Business School Essay Secrets

Business School Essay Secrets

Content provided by EssayEdge.com. EssayEdge.com contains thousands of pages of free admissions essay advice by Harvard-educated editors.

Business school students face a uniquely difficult challenge, because most programs require a series of essays rather than a single, comprehensive personal statement. This fact alone should indicate the importance that business schools place on your written responses. Part of the reason for this extra required writing is that business schools also place a stronger emphasis on practical experience. Academic ability may still be the number-one factor, but it's not enough to get you into a school, just as it's not enough to guarantee your success in the business world. Business schools pay close attention to personal qualities, including your leadership, communication skills, initiative, vision, and many more. Grades and scores do not explain this side of you, and neither does a resume.

Thus your admission will depend largely on your ability to convey your experiences and goals in written form. Self-assessment is a significant part of this process, as is a careful review of both your life and what you have done professionally. Many successful professionals have simply never had to articulate their accomplishments before and now for the first time must communicate this information in a very clear, concise, powerful manner that is accessible to anyone, even without knowledge of their field. Being able to convey both the substance and significance of one's work life is crucial for all applicants.

As the founder of EssayEdge.com, the Net's largest admissions essay prep company, I have seen firsthand the difference a well-written application essay can make. Through its free online admissions essay help course and 300 Harvard-educated editors, EssayEdge.com helps tens of thousands of student each year improve their essays and gain admission to business schools ranging from Harvard to State U.

Having personally edited over 2,000 admissions essays myself for EssayEdge.com, I have written this article to help you avoid the most common essay flaws. If you remember nothing else about this article, remember this: Be Interesting. Be Concise.

Why MBA?

Nearly all applications will feature a question that asks about your reasons for wanting to obtain an MBA at this stage of your career. Some will explicitly ask you to tie these reasons into your background and your goals. Even for schools that don't offer this specific direction, you should plan on such a discussion of past and future, as it provides essential context for your application.

"Why MBA?" is often the first question asked and without a doubt the most important essay you will write. It includes essential information about whether you're qualified, whether you're prepared, and where you're headed. The other essays fill in details about these fundamental points, but a strong answer about, for example, how you overcame a failure will not revive a candidacy that failed based on a lack of career focus.Every answer should contain the following elements, unless the application has separate questions addressing them individually:
1. Your long- and short-term goals.
2. Your relevant past experience.
3. An assessment of your strengths and the gaps in your experience/education.
4. How an MBA program will bridge your past and future and fill in those gaps.
5. Why this particular MBA program is a good match for your needs.

There are no groundbreaking reasons for pursuing an MBA. This is not a place to aim for bold originality. Rather, you should focus on articulating detailed reasons that are specific to your situation. Moreover, there is plenty of room to distinguish yourself when discussing past experience and future goals; the reasons themselves, however, come from a more limited set. That said, you should not try to drop buzzwords for their own sake. Make sure you tie your specific objectives to other aspects of your application.


TOP 10 BUSINESS SCHOOL ESSAY WRITING TIPS

1. Don't Use Company Jargon.As a prospective business student, you have probably spent the past few years in a corporate environment with its own in-house terminology. Remember that you are writing for a reader who hasn't attended your company's meetings or contributed to its products. You should certainly describe various aspects of your professional life--your leadership skills, your career trajectory, your triumph in the face of obstacles, and so on--but do so in language that is as accessible to your reader as it is to you. Imagine that you are composing a document for a customer who must decide whether to buy a particular product: you. Write clearly and personably.

2. Don't Bore the Reader.
Do Be Interesting.Admissions officers have to read hundreds of essays, and they must often skim. Abstract rumination has no place in an application essay. Admissions officers aren't looking for a new way to view the world; they're looking for a new way to view you, the applicant. The best way to grip your reader is to begin the essay with a captivating snapshot. Notice how the blunt, jarring "after" sentence creates intrigue and keeps the reader's interest. Before: I am a compilation of many years of experiences gained from overcoming the relentless struggles of life.
After: I was six years old, the eldest of six children in the Bronx, when my father was murdered.

3. Do Use Personal Detail. Show, Don't Tell!Good essays are concrete and grounded in personal detail. They do not merely assert "I learned my lesson" or that "these lessons are useful both on and off the field." They show it through personal detail. "Show, don't tell" means that if you want to relate a personal quality, do so through your experiences without merely asserting it.
Before: If it were not for a strong support system which instilled into me strong family values and morals, I would not be where I am today.
After: Although my grandmot
her and I didn't have a car or running water, we still lived far more comfortably than did the other families I knew. I learned an important lesson: My grandmother made the most of what little she had, and she was known and respected for her generosity. Even at that age, I recognized the value she placed on maximizing her resources and helping those around her. The first example is vague and could have been written by anybody. But the second sentence evokes a vivid image of something that actually happened, placing the reader in the experience of the applicant.

