kripalkavi wrote:
adc_away wrote:
I was told that the Why MBA essay is the most important... 75% emphasis.. and the remaining essays just make up 25% of the consideration - filler stuff to round you out....
I seriously don't believe that. I guess this sounds like a broken ad-com record but: I think
all the essays are equally important as they help paint a *complete* picture of us. Anyway, I feel it would be too great a risk to assume that only one essay (whichever that is) carries most weight.
I completely agree with kripalkavi. On one hand, by believing that other essays weigh only 25%, you will unintentionally give less importance to other essays. On the other, believing that the goals essay weighs 75%, you may end up refining that essay a little too much .. making it lose the personable touch.
Adcom are (hopefully) going to read all the essays and try to understand who you are. In such a case, irrespective of 'in which essay' you paint a picture about a certain aspect of you, you should ensure that your picture is complete by the end of the last essay. In other words, although it's good if a person has good reasons to do an MBA, this by itself can not be a good enough reason for an ultra-elite to admit the said person.
Now, since the goals essay is perhaps going to be the first essay, it is automatically very important. A poor goals essay can make us lose so much ground, that it won't be possible to cover that up in other essays. But so can other essays. If I screw up my 'ethics' essay, then I will lose an equal amount of ground .. irrespective of how well-defined and well-put my goals are.