...MBA Admissions Essay Powerful Tips for Improving Your Odds of Gaining Admission to the MBA Program of Your Choice Admissions essays are easily the most challenging part of the MBA application process, and it’s no wonder. Most people don’t like to write, and even those of us who do enjoy writing can come up blank when called upon to write about ourselves, especially when so much is at stake. The fact remains: If you want to go to business school, you have to be able to generate one or two thousand carefully chosen words that sum up your background and experience, your career goals, your reasons for seeking the MBA, and why you’ve chosen the program to which you’re applying. Step one: Relax. Writing admissions essays is stressful—it’s supposed to be stressful— but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Everyone who has ever applied to business school has written admissions essays, and so can you. All you have to do is submit essays that are a little bit better than most of the others, and if you follow the advice we’ll cover in the following pages, it will be a lot less painful. How to Write a Successful Most MBA essays are mediocre The good news is that most MBA admissions essays are mediocre at best. If you can at least come up with a marginally compelling narrative, and if you can spell and punctuate everything correctly—or know someone who can—you’ll automatically have an advantage over much of the competition. This guide is designed to help you get started (the hardest...
Words: 5885 - Pages: 24
...A Former Harvard Business School Admissions Board Member Reveals the Insider Keys to Getting In • Prepare your resume and professional record • Discover the differences between business schools • Top essay and interview strategies • Behind the scenes of the admissions process • Qualitative factors that can make you stand out • Application insights from insiders Chioma isiadinso, M.ed. former Admissions Board Member of Harvard Business School The Best Business Schools’ Admissions Secrets A Former Harvard Business School Admissions Board Member Reveals the Insider Keys to Getting In Chioma Isiadinso, M.ED. © 2008 by Chioma Isiadinso Cover and internal design © 2008 by Sourcebooks, Inc. Cover photo © Punchstock Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. —From...
Words: 89633 - Pages: 359
...complete the application process so we can review your application and give you an admission decision. Step 1: print thiS packet and keep it for your recordS. This packet contains this checklist, the Counselor and Teacher Evaluation forms and your application as submitted. Step 2: pay your application fee. You may submit your fee online or by mail. To submit your fee by mail, send your check or money order made payable to TCU to this address: Office of Admission Texas Christian University TCU Box 297013 Fort Worth, Texas 76129 Step 3: have your official tranScript and teSt ScoreS Submitted. Your guidance counselor can include your scores on your transcript. Or you can ask ACT to send us your scores at www.actstudent.org (our ACT code is 4206). If you’d prefer to submit your SAT scores, go to www.collegeboard.com (our SAT code is 6820). We look forward to reviewing your application! Raymond A. Brown Dean of Admission Texas Christian University P.S. If you haven’t already, please visit TCU soon. To schedule a visit or to ask any further questions, please call 800-828-3764. Texas Christian University • TCU Box 297013 • Fort Worth, Texas 76129 COUNSELOR EVALUATION FOR UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSION & SCHOLARSHIP CONSIDERATION Required for all freshmen – not required for transfers. The student's application file is not complete until this evaluation is returned to TCU. This document does not become part of the applicant's permanent record at TCU. By submitting this evaluation, the...
Words: 3208 - Pages: 13
...• Filling in your application • Personal statement • Reference, pay and send • Tracking your application • Results • Student number controls • Fraud and similarity • Performing arts • Postgraduate • Teacher training • Flexible and part-time • International • Starting your studies • Student finance • Mature students • Parents and guardians • Advisers and referees Your personal statement Write a personal statement that shows you'd be a great student – to persuade unis and colleges to accept you on their course. • Course tutors use personal statements to compare applicants, so try to make yours stand out. • Remember it's the same personal statement for all courses you apply to – so avoid mentioning universities or colleges by name, and ideally choose similar subjects. If they're varied then write about common themes – like problem solving or creativity. Personal statements BSL personal statement video How to write your personal statement This video looks at how to get started, as well as common fears and concerns. • Watch more video guides Signed personal statement video This signed video takes you through what to consider when writing your personal statement. • Watch more BSL video guides Where to start Most applicants...
