ryguy904 wrote:
How we coming along with the essays? I know that there was some chatter a little while back regarding the case study, but I think relatively speaking, that is BY FAR the easiest of the three.
I'm having trouble with the pivotal choices essay on a couple levels. If the choice was say, more than a year ago (or two at the most), how could I possibly use that as a pivotal choice? Wouldn't I haven't gotten an MBA sooner (if it was such a pivotal choice)? Or if I had an interest that caused me to choose my goals when I was 15 or 16, how can I spin that as a pivotal choice for an MBA. Wouldn’t I have made decisions sooner in my life to draw me towards that interest (assuming I haven’t already done so)?
Also, the 2nd essay seems darn near impossible to tell the story in a manner that has substance and sufficient background, while describing how you learned the most. I'm having trouble telling the story in less than 200 words, at least in its current rendition). If I cut the wordcount, it seems to lose the importance of the event.
Clearly, that's part of the challenge. Few of us would have trouble writing expansive purple prose about the time we failed but ultimately succeeded and grew from the experience. Getting your point across in three paragraphs is a lot harder, but a good test of how you can produce a wealth of information with an economy of words.
Without giving too much away (we're supposed to be unique applicants...right?), I'll touch briefly on how I addressed "pivotal choices." I started broad and early, then came to recent and pointed. They were all pivotal choices; without the former, the latter choice would not even be an option.
Also, I'm fairly sure you get 250 words for the secondary essays. Maybe that helps?