{"id":15232,"date":"2012-11-01T14:45:31","date_gmt":"2012-11-01T21:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=15232"},"modified":"2012-11-01T14:45:31","modified_gmt":"2012-11-01T21:45:31","slug":"fatal-flaw-5-muddled-thinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/fatal-flaw-5-muddled-thinking\/","title":{"rendered":"Fatal Flaw #5: Muddled Thinking"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"5<\/a>I am not sure why I made muddled thinking the last flaw. Good writing starts with good thinking and ends with lots of editing, but editing is a topic for another series. Let\u2019s stick with thinking in this tip. One of the biggest causes of muddled thinking: Writing what you think the admissions committee wants to read as opposed to what you want them to know. In fact, most admissions committee members believe that is the most common mistake applicants make.<\/p>\n

A point to consider: When adcoms receive thousands of essays, each one enumerating the A-Z of what applicants think their readers want to hear, it can get boring, not to mention annoying. The person who writes, \u201cI am a 24-year old Indian male Engineering major who graduated Summa Cum
\nLaude, participates in quizzes, and plays cricket,\u201d is impressive, but needs to pep it up a bit. Even someone who doesn\u2019t possess a heavily-represented profile can\u2019t simply rely on the facts. \u201cI am a goat shepherding woman from the Chilean coast,\u201d sure is unusual, but unless you continue and express HOW that strengthens your candidacy as a student at a top graduate program, then it\u2019ll sound just a drab as the first example to the exhausted person reading your essay.<\/p>\n

You want to write what adcoms want to hear? Fine. Answer their questions keeping in mind that they want to hear about YOU, about your individual experiences, about what makes you tick. This is not the place to reel off your accomplishments (they belong in your resume) or to discuss your professional or ethnic profile. Your essay is where you transform from being the straight-A, leadership-driven analytical graduate school applicant number 658, to a person, a human being. With a voice. With a passion. And with something important to say.<\/p>\n

Much of making a compelling case depends on making connections. A connection between your past and your present. Or your present and your future. Your interests and your activities. Your passions and your commitments. Those connections reflect clear thinking and propel persuasive writing. An inability to connect the dots of your life creates doubts and questions in the reader\u2019s mind. And when in doubt, the easiest step for a harried reader at a school receiving five or more applications for every seat in a class is to DENY.<\/p>\n

Before you put pen to paper or finger to keyboard, think about what you want to say clearly and critically. Your dreams are important. As I said in \u201cLack of Substance,\u201d examine your head and your heart. Just make sure your head is in good working order when it listens to your heart.<\/p>\n

Avoid Fatal Flaw #5: Think clearly and honestly before beginning to write.<\/p>\n

\"Fatal Flaw #5: Muddled Thinking<\/a>\" was excerpted from <\/em><\/em>5 Fatal Flaws: Eliminate the 5 Most Common Flaws. To view the entire free special report, please click here<\/a><\/em><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Accepted.com\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/em> Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Accepted.com's experienced admissions consultants<\/a> can help you create the most impressive application possible with comprehensive packages<\/a>, <\/em><\/strong>or provide targeted assistance from picking perfect programs<\/a> to designing a dazzling resume<\/a>, constructing engaging essays<\/a>, or preparing for intense interview<\/a>s<\/a>\u2026and more! Accepted.com has guided thousands of applicants to acceptances at top MBA programs since 1994 \u2013 we know what works and what doesn't, so contact us<\/a> to get started now!<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on the Accepted Admissions Consulting Blog<\/a>, the official blog of Accepted.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am not sure why I made muddled thinking the last flaw. Good writing starts with good thinking and ends with lots of editing, but editing is a topic for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,939,775,113],"tags":[227,811,278,883,600,895,121,377],"class_list":["post-15232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba","category-accepted","category-admission-consultants","category-applications","tag-application-tips","tag-essay-tips","tag-mba-application-tips","tag-mba-essay-tips","tag-mba-essays","tag-mba-tips","tag-tips","tag-writing-techniques","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15232"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15234,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15232\/revisions\/15234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}