Progress in Life

Recently, I had a chance to interact with some of the ISB alumni who have started a venture called thinkISB.com. I feel that is a very good initiative, coming from someone who has gone through the process, and more so, gone through the ISB journey. There are many applicants who are clueless regarding how to best project our personal story to the admissions committee. I feel that for admissions, more than a thorough understanding of the admission process, it is important to understand the MBA program and what the school has to offer. This is where initiatives like thinkISB.com come into the picture to provide accurate and targeted information.

Delving into the history of how, why and by whom thinkISB.com was started, I found that thinkISB.com, was born with an aim to guide aspirants (both, fresh and re-applicants) through the admission process of the Indian School of Business (ISB). The founders, all alumni of ISB, have diverse industry experience and have worked in close coordination with ISB Admissions committee in past.

The admission process of ISB might appear daunting and overwhelming for fresh applicants and may not be clearly understood by the re-applicant pool. It is believed that only the best make it to best b-schools like ISB. But a lot of brilliant aspirants, for the lack of personalized guidance or unclear understanding of admission process, fail every year to project themselves well to the admissions committee. Quite undeniably, in many such cases, professional admission guidance can make the winning difference. thinkISB provide that guidance to ISB Aspirants.

For more information, feel free to reach them at

EMAIL: info@thinkISB.com
PHONE: 9010917222 / 9010918222
WEB: www.thinkISB.com
BLOG: http://thinkisb.com/blog

Businessweek.com has posted requirements for MBA Journal writers. This is a good opportunity for people who want to become part of the team that will share their MBA experience with the rest of the world. They need people who are, or will join, the class entering 2009-10.

For one, I know for sure that there are many good writers out there who are anyway sharing their MBA journey through their personal blogs. This will be a good platform for MBA writers to come in the mainstream. This will also be terrific for any reader who would want to read about MBA experience of various B-schools, all at one place. Sad to see, there is no journal from ISB. So let me see if I get motivated enough to contribute (read: get time out of my busy schedule here at ISB).

Now when I have decided that I will be joining ISB (Indian School of Business) in April, I thought of writing the whole story down. I want to share my story of why I applied to ISB again and again and why was an MBA so important to me. Ok, I know "An MBA is just a means to an end and not an end in itself". It's just that with each passing year, my aspirations changed and what started as a necessity without reason became a reason for my career progression.

How it all began

In my final year of engineering I decided to write the Common Admision Test (CAT) for admission to IIMs (Indian Institute of Management). I pursued engineering from a well recognised college and for some random reason wanted a brand for my MBA too. So IIMs were the obvious choice. Little did I know the significance of an MBA and just wanted to follow the herd going into the Goldmans, Lehmans and McKinseys. But anyhow, I just did not want "some" job. I wrote CAT and secured a decent enough percentile, that was good enough to satisfy MDI but my verbal was not good enough for any of the IIMs. I sat for MDI interview and cleared it. Then the IIM bug hit me again and decided that if I ever do an MBA, it will be from a top school.

I joined one of the largest IT Services firm in India. I excelled at work and at the same time, religiously wrote CAT every year. CAT for me became a routine, like a festival that "has" to be celebrated every year. Every time I was stuck with 98 something percentile, not good enough for IIMs. Man! High population has its own effects.

2 years passed. It was November again and I screwed up CAT. Again. Then I looked at ISB as an "option". Ok, I have some idea what I want to do with my life and an MBA was utterly necessary. ISB's R2 deadline was due Jan 15 and I had one month to prepare. This preparation included writing GMAT and the essays. Tough task. But I decided to give it a shot. It was pure gamble with my career. In fact, I should give this warning to my readers "Don't try this at home!!!" I wrote my GMAT in a month's time on Jan 5 2005 and secured a 710. In another 10 days ISB app was in. I received an interview call, screwed it up and the result was an obvious Ding.

The Second Attempt

The first attempt was an eye opener. I realized that there is something that I lack and that something was professional maturity. I would only gain that with proper experience. I decided to take additional responsibilities at work, looked at the bigger picture always and thus gained some good recognition.

But still, there was something missing. I needed something different now and decided to make a move to another company that would provide me with a completely different exposure. I joined a product firm in a dvision that was formed after that giant acquired a startup. This was something unique. I always looked for opportunities to contribute towards a change in my organisation that I work for. This helped me in two ways. Excellent recognition, fast promotion and greater responsibilities were one. At the same time, I strengthened my application for an MBA.

Till the year before this I was religiously writing CAT. The CAT festival was celebrated every year.

Then came sanity and I wrote another ISB application. In R2. Same story again. Interview followed by a Ding. This was a setback. I was pretty sure this time but something went wrong.

My Confidence

By this time, I had started doubting my abilities. Maybe I am not an MBA material at all. Let's excel at what I have. But it was temporary. I kept telling myself that I am strong and I have to get into my target industry (why MBA). M/B/B (Guess) became my dream and I firmly believed that I am an MBA material. In 2006-2007 I strengthened my application. I spent a lot of time on introspection and assigned "Why?" to everything that I had done in life till then. This helped me a lot.

I wrote the admission test for Mensa and cleared it.
I started this blog and focused on improving my writing skills. (Ok maybe I'm not too god now also but you should have seen how I wrote 3 years ago)
I got a substantial international work experience.
I made significant positive changes at my work place.
I wrote GMAT again. (You may ask why again after a 710. I had some reasons)

I was back on my feet again.

The Third Attempt

Should have been my last attempt. I wanted to leave no stone unturned. I wrote GMAT again. I worked harder on my essays and was ready.

Of course, it was a different time and I was admitted. I had achieved what I wanted to and am now prepared to begin another journey. Although I felt a sense of achievement, I knew it was not and is a new beginning in my professional life.

The ISB admit means a new beginning. It means that I am capable. It means that I am part of a group from whom I have a lot to learn from. It means I am in.

Well, not for everyone. But if you see yourself entering the business world sometime sooner, this is one skills that will be very critical and is the hardest to attain. Now what are soft skills about:

Speaking confidently in front of a crowd
Command over a language
Maintaining the correct body language
Presenting yourself effectively
Effective communication skills
Speaking precisely and concisely

This is just a list that I made casually while thinking of what I need to develop to be truly successful.

Expectations from an MBA

Experts have commented time and again that an MBA is not for academic oriented people. An MBA is not for someone who wants to attain a "degree". Of course, you gain a lot of hard skills during your course of an MBA, you gain better understanding of disciplines like finance, marketing, operations, etc.

But there is much more to an MBA. Your expectations should go beyond the hard skills that you attain. Look out for other sources of learning. Capitalize on the diverse peer group that you have. Interact with people from various backgrounds, learn how to connect and build relationships (professional). Prepare yourself for the future.

An MBA has a bigger role in preparing you for such a role in terms of soft skills. Most B-schools have a course called "Management Communication". It has all the elements of a presentation (or that is what I think): effective business writing, presentation skills, communicating effectively one-to-one or to a crowd. It is not easy to stand in front of a crowd and make them believe in your ideas, your vision.

Tuck on ManComm

ManComm as "Management Communication" is known in B-school parlance is one of the favourite subjects of Tuck students. While going through the latest blog entry on the Tuck Admissions blog: Hard skills are easy, soft skills are hard, I can imagine myself using the MBA as a perfect platform to develop on my verbal and non-verbal presentation skills. Tuck's close-knit atmosphere plays a big role here through open and direct feedbacks. Walking up in front of the class and speak on a topic you have just been give for 2 minutes requires courage (at least for me). But I really appreciate the minute details pointed out with respect to the body language, voice modulation, etc. The feedback is essential.

