You've spent months applying to business school: crafting your main MBA essays, perfecting every word to showcase your leadership, goals, and fit with your target programs.

But now you're staring at two essay sections that could either strengthen your candidacy or derail it completely: the optional essay and the reapplicant essay. Maybe you have a lower-than-average GMAT score that needs context. 

Perhaps you're reapplying after a previous rejection and must prove you've grown significantly. Or you're wondering whether explaining a gap in your resume will help or hurt your chances. With admissions committees reading thousands of applications and explicitly stating they don't want unnecessary information, one wrong move in these essays could cost you your spot at your dream school.

Here's the strategic truth: When used correctly, optional and reapplicant essays provide the targeted context that can tip your application from the waitlist to the acceptance pile. But when misused, they waste precious goodwill with already overworked admissions readers. This comprehensive guide breaks down exactly when to write these essays, what to include, and how to frame your message for maximum impact.

 

Understanding the Evolution of Optional Essays

The optional essay landscape has transformed dramatically over the past decade. Previously, schools like London Business School offered wide-open prompts asking, "Is there any other information you believe the Admissions Committee should know about you?" with generous 500-word limits.

Those days are over.

Modern optional essay prompts have become remarkably standardized across top programs. Consider Kellogg's current optional essay: "We know that life is full of extenuating circumstances. Whether you want to explain gaps in work experience, your choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance or something else, you can use this section to briefly tell us anything we need to know about your application."

Notice the language carefully. "Extenuating circumstances." "Anything we need to know." Combined with tight 250- to 300-word limits, the message is crystal clear: business schools do not want supplemental marketing essays. They want only critical explanations for application elements that might otherwise raise questions.

This shift reflects practical reality. Admissions officers already read over 1,000 words per applicant across required essays, recommendations, and resumes. Adding optional content means asking an already busy reader to spend more time on your file. That additional time investment must be justified by genuinely necessary information.

 

When You Should Write an Optional Essay

Given this context, you must critically evaluate whether your situation truly requires an optional essay. The threshold question is simple: "Will my application be fundamentally incomplete or confusing without this information?"

Legitimate reasons to write optional essays include:

A below-average GMAT or GRE score for your target program: If your test score falls significantly below the school's median or 80th percentile, providing context can be valuable, especially if other aspects of your profile demonstrate strong quantitative or verbal abilities.

Academic performance concerns: Low undergraduate GPA, failed courses, or academic probation warrant explanation, particularly if your academic struggles occurred in a specific timeframe or under unusual circumstances.

Employment gaps or unexplained career changes: Gaps of six months or longer, or seemingly random career pivots, may confuse admissions readers without context. Medical issues, family obligations, or strategic career planning can all justify these gaps.

Non-traditional recommender choices: If you cannot secure a supervisor recommendation and are using a client, colleague, or indirect manager instead, briefly explaining why is appropriate.

Significant personal circumstances: Major health issues, family crises, or other life events that materially impacted your professional trajectory may need a brief explanation.

Growth since previous application: If you're reapplying to a school that does not have a dedicated reapplicant essay, the optional essay is your space to demonstrate how you've evolved as a candidate.

 

What does NOT justify an optional essay:

Minor score variations: If your GMAT quant is one point below perfect, explaining this will earn you an eye roll, not sympathy.

Extra accomplishments: The optional essay is not a dumping ground for achievements that didn't fit elsewhere. Resist this temptation absolutely.

Additional "Why School" content: You had your chance in the required essays. Don't rehash fit arguments here.

Stories you simply like: Even if you have a great leadership example, if it's not addressing a specific weakness or gap, it doesn't belong in the optional essay.

The cardinal rule: Follow instructions precisely. There is no faster way to annoy an admissions committee than ignoring their clearly stated preferences.

 

What Makes an Optional Essay Effective

The word that should guide every optional essay is brevity. Your reader has likely already consumed over 1,000 words about you before reaching this section. They do not need a novel about why your boss isn't writing your recommendation.

Effective optional essays share three characteristics:

They're concise: In most cases, two to three paragraphs totaling 150 to 200 words suffice. Get to the point quickly and move on.

They provide context without excuse-making: Explain what happened, but don't blame external factors entirely. Take ownership where appropriate.

They demonstrate capability despite the concern: If addressing a weakness, provide evidence that you possess the necessary skills anyway. Don't just explain the problem; prove you've overcome it or that it's not indicative of your true abilities.