Words: 9243 - Pages: 37
...For Entrance in Fall 2013 Application Supplement Office of Admissions and Financial Aid 86 Brattle Street Cambridge, MA 02138 Please indicate under which timetable you are applying: Restrictive Early Action Please return this form to us as soon as possible, and by October 15, if possible. Final deadline is November 1. Valid for entrance in September 2013 only. Please submit this form as well as the Common Application or the Universal College Application as soon as possible. Regular Decision Please return this form to us as soon as possible, and by December 15 if at all possible. Final deadline is January 1. A completed application includes all portions of the Common Application or the Universal College Application, as well as the Harvard Application Supplement, required official testing results, a Secondary School Report, two Teacher Evaluations and a $75 application fee or fee waiver request. Full legal name Goswami Last/Family IE Arunesh First Apt./Unit W Middle Jr., etc. Prefer to be called Date of Birth 02/02/1994 (MM/DD/YYYY) Address 324-D TYPE-2 BLOCK-6 NEYVELI No. and Street CUDDALORE DISTRICT PR EV NEYVELI City State/Province India Country 607803 Zip/Postal Code Telephone Number (home) 091041422683 (cell) 091809813561 Secondary School JAWAHAR HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL CEEB/ACT code 000004 If you can be reached by fax or e-mail, please provide a fax number or e-mail address and name of the contact person...
Words: 2458 - Pages: 10
...Why do colleges rely heavily on the S.A.T & A.C.T. scores? The SAT is essentially a reasoning test used to evaluate potential college students in an unbiased way. The SAT, unlike high school academic tests, is not a place to demonstrate accumulated knowledge, and high school alone does not prepare a student for a good score on the SAT. The SAT is neither an IQ test nor a measure of academic potential. Higher scores on the SAT significantly increase a student’s college options, learning about and preparing to take the SAT is an extremely important part of the college process. Some students have a high g.p.a. but can be bad test takers regardless if they study or not. We all know that many college admissions offices imbue SAT and ACT scores with importance. At schools that are deluged with tens of thousands of applications, numbers matter, so these scores can play an outsized role in admission decisions. That means these scores can affect where individual students get to go to school. Through my High School experience, teachers told me the SAT would determine a lot of my potential in life. Having been told this, I still feel the ways that it has affected me, and I still remember all of the years it took to undo the feeling of having a test define the rest of your life. Having to apply for fee waivers and the worry related to not scoring "high enough." because of this experience, I didn’t apply to the schools I didn’t think would accept me (based on my grade), and I didn’t...
Words: 1017 - Pages: 5
...called "application essays" or "statements of purpose." Whatever they are called, they are essentially essays which are written in response to a question or questions on a graduate or professional school application form which asks for some sort of sustained response. Some applications ask more specific questions than others. There is no set formula to follow in shaping your response, only choices for you to make, such as whether you should write an essay that is more autobiographically focused or one that is more professionally focused. From application to application, requested personal statements also vary widely in length, ranging from a couple of paragraphs to a series of essays of a page or so each. Personal statements are most important when you are applying to an extremely competitive program, where all the applicants have high test scores and GPA's, and when you are a marginal candidate and need the essay to compensate for low test scores or a low GPA. :: Context Considerations How are personal statements read, and by whom? It's most likely that your personal statement will be read by professors who serve on an admissions committee in the department to which you are applying. It is important in developing your personal statement to carefully consider this audience. What are the areas of specialty of this department, and what might it be looking for in a graduate student? Additionally, since personal statements will most often be read as part of your "package," they...
Words: 1287 - Pages: 6
...HOW TO WRITE GREAT ESSAYS HOW TO WRITE GREAT ESSAYS Lauren Starkey ® NEW YORK Copyright © 2004 LearningExpress All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Learning Express, LLC, New York. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Starkey, Lauren B., 1962– How to write great essays / Lauren Starkey. —1st ed. p. cm. ISBN 1-57685-521-X 1. English language—Rhetoric—Problems, exercises, etc. 2. Essay—Authorship—Problems, exercises, etc. 3. Report writing—Problems, exercises, etc. I. Title. PE1471.S83 2004 808'.042—dc22 2004003384 Printed in the United States of America 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 First Edition ISBN 1-57685-521-X For more information or to place an order, contact LearningExpress at: 55 Broadway 8th Floor New York, NY 10006 Or visit us at: www.learnatest.com Contents Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 vii Organization 1 Clarity 11 Word Choice 21 Mechanics 39 Revising, Editing, and Proofreading 55 Untimed Essay Writing Strategies 67 Timed Essay Writing Strategies 85 Sample Essay Prompts and Essays 97 Resources 111 CONTENTS HOW TO WRITE GREAT ESSAYS v Introduction n your preparations for college, you may find yourself facing a handful of high-stakes essays. Your college application requires at least one, and the SAT requires another. Depending upon the high...
