1. Promote the Admission Drivers
- Admission Drivers are the traits that admission committees look for in a candidate. For Example:
- Leader/Manager - Led/managed/recruited people.
- Team Player/Relationship Builder - Worked well with others, built relationships under difficult circumstances.
- Smart - GPA/academic distinctions, GMAT, recommender reviews.
- Initiates - Initiated successful projects / changes.
- International/Cultural - International orientation/experience, cultural sensitivity.
- Presentation Skills - Public speaking (large audience is strongest - state the number of people), presenting to senior people, presenting to team.
- Persuasion Skills - Persuaded people (senior people in particular).
- If a sentence doesn’t promote an Admission Driver:
- Is it required in order to answer the question?
- If not, remove or replace it!
- The king of Admission Drivers:
- Leadership
- Where is our best chance to promote leadership?
- The Episode essay
2. Focus on the Question
- Answer all segments of the question.
- Example: Describe one of your greatest achievements and why you view it as such
- Remove sentences that go beyond the scope of the question.
3. Focus on Facts
- Avoid subjective terms
- Objective = it's either right or not.
- Subjective = it's a matter of opinion.
- Examples:
- “We completed the project 6 days ahead of schedule“ - objective
- “We completed the project quickly" - subjective
- “Singcom is a large company" - subjective
- “Singcom is Singapore's second largest company“ - objective
- “The project succeeded“ - subjective
- "I felt that the project succeeded" – objective (this is what I felt) but not "hard facts".
- “In the company’s 2002 annual conference, the CEO cited the project as one of the company’s 5 main successes of the year” - objective, hard facts – this is the most effective of the above three.
… and Let the Reader Conclude
- Avoid "spoon-feeding" the reader with conclusions.
- Let the reader reach the conclusions.
- For example:
- “Following my success in the project, I was promoted to Vice President” – This is spoon feeding.
- “Four weeks after the project ended, the CEO announced my promotion to Vice President” - This is good! Let the reader conclude the project was successful.
4. Go Deep
- Go deep into the details
- Be as specific as possible
- “I have learned how to delegate responsibilities” - shallow
- “I have learned that effective delegation of responsibilities requires clear definition of sub-goals” - deep
- “Singcom is one of Singapore’s largest companies” - shallow
- “Singcom is Singapore’s third-largest company” – deep
5. Make it interesting to read
- Make the essay unique / bold / funny / suspenseful.
Some ways to achieve this:
– Suspense, drama
– Short paragraphs, short sentences, section titles
– By writing it as a script for a great movie
– By writing it as a chapter in a book
– By using unique, bold and funny ideas, stuff they never saw before. For example:
Essay Question: "What would you do if you had 1 hour with our dean"?
Answer: "I would lock the room from the inside. Until the security people break in, I will have at least two hours to convince him why Kellogg is my #1 choice"
6. Avoid Introductions and Summaries
- What do we mean by “introduction”?
– “here’s what I will tell you about” - What do we mean by “summary”?
– “here’s what I told you about” - Why?
– Space is limited
– Patience is limited
7. Less is More
- Why?
– Because they skim - Keep the paragraphs at 3-5 lines.
- Keep the sentences “real short”.
- Avoid "AND".
– What two things can you do to avoid “and”?
– “I presented the background and my analysis”
* Break sentences into two: "I presented my background. I explained my analysis."
* Cut one "wing": "I presented my analysis" – this is best!
8. Use Orphan Sentences for the Key Points
- Why?
– Because they skim
Paragraph
Paragraph
Paragraph
On April 3 I was appointed Vice Commander of the Submarine.
Paragraph
Paragraph
Paragraph
9. Keep it Authentic
- Why?
– It helps chances
How do we keep the essay authentic?
- The essays shouldn't present the candidate as a perfect person.
- If possible, some of the essays should be moving, sincere, introspective, emotional. Less so for Harvard.
10. Modesty Wins
How to be modest?
- Admit mistakes
- Criticize yourself
- Be sincere
- Focus on the facts
11. Episode essays: tell it as a chapter in a book.
- Episode essays are stories (like: "My greatest achievement").
- Episode essay questions often begin with: "tell us about a time when…".
- Effective episode essays are told like chapters in a book. They often use quotes.
12. Use Optional Space!
Why?
- Chance to promote candidacy further
- Shows commitment to the school
That's it. Next week we'll focus on specific essay tips by school.
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