{"id":43670,"date":"2018-10-09T07:04:37","date_gmt":"2018-10-09T14:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/2018\/10\/using-old-experiences-in-your-mba-essays\/"},"modified":"2018-10-09T07:04:37","modified_gmt":"2018-10-09T14:04:37","slug":"using-old-experiences-in-your-mba-essays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/using-old-experiences-in-your-mba-essays\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Old Experiences in Your MBA Essays"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Childhood<\/figure>\n

When is it okay to use examples from your \u201cdeep past\u201d\u2014college, high school, even your childhood\u2014in your MBA essays?<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a short answer to that question: hardly ever. Unless you\u2019re a superhero, in which case the whole reason you are \u201csuper\u201d is that (probably traumatic) event in your childhood. If that\u2019s you, explain away.<\/p>\n

For the rest of us, the general rule is to avoid using anecdotes or examples from our ancient histories in MBA essays. The reason should be pretty obvious: the further back you go in your own past, the less relevant and the less credible you sound. This can be a serious red flag for the admissions committee: \u201chang on, why is he talking so much about high school? Maybe he hasn\u2019t done anything remarkable since\u2026\u201d. Trust us, you definitely don\u2019t want THAT going through their heads.<\/p>\n

Notice, however, we said \u201chardly ever,\u201d not \u201cnever ever.\u201d There IS a tiny bit of wiggle room here, and so the longer answer to this question is: only in very particular places, and for very particular reasons. OK, that’s less than straightforward, so let’s get into it…<\/p>\n

Think of it this way, every story you tell or example you give in your essay takes up word count, so you want those stories to serve a specific and clear function, and to be effective in achieving that purpose. Usually, the function of an anecdote or example you share is to support the goal you\u2019re laying out or to prove you are a credible candidate with valuable experience. In both cases, you can see how more recent, professionally-oriented examples would be more effective than a story from your deep past.<\/p>\n

Often, candidates fall into the trap of sharing stories that seem important to them, but don\u2019t serve a clear purpose, and these types of stories are much more likely to be ancient history. Do a quick check whenever you include an anecdote (recent or older): what is its purpose? Is it EFFECTIVE in serving that purpose? If you\u2019re sharing a story simply because you think it\u2019s entertaining or quirky or unique, but it doesn\u2019t make a compelling case for you as a candidate, your goals, or how qualified you are to ACHIEVE those goals, then it probably doesn\u2019t belong.<\/p>\n

Important to note that this CAN hold true for recent anecdotes from your professional life as well. If an example doesn\u2019t achieve one of those above purposes you might just be shooting yourself in the foot.<\/p>\n

But back to those examples from your deep past. Now that we know when they SHOULDN’T be shared, let’s dig into when they can be.\u00a0 If used at all, they should be brief, and they should serve as a little \u201cinspiration\u201d to engage the reader and draw them into the narrative of your essay.<\/p>\n

Let me repeat:<\/strong> if used at all, they should only be used as a narrative \u201chook\u201d to engage the reader and add a little inspiration in your essay. And did I mention it should be BRIEF?<\/p>\n

This means, you already have a solid grip on HOW to share and support your goals with solid recent<\/em> examples of your experience and potential. Your deep past example is the cherry on top, literally. It’s d\u00e9cor, not a support beam.<\/p>\n

Structurally, this means this kind of anecdote should come at the beginning or end of your essay, more often at the beginning. In fact, a story from further back in your past, if it\u2019s the right story and used correctly, can be a great way to engage the reader from the beginning and lead into your \u201cvision\u201d\u2013an inspiring long-term goal.<\/p>\n

Here are some rules to follow if you choose to include deep past examples:<\/p>\n

Keep it Concise<\/h3>\n

Said it once, gonna say it again: keep this example concise.\u00a0 No more than roughly 50 words in a 500-word essay (30 words in any shorter essay) should be spent on this kind of story. When you consider that this anecdote is \u201cdecoration\u201d and not critical content, this makes sense. If you were building a house you wouldn\u2019t blow your budget on expensive art for your entryway before you\u2019ve built your foundation, floors, walls, or a roof over your head. Keep it short and sweet.<\/p>\n

Keep it Compelling<\/h3>\n

The further back you go, the more tenuous it is to include the story. It\u2019s one thing if you are telling us about something you did or experienced in college that inspired your long-term vision, and another thing if you are recounting a memory from your early childhood. The corollary here is that if you are going to dig up some artifacts from childhood, they better be pretty darn compelling. The further back you go, the more remarkable that experience should be, so if you are going all the way back to childhood, you shouldn\u2019t be telling us about a dropped ice cream cone, falling off your bike, or any other mundanity that happens in almost every childhood.<\/p>\n

Keep it Relevant<\/h3>\n

Finally, you need to clearly connect the dots. Just as with every other example you include in your essay, your deep-past example should have a clear purpose and relevance in the bigger picture. If you are telling us about the inspiration behind your goals that reaches back into your childhood, the line you draw from that story to where you are today and what you want to achieve should be CLEAR. That inspiration NEEDS to be supported with recent context, showing that you aren\u2019t basing your goals off of an outdated impression. In other words, make sure it\u2019s clear that the problem or opportunity you saw THEN is still relevant NOW.<\/p>\n

All these rules and caveats indicate one thing: including an example from your deep past is hard to do well. That short answer holds true\u2013you should hardly ever try to do this. Every once in a while, though, it is just the extra spice needed to make an essay great.<\/p>\n

The post Using Old Experiences in Your MBA Essays<\/a> appeared first on Admissionado<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When is it okay to use examples from your \u201cdeep past\u201d\u2014college, high school, even your childhood\u2014in your MBA essays? There\u2019s a short answer to that question: hardly ever. Unless you\u2019re…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"1","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,817,775],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba","category-admissionado","category-admission-consultants","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43670","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\/140"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43670\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}