Hi all,
I have received more questions about the ESMT admissions process, particularly the essay questions, so I am going to elaborate / put some more thoughts out there.
For me, the hardest part about these essays was the length. The 'character limit' was so low on some of these, that I had to rewrite them multiple times to condense the information from my first drafts.
The first essay does give a generous 3,000 character limit for you to explain why you are choosing ESMT and what your short term and long term goals are. This should be one of the first exercises when choosing to pursue an MBA and subsequently should be tailored to each school applied to.
The second essay is about charity / volunteering activities. The 630 characters for this essay were a challenge for me due to some recent volunteering experience. Make sure to have something concrete here, and don't just tell them what you did and move on. Tell them why you did and how it made you feel, and most importantly how you were helping others from your actions.
The third essay is probably the more difficult for some of us. It was for me, and so I started tackling this one first. The premise is that you have just graduated and are taking a long road trip before starting work, who do you take and why? The last part of that is the most important. Again, I had trouble fitting the story into the 1,500 character limit, and had to rewrite multiple times. I actually changed my whole story a couple times on this one. In the end, I dont think they care where you go or what you actually do. I wrote about doing activities that I dislike all across the country, and probably said less than five sentences that mentioned anything about a road trip. The key is who you take with you, why you chose them, and what do you discuss. Think about the book 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' - it is not about motorcycle maintenance and although it does take place during a road trip, that is not the main point either. It is about connections, relationships, and personal growth (on a basic level).
Good thing there is not a character limit on these posts... I guess I might have rambled a bit, but I hope it helps some of you tackle these essays and put some good thoughts down.
Good luck.
JMM
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Current IE Business School Student | Class Representative | Public Speaking Club President | Venture Lab Startup - http://www.netelevated.com