Stanford's Management Communication Program (MCP)

Stanford GSB has a different method of enhancing soft skills. They have around 60 communication workshops held throughout the year. The workshops range from Effective Listening to Delivering Bad News, from Impromptu Speaking to Voice Workout. The conciseness of the topics itself tells you how each and every minute details needs to be worked on.

I just used these two examples to show how B-schools place a lot of emphasis on developing communication skills.

In contrast, most one-year programs do not have such an intensive focus on enhancing one's soft skills. As far as I understand, this must be because of the following reasons:

Less Time. Since the course span is just a year, these skills can be picked up by students as they move along.
Different demography. Well, not exactly. But usually one-year programs are designed for professionals who want a quick MBA and return to business. So B-schools also expect incoming students to ready to take on management positions and thus focus only on hard skills.

So I agree with Will from Tuck:

Hard skills are easy, soft skills are hard.

I visited the MBA Tour in Hyderabad, India on Wednesday. It started at 4:30 pm but I could only reach by 7:30 pm, as I was stuck in an office meetings. I missed most of the Alumni Panel Discussions, but the fair just started at 7:30 pm.

Anyway, I won't say I benefited a lot from the fair in terms of knowing about schools. The schools I am applying to did not participate. I had not heard the names of many schools even. But nevertheless, I thought of visiting the stalls. The popular names visiting were Stern, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown in the US, and then there were others like RSM Erasmus, Queens Canada, HEC Paris, SDA Bocconi among the internationals. Not many alumni members participated but the ones that did were quite impressive.

Impressive Alum
I was particularly impressed by the Rotterdam School's (RSM) alum. He was a quite senior person in the business development of Satyam. First, his was quite an impressive personality, and the person was talking sense and not BS which can be found on any B-school's website. Second, he believed in what he was saying and thus sounded quite confident. He had a very strong pitch for RSM sounded committed for the school.

The usefulness of MBA Fairs
Others worth talking to were Cornell and Stern's representatives. I did came to know quite a bit about the school after talking to them. The one thing that is worth taking from MBA Tours is getting a feel of the school by talking to its alums and admissions staff. For international applicants who cannot visit the school personally must make sure that they visit these fairs and get the feel of the schools they are planning to apply to.

If you are sure where you are applying and are also sure of the fit to the school, these events are a way to show your love to the school. If you have applied, you can talk to the admission staff and talk about your application. If you are yet to apply, you can use this opportunity to resolve any queries that you have about the school. This will certainly help in answering the "Why this school" question.

What I did not like
There was very less participation from the top-tier schools. I know they do not need to market themselves in India, but at least they should participate just to show their support towards the applicants. Anyway, since the maximum international applicants are from India, I'm sure they are earning a lot from India in terms of application fee. This should be their chance to give back. ;)

On a serious note, prospectives visiting these events should also be well prepared in terms of what they ask the admissions staff. Visiting these fairs and just to gain some airtime, people ask questions like "My GMAT is so-and-so.. should I apply?" Come on guys, show a little professionalism, do some homework. Another category of questions that I guess shows no homework on the applciants' part is "What is your average GMAT score?". The best conversation I overheard:

Applicant: "I am an IT Applicant"
School Staff: smiling. "I guess everybody here works in IT"

A: What is the average GMAT in your school for people from IT background?
SS: I guess all engineers want some formula to calculate their chances of admission based on your background, GMAT, etc. But believe me there is none.

And then the general advice follows.

Anyway, overall it was a good experience for me. But I still wish my dream schools should have participated.

I have submitted just one application till now and there are at least 3 more to go for R1. I say "at least" because I'm too busy at work, there's a visit to the client site scheduled for the last week of October. So practically, I have very less time. I just want to squeeze in as much I can, not compromising on the quality of the essays.

I am targetting the following, at least:

Tuck (EA 15th Oct)
Darden (28th Oct)
Haas (4 Nov)
LBS R1 (14th Oct).

I have removed INSEAD from the list since I will apply to INSEAD for the Jan 2010 cycle. I want the internship and I am no superman. The essays are progressing very very slowly. I am getting only 1-2 hours daily at max to work on my apps. One thing I have learnt during this process. I am bad at time management. I know some people are good. Awesome Soni!!! Keep it up. As of now, I have completed rough drafts of Tuck Essays 1 and 2, written bullets for Tuck essay 4 and just now it struck me what to write for essay 3.

1. Why is an MBA a critical next step toward your short- and long-term career goals? Why is Tuck the best MBA program for you?

This one was pretty straightforward. A typical career goals essay where I am following this format -> What I have done so far -> Where I want to be -> Why Tuck. The funny thing is, the more I read and research about Tuck, the more I fall in love with that place. I have never visited the place, but I have already started imagining what it would be like in Hanover. Being in a close-knit community where the alumni is so attached to the school and concerned about the people, where the faculty and the staff is so approachable, would be awesome. I just learnt that within 5 minutes of walking distance, there is a canoeing club where you can rent a canoe for just $5. Isn't it great!!!

2. Tuck defines leadership as “inspiring others to strive and enabling them to accomplish great things.” We believe great things and great leadership can be accomplished in pursuit of business and societal goals. Describe a time when you exercised such leadership. Discuss the challenges you faced and the results you achieved. What characteristics helped you to be effective, and what areas do you feel you need to develop in order to be a better leader?

Wow!!! A bg question. But again, straightforward for me. I just picked up an example from work where I did have an impact on my team and myself. But my concern here is that example is more than 3 years old. I have chosen that situation because it is very impactful and the circumstances were difficult. I hope it will not be perceived as too old and leave an impression on the adcom that there is no significant leadership experence in my life within the last 3 years???

3. Discuss the most difficult constructive criticism or feedback you have received. How did you address it? What have you learned from it?

This was where I was stuck thinking for the past one week. I just wrote down everything I could remember from my personal life to professional where I have received feedbacks. Of course, there were many instances of the same. But picking the one that left an impact on me to a large extent was a difficult one. I wanted to pick an example where it had an effect on my personality and to which I could relate my current being. In addition, I wanted to pick a feedback on which I have developed a lot and that weakness of mine, or the area of improvement has been long taken care of. So that example had to be old.

I wrote down my current area of work, what I do and how I do. Then I thought "was I the same 3-4 years ago?" If I were in the same situation or role a couple of years back, had I performed with the same level of confidence? No. Then what changed me? What was that "moment of truth"? This approach of thinking helped me and I was very well able to think of one such situation.

4. Tuck seeks candidates of various backgrounds who can bring new perspectives to our community. How will your unique personal history, values, and/or life experiences contribute to the culture at Tuck?

Of course, differentiate yourself. This application thing is like I am writing a personal diary. But I do appreciate the process. The more I introspect, the more I know myself, and the more I know what to improve in me.

My advice for everyone: Even if you do not want to do an MBA. Just apply to a B-school. Think of the business you are in from a larger perspective and write down a couple of B-schools' application essays. It is an excellent introspection excercise and it will bring out a lot from within, that you will appreciate.

Well, I should get back to my essays. Rough drafts are not reviewed. Only first drafts are. My personal deadline for Tuck essays: 2 days for the first drafts.

It has been a real long break from blogging. Actually I had earlier planned to apply to ISB, but due to some logistics issues, I decided it would be better to apply in Round 2 rather than Round 1. During this time, I also decided to apply to US this time. It was my dream to study in the US but again, some personal issues always held me back.

Now that I have decided, I have shortlisted the Univs in US where I am applying, of course, apart from ISB.

UCLA Anderson - Oct 24
UCB Haas - Nov 5
Darden - Nov 1
CMU Tepper - Oct 29

Of these, Darden and Anderson have rolling admissions. But I guess it doesn't matter now as the deadlines of all of them are pretty near. The dates mentioned are the R1 deadlines.

