{"id":15792,"date":"2012-12-05T14:20:05","date_gmt":"2012-12-05T21:20:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=15792"},"modified":"2012-12-05T14:20:05","modified_gmt":"2012-12-05T21:20:05","slug":"m-motivation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/m-motivation\/","title":{"rendered":"M = Motivation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/A-Z-special-report1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-15794\" title=\"A-Z special report\" src=\"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/A-Z-special-report1.jpg\" alt=\"A-Z special report\" width=\"128\" height=\"166\" \/><\/a>A good <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/mba\/sampleessays.aspx\">application essay<\/a> is comprised of both anecdote and analysis, the what and the why of your personal experiences. Telling a straight story (anecdote without analysis) will leave your essay flat, with no depth or insight into your character or motivations; on the other hand, an essay that rattles on about the why but omits the what will be boring and overly theoretical, lacking substance and voice.<\/p>\n<p>Your goal: To create an essay that balances these two components, that\u2019s full of descriptive details about what happened (your experience) AND why such things occurred (or how you reacted or responded).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Essay Component #1: Anecdote<\/strong><br \/>\nThe first component of a compelling essay is the retelling of what happened to you. This is the story<br \/>\nelement of your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/mba\/applicationessays.aspx\">MBA essay<\/a>. Most applicants launch their essays with an anecdote to draw in your<br \/>\nreaders. Good idea. (For important storytelling tips, please see our free special report, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/SampleEssays.aspx\">From Example to<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/SampleEssays.aspx\"> Exemplary<\/a>, or the on-demand webinar, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/ecommerce\/essaysthatstick.aspx\">Essays that Stick<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Essay Component #2: Analysis<\/strong><br \/>\nFor this second component, you\u2019ll want to talk about your motivations for pursuing the experience<br \/>\nin question or the lessons learned as a result of it.<\/p>\n<p>The questions below will help you shape the analysis component of your essay. After thinking of a<br \/>\ngood anecdote, a key experience that you\u2019d like to share, make sure your essay also addresses the<br \/>\nfollowing:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Why is this experience one that you wanted to bring to the adcom\u2019s attention?<\/li>\n<li>What makes you tick? Why did you make the decisions you made?<\/li>\n<li>How did a particular experience motivate action in the future?<\/li>\n<li>What did you learn from this experience?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>You\u2019re applying to b-school, so your quant skills are probably pretty good \u2013 so let\u2019s put this in solid<br \/>\nmath terms:<br \/>\n<strong>Anecdote + Analysis = Your Awesome Application Essay<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>For more essay writing tips, please see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/mba\/applicationessays.aspx\">MBA Application Essays 101<\/a>, a resource guide containing<\/em><br \/>\n<em>special reports, webinars, and blog posts on every aspect of the MBA essay writing process.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>\u201cM = Motivation\u201d is excerpted from the Accepted.com special report, <a href=\"https:\/\/info.accepted.com\/mba-special-reports\/\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">MBA Admissions<\/span><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/info.accepted.com\/mba-special-reports\/\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A - Z:26 Great Tips<\/span><\/a>. To download the entire free special report, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/MBA\/great-admissions-tips.aspx\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">click here<\/span><\/a>.<\/em><\/span><span id=\"hs-cta-wrapper-52eb888c-486a-4162-b9f5-bbafc53e1a3b\" class=\"hs-cta-wrapper\"><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n (function(){             var s='hubspotutk',r,c=((r=new RegExp('(^|; )'+s+'=([^;]*)').exec(document.cookie))?r[2]:''),w=window;w[s]=w[s]||c,                 hsjs = document.createElement(\"script\"), el=document.getElementById(\"hs-cta-52eb888c-486a-4162-b9f5-bbafc53e1a3b\");             hsjs.type = \"text\/javascript\";hsjs.async = true;             hsjs.src = \"\/\/cta-service-cms2.hubspot.com\/cs\/loader-v2.js?pg=52eb888c-486a-4162-b9f5-bbafc53e1a3b&#038;pid=58291&#038;hsutk=\" + encodeURIComponent(c);             (document.getElementsByTagName(\"head\")[0]||document.getElementsByTagName(\"body\")[0]).appendChild(hsjs);             try{el.style.visibility=\"hidden\";}catch(err){}             setTimeout(function() {try{el.style.visibility=\"visible\";}catch(err){}}, 2500);         }\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/span><br \/>\n<!-- end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code --><\/p>\n<p><em><span class=\"full-image-block ssNonEditable\"><span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/logo-small-for-SF.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-4169\" style=\"border: 0pt none;\" title=\"Accepted.com\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/logo-small-for-SF.jpg\" alt=\"Accepted.com\" width=\"111\" height=\"61\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/em> <em>Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Accepted.com's <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/aboutus\/AboutUs.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">experienced admissions consultants<\/a> can help you create the most impressive application possible with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/Services\/MBAProgramServices.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">comprehensive packages<\/a>,<strong><em> <\/em><\/strong>or provide targeted assistance from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/services\/mba\/admissionsconsulting.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">picking perfect programs<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/mba\/admissionsresume.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">designing a dazzling resume<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/mba\/essayediting.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">constructing engaging essays<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/mba\/interviewservices.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">preparing for intense interview<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/mba\/interviewservices.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/contactus.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">contact us<\/a> to get started now!<\/p>\n<p><em>This article originally appeared on the <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/2012\/12\/05\/m-motivation\/\" target=\"_blank\">Accepted Admissions Consulting Blog<\/a>, the official blog of Accepted.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A good application essay is comprised of both anecdote and analysis, the what and the why of your personal experiences. Telling a straight story (anecdote without analysis) will leave your&#8230;<\/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":[641,227,278,883,895,121],"class_list":["post-15792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba","category-accepted","category-admission-consultants","category-applications","tag-admissions-tips","tag-application-tips","tag-mba-application-tips","tag-mba-essay-tips","tag-mba-tips","tag-tips","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15792","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=15792"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15795,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15792\/revisions\/15795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}