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Re: Should I write personal (private) answers to essay in application?
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08 Dec 2020, 11:58
Well... the suggestion is to never cook something up as it will come out one way or another. You should always be real in your applications. It does not matter how small or big the issue was. It does not need to be catastrophic but your essay needs to be thoughtful and indicate learning and impact. It could be something small that had an effect on your life. Bschools are interested in learning about you as a person and understanding how deep/shallow/complicated/open you are. Often a cooked up story lacks the depth in trade off for the effect. This essay has many purposes - ask you to share something you are likely not going to share with anyone but close folks. Not something you like to brag about (e.g. your biggest accomplishment), it evaluates your ability to move on, how you respond to failure, and what you do afterwards.
P.S. I would be careful in sharing your story and make sure you are not sharing anger but rather that you are now realizing the effects, and you are making changes. It is not really necessary to make your essay or your story sound positive or already have a happy ending. Everyone understands how hard it is to make a change to one's life. Even changing our diet or small things such as saying certain words or making stupid jokes can be really really hard since they are wired deep in us. If you say you have changed and did 10 things and now a better person and all is perfect, everyone knows, that's not the complete truth. Adcom is looking to admit/invite people to their "home" for the next 2 years. Would you want to invite a person to your home who just made up a cracking story?