Class2012
I keep hearing that essays should be made personal.Any tips on making them appear personal?
I agree with the previous posters, and I could probably also write a book on the topic. In fact, Paul Bodine, who responds to questions in the
Accepted.com thread, has written a
book in which he discusses this topic at length.
A large part my recent webinar "
Roadmap to Bold & Brilliant MBA Essays" also dealt with this question. And there are many, many
MBA resources at Accepted that touch on it.
A few succinct tips:
* Be specific to distinguish yourself from the many applicants in the same broad general categories as you.
* Provide anecdotal examples from your life experiences to support more general claims and statements.
* Reflect on influential experiences and discuss what you learned from those experiences.
The mix of distinctive description of events unique to you with your own analysis of those events -- what led up to them and flowed from them -- will create essays that
ARE personal. The appearance is not enough.
Best,
Linda Abraham