What a Difference a Year Makes: Writing a Convincing Re-applicant Essay

The re-applicant essay is a tactically thorny essay to write, no matter which way you look at it. You have a few hundred words, maybe a little more, to remind the adcom why they didn’t let you in the first time around, and change their minds.

The key here is not to tell
them they were wrong. In fact, tell them they were RIGHT. Yep, you heard us,
telling the adcom they were RIGHT not to let you in will unlock this essay.
Okay, maybe don’t phrase it quite that starkly, but you do want to acknowledge
the weaknesses in your previous application.

This is going to require some
painful self-reflection on your part. If you haven’t already gone back and
assessed why you didn’t get the admit the first time around, now is the time to
do so. Take a long, hard look at your application from a year ago, or two years
ago, and consider why it wasn’t quite worthy. Okay, done that? Now treat
yourself to some chocolate cake, give yourself a pep talk, and get ready to
jump into version 2.0.

Ready to write? Let’s dig in.

First, acknowledge why you
weren’t quite up to standard the first time around. Maybe your goals were
fuzzy, or you lacked leadership experience, or you simply didn’t have the GMAT
score or quant skills. Recognize those faults in a concise, straightforward
manner, not spending ANY time dwelling on WHY that was true or justifying those
weaknesses.

Then, spend the bulk of the
essay showing the adcom how you’ve not only improved on those weaknesses, but
made them your STRENGTHS. Version 1 might not have had clear goals, but version
2 did X, had Y experience, and did Z research and now knows EXACTLY what her
goals are, and how to achieve them. Mic drop.

There’s a key word here: SHOW the adcom the difference. This is not going to work if you simply tell in a series of statements that you have improved on A quality or B skill gap. SHOW them! Paint a picture of WHAT you did to improve on that, or show this new and improved version of you putting that skill to use. Showing is always stronger than telling, and this is never truer than when you are attempting to prove that you’ve turned a fault into a strength.

Focus on what you’ve DONE or
ACHIEVED in the year (or more) since your last application, and what you’ve
LEARNED along the way. These are two halves of the whole: simply listing a
bunch of experiences you’ve had or success you’ve achieved won’t cut it any
more than will spewing a series of lessons learned. You need to take 1 plus 1
and make 3 by demonstrating how you INTENTIONALLY took on X or Y role, project,
or experience to improve on A or B quality and learned D, E and F valuable
skills or lessons along the way.

See how that’s SO much better
than just saying, “hey, I got a promotion, now can I attend your program?” Tell
us HOW you got that promotion, what it meant for your role and
responsibilities, and how it helped you become that better 2.0 version of
yourself.

Intentionality is key here:
showing the adcom that you acted specifically to address certain weaknesses
will show that you have the self-awareness and maturity to recognize your own
faults, and the ability and will to address them to become the BEST possible
version of yourself. These qualities are key indicators that you will succeed
in their MBA program, in your future career, and, well, in life in general.
This is why that self-reflection is so key: even if stating those weaknesses is
only the first line or so of your essay, it is the ENTIRE basis of what you did
to improve yourself and why THIS version of you is b-school ready.

Think you’ve got it? Cool.

Before you dive in, though,
let’s make sure we’ve got a few things straight. These are common re-applicant
essay killers, and we don’t want you making these mistakes.

The DON’TS:

Don’t push harder
on the same stuff as last year. There’s a reason that material didn’t work, and
ramming the same crud down the adcom’s throats will not help your case. Even if
you think they screwed up, and wayyy undervalued X or Y about your application,
this essay is NOT Judge Judy’s courtroom and you do not get to make your case.
Take a breath and move on. Show them what’s new and improved, not what’s old
and stale.
Do not justify
those weaknesses. Acknowledging is different from explaining. If you spend the
first half of the essay telling the adcom WHY your goals were fuzzy or your
experience lacking, you will come off as whiny, and ain’t nobody got time for
that. They don’t want to hear excuses, and they won’t give your new application
time of day if there’s even a hint of that tone. Acknowledge your weaknesses
and move on.
Finally, don’t
focus too much energy on one area of improvement. There may be one particularly
glaring weakness in your previous application, and hopefully you dedicated a
lot of energy to fixing that since then, but it’s not likely that there was
only ONE area in which you needed improvement. Give them a few reasons that
version 2.0 is better than version 1.

At the end of the day, the re-applicant essay is all about showing them the delta. What’s changed in this software update? What bugs have you fixed? Give the adcom good reason to believe that 2.0 is a truly superior applicant and that you can honestly self-reflect in order to improve upon your weaknesses, and you are on the right track.

===

***NEW Admissionado Products & Services for MBA/Masters!***Now, read up and get smart:

That’ll get you started. Still have questions? Reach out, and let’s gab.

Our only requirement is that you don’t prefer warm milk over cold milk. Everyone else, 100% welcome.

Email: claudia@admissionado.com
Young People: WhatsApp, or Wechat (@JonFrankHBS)
Older: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
Oldest: 866-409-4753

The post What a Difference a Year Makes: Writing a Convincing Re-applicant Essay appeared first on Admissionado.