Hi,

I am in a bit dilema, & will appreciate experts to clear the air for me. I am applying for Kellogg EMBA program. The essay question state that "Describe a situation at work that best illustrates how your direct contribution has had a strategic and/or lasting impact on your organization". I have couple of stories to present my case, and all of them are equally impactful but from different perspective. What I am confused about, may I am overthinking, is the number of situations to clearly convey the message. THe word count is 500 - 800. If I present one story then I am under count.

1 - Can I present two or more stories in this type of essay, which clearly states a situation?
If no, then what could be possible solution (pick one that is most convincing and stretch it out to meet minimum requirement for word count).
If Yes, what should I avoid?

I think the answer is easy.... one part of it it, that is. The prompt says "Describe a situation"... that means 1. The article is important and I think the AdCom are looking for just one situation but they want you to go deep and provide details. You can tell a lot with one story and show yourself from many angles.

As to which story and which main angle to pick, it is a personal choice that depends on your application and your background. If you want to change into a new field, e.g. you want to switch into Marketing for example, and your resume is all about Finance, you don't want to talk about Finance in your story but marketing or trying a new thing and that it really made you feel confident about the transition, etc, etc.

Another way to choose the topic/story is based on your weaknesses, concerns that the adcom may have about your profile. You may either want to reinforce something (e.g. you had a very low undergrad GPA or low EA scores) or perhaps you want to show that you are better than what you resume says (e.g. you lack leadership words/experience on the resume). You can also think about which of the stories represents your essence. Is that you as a problem-solver, you as a peace-maker, or you as a go-getter. There are many ways to think about it.

-b
_________________

Could you list the prompts for both essays? maybe you can use 1 story for each prompt changing it as needed.

Thanks bb b4bschool

great post