What makes a claim persuasive? Every young writer has heard the dictum “show don’t tell,” but what does it actually mean? Why is everyone so hung up on it? The phrase has become such a buzzword in writing pedagogy that it can leave even the...

What makes a claim persuasive? Every young writer has heard the dictum “show don’t tell,” but what does it actually mean? Why is everyone so hung up on it? The phrase has become such a buzzword in writing pedagogy that it can leave even the...

Continuing our coverage of MBA essay topics, let’s take a look at MIT Sloan. And… there’s nothing new to report! Sloan is using the same “cover letter” prompt they’ve been relying on for a few years. In our view, it’s needlessly confusing: People have a...

Stanford has had the same two questions–“What matters most to you, and why?” and “Why Stanford?”–for years, and they remain two of the most challenging questions in the MBA application world. This year they’ve improved the clarifying instructions below each prompt, in ways that frankly...

Stanford has had the same two questions–“What matters most to you, and why?” and “Why Stanford?”–for years, and they remain two of the most challenging questions in the MBA application world. This year they’ve improved the clarifying instructions below each prompt, in ways that frankly...

Booth used to be a very interesting application. This adcom was an early proponent of “picture essays” and PowerPoint presentations–but all that came to a screeching halt last year. The adcom replaced their open-ended submissions with two traditional MBA essays, and they haven’t reversed that decisions this...

Booth used to be a very interesting application. This adcom was an early proponent of “picture essays” and PowerPoint presentations–but all that came to a screeching halt last year. The adcom replaced their open-ended submissions with two traditional MBA essays, and they haven’t reversed that decisions this...

We’re back on the essay analysis beat with Northwestern Kellogg’s 2019-20 prompts. Kellogg’s video essay, once an experimental side project, is increasingly becoming the centerpiece of their application. Therefore, this year, we’ve included both specific insights on Kellogg’s process and general tips about video essay preparation and...

We’re back on the essay analysis beat with Northwestern Kellogg’s 2019-20 prompts. Kellogg’s video essay, once an experimental side project, is increasingly becoming the centerpiece of their application. Therefore, this year, we’ve included both specific insights on Kellogg’s process and general tips about video essay preparation and...

Dartmouth Tuck’s essay prompts got a little harder this year. Bucking the larger trend in MBA admissions towards shorter piecemeal prompts, Tuck has concatenated last year’s batch of goals-related short answer questions into one larger goals essay. The overall topic is essentially the same, but...