Most MBA programs have already published their updated essay questions for Fall 2015. Writing the MBA application essays is usually the hardest part of the MBA admission process. Here is the last part of our essay writing tips and guidelines to help you successfully negotiate the essay writing process.
After the MBA essay tips by school we brought you last week, today we'll bring you specific MBA essay tips by essay topic:
Why MBA Essay Tips
When writing such an essay, the candidate has to make it clear to the admissions committee why an MBA is a crucial step for him or her, in order to achieve his or her career goals.
Mainly you need to explain:
- What skills do you still lack in order to achieve your stated goals, and how will the MBA/school enable you to get each of these skills?
- What knowledge do you still lack in order to achieve your stated goals? Will the MBA enable you to get this knowledge? For example: I still lack knowledge of X to achieve my goal Y.
- What else do you still lack in order to achieve your stated goals? Experience? Contacts? How will the MBA enable you to get these things?
Your candidacy is likely to be stronger if you are more specific about what it is exactly that you are lacking in light of your goals. For instance, what exactly within marketing do you need to achieve your stated goals? Positioning? Distribution? Advertising? Strategy? Pricing? Etc.
Career Goals MBA Essay Tips
In general, a strong career plan is one that brings the candidate to a very successful future, and one that is very likely to happen. This translates to 9 foundations for a strong career plan:
• Specific industry
- Specific enough to make it unique and concrete.
- For example, banking is “too broad” an industry, whereas Project Finance or Biotech
Finance is more specific and therefore more unique and concrete.
• Specific positions
• Connection to past
• Assured first step
- Rather senior position
- A company you work with / worked with
- Impressive company description (i.e. largest…)
• Unique career plan
• Rich, famous or both in the long term
• Likely and natural connection of goals.
• Community agenda
• Sexy industry
In general, the more specific and personal the essay is, the better.
The key to the Career Essay:
Connect most sentences with the future goals and the industry name.
- Most of the sentences should relate to the goals.
For example:
Why School X? Because Professor X is the world's best in Y, and I need Y to achieve my goal Z.
That's it! Hope you found our tips useful!
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