Before jumping on to writing specific essays, I prepared write-ups of common questions asked:
1. Why MBA - long and short term goals
2. Career Progression till now, specifying all career choices made till now
3. Leadership positions held, the kind of leader and manager I am
4. Prepared my MBA resume (I specify MBA resume because for MBA, you have to highlight a different aspect of yourself rather than when resume is made for a job)
5. In the meanwhile, while researching the schools, whatever points I found interesting or attracted me, I prepared a list for each of the schools. I even noted down the courses I am specifically interested in and would be relevant to my post MBA goal, ie technology consulting.

After that, I started with UCLA Application. Started with first one. 3 more to go after that and only 1 month left. Ok, back to essays.....

The 2006 rankings of US B-Schools by Businessweek provides good information, viz tuition fee, post-MBA salaries, average work experience of the incoming class, etc. Along with this statistical information, it also provides one-liners on each school which I really found useful:

1. Chicago GSB
Students appreciate option to tailor curriculum to their interests. Living in Chicago gets pricey, but most say facilities and faculty are worth the expense.

2. Pennsylvania - Wharton
Students say competitive program improves the academic experience. Decision to allow students to disclose grades to recruiters has many disconcerted.

3. Northwestern - Kellogg
The word used over and over by Kellogg students is "collegial." School balances individual development and teamwork, case studies and lectures.

4. Harvard
Case method allows students to solve real-world problems. Ivory tower is not everyone's cup of tea, but alumni network is vast.

5. Michigan - Ross
Lack of grades diminishes competition and increases focus on work. Facilities are lacking but undergoing a makeover.

6. Stanford
With Silicon Valley around the corner, innovation reigns. Extensive electives cater to students with interests beyond banking and consulting.

7. MIT - Sloan
MIT offers unique courses with entrepreneurial focus and attracts students with engineering backgrounds. Prominent faculty remains accessible.

8. UC-Berkley - Haas
Tech and entrepreneurial specialties give Haas grads an edge in innovation. Curriculum is not as well-suited for those with eyes set on Wall Street.

9. Duke - Fuqua
Students on "Team Fuqua" enjoy the collaborative learning experience. Good for the hand-holding types but some would like more debate and conflict.

10. Columbia
Students appreciate vast alumni network and high-profile speakers. Access to recruiters for everything from international companies to lesser known employers.

11. Dartmouth - Tuck
Small class-small town leaves something to be desired. But many appreciate the "self selecting" crowd that attends. General management program is specialized.

12. UCLA - Anderson
Students go by an "excellence without attitude" mantra. Active student clubs provide career development, but there's limited access to East Coast recruiting.

13. Cornell - Johnson
Particularly popular among career switchers, Cornell offers small class sizes and accessible professors. Students enjoy new immersion learning programs.

14. NYU - Stern
Local alumni base is large and former students are willing to lend a hand in the job search.

15. Virginia - Darden
Case method works well in small classes, which foster Socratic learning. Students get individual attention from administration and faculty.

16. CMU - Tepper
Tepper's small class size creates intense focus, intimacy, and greater hands-on responsibility. Curriculum is geared toward the quantitative mind.

17. UNC - Kenan-Flagler
Job placement leaves most grads smiling, but international students may not have the same luck. Extracurricular activities and pleasant location add to the appeal.

18. Indiana - Kelley
Kelley is praised for general education but is found lacking in specialties like consulting and investment banking. Strong regional bias limits recruiting options.

19. Yale
Small program size means easy access to alumni and faculty. Students applaud new dean Joel Podolny, cited for being a visionary leader.

20. UTA - McCombs
Complaints include unresponsive administration and poor career placement for international students. Variety of classes and other resources balance equation.

21. USC - Marshall
Strong community and alumni network offer lifelong career contacts. Drop in 2004 rankings led to major program overhaul, but students want further improvement.

22. Georgetown - McDonough
D.C. area offers students many opportunities for work in the public sector and international business. Demanding classes are taught by diligent professors.

23. Emory - Goizueta
Students extol leadership development, accessible professors, and caliber of classmates. One-year program offers a popular alternative to two-year MBA.

24. Purdue - Krannert
Students laud financial aid offerings and diverse, international student population. Curriculum emphasizes quantitative skills and teamwork.

25. Maryland - Smith
Smith grads gripe about regional recruiting and inadequate career services. But tight-knit community and affordable tuition help ease the strain.

26. Notre Dame - Mendoza
Students miss proximity to big city, but enjoy the tight-knit community and finance training. Recent switch from semesters to a 7-week system gets mixed reviews.

27. Washington U - Olin
Small class size means personal attention from faculty, but on-campus recruiting is a disappointment. Campus hosts a noteworthy leadership speaker series.

28. Rochester - Simon
Quality of education, analytical skill development, and personal attention from faculty is highly rated, but poor showing by recruiters frustrates students.

29. Michigan State - Broad
Teamwork focus means most grades are based on group, rather than individual, performance. Students praise outstanding career services center and faculty.

30. Vanderbilt - Owen
Students laud the overall experience at Owen. Grads say that rigorous curriculum leaves them well equipped for future careers.

You are applying to a B-school for an MBA. You know you fit the school and have done enough research. When you start writing your essays, you are expected to write about yourself and you don't know why it is taking so much time just to write about yourself. Introspection, "a conscious mental and usually purposive process relaying on thinking/reasoning/examination of one's own thoughts and feelings" is probably you have to do and find it very difficult to express your own self.

SWOT analysis is something which can come in handy for a situation, personality or organization analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Although extensively used in marketing reports, one can use it to analyze a personality in a methodical manner.

Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors while opportunities and threats are potential external factors. Strengths can serve as a foundation for building a competitive advantage, and weaknesses may hinder it. By understanding these four aspects of yourself, you can better leverage your strengths, work upon your weaknesses, capitalize on golden opportunities, and deter potentially devastating threats. Thus with a successful analysis, you become clear in expressing yourself and thereby improving yourself.

Your Strengths can be:

Your academic record
GMAT Score
Quality work-ex
A unique leadership experience
A unique hobby
A unique skill
Community participation
Knowledge of a foreign language
An initiative taken at workplace to solve a complex problem
Enthusiasm, energy, imagination. Your qualities.
... the list can go on. Just spend some time and make an exhaustive list.

Your weaknesses can be:

Poor undergrad grades
Low GMAT Score
Less work-experience (how was the quality?)
No managerial/leadership role (bad can you justify your abilities?)
A bad habit (procrastination, laziness, poor communication skills?)
No international work-ex.

Now when an internal analysis is done, we'll see how your strengths can be used to grab possible opportunities and how your weaknesses can be possible threats so that you can work on them before it is too late.

Some of the opportunities can be:

A perfect fit for XYZ school based on your experience (Your marketing stint in the IT company fits with your post MBA goals of marketing, etc.)
Your GMAT score is above the average GMAT score of the school.
Your international experience was considerable.
Increase in no. of seats this year. ;)
just research the school and fit yourself in, building up on your strengths.

In a similar fashion, corresponding to the weaknesses, threats can be identified:

average GMAT score is increased this year
More number of people have community involvement.
Many people have international work-ex which you do not.
You are part of a large applicant pool.

A SWOT analysis template is available which can be used. Remember that SWOT analysis is just one method which can be used for building up on significant achievements in your life and building a story. Apart from MBA application, it can also be used for within the company appraisals, although I have provided examples targeting MBA Application.

Hope this helps in bringing out your true self and writing a genuine application. Although I do invite other ideas from the readers which I might have missed out on.

