Oxford (Said) 2012 - Calling All Applicants

Hi Oxfordgrad2012, hope your exams went well! Waiting for your pm reply!

Thanks Enkie.

The essays are actually driving me nuts. Good thing you reminded me that this all a marketing exercise. I've been killing myself being sincere and all.

For the "recent event or book" essay, I think I have a basic structure to my story but now I am a little worried that the particular event is going to be too common! But I guess that's always a risk in this kind of essay! I am sure, after the financial meltdown in 2008-09, almost every body covered that event! Lol!

Nope, no idea on TOEFL/ IELTS. I don't need to give either. So, wait a minute, you are preparing for the GMAT and writing the essays at the same time!?!! Wow, that's hard work!

The key here is to specifically describe how exactly it has impacted "YOU". Even though the event may be common the impact to everyone will be different and the learnings from that impact will also be different.

Yup, you are right. It's easy to forget that.

Kind of. Been trying to redirect my self towards GMAT prep but I've already started the essay and its hard to let it go. Funny how my essays are turning out to be more of an editorial or an opinion piece in a newspaper. Crap! Well, good luck to us and to the rest of R3 applicants. The application process has been turning out to be a heartless b!***.

I think, unlike the 1st round results, 2nd round results didn't come out two days early. So, one more day to go and probably the longest day )

Hi, for the "recent events" essays, is it okay to stop at "inspired my thinking" or is it necessary to extend to "made me a better person" or even go as far as "why MBA or why Said"?

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Agreed, I figured the results would have come out yesterday as it was the deposit deadline for Judge. I am aware of several applicants who have been accepted into Judge and were hoping to hear back early from SBS.

Anyhow, good luck everyone, 1 more day!

My humble opinion is that you dont necessarily need to mention MBA or Said (i didnt in my essay) -- but you certainly can if it makes sense in context of what you are writing. I think there is no right or wrong answer as to whether to stop at what inspired your thinking or at what made you a better person. I dont think the essay necessarily asks what made you a better person. It's all about whether it makes sense as part of the story.

Think from the perspective of adcom -- when they read your essays, they want to see what kind of thinker you are. Why and how do these things affect your thinking? You may want to weave in personal or professional examples to support your thinking.

I also second enkie; if that event/ or development has inspired you to take MBA please write that. For example due to financial crisis many felt to upskill themself with an MBA. ( we have to make sure that it should not sound like a cliche ). If you can link the recent development/news with your outlook of life and can show what sort of person you are and what type of thinking you do, then it would be good.

@enkie, @KIRANR9P

Thanks!

Ok, I'll explain further. After hours of brainstorming, introspection and writing, a draft flowed out of my head yesterday. And I love it! It is perfect for me. It has feel. It has connect. It has resonance. It has style. It is me. It is truly inspired. And it is the essay I am sticking to and it is the essay adcom is going to see.

And it is 922 words.

But when my proofreaders read it, they asked - "but how did this event change you as a person", "why are there no before/ after scenarios", "you need to show that you changed perceptibly".

My counter is that the entire essay is a reflection of my "increased maturity". The worldview I present in the essay is a result of the event and couldn't have come from a mind less impacted by it. I haven't forced anything into the essay, especially not a "why MBA". I love my essay the way it is.

I wish I could show you guys my essay! Haw!

But, that's the background. I don't understand the true "scope" of this question. Ok, without obviously telling me what your essays were about, could you tell me how far you went in terms of scope.

Hi budablasta,

I had the very same problem and to be honest, I went back to revise my essay. I think a big part of this essay is to show how you grew and developed after the event or development. Now, as you say, you may have used the entire essay to point this out, but obviously your readers missed that fact. The question is, would you want to gamble and see if the Adcom catches it?

I'll use my essay as an example. Happy to share. I am an Arab and wrote about the Arab Spring last year and my outlook and thoughts of the region and how those have changed since the start of all the events in the region. But it could easily be for example a death of a family member or friend that makes you realize something, or a car accident, or even a tv program that you saw that inspired you to do something...

Am i right in this? @enkie, @KIRANR9P

my essay was about a book I had read and I basically only discussed 3-4 elements of the book, but made very clear how these had affected me, either in a change in my thought process or behaviou (highlighting begin and end states) with the book event/moral being the link between.

I think to save any misunderstanding, you may want to consider makeing things a little more clear, you dont want the AdCon second guessing what you write.

@nav12c, @gmanster,






I love this feedback. Thank you.

Here's what. I want to make sense of and incorporate the feedback I am getting - both from friends here at the Club and from my dad's (yeah, he's one of my proofreaders!!!) - but I want to stay true to the spirit of the essay I turned out. The damn thing has a friggin' soul of its own. I am already so attached to it.

So I am going to revisit the essay, think hard on how I can add to the essay without taking anything away.

Dont take it too personally and get attached to the essay, it's really a marketing tool for YOU! the main aim is to get the point across, save the soul stuff for when you get into the school.

Agreed, plus i think the word limit like 1500 right? seems so long ago that i wrote mine! You should have plenty of space to add to it.

@Gmanster,

No I think they have been reducing the word limit over the years. It is 1000 now. I do know of a time when it was 2000. And you say you had it at 1500?