be difficult. Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind when writing your essay, however, is that you want your essay to be interesting and compelling enough to convince the admissions committee to accept you into their school. If you are having a hard time thinking about what to write in your MBA admission essay, then you may want to check out some of these helpful tips:
Talking about your career plans
One great strategy for writing your MBA admission essay is to talk about your career plans. Considering the fact that you are applying for an education in business, it’s only logical that you share your entrepreneurial or career plans. Is there a specific reason you want to get an MBA degree? Two examples of career-related topics for your essay include your intention of starting a business or getting a significant promotion. The main idea here is to tell the admissions committee what you plan on using your degree for. Also, sharing your career plans is a good way of showing the committee that you have direction and that you have clearly defined goals for yourself – two traits that admissions officers often look for in applicants.
Citing relevant field experience
Another strategy for writing a good essay is to talk about relevant experiences that you have had. What’s important here is not just to talk about your achievements, but you should tell stories of how working for these achievements or going through these experiences has helped to form your character and personality. Essentially, you want to express to the admissions committee that the experiences you have had have led to personal realizations and developments that made you better prepared for MBA school and for life, in general. Try not to get carried away with the small details and, instead, focus on deep, thought-provoking, and interesting aspects of your experiences that are relevant to your aspirations, goals, and your application to MBA school.
Discussing your motivations
A third strategy you can use in your admission essay is to discuss what motivates you. You should try to discuss your motivations in line with your experiences and career plans, in order to give a more complete and fleshed-out story to the reader. Motivations can come from just about anything, from your family or friends to your beliefs or your life experiences. For this reason, it’s important to make clear connections between how your motivations developed to how your motivations will help you achieve your aspirations. Just make sure that you don’t sound too preachy or overly zealous when discussing your motivations.
Related links:
Fun Essay Writing – Making admission essay writing fun
Career Goals – Writing your admission essay about your career goals
MBA Admission Essay – Writing winning MBA essays
Business Communication Skills – Writing your essay about your business communication skills
MBA School Profiles – Some MBA school profiles on top schools
MBA Essay – About writing your MBA essay
MBA Essay Success – How to succeed on your MBA essay
MBA Essay Tips – Tips on writing your MBA essay
Topic Selection – On the importance of topic selection
Essay Topics – On choosing interesting essay topics
When writing your MBA essay, an effective approach is to align your goals with the school mission. With this in mind, the following are questions you can ask yourself for a more effective essay:
What do most MBA schools look for in their students?
When writing your MBA admission essay, one of the most important considerations to keep in mind is what the interests and concerns of the school are. The best way to start is to find out what MBA schools are looking for in their students. Do a little research to get an idea of what MBA students are like and what characteristics MBA schools normally look for in applicants. Here are a few things schools look for:
- Unique individuals with personality and character
- Self-motivated, dedicated, and committed people who want to succeed
- People who can work well individually, as part of a team, or as a team leader.
What can be your reasons for pursuing an MBA degree?
The next important step to writing a good MBA essay is to reflect on why you want to get an MBA degree. Your personal goals are an important factor that can determine your academic, career, and life objectives. It’s important to share some of your goals and aspirations with the admissions committee through your essay. This will show the admissions committee that you are goal-oriented and driven. Also, it will show that you aren’t just entering MBA school for the degree, but that you have plans for what you will do with that degree.
How do you fit into the school and the MBA program?
Finally, your next goal is to link everything together by drawing connections between your goals and objectives, what the school is looking for, and their educational system and MBA programs. This is probably the hardest step of them all, because it takes some thinking and reflection to draw meaningful and deep connections that will make your essay stand out. Take some time to think about these three things:
1. What the MBA program has to offer you
2. What you have to offer the MBA program
3. Why you make a good fit into the MBA school and particular MBA program
All that is left to do is write your essay, edit it, revise it, submit it, and wait for the school’s reply to your application.
Related links:
Fun Essay Writing – Making admission essay writing fun
Career Goals – Writing your admission essay about your career goals
Winning MBA Admission Essays – Writing winning MBA essays
Business Communication Skills – Writing your essay about your business communication skills
MBA School Profiles – Some MBA school profiles on top schools
Effective Application – Making an effective MBA application
Admission Essay Topics – About some of Duke’s admission essay topics
Essay Deadline Tips – Tips on the MBA application essay
Reasons for MBA – 5 reasons to get an MBA degree
Picking MBA Schools – On how to choose an MBA school
The MBA Insider’s Blog offers information on how to gain admission to the renowned UCLA Anderson School of Management. The blog also lists 10 myths which many people think are true about the Masters of Business Administration program. MBA insider is for people who want to join UCLA Anderson’s management program, for currents students, and for alumni as well who want to be updated on the progress that occurs in the school regularly.
Strengths
The entries in the blog are not only informative, as they also offer practical tips which readers will find useful when they enroll for an MBA, not only in the UCLA Anderson School of Management but in other schools, too. More importantly, those helpful articles will not only benefit the readers themselves. The entries can be mailed directly to a friend by clicking the links after each entry. There are links to different social networking websites such as MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook. The blog also offers inquiries which readers can directly access on every page. Resources are available for readers who want to know more about the program and how they can excel in it.
The blog entry on MBA Value Proposition is for people who are interested in the Forte Foundation Forums. The Forum, which will be held in seven different US cities, is a huge academic gathering. The blog keeps close track of the event, which primarily aims to aid career women in achieving greater success. Commenting on the article is very easy, which allows readers to share their view and even ask questions.
