{"id":47619,"date":"2019-12-10T06:00:33","date_gmt":"2019-12-10T13:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=47619"},"modified":"2019-12-08T04:24:18","modified_gmt":"2019-12-08T11:24:18","slug":"writing-about-overcoming-obstacles-in-your-application-essays-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/writing-about-overcoming-obstacles-in-your-application-essays-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing About Overcoming Obstacles in Your Application Essays"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What does the adcom&nbsp;<em>actually<\/em>&nbsp;want to know about the challenges you\u2019ve overcome? In this short video, Linda Abraham shares the answer to this often-asked question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/p7HFxWI6YVg?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0\" width=\"700\" height=\"364\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why obstacles?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When applicants&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/what-is-an-accomplishment-2\/\">write about their accomplishments<\/a>, whether in personal statements for graduate school or in b-school essays that ask for greatest accomplishments, challenges, and the like, they almost always come up with real accomplishments: driving innovations that led to revenue boosts for their firms, conducting original and meaningful research in their fields of study, or leading a volunteer group on a major community service initiative. But as genuine and significant as these accomplishments are, many of these initial essay drafts are often missing a key ingredient: obstacles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Not just obstacles, but key obstacles \u2013 with details<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Obstacles are ubiquitous in everyday life \u2013 the traffic detour, the rude tech support representative, even the mean-looking dog on your favorite walking route \u2013 and inevitable when it comes to business initiatives. But too often when asked to talk about their accomplishments, applicants contract immediate amnesia for&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/write-about-overcoming-challenges-without-sounding-like-a-whiner\/\">the things that got in their way<\/a>&nbsp;en route to their achievement, even though getting past them was often as challenging as executing all the foreseen elements of their plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The bland essay\u2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The result: bland essays, such as this example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>As the leader of my product research group, I came up with a plan for a new widget that would save us 10% in costs. After communicating my vision to the team, we worked hard for four weeks on a prototype, completing it by the deadline, to the delight of management. Today my widget is still the standard for my company, saving us over $300k annually.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sure, it sounds like a solid accomplishment, but would you remember it as well as the following, obstacle-rich version?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2026and the brilliant essay<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Take a look:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>As the leader of my product research group, I came up with a plan for a new widget that would save us 10% in costs. But when I communicated my vision to the team, two senior engineers immediately pointed out key flaws in the design, and I had to revise my plan to correct them. We worked on a prototype for two weeks before discovering that the material we planned to use for the product had become over 30% more expensive in the last month, so I pulled an all-nighter researching alternative materials, and we chose one. We met our four-week deadline and presented the prototype to management, but the VP of Manufacturing argued that we would need to purchase major new equipment to produce the widget. I convinced the team to work long hours on a manufacturing proposal that proved we could make the product with existing equipment. Today my widget is still the standard for my company, saving us over $300k annually.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>See the difference a discussion of obstacles makes? Obstacles make your essays more memorable in at least two ways: they heighten the drama of the story, and they give the reader more&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/5-elements-telling-attention-grabbing-story\/\">elements and images to associate with you<\/a>. In the second version, it\u2019s easy to imagine the two dissenting engineers, the surprise of discovering the price hike for materials, and the VP\u2019s frown. In the first, there\u2019s little to imagine but an employee smiling about a job well done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why you need to write about overcoming the unexpected in your personal statement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>So don\u2019t forget to include key obstacles in your essays, along with how you negotiated them.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/resilience-in-admissions\/\">Showcasing your ability to overcome the unexpected<\/a>&nbsp;is actually more powerful than proving you can execute on a well-defined plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do you have questions about addressing obstacles you\u2019ve overcome in your application essays? Leave a comment below and we\u2019d love to help you out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/grad\/services\/consulting\" target=\"_blank\">Get one-on-one guidance<\/a>\u00a0for addressing your obstacles and writing essays that make you shine. When you work with an experienced admissions consultant, you can apply with the confidence that you have presented yourself at your best and maximized your chances of getting accepted.\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/grad\/services\/consulting\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to learn more.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/reports.accepted.com\/from-example-to-exemplary-guide\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn2.hubspot.net\/hubfs\/58291\/hub_generated\/resized\/b7d43960-3540-4ab3-8943-5cad4eaee69a.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/services?utm_campaign=Blog&amp;utm_medium=blog_bio_gen&amp;utm_source=blog\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/accepted_admissions_consulting.jpg\" alt=\"Accepted\" class=\"wp-image-64552\" width=\"47\" height=\"32\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>For 25 years, Accepted has helped applicants gain acceptance to top undergraduate and graduate programs. Our expert team of admissions consultants features former admissions directors, PhDs, and professional writers who have advised clients to acceptance at top programs worldwide including Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Penn, Columbia, Oxford, Cambridge, INSEAD, MIT, Caltech, UC Berkeley, and Northwestern.\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/services\">Want an admissions expert\u00a0to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Related Resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/reports.accepted.com\/five-fatal-flaws-grad-school-statement-of-purpose\" target=\"_blank\">5 Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your Application Essays<\/a>, a free guide<br>\u2022\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/write-about-overcoming-challenges-without-sounding-like-a-whiner\/\">How to Write About Overcoming Challenges Without Sounding Like a Whiner<\/a><br>\u2022\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/writing-the-diversity-essay\/\">Approaching the Diversity Essay Question<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/writing-about-overcoming-obstacles-in-your-application-essays\/\">This article<\/a>\u00a0originally appeared on\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">blog.accepted.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Applying to a top b-school? The talented folks at Accepted have helped hundreds of applicants get accepted to their dream programs. Whether you are figuring out where to apply, writing your application essays, or prepping for your interviews, we are just a call (or click) away.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Contact us, and get matched up with the consultant who will&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/mba\/services\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">help you get accepted<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What does the adcom&nbsp;actually&nbsp;want to know about the challenges you\u2019ve overcome? In this short video, Linda Abraham shares the answer to this often-asked question: Why obstacles? When applicants&nbsp;write about their&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,939,775,113,243],"tags":[2115,1285,377,1283],"class_list":["post-47619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba","category-accepted","category-admission-consultants","category-applications","category-blog","tag-obstacles","tag-writing-a-graduate-school-application","tag-writing-techniques","tag-writing-the-mba-application-essay","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47619","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=47619"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47620,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47619\/revisions\/47620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}