Have you ever wondered why "that" guy was selected and you weren't although you clearly had a better profile and background than him. When you two stood together you were the obvious choice for the B-school. But remember, the admissions committee is not stupid. "That" guy might have been more expressive in his essays than you had. He has efficiently utilized the word limit provided to highlight his achievements creatively, however little those achievements had been.

Here are some points regarding essays that I have figured what might screw up your chances of admission, in spite of having an excellent record.

Do not lose focus. After you have written your essay, find out how many words you can edit out. Be brief, focus on the essay topic and stick to the word limit. There is absolutely no need to rephrase your resume.
Do not use industry jargon. Using industry jargon to describe the work to do is probably the worst thing to do with your application. Not everyone can understand your ABCD... Just include enough detail about your responsibilities to frame the story and then focus on yourself. Too much jargon only clutters the space provided.
Do not make lame excuses. First of all, there is no need to write about an embarrassing failure that you committed and whine about it. If an incident is important in shaping your career, do mention it, take responsibility of your mistake and write about what you learnt. This also holds true for your bad grades and low GMAT score.
Do not restate facts about the school. You need not state, "The schools has most of the guest faculty from top 5 US B-school". Don't you think the admissions committee know it already?
Do not forget to show your research on the school. All the business schools provide the best they can, or at least show that they are the best, be it average GMAT score, diversity, etc. But there are unique offering by every top school. Mentioning the specifics in the application shows that you are keen on joining their program.
Do not use lame phrases. Expressions like "thinking outside the box" tends to turn off the readers. Do not use such phrases.
Watch your voice. Avoid using passive voice and avoid being too informal. Use a tone which you would normally use in an interview. The overall voice does reflect your personality.
Do not forget to get the application reviewed. Getting your essays reviewed by a third person gives you another picture and provides you with a reflection of how it actually represents you. Get it reviewed by at least 3-4 experienced people and avoid reviews by friends or relatives. Their reviews might be biased.

The MBA admission essays are your chance to demonstrate your unique qualifications for and commitment to a career in business by discussing those experiences, people, and events that influenced your decision to enter the field.

That's a lot to accomplish. The key to success lies in focusing in each essay on a few illustrative incidents as opposed to giving a superficial overview. Remember: Detail, specificity, and concrete examples will make your answers distinctive and interesting. Generalities and platitudes that could apply to every other business school applicant will bore. If you use the latter, you'll just blend into the crowd.

Following "Ten Do's and Don'ts for Your MBA Application Essay" will help you write compelling, focused essays that will transform you from a collection of numbers and classes into an interesting human being.

Ten Do's and Don'ts for Your MBA Application Essay

The Do's for Your MBA Essay

Unite your essay and give it direction with a theme or thesis. The thesis is the main point you want to communicate. Make sure it answers the question.
Before you begin writing, choose what you want to discuss and the order in which you want to discuss it.
Use concrete examples from your life experience to support your thesis and distinguish yourself from other applicants.
Write about what interests you, excites you. That's what the admissions staff wants to read.
Start your essay with an attention-grabbing lead--an anecdote, quote, question, or engaging description of a scene.
End your essay with a conclusion that refers back to the lead and restates your thesis.
Revise your essay at least three times.
In addition to your editing, ask someone else to critique your personal statement for you.
Proofread your essays by reading them out loud or reading it into a tape recorder and playing back the tape.
Write clearly, succinctly.

THE DON'TS

Don't include information that doesn't support your thesis.
Don't start your essay with "I was born in...," or "My parents came from..."
Don't write an autobiography, itinerary, or résumé in prose.
Don't try to be a clown (but gentle humor is OK).
Don't be afraid to start over if the essay just isn't working or doesn't answer the essay question.
Don't try to impress your reader with your vocabulary.
Don't rely exclusively on your computer to check your spelling.
Don't provide a collection of generic statements and platitudes.
Don't give mealy-mouthed, weak excuses for your GPA or test scores.
Don't make things up.

Article Source: http://www.accepted.com/mba/dodonts.aspx

Make sure you develop a theme and maintain a tone of the overall application. Research well, be organized and just write about yourself. I'm sure it'll be easy.

With so many applications to B-schools, there is no doubt that there might be many others with a profile similar to yours. Of course you might have unique experiences to show in your application, you would want to present it in way so that the admissions committee member reviewing your essay should not be bored. Considering that he's reading essays all day long, you want to capture his concentration when it comes to your application.

www.essaycom.com gives some tips which can make your essays effective and polish your application. Not to mention the fact that these are generic tips about the most commonly asked questions and seeing the application as a whole. All these points should be covered in the application. It is at your discretion to include what portion in each specify.

1. List your achievements. This is the first task in your homework. Make a list of your achievements however big or small they are. They may be prioritized later. I have felt that at times, while straightaway getting down to the essay, without proper homework, the low priority achievements get unnecessary highlight.

2. Classify your achievements. After the list of achievements is done, you can classify them in the following four broad categories:
Personal
Professional
Academic
Managerial

3. Give importance to each category. Ensure that each category has something substantial to talk about you. This way your all-round abilities would come to the forefront. But if your abilities in area are not competitive enough, make sure to compensate with achievements in another area. For example, if your under-graduate score is low, you can compensate that by highlighting your GMAT score, or if you have taken any other course outside of the scheduled courses, do mention that.

4. Write the Career Progression Essay first. Almost all MBA schools expect this essay in their application. I remember for class of 2007 application, ISB had this essay. If this essay is present in the applicartion, make it a point to write this essay first. This would help you in your resume walk through and you can chalk down your professional achievements in a chronological manner, without leaving any significant event out. Who knows, you may get some ideas for other essays in the application.

5. Research the school you are applying. Find out if the courses offered are relevant to your aspirations or not. It would be better if you have the knowledge about the companies visiting the campus. It shows off in your application and improves your admit chances as it shows genuine interest in the school. Another aspect could be if there are some extra curricular initiatives taken by the school which match your interest, do not hesitate to highlight in the application, and use that as a platform to highlight your skills. The benefit would be two fold.

6. Answer "Why MBA?". Undoubtedly the most important question of the application. Do answer the question with proper homework and supplement it with your post MBA long term and short term plans.

7. Be specific. Do make it a point to stick to the question asked in the application and do not add extra information just for the sake of highlighting it. Make full use of the word limit provided and highlight yourself well within the constraints of the question asked.

8. Get your essays reviewed. There will be some aspects which you might not notice. A third person review would certainly help. Ask opinions about the coverage of the topic, how you are perceived as a third person. Do not get it reviewed by your friends or family as the opinion might be biased. Get hold of some alumni or an expert who knows the importance of the essay. Discuss the changes with him/her and include them if required in your own style.

Apurv, a journalist with pagalguy has been posting interviews with leading figures related to MBA, both Indian and International.

As Round One of various American and European schools approaches, we catch up with leading international expert on MBA admissions and the co-founder of QS World MBA Tour Matt Symonds and get his advice on selecting the right schools to apply, the ever-bothersome issue of whether to employ consultants for essays and more.

How do you see the popularity, utility and relevance of the MBA degree panning out in the next decade?

With the continued growth of the global economy, and accelerated economic development in most of Asia, the MBA has firmly established itself as the qualification of reference both for young professionals looking to accelerate their career progress and the companies that need to manage growth. Many of the lessons of the dot.com crash five years ago revolved around a lack of strong managerial experience and weak business plan analysis. By providing the fundamentals of management and analytical skills to complement an MBA graduate’s initial professional experience, the business school is able to develop the future business leaders that India will need to maintain its internal development and international expansion. Tata, Infosys and Mittal will be joined by other cutting-edge companies who are transforming the way that India does business, and the MBA is sure to have helped many of their managers to their current positions of seniority.

