explaining low salary in the optional essay

Its not wise to reveal your salary to B Schools unless you work in typical feeder profile like I-Banking/Consulting/High Tech. I believe its an optional information in most cases.

What is the logic behind that?

I meant low salary compared to peers in the industry.



I'm not sure, but I think it is mandatory.

Adcoms are humans and donot know the exact circumstances of your work experience. For example if you were discriminated unfairly which has led to a lower salary, you would not want to disclose the salary because it will raise questions which you might want to avoid.

Don't most schools ask for your salary information at some point during the application anyway? While I agree that volunteering information that may be harmful is a bad idea, it seems that they'll have this data at one point anyway.

The fact is, you can't change it, and you definitely shouldn't lie about it. It is what it is, and shouldn't be a reason for a ding.

You are right. Everyone is pretty much expected to report the salary (and I don't think it's optional). And even if it is, it isn't.

@adCon: You right that if you have a lower salary than the industry average, it can look less than great. Whether or not you should bother to address this issue should depend on many things, one of them being HOW much lower it is than industry averages, and how good the reasons are. My reasoning is because for "issues" you explain int he optional essay you are still always bringing attention to something. So, if you are 5-10$ lower than the industry average, and the Adcom wouldn't notice so much anyhow, then maybe it's better if you don't explain. However if the difference is huge and you have a good reason (company underperforming or salary based on firm-wide profits, etc.) then it might be a good idea to explain it. But be careful of sounding like you are "making excuses."

I'd probably opt for the tactic of emphasising that instead of merely looking to maximise your income you were instead focusing on broadening your skills set / gain valuable experience in your sector of choice. This might be viewed as a sign of strength and clear intent - in the early stages of a management career it's no bad thing to put personal and professional development ahead of filthy lucre (this can come later). Don't be apologetic, don't make excuses, don't dwell on it - and turn it into a strength.

Yes, they will have it anyway. I'm not trying to hide or lie about it. My question was should I explain it in the optional essay.



There is absolutely no way of finding 'objectively' that how low one's salary is compared to rest of the pool
Though I agree, I should not bring unwarranted attention to a negative/neutral point by writing an optional essay.



I can relate to this and is probably the best way to go about the situation. I'll have to push it into the main essays.

Looks like this issue is largely resolved, but I was in a similar position (maybe worse since I work for a large, well-known company, so it's easy to verify that my salary is in fact "below average").

I didn't dare draw any more attention to it than need be, and I'm very happy with how things turned out. As others have said, an optional essay on this topic has the potential to do more harm than help.

FWIW, I don't think salary is a deal-breaker, anyhow.