Words: 39355 - Pages: 158
...Contribution and Diversity Questions Your background, experiences, and values will enhance and diversify Kellogg. How? (1-2 double-spaced pages) The Darden School seeks a diverse and unique entering class of future managers. How will your distinctiveness enrich our learning environment and enhance your prospects for success as a manager? Every essay question on the admissions application is geared toward the same thing. Committee members want to find out who you are, what makes you different from everyone else, and how you will contribute to the school if accepted. This question asks these things outright. Because it asks so directly what the admissions committee wants to know, this is one of the most common questions you will find. The question has a structure similar to the Why M.B.A.? question. It asks both Why us? and Why you? However, the nature of this question lends itself to a more personal response. Whereas the Why M.B.A.? question asks what you have done, what you want to do, and how that relates to the school, this question asks about who you are and how it relates to the school. The Why M.B.A.? question asks about your experiences, and this question asks about your qualities. Just as you brainstormed about your experiences, actions, and goals for the first question, brainstorm about your qualities and characteristics for this one. What sets you apart from everyone else? What words do friends and family use to describe you? For some people, the focus...
Words: 1196 - Pages: 5
...说明 1. 本资料来源于英文版《How to get into the top MBA programs》,作者为Don Martin. 2. 第一部分为115份真实的ESSAY, 分别来自于17个不同背景的申请人. 3. 第二部分为对21个常见ESSAY问题的分析，包括问题的关键，常见错误，正确的回答方式. 个人认为这一部分比真实的ESSAY更重要. 4. 由于文件采用扫描和文字识别方法输入, 可能存在一些错误. 5. 此文件仅供CHASEDREAM网友参考使用, 请尊重原书版权, 切勿用于商业用途. Xiearmyxiearmy 零四岁末于美国穷乡僻壤 Chapter I Application Essay Examples INTRODUCTION This appendix contains 115 actual essays written, by 17 different applicants, for leading MBA programs. They address dozens of different essay topics. The applicants and their essays have been selected to give you the widest possible range of materials from which to profit. The first four applicants all applied to the University of Chicago. They were chosen by Chicago’s admissions director, Don Martin, according to my desire that they be from four very different people and of average quality for those admitted. In other words, these essays will show you exactly what you are competing against. They are of perfectly acceptable quality, but they should not discourage you. If you follow the lessons of this book you should be able to surpass each of these efforts. The second set of three applicants—Melissa, Doreen, and Carol—is taken from Columbia University’s files. Columbia’s admissions director, Linda Meehan, was asked to supply several applications, again from people of widely differing backgrounds, but this time of superior quality. I think that this group’s applications...
Words: 76050 - Pages: 305
...BUSINESS SCHOOL HARVARD SUCCESSFUL 65 APPLICATION SECOND EDITION E S S AY S APPLICATION BUSINESS SCHOOL HARVARD SUCCESSFUL 65 ECSNS A IYI O N S SE O D ED T With Analysis by the Staff of The Harbus, the Harvard Business School Newspaper ST. MARTIN’S GRIFFIN NEW YORK 65 SUCCESSFUL HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL APPLICATION ESSAYS, SECOND EDITION. Copyright © 2009 byThe Harbus News Corporation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. For-information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010. www.stmartins.com Library of Congress Cataloging...in..Publication Data 65 successful Harvard Business -School application essays : with analysis by the staff of The Harbus, the Harvard Business School newspaper / Lauren Sullivan and the staff of The Harbus.-2nd ed. p.em. ISBN 978...0..312...55007...3 1. Business schools-United States-Admission. 2. Exposition (Rhetoric) 3. Essay-Authorship. 4. Business writing. 5. Harvard Business School. 1. Sullivan, Lauren. II. Harbus. III. Title: Sixty...five successful Harvard Business School application essays. HF1131.A1352009 808'.06665-dc22 2009012531 First Edition: August 2009 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 CONTENTS Acknowledgments Introduction ix xi I. Defining Moment Stacie Hogya Anonymous Anonymous David La Fiura Anonymous Avin Bansal Anonymous Brad Finkbeiner Anonymous 4 7 10 13 17 20 23 26 29 ii. UndergradUate experience John Coleman Maxwell Anderson...
