One of the most
common application mistakes applicants make is that they write what they think
the adcom readers want to hear, and not about what the applicants actually
think is important. But friends,
family, forums, and frequent flyers are always telling you to write something
extraordinary, right? How are you supposed to relate your true essence to
the adcom if you’re working so hard to come up with wild and crazy experiences
to cram into your essays?
Yes, your
application should be filled with vivid details of those extraordinary
experiences in your life, but that goal shouldn’t distract you from your
mission of writing about who you are and what you’re passionate about.
I’m not going
to lie – if you are an internationally acclaimed harpist who has also climbed
Mt. Everest three times, then you’d have a much easier time choosing the
experiences you want to highlight in your essays. But few of us can claim such
accomplishments; so what do you do if you really are just an Asian engineer
whose claim to fame is that you hold the office-wide record for taking apart a
computer and putting it back together?
Here’s the key:
What makes an experience extraordinary is not merely how rare it is, but how
much impact it has had on you and on others.
For starters,
you can talk about your passion of breaking things down to their individual
parts and then re-constructing them, and how this process invokes a deep
understanding of how the final product equals the sum of its parts; or you can
talk about how you find the details of electro-engineering majestic or
beautiful and how these characteristics have motivated you to start your own
business of recycling old computers – taking them apart and building new, greater,
and grander devices from them.
Adcom readers
aren’t ONLY interested in the yodelers and the underwater algae botanists.
They’re interested in people who have passions and aspirations and who are
looking to find a business school that will help them materialize their dreams
and impact our universe.
If you’re never
climbed Mt. Everest or have never heard the pluck of a harp string, don’t
worry. Just be yourself and write about what’s important to you. THAT is what
the admissions board wants to hear.
Are you looking for more advice on how to create an application that stands out while remaining true to yourself? View valuable essay content-related resources in Topics for Your MBA Essay 101!
This article
originally appeared on the Accepted Admissions Consulting Blog, the official blog of Accepted.com.
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