4. Do Be Concise. Don't Be Wordy.
Wordiness not only takes up valuable space, but also confuses the important ideas you're trying to convey. Short sentences are more forceful because they are direct and to the point. Certain phrases, such as "the fact that," are usually unnecessary. Notice how the revised version focuses on active verbs rather than forms of "to be" and adverbs and adjectives.
Before: My recognition of the fact that the project was finally over was a deeply satisfying moment that will forever linger in my memory.
After: Completing the project at last gave me an enduring sense of fulfillment.

5. Do Address Your Weaknesses. Don't Dwell on Them.
At some point on your application, you will have an opportunity to explain deficiencies in your record, and you should take advantage of it. Be sure to explain them adequately: "I partied too much to do well on tests" will not help your application. The best tactic is to spin the negatives into positives by stressing your attempts to improve; for example, mention your poor first-quarter grades briefly, then describe what you did to bring them up.
Before: My grade point average provides an incomplete evaluation of my potential and of the person I am today, since it fails to reveal my passion and determined spirit which make me unique and an asset to the _______ School of Business.
After: Though my overall grade point average was disappointing, I am confident that the upward trend in my undergraduate transcript will continue in business school. Furthermore, my success on the GMAT and in the corporate world since graduation reinforces my conviction that I have a keen business sense--one that I hope to develop at the _______ School of Business.

6. Do Vary Your Sentences and Use Transitions.The best essays contain a variety of sentence lengths mixed within any given paragraph. Also, remember that transition is not limited to words like nevertheless, furthermore or consequently. Good transition flows from the natural thought progression of your argument.
Before: I started playing piano when I was eight years old. I worked hard to learn difficult pieces. I began to love music.
After: I started playing the piano at the age of eight. As I learned to play more difficult pieces, my appreciation for music deepened.

7. Do Use Active Voice Verbs.Passive-voice expressions are verb phrases in which the subject receives the action expressed in the verb. Passive voice employs a form of the word to be, such as was or were. Overuse of the passive voice makes prose seem flat and uninteresting.
Before: The lessons that have prepared me for my career as an executive were taught to me by my mother.
After: My mother taught me lessons that will prove invaluable in my career as an executive.

8. Do Seek Multiple Opinions.Ask your friends and family to keep these questions in mind:Does my essay have one central theme?Does my introduction engage the reader? Does my conclusion provide closure?Do my introduction and conclusion avoid summary?Do I use concrete experiences as supporting details?Have I used active-voice verbs wherever possible?Is my sentence structure varied, or do I use all long or short sentences?Are there any clichés, such as "cutting-edge" or "learned my lesson"?Do I use transitions appropriately?What about the essay is memorable?What's the worst part of the essay?What parts of the essay need elaboration or are unclear?What parts of the essay do not support my main argument?Is every single sentence crucial to the essay? This must be the case.What does the essay reveal about my personality?

9. Don't Wander. Do Stay Focused.
Many applicants try to turn the application essay into a complete autobiography. Not surprisingly, they find it difficult to pack so much information into such a short essay, and their essays end up sounding more like a list of experiences than a coherent, well-organized thought. Make sure that every sentence in your essay exists solely to support one central theme.

10. Do Revise, Revise, Revise.The first step in an improving any essay is to cut, cut, and cut some more. EssayEdge.com's free admissions essay help course and Harvard-educated editors will be invaluable as you polish your essay to perfection. The EssayEdge.com free help course guides you through the entire essay-writing process, from brainstorming worksheets and question-specific strategies for the twelve most common essay topics to a description of ten introduction types and editing checklists.

Top Ten Mistakes Made on Scholarship Applications

Top Ten Mistakes Made on Scholarship Applications
by Laura DiFiore at FreSch!.

How you can guarantee that your scholarship application will NOT win! Forget to include your name and/or address! You would be surprised how many students do not include their name or address on an application!Submit an incomplete application. Make sure you include all required references, photos, transcripts, and essays. Be rude or abusive to the judges. Telling the judges that they will burn in Hades if they don't pick you, or that they are idiots because they don't accept applications from students in your major, is a sure-fire way to guarantee you will NOT be considered for this application, and that the judges will tell all their judge friends how nasty you are. Submit a dirty application. Use a plate for your lunch, not your application. Don't spill beer on your application!Apply when you do not meet their minimum requirements. If they require a minimum 3.0 GPA and you have a 1.2 GPA, don't waste your time!Send it "postage due." Oops!Mail the envelope but forget to put the application in it. Surprisingly common! Submit inappropriate supporting documentation, such as including a picture of you at age 6 months when the application asks for you to include a photo, or including a copy of your arrest record as a reference! (this really happened!)No one can read your application. The use of fancy, hard-to-read script typefaces on your essay, or handwriting that even a doctor would be ashamed of. Spelling errors! Even ONE spelling error can doom your application! Remember, if you do not take the time to spell-check your application, the judges won't take the time to read it!YES, I know that these seem like common-sense mistakes, ones that very few students would make... but these ARE the most common mistakes, made by 75% or MORE of all applicants! Last summer, I sat on a judging committee, and fully 96% of the applications contained THREE or more of the above errors. Why so many students make these mistakes is beyond me - but I hope after reading this, you will not be one of them!