In November 2005 the McKinsey Global Institute identified what it calls China’s “looming talent shortage”. We might expect to see demand for business schools rise both for international graduates from Chinese MBA programs and for Chinese graduates from international programs. The report estimates that over the next 10 years the country will need 75,000 leaders who can work effectively in global environments, to match the global aspirations of many Chinese companies. I foresee the same talent shortage in India, and MBA graduates will be best placed to take advantage of this demand.

What should be one's strategy while short-listing a set of schools he or she wants to apply to?

I am a firm believer that an MBA is only worth pursuing if it will bring the candidate a sufficient level of professional advancement and personal development. Can it help them to boost their career opportunities, and open new areas of expertise and mobility? Will they come out of the program with greater confidence and self-awareness, focusing on their strengths to build an exciting career that is matched with self-fulfilment?

If a business school can deliver this then the MBA program is well worth considering. The candidate may also find that they are not just limited to a handful of schools that have long dominated the top of a b-school ranking. By researching the characteristics of the schools, finding out more about the student experience, and how students are achieving their personal and professional goals, they may well find a more diverse shortlist of MBA programs. Meeting with schools and finding out more about the MBA as a qualification is essential, hence the popularity of the QS World MBA Tour events in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The face-to-face discussions with admissions and alumni, as well as workshops on how to select the right school for you, provide a much clearer picture of matching your ambitions with the right school.

Successful MBA applicants, whether applying to schools locally, or in Europe and North America, need to demonstrate a level of familiarity not only with the MBA qualification - how it can help them to build on existing skills and experience, and the direction of their post-MBA career - but also with the personality and strengths of the school. What sets Chicago apart from Wharton? How does IMD differ from INSEAD? Some of these schools might look similar on paper, but they each have their own identity and approach to management development. Research is key.

Read the complete interview here

Matt Symonds is co-Founder of the QS World MBA Tour, and author of the bestselling book on applying to b-school, “Getting the MBA Admissions Edge”. An experienced public speaker in more than 40 countries, whether on TV, radio or public presentations, Matt is an authority on Graduate and Executive Management Education, and is passionate about helping individuals to realize their hopes and dreams.

AICTE recognition is not relevant to a school with global aspirations but still ISB will abide with the law of the land, assures Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad's Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Mr Ranga Rao. In an exclusive interview, Mr Rao downplays the

participation of engineers and IT professionals in ISB's one-year MBA in favour of diversity of backgrounds and speaks of the institute's evolution in its five years at length.

Read complete interview here

How much has ISB achieved in its 5 years?

What we have achieved depends on what we set out to do. The most fundamental premises would be of having a globally comparable business school education, as good as it would be in any part of the world. We have a model where we get faculty from the best B-schools all over the world and partner with schools like Wharton, Kellogg and LBS in terms of in designing the curriculum and updating the electives. We try to get the best from different geographies and put it all at one location.

Secondly, we offer concentration and not specializations because leaders cannot really specialize; they need to have an overall global perspective. In that sense we have been able to connect with several sectors like real estate, retail, et cetera. Thus we are connected with the demand and supply scenario.

Thirdly, we have begun seeing diversity of students a key thing at ISB. Why is diversity important? It’s not about variety, but about making the learning experience as diverse and complete as possible. Thus we select students who have the learnability, ‘teamability’ and ‘leadability’ – the three abilities – and judge what they would bring to the class and what value addition they can get to a study group having a woman manager, an entrepreneur, a doctor or an IT professional. Then we see what these students would take away from the experience.
Taking away is depends not on what you bring to the table but what the other students bring to the table. Such groups then look at problems such as logistics or marketing in a compact and all round view. Thus what you get in the end is like a very well cooked dish with all the flavors and tastes.

Also read: Why it is preferable to apply in Round One at ISB

Fourth, we are among the top four institutes in the world taking the highest GMAT scores. Our average had actually gone up to 714 but then we realized that GMAT scores are just one part of our learning model, the analytical skills of an individual. We wanted to concentrate on other aspects such as diversity and avoid taking only engineers and IT professionals. When I go for presentations (to prospective applicants) and ask how many of them are engineers, around 90 pc of them raise their hands. When I ask how many are from Infosys, around 99 pc hands go up.

As a matter of fact this set an alarm bell ringing a few years back. If we were to incline towards IT and numbers-oriented individuals then we probably would skew the learning process. We want to maintain the diversity of the class, otherwise we could have had a separate class for TCS or Infosys employees.

We have 25 pc women students and that is a great thing in the Indian context. Quantitatively 25 pc is close to the 35 pc in the rest of the world. We are looking for more women to join ISB. The number of entrepreneurs at ISB has increased significantly over the years. We admitted 10 doctors this year compared to 6 in the previous year.

If you see our vision statement we have three key components. Firstly we want to be globally ranked, second component is to be research driven and third component is to be independent. People ask me how ISB compares itself to the Indian Institutes of Management and frankly I don’t answer that because we all are very different. But we feel very gratified – I hope I am not sounding pompous – when IIM Ahmedabad, which has a PGP-Executive program, says on its website that their course can be compared to the one-year course at ISB. They are a 40 to 50 year old premium institute and they mentioning that they want to be compared to a five-year-old institute is a great feeling for us.

Do you think you are losing applicants to the IIMs’ PGP Executive courses?

No I don’t think we are, because of the lead start that we had. I think we have established ourselves as a brand and the pull is so much that the number of applicants has gone up by 32 pc this year. The variety of applicants has increased and today the highest number among GMAT takers from India comes to ISB. Five years back the majority went to Harvard, Kellogg, or Wharton. Today ISB is the first preference for most Indian GMAT takers, wherever they are in the world. f we analyze this we are not losing much to PGPX, though we may be losing people to top global programs in the USA.

What is the change in number of applications you received over the last two years?

We had 2,000 plus applicants the previous year and this year it was 3,000 applicants so an increase of around 32 pc.

How many international students are joining ISB classes?

Our international students who are foreign citizens holding foreign passports went up by a factor of five over last year. But if you look at pure international foreign born foreign passport holding students we had 2 last year and 6 this year, a three-fold increase. I think those numbers are very influential and next year in terms of financial aid we are undertaking something with an international student body called AIESEC. There will be 10 interns from different geographical backgrounds studying at ISB. Secondly we are working with a lot of companies and institutions all over the world, which fund the scholarship to make the program more attractive. One example is of a largest savings bank in Spain which is paying the entire tuition fee along with medical insurance and maintenance. So next year we will have five Spanish students. I am sure that by next year our international students will be at least 10, if not more.

What are the potential future changes to look forward to at ISB?

We will move to 560 participants for which another school will be built. We want to be research driven so we will need to increase our own faculty which is increasing by five every year. We need around 50 or 60 fulltime faculty. The charm of the model will remain in the learning imparted by visiting faculty along with research reports by our permanent faculty. Third, we would be getting in more diversity, more entrepreneurs, more women and more international students. Not for the sake of it but for the learning.

How does your association with Wharton, LSB and Kellogg trickle down to real deliverables to the students?

Kellogg and Wharton initially designed the program whereas the LSB joined in later. The idea was to structure the program to make it very globally relevant and sensitive as possible and focus on emerging markets. LSB, Kellogg and Wharton brought in their respective competencies. The view from their parts of the world on certain domains adds value to the program, which otherwise could have been a very Indian or an Asian program. What I personally feel is that the research done by our faculty, the research done in the centers of excellence in association with Wharton and Kellogg makes the program more connected to business.

How has the admission process at ISB evolved in the last two years?

As I mentioned earlier diversity is one thing we have begun looking at very seriously. The admission process is now online. We have better essays coming in and the set of questions we ask are very comprehensive.

What is the lowest GMAT score at which ISB refuses to look at the admission form?