Words: 47268 - Pages: 190
...from your own. This essay is an informal reading response. A reading response is your reaction to something the author or character has said, done, or written. Once you understand the work, you can then begin to respond to it thoughtfully. This assignment prepares you to write the documented essay as well as other essays that invite you to participate in intellectual dialogue with others. A reading response should respond specifically to a point the author has made. If you are responding to a character, then the response should respond to something the character has said or done. In either case, you may agree, disagree, or relate the author’s or character’s point to your own experience or use the author’s point as a launching pad for another issue. Because this is an informal response, you do not necessarily have to cite sources. It is important, however, that you refer to the author and the name of the article at the beginning of your response. Please check with your instructor to see what he or she prefers. A reading response consists of: 1. the statement or idea that you are responding to placed in its proper context--this may mean providing background information about the article itself; 2. your reaction to the statement or idea; 3. a connection between what you have read and experienced in your own life The following is a clear example of a student writer responding to the actions of a character in a work. This essay, written by Jill Matthews...
Words: 895 - Pages: 4
...the College Board. SAT is a standardised test that is required to be taken by students seeking admission in undergraduate schools. The test has been developed to evaluate the written, verbal and mathematical skills of the candidates. Individuals applying to undergraduate schools in order to pursue any course in most of the countries are required to take the SAT. If the student is looking to get admission to a particular course, s/he can take the SAT subject tests to show his knowledge and understanding of that particular subject. Subject tests are offered in areas like Literature, History, Mathematics, Sciences and Foreign Languages. Test Types SAT is of two types: SAT – The SAT exam tests the knowledge of reading, writing and math — subjects which are taught every day in high schools. It is a 3 hour 45 minutes long test. Most students start preparing for the SAT during their class 11, and take the exam during their class 12. SAT doesn’t test logic or abstract reasoning; it tests the skills students learn at school, which are important and will stay with the student for a lifetime. 2 Subject Test – Subject tests are hour-long, content-based tests that allow students to showcase achievement in specific subject areas where they excel. These tests are in the following areas: English, History, Mathematics, Science, and Foreign Languages. Some colleges might ask students to take subject tests or might not. Students should research properly to determine whether the colleges they...
Words: 2236 - Pages: 9
...Evan Mandery Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice • Why I'm Skipping My Harvard Reunion (A Call to Action) Posted: 05/06/2014 8:51 am EDT Updated: 07/06/2014 5:12 am EDT In a few weeks, the Harvard class of 1989 will be reuniting in Cambridge. There'll be mini-TED talks, a "Taste of New England Dinner," and a chance to sing with the Boston Pops, but I'll be spending the weekend coaching my son's Little League team and hanging out with my family. Reunions seem unnatural to me. I refuse to participate in the charade of pretending to be surprised to see a classmate, and when I'm asked, "What have you been doing?" as one inevitably is, I never know where to draw the line between "stuff" and the full, self-reflective version one might share with a close friend. I think too much detail implies an exaggerated sense of self-worth and is hence a greater faux pas than too little detail, so I've always hewed closer to the "stuff" version, but this runs its own risk of suggesting you don't think the other person is important enough to merit the full telling of your own story. It's a minefield and, in the social media era, one that's entirely avoidable. I've never been unable to locate an old friend or classmate online. It's particularly easy for graduates of Harvard, which maintains a great alumni website--it's where Facebook started, after all. Anyone interested in me can find my professional record on LinkedIn, family photos on Facebook, and many hilarious tweets. If one wanted...
Words: 10654 - Pages: 43
...leaving me behind with the college kids to clean up. Not until we were stranded did we realize we were locked out of the van. Someone picked a coat hanger out of the dumpster, handed it to me, and took a few steps back. “Can you do that thing with a coat hanger to unlock it?” “Why me?” I thought. More out of amusement than optimism, I gave it a try. I slid the hanger into the window’s seal like I’d seen on crime shows, and spent a few minutes jiggling the apparatus around the inside of the frame. Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I’d been in this type of situation before. In fact, I’d been born into this type of situation. My upbringing has numbed me to unpredictability and chaos. With a family of seven, my home was loud, messy, and spottily supervised. My siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing—all meant my house was functioning normally. My Dad, a retired Navy pilot, was away half the time. When he was home, he had a parenting style something like a drill sergeant. At the age of nine, I learned how to clear burning oil from the surface of water. My Dad considered this a critical life skill—you know, in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed. “The water’s on fire! Clear a hole!” he shouted, tossing me in the lake without warning. While I’m still unconvinced about that particular lesson’s practicality, my Dad’s overarching message is...
Words: 10860 - Pages: 44