Consider this example from our client Mark, who needed to address a low GMAT quantitative score despite building a successful career in financial markets:

"First, I would like to address my low GMAT quantitative score. Math has never been a problem for me. As such, I chose to pursue a career in the financial markets, a very quantitative industry. I have been improving my math skills, mainly in statistics and probability, for more than 10 years at university and in my career. I have also done professional courses in derivatives and risk management, and have passed through the first two stages of the CFA certification process. As a result, despite my low score, I strongly believe that I have the quantitative skills necessary to thrive in the Michigan MBA program."

Notice how Mark acknowledges the low score, then immediately pivots to evidence that his career demonstrates strong quantitative capabilities. He doesn't make excuses; he provides compelling counterevidence. This approach successfully earned him admission despite the score concerns.

Finally, exercise judgment about what truly needs addressing. If your application component is only slightly below average for your target school, consider whether drawing explicit attention to it helps or hurts. Sometimes letting a minor weakness blend into your otherwise strong profile is the smarter strategic choice.

 

Understanding Reapplicant Essays

Reapplication isn't failure; it's persistence. Many successful MBA students, including admits to Harvard, Columbia, and other M7 programs, succeeded only on their second attempt.

However, reapplicants face a unique challenge: you must demonstrate meaningful growth since your previous application. The admissions committee has already seen one version of you and decided it wasn't quite enough. Your task now is to prove you've evolved significantly.

The most common reasons for initial rejection include:

• Low GMAT or GRE scores relative to the school's range
• Unclear or unconvincing career goals
• Insufficient demonstration of fit with the program's culture and offerings
• Weak leadership or impact examples
• Application errors or poor essay execution

Throughout your reapplication, especially in the dedicated reapplicant essay, you must show how you've addressed these gaps.

Consider Columbia Business School's reapplicant prompt: "How have you enhanced your candidacy since your previous application? Please detail your progress since you last applied and reiterate how you plan to achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA professional goals."

The question's clarity is its strength. Columbia wants concrete evidence of growth and updated goals. Though different schools phrase the question differently, your fundamental task remains constant: show them the "new and improved you."

 

What Makes a Reapplicant Essay Successful

The concept to keep front of mind is "delta," defined as an increment or change in a variable. In your reapplication, delta represents the measurable difference between your previous candidacy and your current one.

The most compelling evidence of delta includes:

Improved standardized test scores: A GMAT or GRE increase of 20+ points demonstrates commitment to addressing a clear weakness.

Refined career goals: Clearer post-MBA objectives with more logical connections to your background show matured thinking and self-awareness.

Expanded responsibilities: Promotions, increased team leadership, or a broader scope in your current role prove continued professional growth.

New international experience: Cross-border projects or international assignments strengthen your global perspective.

Meaningful community involvement: New volunteer leadership roles or expanded philanthropic engagement demonstrate values alignment.

Additional skill development: Relevant certifications, courses, or training show proactive self-improvement.

Deeper school knowledge: Campus visits, class attendance, or conversations with students and alumni prove serious interest.

Consider our client Kumar's situation. In his first application to Columbia, he built a strong finance career, but then pivoted his stated post-MBA goals toward launching an art gallery. The admissions committee found this jump too disconnected, and Kumar was rejected without an interview.

After critical reflection, Kumar refined his goals to leverage his company's sponsorship offer and focus on regional expansion leadership, a natural extension of his finance background. His reapplicant essay demonstrated this evolution:

"Not being admitted to the Columbia MBA was a big failure for me, though I can now see it was important, as it helped me realize what passion to follow, where I needed to improve, and what I needed to do to accomplish these things. Thus, I took steps to come closer to reaching my goals.

After going through a process of self-reflection and talking to many people, including the president of BANK, I realized that the bank has many opportunities for development, and not just in Brazil. BANK's expansion throughout Latin America will require homegrown talent that is able to implement our DNA in a way that is compatible with local cultures and business practices. I want to play an important role in this process in two different ways. By acting as a connector, I will establish relationships with local players and open new markets to Brazilian companies. By building an adequate organizational structure, I will help prepare and manage our future leaders in this task.