Perhaps in the past batches we had people with scores less than 600 but currently everyone has a 600 plus score. But I still wouldn’t term it as the cutoff score.

You look for experience in community service in your application. However, the culture of social work does not exist in India. So a lot of individuals try to embellish their resumes with blown up accounts of social work. But what is your advice to people who have not done community service?

I grant it that such a culture doesn’t exist in India and we do get a sense of this while checking the applications. I keep telling people repeatedly that it is not like a checklist where we tick-mark on the basis of GMAT scores, community service, et cetera. Secondly, we are not looking for the number of years of community service but the consistency throughout school and college. What we’re basically looking for is to see whether they have teamability or whether they naturally like to volunteer. That we check through anything that is consistent, whether participation in cultural activities, sports, community service and so on.

How tough is to place the largest MBA class in India?

Luckily until now there has been no problem. In terms of numbers we have increased from having 145 companies to 200. Also several International companies from various sectors are coming to ISB. It has been no trouble so far for us.

When people talk about one crore salaries, it is totally blown out of proportion. We keep saing that if you come to ISB, come here for the learning and not for the packages offered. Then something like the one crore salary comes in our way but then again it is something we like to play down. We are also very careful in managing expectations. We don’t do magic here. We just provide you the platform to empower you. Ultimately how one uses the power is up to them.

What are the main challenges you face while placing such huge batch?

I won’t be very competent to answer questions about placements. But I think looking at the composite structure of the class profile, we need to place everyone in his or her preferred domain. At the same time we need to relate the demand and supply factor. All sectors don’t pay the same salaries. Some sectors have a boom and lean period. The challenge is also in managing expectations. We check during admission what the expectations of the students are from ISB. Moreover meeting expectations of the recruiters is also a challenge for us.

How easy is it for ISB participants to change their domain immediately after ISB?

It is not easy; after all, it is a very competitive world around. It’s about the profile that you bring in and the value addition that you get from the course. For instance, an Army major's competency is logistics. If he can utilize that skill in another domain, he can move very easily. So if the skill sets are not transferable, domain change doesn’t really happen. If some engineer who has worked on a shop floor says I want to get into McKinsey, it is tough. It can happen later if he moves into consultancy work for some years.

What is the update on the AICTE recognition bit?

AICTE is important because at the end of the day one has to go by the law of the land. It’s our responsibility and we need to relate to what is happening. But our take has always been that we don’t come under the purview of AICTE and the definition of education in India. It is not that we are not looking for that recognition, but we believe that today we have positioned ourselves on a global platform. We try to be independent to maintain the flexibility required in the global sense, which would be affected if we were not an independent body. But at the end of the day we will follow what the law has to say.

Do you face any obstacles while arranging for resources because you do not have the AICTE recognition?

Not at all! With due respect to the AICTE, I read a newspaper article that questioned whether the AICTE recognition had helped institutes in any way. Let’s look at the top ten institutes in India. Has AICTE helped them? Not necessary, or maybe. That’s one way of looking at it.

People talk about the ISO 9000. In my opinion, does it really guarantee you anything? One cannot still be sure even after having the ISO certification. AICTE probably reflects the comfort level of the government but in case of education, the resources and competency come from global sources.

Why is the fees Rs 15 lakhs at ISB?

The visiting faculty module is an important part of curriculum. We need to take care of their expenses. Secondly, we are planning to increase the batch size to 560 so we are building a new school. Two more centres of excellence have to be built. There are a lot of commitments, which need to be fulfilled. But I don’t see the fees increasing further. As long as we are providing globally competitive education at one third of the cost, it’s a good thing.

What brand value do you see of ISB in the global market?

It is an emerging brand. Whatever we do, we would want to be among the top 20 schools worldwide. Once the AICTE approval is done, we would be featuring in India too. Secondly, for people wanting to do global businesses, wanting to work more with India and carry out research, we would like to be seen as place of choice.

In terms of being positioned like Wharton is for finance or Stanford is for entrepreneurship, we have a long way to go. They have been around since several decades whereas we just started five years ago. But in these five years, we started with entrepreneurship, then analytic finance followed by logistics. Besides we are building a global platform for research. We are trying to tell people what the industry is looking for along with what the world is researching on.

I had attended 2 interviews with ISB and would like to share my experience with you. My purpose of sharing my experience is that I would like to tell everyone about the mistakes I did and I want to make people aware of the kind of questions asked by ISB.

In India, mostly people with 2-3 years of work experience do not have a clear idea why they want to pursue an MBA. The most common reason is to move out of the rat race of IT. So the approach followed in ISB is more mature than that required by the much reputed IIMs.

I applied to ISB for the 2005-06 session for the first time with a score of 710. I spent around 15-20 days on my application which I must say is a very less time for a first timer. I had close to 2 years of work experience at that time without having many opportunities to display me leadership capabilities at the workplace.

Also sharing the essay topics during that period:
1. Evaluate your application and provide a critical assessment of it. Outline factors that might differentiate you from others from a similar background. (600 words)
2. Discuss an ethical dilemma that you experienced first hand, and how you resolved it. (400 words)
3. It is said that successful leaders learn as much from their failures as they do from their successes. Discuss a situation in which you failed and what you learnt. (400 words)
4. ISB places a lot of emphasis on teamwork. Tell us about your experiences in working as a part of a team. Your essay should talk about the difficulties that you faced and how you overcame them. (200 words)
5. How do you define leadership? Take the example of a leader you admire (living or deceased), and indicate the traits you like. (200 words)
6. Post ISB where do you think you would like to be professionally. (200 words)

I would like to share with everyone my assessment of these essay topics as to what to cover in which essay and how. But I'll probably share it for my next post.

Let's move on with the interview:

There were 3 people in the panel, and really I do not remember any of them... it's more than 2 years.

The questions asked were (not necessarily in order):
1. Tell us something about your family and things you want to discuss in the next 20 mins.
2. Why mba?
3. A few questions about my work like what all responsibilities do I have, how do I manage the project, what are my contributions.
4. Did you come across any difficulties/setbacks?
5. Why IT Consulting (I had written about IT consulting as my goal when I know nothing about it MISTAKE 1)
6. What position/companies would you like to work in post isb? (Gave them the names of some IT Consulting companies and described the profile associated).. No one looked convinced with this.
7. Why have you Madan Mohan Malviya as your ideal leader, I thought everybody forgot him? (I had mentioned him because I am from BHU, so thought it would have an effect ;)). I told all crap and was screwed in my own eyes. MISTAKE 2 - no homework
8. Any questions? (I asked them a few)

Finally I came out with the usual feeling - confused.

Tips -
- Do your homework well. Know what you are writing on your essays. Interview is only to see how you talk. They should know you by your essays and it should be genuine.
- Define your goal and should be well-related with your past experience. Be precise about Why MBA?
- Highlight your responsibilities well in the essays and do mention your accomplishments related to them.

So finally I waited for the result and then didn't make it. I asked for feedback and was told that my experience is less for an MBA at this point of time of my career. A clear indication that I appeared immature.

Content provided by EssayEdge.com.

Put Harvard-Educated Editors to Work for You!

Business School Essay Secrets

EssayEdge.com contains thousands of pages of free admissions essay advice by
Harvard-educated editors.

Business school students face a
uniquely difficult challenge, because most programs require a series of essays
rather than a single, comprehensive personal statement. This fact alone should
indicate the importance that business schools place on your written responses.
Part of the reason for this extra required writing is that business schools also
place a stronger emphasis on practical experience. Academic ability may still be
the number-one factor, but it's not enough to get you into a school, just as
it's not enough to guarantee your success in the business world. Business
schools pay close attention to personal qualities, including your leadership,
communication skills, initiative, vision, and many more. Grades and scores do
not explain this side of you, and neither does a resume.