Ten Tips for Winning Scholarship Applications

Ten Tips for Winning Scholarship Applications
-- by Kay Peterson, Ph.D. at FastWeb

Before you submit your scholarship application, check out these tips, provided by scholarship sponsors nationwide.

  • Tip #1: Apply only if you are eligible.Read all the scholarship requirements and directions carefully to make sure you're eligible before you send in your application.
  • Tip #2: Complete the application in full.If a question doesn't apply, note that on the application. Don't just leave a blank. Supply all additional supporting material, such as transcripts, letters of recommendation and essays.
  • Tip #3: Follow directions.Provide everything that's required, but don't supply things that aren't requested—you could be disqualified.
  • Tip #4: Neatness counts.Always type your application, or if you must print, do so neatly and legibly. Make a couple of photocopies of all the forms before you fill them out. Use the copies as working drafts as you develop your application packet.
  • Tip #5: Write an essay that makes a strong impression.The key to writing a strong essay is to be personal and specific. Include concrete details to make your experience come alive: the who, what, where, and when of your topic. The simplest experience can be monumental if you present honestly how you were affected.
  • Tip #6: Watch all deadlines.To help keep yourself on track, impose your own deadline that is at least two weeks prior to the official deadline. Use the buffer time to make sure everything is ready on time. Don't rely on extensions—very few scholarship providers allow them at all.
  • Tip #7: Make sure your application gets where it needs to go.Put your name (and Social Security number, if applicable) on all pages of the application. Pieces of your application may get lost unless they are clearly identified.
  • Tip #8: Keep a back-up file in case anything goes wrong.Before sending the application, make a copy of the entire packet. If your application goes astray, you'll be able to reproduce it quickly.
  • Tip #9: Give it a final "once-over."Proofread the entire application carefully. Be on the lookout for misspelled words or grammatical errors. Ask a friend, teacher or parent to proofread it as well.
  • Tip #10: Ask for help if you need it.If you have problems with the application, don't hesitate to call the funding organization.

Study and Scholarships Info in New Zealand

What opportunities are there for study in New Zealand?

Oriental Bay in Wellington.

So you’re interested in coming to study in New Zealand? If you do, you won’t be alone! Over the last few years we’ve had a steadily increasing number of international students seeking education in New Zealand.

International students can only obtain student visas for full-time study towards a New Zealand qualification with providers who are registered and approved by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. You can search for an education provider on the New Zealand Qualifications Authority website.

You can find a list of all our universities. It’s easy to compare what they offer you. Remember to look at the international students section – they all have one.

Educationnz also lists institutions by type. And at International Student Services you’ll find lists of institutions and what courses they offer.

English language schools

You’ll find many lists of English language schools on the Internet. Our links provide four comprehensive lists:

Regional tours

To find out more take a tour of our regional study opportunities and click on the different regions of New Zealand. Each one will tell you something about the area and the study opportunities there.

Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students

The Ministry of Education operates a Code of Practice that provides a framework for looking after international students. It covers pastoral care, accommodation and provision of information.

Study and Scholarships Info in Switzerland

The Swiss system of education is essentially the responsibility of the cantons. Therefore one cannot really talk about a Swiss educational system but only of several independent and different systems. The differences in the education systems for the first eight or nine years of school have arisen through the federal structure of the state and the variation even shows itself within the different language regions.

For example the German-speaking cantons have no uniform designation for similar types of schools, and it was only in 1985 that the cantonal electorates voted to introduce a uniform start to the school year in the autumn.
However, if they are looked at in very simplified terms, certain common characteristics can be made out among the cantonal school systems. After a voluntary period of kindergarten fully financed by the state, most cantons have nine years compulsory schooling (in eight cantons eight years). This compulsory schooling for all children capable of normal education consists of a primary school period of four, five or six years. There then follows a choice of schooling, putting varying demands on the pupils, and known collectively as the secondary level I. In many cantons both levels of compulsory schooling are called the "Volksschule" (elementary school). Individual cantons are largely responsible for their administration and curricula.

The elementary school normally passes their pupils on to either vocational training or into a secondary level II. These high schools (gymnasium) are a preparation for university. At this level the independence of the cantons is limited considerably by the matriculation requirements laid down by the Confederation. Vocational training is also supervised by the Confederation. Elementary education is free while at the higher levels of education, even if they are state supported, fees are charged in individual cases or students are at least expected to pay for their learning material.

Important links
Swiss universities, degree recognition issues, please visit the homepage of Rector’s Conference of Swiss Universities: www.crus.ch

International Baccalaureates: www.ibo.org

Swiss private schools, please visit the homepage of the Swiss Federation of Private Schools: www.swiss-schools.ch

Swiss Hotel Management schools, please visit the homepage of the Swiss Hotel Schools association: www.aseh.ch
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