Having decided on my goals, I started working on my own development. Professionally, I improved my negotiation skills when helping clients avoid default in the current economic environment. Although I still don't directly manage people, I formally took action in the bank's institutional recruiting and coaching of interns. Additionally, I engaged in two external consulting projects to restructure the bank's commercial department. These projects gave me greater insight into the areas of general management and organizational planning.

Although I decided not to pursue the arts as a career, it remains a strong passion of mine. Therefore, I have continued to run and improve my volunteer organization, Integrarte,' which takes underprivileged children to museums to increase their interaction with art. Recently, I have taken steps to add an arts education component to the initiative and have been developing a methodology to scale the project with NGOs using a feasible, low-cost model. I believe that combining business skills with an inner passion for the arts can help me continue to share this passion and impact others.

Now that I am sure where I am going, the Columbia MBA is even more essential to enable my growth. I am looking forward to hearing Carlos Brito talk about the challenges of transforming a local company into a global giant. Also, attending classes such as 'The Future of Financial Services' and 'Napoleon's Glance' will help me better understand the financial industry and improve my decision-making skills for the future. Outside of the classroom, I am excited to participate in the Arts and Culture Club and am interested in organizing a trip to Inhotim in Brazil to explore the combination of arts and social empowerment."

Notice Kumar's strategy: He acknowledges the initial rejection directly and frames it as a learning experience. He then provides concrete evidence of professional growth, goal refinement, continued community engagement, and deepened knowledge of Columbia's specific offerings. This comprehensive demonstration of delta earned him admission on his second attempt.

 

Key Strategic Principles for Reapplicant Essays

Several principles should guide your reapplicant essay strategy:

Own the rejection: Briefly acknowledge that you weren't admitted previously, but frame it as a catalyst for growth rather than dwelling on disappointment.

Be specific about changes: Vague statements like "I've grown as a leader" mean nothing. Quantify promotions, describe new responsibilities, cite skill development, or reference concrete experiences.

Connect growth to school fit: Don't just list improvements. Explain how these changes make you an even stronger fit for the specific program you're targeting.

Update your goals if appropriate: If your career thinking has evolved, explain why. Matured goals aren't flip-flopping; they're evidence of self-awareness.

Show continued interest: Reference recent interactions with the school through campus visits, class attendance, or conversations with students and alumni. Demonstrate that your interest has only deepened.

Address previous weaknesses directly: If your GMAT was weak and you retook it, mention the improvement explicitly. If your goals were unclear, show how they've crystallized. Don't ignore the elephant in the room.

Maintain authenticity: Don't fabricate experiences or exaggerate growth. Admissions committees can spot inauthentic narratives quickly.

Your reapplicant essay should leave no doubt that you've done significant work to strengthen your candidacy and that you're now genuinely ready for the program.

Transform Your Application with Expert Guidance

Optional and reapplicant essays demand surgical precision. You need to know exactly when to write them, what to include, and how to frame your message without wasting the admissions committee's time or drawing attention to the wrong things. One strategic misstep can undermine an otherwise strong application.

That's where My Admit Coach becomes your strategic advantage. This AI-driven platform is built on Ellin Lolis's proven MBA application methodology, the same approach that has helped hundreds of candidates secure spots at Harvard, Columbia, and other elite programs.

Here's how My Admit Coach helps you navigate these high-stakes essays:

Smart Essay Strategy: The platform helps you objectively evaluate whether your situation truly warrants an optional essay. Should you address that GMAT score? Is your career gap worth explaining? Get strategic guidance before you write a single word.

Coach Ellin Available 24/7: Practice explaining your weaknesses, test different framings of your reapplicant growth story, and get instant feedback from Coach Ellin, Ellin Lolis's AI clone. Available in 31 languages, she helps you refine your messaging until it's perfectly concise and compelling.

Complete Application Ecosystem: Whether you're addressing a low test score in an optional essay or demonstrating delta as a reapplicant, My Admit Coach ensures your entire application tells a cohesive, strategic story. Every essay works together to position you for success.

Work Your Way: Prefer AI-free support? My Admit Coach gives you the flexibility to use the platform however you work best, whether that's leveraging AI-powered feedback or focusing purely on the strategic frameworks and examples.

The difference between a helpful optional essay and one that backfires often comes down to strategic judgment. The same applies to reapplicant essays: showing meaningful growth requires knowing exactly what delta the admissions committee wants to see.

My Admit Coach gives you the strategic clarity and targeted feedback you need to make these critical decisions confidently.

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