{"id":36824,"date":"2017-04-17T14:17:12","date_gmt":"2017-04-17T21:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=36824"},"modified":"2017-04-17T14:17:12","modified_gmt":"2017-04-17T21:17:12","slug":"simple-word-replacements-that-save-word-count-in-mba-application-essays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/simple-word-replacements-that-save-word-count-in-mba-application-essays\/","title":{"rendered":"Simple Word Replacements That Save Word Count in MBA Application Essays"},"content":{"rendered":"

One element of MBA application essays that can be challenging\u2014no matter how skilled the applicants are as writers\u2014is staying within word limits. Sometimes, cutting just a few words is all that is needed to avoid exceeding the maximum. However, after looking at a draft multiple times, identifying the opportunities to do this can be difficult. Here are a few common phrases that can be shortened without negatively affecting a sentence\u2019s meaning and that in many cases may even improve the text:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. be able to<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Replacing variations of \u201cbe able to\u201d with simply \u201ccan\u201d in the present tense or \u201cwill\u201d in future tense constructions can easily save you two or three words.<\/p>\n

    Because of my strong organizational skills, I\u00a0am able to<\/em>\u00a0accomplish more work in less time. (16 words)<\/p>\n

    *Because of my strong organizational skills, I\u00a0can<\/em>\u00a0accomplish more work in less time. (14 words)<\/p>\n

    With this latest round of funding, my venture\u00a0will be able to<\/em>\u00a0expand into new districts. (16 words)<\/p>\n

    *With this latest round of funding, my venture\u00a0will<\/em>\u00a0expand into new districts. (13 words)<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. decided to<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      If something you mention occurred because of a decision you or someone else made, you can bypass discussing the decision part of the process and focus exclusively on describing the resulting action. Avoid using \u201cdecided to\u201d and make your action verb the primary verb of your statement.<\/p>\n

      Once I saw the numbers, I\u00a0decided to call\u00a0<\/em>a meeting. (11 words)<\/p>\n

      *Once I saw the numbers, I\u00a0called<\/em>\u00a0a meeting. (9 words)<\/p>\n

      My supervisor\u00a0decided to promote<\/em>\u00a0me first. (7 words)<\/p>\n

      *My supervisor\u00a0promoted<\/em>\u00a0me first. (5 words)<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. despite the fact that<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        This wordy phrase can and should be replaced with simply \u201ceven though.\u201d<\/p>\n

        I was passed over for the promotion\u00a0despite the fact that<\/em>\u00a0I had committed more hours to the project. (19 words)<\/p>\n

        *I was passed over for the promotion\u00a0even though<\/em>\u00a0I had committed more hours to the project. (17 words)<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. in order to\/in order for<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Very simply, \u201cin order\u201d adds nothing to the clarity or meaning of the phrase that follows it. Use just \u201cto\u201d or \u201cfor,\u201d as appropriate.<\/p>\n

          We had to wake up three hours early\u00a0in order to<\/em>\u00a0get to the site on time. (17 words)<\/p>\n

          *We had to wake up three hours early\u00a0to<\/em>\u00a0get to the site on time. (15 words)<\/p>\n

          I knew that\u00a0in order for<\/em>\u00a0my team to stay on budget, we needed to find a new distributor. (19 words)<\/p>\n

          *I knew that\u00a0for<\/em>\u00a0my team to stay on budget, we needed to find a new distributor. (17 words)<\/p>\n

            \n
          1. prior to\/in advance of<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            When discussing something that occurs ahead of something else, simply use \u201cbefore.\u201d \u201cPrior to\u201d and \u201cin advance of\u201d confer no special or additional meaning and can sound affected, in addition to being wordy.<\/p>\n

            Prior to\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

            The club officers contacted all the contracted sponsors\u00a0in advance of\u00a0<\/em>the conference. (13 words)<\/p>\n

            *The club officers contacted all the contracted sponsors\u00a0before<\/em>\u00a0the conference. (11 words)<\/p>\n

            These simple changes can tighten your writing and save you a few words\u2014sometimes, that is all you need!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            One element of MBA application essays that can be challenging\u2014no matter how skilled the applicants are as writers\u2014is staying within word limits. Sometimes, cutting just a few words is all…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,872,775,113,243],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba","category-mbamission","category-admission-consultants","category-applications","category-blog","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36824","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\/126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36824"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36825,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36824\/revisions\/36825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}