3 harmful mistakes too many MBA candidates make in their essays

This is the time of year when all MBA hopefuls are in full essay writing mode. As a former Dean of MBA Admissions turned MBA admissions consultant, here are the mistakes I continue to see in essays, year over year.

1. “Tell the damn story” ~Tom Clancy

This is what a sentence in an MBA essay too often looks like:

“Therefore, on a day-to-day basis, I am absorbed in managing customer projects of varying magnitude, ensuring that work aligns with organizational capabilities and/or risk mitigation policy, working to ensure and maintain compliance, pinpointing and fulfilling coaching needs of my employees, and lastly, endeavoring to reach personalized targets set individually by the executive leadership.”

Do you know what an MBA admissions reader just learned from reading your attempt to cram everything and the kitchen sink into one sentence? That you are unable to synthesize your experience succinctly. And that you are having a hard time relaying information in a way that makes it possible for your audience to understand. Which ultimately means that your analytical and communication skills leave a lot to be desired. All qualities that can help move your application into the “deny” pile.

Ways to cure: Keep your writing streamlined and simple. Make it easy for others to read and follow the story.

2. “You’re so vain, you probably think this essay’s about you” ~Carly Simon

“Wait, what?! The MBA essay is not about ME?” you say. “How could that possibly be?”

It’s one of the beautiful intricacies of MBA admission (which doesn’t end up feeling particularly beautiful if it results in a rejection of your candidacy).

Yes, the adcom wants to know about YOU. But what is the number one quality that top MBA programs look for? Leadership, right? And leadership is about OTHERS.

When you write your essays, consider the role each anecdote serves. An extremely frequent mistake candidates make is to veer too far in the direction of stories that they think will make their application unique and memorable but that don’t convey the qualities they need to demonstrate to the MBA admissions committee.

Ways to cure: Before you write, outline the takeaways you want to communicate in each MBA admissions essay, then select the right examples that do that. Once done writing, check back to make sure each takeaway is indeed there.

3. A word about drama and trauma

There is a persistent myth that is harming MBA applicants. It’s that you need to write about a traumatic experience in order to gain admission into a top MBA program. As a result, some applicants choose to write about experiences that are not truly central to who they are as a candidate and force fit them into their MBA admissions story. Others do even worse – they make up a dramatic story about a perilous or difficult experience. Both approaches are a minefield.

If an experience in your past shaped you and profoundly influenced your personal and professional path, you could definitely consider writing about it in your MBA essays. But don’t do it just because you think it will score you points. If you do, the rules from above still stand – keep it simple and focus on how and why it turned you into the individual you are today. Being disingenuous or conceited is way more easily detected than you may think.