Thus your admission will depend
largely on your ability to convey your experiences and goals in written form.
Self-assessment is a significant part of this process, as is a careful review of
both your life and what you have done professionally. Many successful
professionals have simply never had to articulate their accomplishments before
and now for the first time must communicate this information in a very clear,
concise, powerful manner that is accessible to anyone, even without knowledge of
their field. Being able to convey both the substance and significance of one's
work life is crucial for all applicants.

As the founder of EssayEdge.com, the
Net's largest admissions essay prep company, I have seen firsthand the
difference a well-written application essay can make. Through its free online
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helps tens of thousands of student each year improve their essays and gain
admission to business schools ranging from Harvard to State U.

Having personally edited over 2,000
admissions essays myself for EssayEdge.com, I have written this article to help
you avoid the most common essay flaws. If you remember nothing else about this
article, remember this: Be Interesting. Be Concise.

Why MBA?

Nearly all applications will feature
a question that asks about your reasons for wanting to obtain an MBA at this
stage of your career. Some will explicitly ask you to tie these reasons into
your background and your goals. Even for schools that don't offer this specific
direction, you should plan on such a discussion of past and future, as it
provides essential context for your application.

"Why MBA?" is often the
first question asked and without a doubt the most important essay you will
write. It includes essential information about whether you're qualified, whether
you're prepared, and where you're headed. The other essays fill in details about
these fundamental points, but a strong answer about, for example, how you
overcame a failure will not revive a candidacy that failed based on a lack of
career focus.

Every answer should contain the
following elements, unless the application has separate questions addressing
them individually:

1. Your long- and short-term
goals.
2. Your relevant past experience.
3. An assessment of your strengths and the gaps in your experience/education.
4. How an MBA program will bridge your past and future and fill in those gaps.
5. Why this particular MBA program is a good match for your needs.

There are no groundbreaking reasons
for pursuing an MBA. This is not a place to aim for bold originality. Rather,
you should focus on articulating detailed reasons that are specific to your
situation. Moreover, there is plenty of room to distinguish yourself when
discussing past experience and future goals; the reasons themselves, however,
come from a more limited set. That said, you should not try to drop buzzwords
for their own sake. Make sure you tie your specific objectives to other aspects
of your application.

TOP 10 BUSINESS SCHOOL ESSAY
WRITING TIPS

1. Don't Use Company
Jargon.

As a prospective business student, you have probably spent the past few years in
a corporate environment with its own in-house terminology. Remember that you are
writing for a reader who hasn't attended your company's meetings or contributed
to its products. You should certainly describe various aspects of your
professional life--your leadership skills, your career trajectory, your triumph
in the face of obstacles, and so on--but do so in language that is as accessible
to your reader as it is to you. Imagine that you are composing a document for a
customer who must decide whether to buy a particular product: you. Write clearly
and personably.

2. Don't Bore the Reader.
Do Be Interesting.

Admissions officers have to read hundreds of essays, and they must often skim.
Abstract rumination has no place in an application essay. Admissions officers
aren't looking for a new way to view the world; they're looking for a new way to
view you, the applicant. The best way to grip your reader is to begin the essay
with a captivating snapshot. Notice how the blunt, jarring "after"
sentence creates intrigue and keeps the reader's interest.

Before: I am a compilation of many years of experiences gained from overcoming the relentless struggles of life.

After: I was six years old, the eldest of six children in the Bronx, when my father was murdered.

3. Do Use Personal Detail.
Show, Don't Tell!

Good essays are concrete and grounded in personal detail. They do not merely
assert "I learned my lesson" or that "these lessons are useful
both on and off the field." They show it through personal detail.
"Show, don't tell" means that if you want to relate a personal
quality, do so through your experiences without merely asserting it.

Before: If it were not for a strong support system which instilled into me strong family values and morals, I would not be where I am today.

After: Although my grandmother and I didn't have a car or running water, we still lived far more comfortably than did the other families I knew. I learned an important lesson: My grandmother made the most of what little she had, and she was known and respected for her generosity. Even at that age, I recognized the value she placed on maximizing her resources and helping those around her.

The first example is vague and could
have been written by anybody. But the second sentence evokes a vivid image of
something that actually happened, placing the reader in the experience of the
applicant.

4. Do Be Concise. Don't Be
Wordy.

Wordiness not only takes up valuable space, but also confuses the important
ideas you're trying to convey. Short sentences are more forceful because they
are direct and to the point. Certain phrases, such as "the fact that,"
are usually unnecessary. Notice how the revised version focuses on active verbs
rather than forms of "to be" and adverbs and adjectives.

Before: My
recognition of the fact that the project was finally over was a deeply
satisfying moment that will forever linger in my memory.

After: Completing the project at last gave me an enduring sense of
fulfillment.

5. Do Address Your
Weaknesses. Don't Dwell on Them.

At some point on your application, you will have an opportunity to explain
deficiencies in your record, and you should take advantage of it. Be sure to
explain them adequately: "I partied too much to do well on tests" will
not help your application. The best tactic is to spin the negatives into
positives by stressing your attempts to improve; for example, mention your poor
first-quarter grades briefly, then describe what you did to bring them up.

Before: My grade
point average provides an incomplete evaluation of my potential and of the
person I am today, since it fails to reveal my passion and determined spirit
which make me unique and an asset to the _______ School of Business.

After: Though my overall grade point average was disappointing, I am
confident that the upward trend in my undergraduate transcript will continue
in business school. Furthermore, my success on the GMAT and in the corporate
world since graduation reinforces my conviction that I have a keen business
sense--one that I hope to develop at the _______ School of Business.

6. Do Vary Your Sentences
and Use Transitions.

The best essays contain a variety of sentence lengths mixed within any given
paragraph. Also, remember that transition is not limited to words like
nevertheless, furthermore or consequently. Good transition flows from the
natural thought progression of your argument.

Before: I started
playing piano when I was eight years old. I worked hard to learn difficult
pieces. I began to love music.

After: I started playing the piano at the age of eight. As I learned to
play more difficult pieces, my appreciation for music deepened.

7. Do Use Active Voice
Verbs.

Passive-voice expressions are verb phrases in which the subject receives the
action expressed in the verb. Passive voice employs a form of the word to be,
such as was or were. Overuse of the passive voice makes prose seem flat and
uninteresting.

Before: The lessons
that have prepared me for my career as an executive were taught to me by my
mother.

After: My mother taught me lessons that will prove invaluable in my
career as an executive.

8. Do Seek Multiple
Opinions.

Ask your friends and family to keep these questions in mind:

Does my essay have one central
theme?
Does my introduction engage the
reader? Does my conclusion provide closure?
Do my introduction and
conclusion avoid summary?
Do I use concrete experiences as
supporting details?
Have I used active-voice verbs
wherever possible?
Is my sentence structure varied,
or do I use all long or short sentences?
Are there any clichés, such as
"cutting-edge" or "learned my lesson"?
Do I use transitions
appropriately?
What about the essay is
memorable?
What's the worst part of the
essay?
What parts of the essay need
elaboration or are unclear?
What parts of the essay do not
support my main argument?
Is every single sentence crucial
to the essay? This must be the case.
What does the essay reveal about
my personality?

9. Don't Wander. Do Stay
Focused.

Many applicants try to turn the application essay into a complete
autobiography. Not surprisingly, they find it difficult to pack so much
information into such a short essay, and their essays end up sounding more like
a list of experiences than a coherent, well-organized thought. Make sure that
every sentence in your essay exists solely to support one central theme.