Weaknesses
The only weakness of the blog is that it looks too formal. That is natural since it is about an MBA program, but making it look more interactive will add attraction to the site. Additional web applications will make the website livelier.
MBA Podcaster is a useful blog for degree holders who want to finish a Masters in Business Administration. It gives readers information about different business schools across the United States. It has also information on MBA programs from several countries around the globe. This site is for anyone who wants to be informed before taking an MBA program.
What to like about this site
This blog is unique because it does not talk solely about itself. It offers information which is substantial for MBA aspirants. Advice for Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) is available to the readers. Graduate Record Examination (GRE), the newer counterpart of the GMAT, is also discussed in the blog. More importantly, the website has links to other web pages which provide supplementary facts to the blog entries. The personal experiences of professionals, teachers, and deans are very helpful in making readers understand about the admission and the program itself.
The blog on the popularity of GRE and GMAT helps readers know what kind of admission exam they will be taking. Unlike most blogs which inform readers only of the most recent updates, this specific blog gives readers the view of business school experts who have firsthand experience in the latest changes in the MBA programs. The blog also allows better interaction by providing comment options. A reader may choose to let others know what he or she thinks by posting a comment. Or, he or she may share links which are relevant to the topic.
Suggestions for improvement
However, the blog needs to work on its formatting. Adjusting the fonts and changing the layout will make the site more attractive. The people behind this blog should also arrange the contributors systematically, and not randomly as it appears on the sidebar. The website just has to put more images and add vibrancy to its pages. A few minor tweaks can make this blog standout even more.
BusinessWeek is one of the most reputable sources of business news throughout the globe. It provides updates about the pulse of the economy, especially in Asia, Europe, and the United States. It provides statistics on the stock exchange and graphs which can help readers know how well the financial sector is doing. This blog is for professionals who want to be more guided in their business pursuit. Students who are currently engaged in MBA programs can also benefit from the professionally written articles on the site. Even ordinary consumers who just want to keep track of the economy will benefit from this blog.
What this blog offers
The blog stands out among other blogs because of its encompassing articles. The site has daily news updates as well as analyses from finance experts. Videos are provided for people who want to witness the business news themselves instead of merely reading about them. Readers are also updated on who is up and who is down in the world of money and finance.
MBA GamePlan lives up to the high reputation of BusinessWeek. The blog is about MBA programs in the United States. It offers insights on admission: the latest trends, new testing methods, and the best schools. The blog provides updates on the coming admission schedules as well. Readers will be notified which schools are admitting students and what their requirements are. The sidebars provide links to recommended websites and to recent posts in the blog. The search engine of the blog has advance search options which can help a reader find what he or she is looking for.
What this blog lacks
The blog just has to improve on its layout. There are lots of blank spaces on the right side which could have been utilized to keep the pages from looking overcrowded. The blog should also provide e-mail links after each article so the readers can easily share the information that they have gathered.
Going to the homepage of khoj4u, one will notice the wide variety of topics the site offers. The blog’s site heading summarizes it all: career, education, technology, and entertainment. This site is for anyone who wants to remain updated on those fields. This site offers not only information, but help as well. Expert tips are available to help everyone improve on their studies and career. The blog has entries that are as diverse as the needs of a modern career person. It offers information on the latest cars which is significant, not only for auto enthusiasts, but also for people who want to know where the automobile industry is heading. The latest news on mobile phones, gadgets, and even websites are available, too. There are even updates for Bollywood news.
Strong points
Distance and online MBA is where one finds out about the importance of having an extra edge when applying for a job. Getting a Masters of Business Administration is an advantage that can help a job aspirant stand out among other candidates. This blog helps readers understand how significant a second university degree is. It is neglected by many and this is basically the reason why many people end up being disappointed in their search for work.
Weak points
It is easy to navigate through the website but it has minor problems. For instance, the blog needs more organization. So many information and blog entries are filed up in one page. This is good since it offers a reader many resources, but it does not look good to the eyes. The blog should also have chosen a name that is easier to remember. Khoj4u is not a blog name that an average reader can remember instantly. Adding a photo to every blog entry can also help. Overall, this site is a good one.
University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton College carries prestige and reputation across its name. It is not only the world’s first collegiate business school; it is also among the finest. This blog is for graduate students from all over the world who want to earn a Masters of Business Administration. Wharton College also offers undergraduate, PhD, and executive programs. This blog is for students and professionals who want to engage in either actual or distance learning.
What I liked about this blog
This blog is not only remarkable because it is the blog of a prestigious college. The variety of media that this blog offers makes it even more interesting. The articles, announcements, and video streams will help a person know more about the MBA program that the college is known for. A reader who is interested in programs other than the ones mentioned above will also benefit from this site. The interdisciplinary, certificate, and summer programs of Wharton are laid out on its webpage.
The MBA admissions blog is where a person can find information and updates about the different MBA programs. There are also articles about student loans and other issues concerning MBA students. The navigation is quite easy and the design of the blog reflects the reputation of Wharton College. There are links to previous blog entries as well as bloggers, which can help a person find the information he or she is looking for. Weekly chats, forums, and electronic mails are available for questions and additional information.
Suggestions for improvement
Overall, Wharton’s website is very rich when it comes to blogging methods. However, the blog page appears monotonous. It is filled with articles but that is all it offers. Enlivening it with images, audio files, and videos can make the blog more attractive. Web applications such as Adobe Flash Player can be added to make the site more interactive. But, minor errors like these do not make the blog a poorer resource than the school it represents. This blog is worth visiting.
