How many essays/schools have you completed?

I am still on Kellogg. I have 1-3 done and almost final draft ready. Just a few more little things to work out but I could send them in today if I wasn't crazy about trying to make everything perfect. I have a rough draft of 4a and an outline for 4c.

Chicago, 1st essay havent done anything but Kellogg's #1 will make up a lot of the material with more details and specifics for Chicago. 2nd essay outlined. PowerPoint I have a rough idea of what it will look like but haven't even started on it.

MIT notes on what I will write about, which stories and some details. But I have two months so I am finishing GSB and Kellogg first.

Tuck a lot of stuff from Kellogg fits and its not until mid November so I am not worried.

R2 schools not even looking at them.

Alright, just got my resume draft 1 done. So far I like it... a mix between Tuck, Chicago, and Wharton formats, and IT FITS on one page! woohoo!

Haas essays survived 2 reviewers, with grammatical and tone fixes recommended.

Still need to do extracurricular and work history thing for Haas... then it sits back until I submit Kellogg, Stanford, and UCLA. I have 2 weeks then to do it.

Finished my 3 page letter to recommenders... need to write talking points for each school's questions soon. And finish a generic work/extrcurricular list for them.

It's amazing how much information you can put in a 1 page long resume, isn't it? When I first read that the resumes were supposed to be 1 page, my first reaction was, "Are they crazy?"

The same with the essays. I am actually beginning to like the short 300-400 word essays. I can write without needing to be too creative with words or narration.

I agree that it's the same with essays too (Although I still hate the 250 words limit. Essays should be at least 500 words - yeah, even the short ones). I have actually enjoyed the process of writing essays and even the process of reviewing them (It's amazing how much redundant and junk information you write in your first draft).

I know that I won't be enjoying the essays so much by the time I am working on my school #3 .. or when I get review comments like, "Dude, I think you should apply to schools that don't need essays" from the friends

I love writing, and tend to be a bit wordy/creative, so I can't stand trying to write an essay in 500 words or less

Hey Kryzak- where can I get the resume formats for b-schools? Have been looking for some but could not find any...

avi and ncprasad: I agree, short essays are actually really good for me now that I'm getting more used to it. It prevents me from blabbering about random things, and does relieve the need to have to come up with creative story telling ideas. The only thing is, I'm realizing that many of my essays, I barely have the space to mention an accomplishment, let alone answer the "for example?" question. I know you have to be specific, but that means every leadership trait you bring up must be supported by an equally long (or longer) sentence talking about an example of that trait. I'm having a very hard time even in 1000 words to get that in, let alone 500.

It does help me take out things that aren't important and really pick the strong messages, but I wish I had 200-300 more words to work with to make things more specific and supported.

dosa: I found sample resumes at https://www.mbagameplan.com. Look for their sample essays. They have templates for the different schools and how this one "Stephen" guy formatted his resume for each school. I would suggest a "hybrid" method just so you can submit your resume to all schools without having to tailor them and worry that Harvard will say, "wait, that's Wharton's format!"

BTW, search "Tuck resume" in the B-school application board, you should find a link to a Tuck resume book. That helped a lot too. Just remember to put work experience first since we're applicants and not MBA students already.

Finally!! Wrapped my chicago goals essay - 1496 words (1500 max)

As Borat says I like!!

Need to put the mandatory school visit in the Columbia essay, then that will be done.

I am doing a cross country trip to NYC from LA to transfer my brother's bed and motorcycle!!! Will visit columbia and nyu then, possibly in a U-Haul van. That should be a sight

That's why I am not applying to Stanford. They force you to write touchy-feely essays. I can't stand it. Yuck!

I forget which mba essay book it was, but it said that application essays are like love letters - you must pen your deepest passions and thoughts.

My love letters were more like - dinner at 8 (lets go dutch). Dont think that showed too much passion.

wait, Avi, how do you have time to do a cross country trip AND write essays for 5 schools in R1? Are you going to bring your laptop and write in the car?

ncprasad: Yeah... very touchy feely... and after talking to 2 alums, that's pretty much what they said too. They're all about finding the most touchy-feely person you can find.

It will take me a week - I need a break from writing essays.

I think Bodine's book talked about the love letter thing

well avi, you deserve a break, you already finished TWO schools when I have only one's drafts done...

When are you leaving? We'll miss you on the boards!

This VP level person joined my previous company an as an intro sent us his resume - 29 pages long ........seriously crazy.....it actually included some poetry contest dude had won one class 5

Lol, that's nuts. It's amazing how CVs/resumes differ from country to country...I'm used to a 1 page CV no more no less unless you've published...but after coming to India I've seen 3-4 page CVs that include everything from primary school to college, to events etc.

I have seen resumes 6 pages long as a teaching assistant. I used them as paper rockets. You lose interest after the first 1.5 pages. Whats the point writing stuff someone did in their diaper days.
I love the KISS principle.