10. Do Revise, Revise, Revise.

The first step in an improving any essay is to cut, cut, and cut some more.
EssayEdge.com's free admissions essay help course and Harvard-educated editors
will be invaluable as you polish your essay to perfection. The EssayEdge.com
free help course guides you through the entire essay-writing process, from
brainstorming worksheets and question-specific strategies for the twelve most
common essay topics to a description of ten introduction types and editing
checklists.

SAMPLE ESSAY

Please discuss the factors, both
professional and personal, influencing the career decisions you have made that,
in turn, have led you to your current position. What are your career goals for
the future, and why is now the appropriate time to pursue an MBA at NAME? How
will you avail yourself of the resources at NAME to achieve these goals?

Turkish news nowadays carry vivid images which have become terrifyingly
commonplace: the surface of the sea littered with dead sheep; a landfill
explosion leading to a number of deaths; vendors offering radiation-contaminated
tea for half-price; a little girl's death resulting from her fall through an
open sewage manhole in her schoolyard; radioactive waste sold to unsuspecting
scrap dealers; a twenty-year-old tanker breaking into pieces, spilling hundreds
of tons of crude oil into the ocean and killing sea life all around.

The frequency with which these environmental disasters fill Turkish news
broadcasts -- along with the obvious insensitivity of the authorities towards
both environment and health issues -- prompted me to learn about ways to prevent
these types of disasters. At the age of fifteen, I decided to focus my studies
on environmental sciences in order to equip myself with the technical tools I
would need to make a real contribution.

After earning a master's degree in environmental sciences, I completed a
professional international management certificate program in order to gain a
management perspective of the field. I then realized that, in order to
effectively combine my technical knowledge and management skills, I needed to
accumulate real-world experience. Specifically, working at a large company would
allow me to develop insight into various industries, as well as an overarching
vision of the international business arena.

I have now worked for nearly two years in the energy and environment group of
Koc Holding, Turkey's first and biggest diversified conglomerate. As a project
engineer, I am mainly responsible for our holding companies' environment and
energy sector investments. This position has given me the opportunity to
interact with businessmen from all over the world, thereby expanding my
international perspective. Because of my outstanding work performance, I was
chosen to attend various meetings with local and international governmental
bodies such as OPIC, IFC, and the World Bank. It is highly unusual for a young
associate to represent the company at such events, and my self-confidence -- as
well as my management skills -- was further enhanced by that successful
experience.

While working in various business lines, including the automotive industry,
consumer durables, and the energy sector, I have realized that the root cause of
many environmental problems is financial. I believe that many people in the
environmental sector are so ignorant or insensitive that they will cheat
customers to increase profits. Furthermore, businesses do not prioritize
environmental investments; as a result, insufficient funds are allocated to
adequately prevent problems. For instance, despite a population over eight
million people, Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, still lacks a properly
operating sewage system. In most of the areas of the city, waste water is
discharged directly into the Bosphorus.

In the long term, I hope to help solve my country's problems by starting my own
environmental-services business in Turkey. The company will serve both local and
international customers by providing cost-effective, adaptable solutions ranging
from waste management to safety management. In order to accomplish this goal,
however, I must deepen my knowledge of the field. Despite my experience, I still
lack some important knowledge and management skills, especially in finance,
marketing, and entrepreneurship. I am also aware that my knowledge of American
environmental issues is insufficient. Since dealing with aspects of
international business will be an integral part of my job as an entrepreneur, it
is essential that I fill in these gaps.

The NAME School's MBA program is the perfect bridge from where I am to where I
want to be. I am attracted by the inventiveness and uniqueness of its
entrepreneurial and finance programs, and believe that I will increase my
practical knowledge of entrepreneurship by interacting with my classmates. I
value the fact that at NAME entrepreneurial education does not stop at the
classroom, but rather continues through internships and extracurricular
activities. I feel that a business school for entrepreneurs should balance a
dose of theory with real-world application, and NAME's curriculum and hands-on
experiences through associations, internships, and the management field study
provide such balance.

I am also drawn to NAME because of the school's emphasis on teamwork and
technology, reflected by such exciting courses and programs as High Technology
Entrepreneurship, International Finance, 12-week field application projects, and
the global immersion program directed to teach global thinking and global
action. Additionally, the school's profusion of student groups and its flexible
entrepreneurial program -- with electives from 200 courses -- will allow me to
tailor my course of study directly to my career interests. It is precisely this
flexibility that I plan to draw on while at NAME and beyond, by taking advantage
of (and contributing to) the school's strong international alumni network.

Above all, a NAME MBA will help me strengthen both the finance knowledge and the
entrepreneurial skills necessary to secure a position as an environmental
specialist in a multinational American-based firm. Such a position, in turn,
will prepare me to accomplish my long-term ambition of building my own company.
By developing and maximizing the technical knowledge and managerial skills I
have already accumulated, NAME will allow me to ultimately make a concrete and
substantial contribution to Turkey's environment.

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B-schools have constantly been focusing on “diversity” to build their batch of students. In almost every B-school, one of the essays do require details on how a candidate can add to the diversity or probably what is the one thing which would be unique to the candidate’s profile. All they are asking for diversity.

Admission committees focus on building a class of interested people from varied backgrounds. Their purpose is only to build a group where learning is not only a classroom focussed learning but also to learn from the varied experiences the students might have had.

According to Chicago GSB:

“The conviction that diversity enhances learning is a fundamental tenet of the Chicago MBA. We are strongly committed to fostering an environment where different perspectives are encouraged and embraced.”

MBA is only about how you handle business situations and how to apply one’s business learning into practice. One reason because of which most of the schools focus on case-based learning.

As Harvard puts it:

“Diversity among the student body is a foundation for the HBS experience—both inside and outside of the classroom. Indeed, these differences are critical to the HBS learning model, which thrives on the many perspectives and life experiences our students bring to the classroom from around the world.”

Keeping this in mind, we can think of how to add value to a class in a field in which, in the best case, you are the best, or unique. Just think of something which can be unique. It can be:

A hobby
Family background
Academic background
Ethnicity
Nationality
Extra-curricular activities, viz, a state/national football player, community service

How can you build diversity?

I am not going to talk about creating stuff for your application. Though that is possible, but the admission committees have been reviewing application for years and it would be too difficult to fake. So the point lies in introspection.

Build on your hobby

Here comes a problem for candidates who think they have a common profile and they are no different than the others. That’s not true. Everyone’s different. You just need to identify that one thing in which you are, or you were good at. Build on that.

Maybe you used to paint when you were in school. Work on that. Take it to the next level. Participate in some exhibitions. Or publish your art on the net.

Pick up a new language

You can go for a foreign language course. And don’t just stop at the basics. Learn it to a level where you can converse in the language comfortably. Okay, this might take time; probably 6-7 months, at least. But just an idea.

Some general guidelines

Say something extra. For the uniqueness factors mentioned above, ethnicity, background, etc., do not mention them just for the sake of it. Discuss how that factor has helped you shape your personality, your career. What have you learnt from a particular life experience you might have. You can also discuss on the effect it has had on your decision to go for an MBA.
When discussing your hobbies, talk about at what level you used to participate. It could be sports, art, photography, writing, anything. Discuss what your contributions were, what motivates you. Discuss if you are going to continue it after your MBA program begins. If the school provides a platform for that, mention it as your advantage.
Soft skills cannot make you unique. For a B-school, leadership, communication skills, etc are required. So this is expected of all candidates. You might be good at it, but you are not unique. Emphasise on these points in another essay which talk about your qualities, but do not mention it as your uniqueness factor.
Join some clubs. It could be a non profit organisation or a theme club. As an example, you can join Mensa, if you feel you have above par IQ. You can join Toastmasters club, if you are good at public speaking.

Just be to the point and make sure to cite examples. You can always talk about your experiences in diverse situations, but be sure to be to the point and mention your contribution to the class.

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