Saturday, August 28, 2010

Writing MBA essay

I have tried to come out with a process for writing MBA essays. Please note that these are my personal views and not a comprehensive list in any way. 
Joining MBA is your step in entering the business management career. As in any business decision the objective for making such a decision should be very clearly thought out. Make sure you write this objective separately and keep it always with you. 
Writing an MBA essay basically requires two important aspects: 
  1. First and foremost know about yourself. You as a person should come out very clearly in your essays. Take time to think about yourself and make sure that your essays portray you holistically and give some valuable information to admission committee.
  2. Next important thing is to know about the institute that you are applying for. It is very important to know the institute that you are applying for. Collect all the background information about the College. Get information about professors and their work. Try to interact with alumni and current students to know more about different activities associated with college.  Basic idea of doing this exercise is to show your interest about the college. Admission committee is very keen to gauge your interest level in the college. 
Some important stages while writing the essay: 
  1. Pre-draft phase: During this phase you jot down all the points, which come to your mind regarding the essay topic. Do a thorough brain storming by yourself and come up with all the points that you want to be included in your essays. Do not be concerned with word limit at this stage.
  2. Draft phase: Once you have all the ingredients for your essay, start giving it a shape. Put your ideas into structured sentences. Some important things to look for are:
    1. Decide the flow of essay. What should come first and what later?
    2. There should be no jumbling up in essay. All the points coming out in your essay should come out as a series and not in a haphazard manner.
    3. Start thinking about world limit.
    4. Do not repeat the same thing by saying it in different words. This makes your essays boring.
    5. Do not go overboard either on your strengths or weaknesses. Try to give as much objective picture as possible.
    6. Avoid pleading in your essays. Sometimes candidates give reference on their weak background to boast about their achievements. Please note this is my personal view. You can take your own       call.
    7. Avoid unnecessary verbosity in your essays. They don’t add much value to your cause. 
  1. Final draft: At this stage your essay is almost ready. Do a thorough review for any grammatical or logical errors. It is advisable to have two to three rounds of thorough review at this stage. If possible you can ask your spouse or a close friend to have a look at your essays and solicit some feedback from them.
  2. Submission copy: This is the copy that you will submit for evaluation by admission committee.  Look for any formatting issues. Read it for final time and press the submit button. Now everything is in hands of admission committee. You have done your best and be rest assured that best will come out after all your hard work and pain. Best of luck for interviews…



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