[#permalink]
30 Sep 2006, 12:31
Yeah, when you are relating personal experiences in a format that's very subjective like an essay, there will probably be very little consistency in the end result. I do not know if most schools read essays blind from the rest of the application, but it's also pretty easy to imagine that certain essays start to look better or worse based on the rest of the application. For example, if someone has a 3.9 GPA, high 700s GMAT, 6.0 AWA, 5 years work experience at Goldman Sachs with lots of promotions, and loads of extracurriculars, an essay might "appear" a lot more appealing. If somoeone has a 2.9, low 600s, 3.5 AWA and 2 years of work experience at a common non-leadership job, the exact same essay might not look as good.
I think it is because essays are so subjective that people seem to believe that you can just "go write great essays". Unfortunately, not everyone can write great essays even if they work hard. And the most frightening part is that even if you do work your @ss off and write great essays, you may not be rewarded with positive marks from Adcoms. On, the other hand, if you work your @ss off and gain some ground on the GMAT (or GPA, but it's too late for most of us) then it's tangible and not subjective.
You also have to account for the fact that the initial read of your essays, at most schools as I understand it, could be with any of a number of adcoms or a 2nd year volunteer or whatever. Of all the details in your background and all the possible writing styles you can utilize, which ones are going to work? Here's hoping we all have a little luck this year.