Warning: This post will be a little more personal than most of my posts, but there is a lesson here for applicants. Please let me know by posting a comment, if occasional posts like this one, are OK with you. It’s been an interesting few weeks. Starting...

  In honor of the first birthday of MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools, by Linda Abraham and Judy Gruen, we are posting a series of excerpts from the book throughout November. This post is excerpted from Chapter 6:...

You want to create a compelling, memorable, colorful MBA essay. One that excites the adcom readers, not puts them to sleep. Use the following five MBA essay writing techniques to help you keep the adcom as far away from dreamland as possible: Start with a story...

MBA Application Tip: Keep the Focus on YOU Your MBA application is intended to introduce the adcom to YOU. It highlights what’s special and unique about you as a professional, as a community member, as an individual, and as a future business leader. Here we’re going to...

Strategy will necessarily guide your selection of essay topics, anecdotes/examples, and structure. Yet an essay built on calculation alone, even if the strategy is spot on, will often disappoint. Logically it all makes sense. But it doesn’t take flight. Poetry can be the secret ingredient to...

Yale SOM has shortened the essay portion of its application. Whether following a trend or independently deciding to reduce the essay requirements, this year’s essays require you to focus on the stories not told by your resume, transcript and GMAT score. My tips are in blue. Yale...

Applying to business school can require a lot more time and energy than you might initially think. Many applicants reduce the number of schools they apply to after beginning work on the applications and realizing just how much is involved with each and every...