But honestly, I end up having self-doubts over my candidacy to ISB and Cornell. I just end up feeling maybe the essays arent as good as I'd have liked them to be. I think my Cornell essays came out well, especially the Table of Contents. But I am seriously paranoid about the ISB essays. Granted, there isnt much room in 900 words to sell your life-story, but many have done it well. I guess I'll know by mid-January if at all I get an interview invite.
If (and when) I do manage to get into any of my wish-list schools, I shall post my take on writing effective essays. Else ill post on how not to write them! :( But in the meantime, I wanted to put together some brilliant pieces of essay advice I came across from past and present applicants. A big Thanks to all these folks!
Future B-school applicants - This is my must-read list for essay advice. Good Luck! :)
1. ClearAdmit Essay Analysis - Very concise, very apt and put forth in a matter-of-fact format. The perfect starting point to understand what needs to go in the respective essays.
2. Adam Markus' Essay Analysis - I loved his posts for Stanford GSB essays. There is a wealth of information he provides, what with tidbits from respective Admission Directors etc.
3. Tinydancer's essay advice. The gist -
- Show IMPACT through the essays on every sphere you have influenced.
- Show how you will contribute to the school.
- Explain not only your goals (which most schools ask anyways), BUT also WHY these are your goals?
4. Thembasaga's essay advice. Possibly the most comprehensive and detailed analysis for Harvard, Chicago, Kellogg, Wharton and Stanford! A must read for every applicant worth his words!
5. Stanford GSB 'Director's Corner' advice by Derrick Bolton. Some candid thoughts, and most of this is applicable to all essays, irrespective of schools.
6. MBAbabe's tips on her strategies, that helped her get into H/S. My bigggest takeaway from her post was you need to tell the schools what matters most to you in a vivid way so as to market yourself effectively. And this isnt true only if asked "what matters most", but let it shine through somewhere.
7. More specific to Stanford's pet question "What matters most to you and why", maybe this post by ManagingMagic can help! I think the tidbit regarding "the most common answer is 'balance in life'" was pretty useful! I havent written this essay yet, but its always helpful to have this information.
8. A pretty solid post by DaveforMBA. The gist is dont make your essay into an extended resume, write everything that wont feature in your resume ever! :) Also, dont forget to check out his thoughts after visiting the various schools.
9. AxeChick's advice on essays..... a BOB winner for essays and pretty deserving too!
10. Well, if I'm able to get into one of those 3 schools, Ill be sure to put up a post that combines all of what I learnt and how I went about the essays. Granted I havent written many essays, especially as compared to the awesome folks above, but still ill put in my 2 cents. As a tribute to the above (and many others whom I cant recollect now) folks for their wonderful wonderful pieces of wisdom.
So finally, read these tips...... and get on with the essays R2 people! Happy writing! :)
- MBAlmighty
3 comments:
The big question I faced was - how to accomodate your ECs? For the ISB, I managed to smuggle them into the speech.
For IIMB, my recommender suggested that he would write those in the recommendation, so that my SOP could be entirely about my professional aspects.
My recommender (direct manager) submitted my ISB LOR within 15 minutes because he was getting late to go home and it had to be done in 1 sitting only. So much for my coaching! I dunno what chances I have in there now. Must be great to have an understanding recommender!
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