Clarity? Check. Conciseness? Check. Content accuracy? Check. This is how the quality control checklist for your personal statement MBA essay should sound and feel like. Anyone who has experienced applying for an MBA would tell you that writing a personal statement MBA essay is not easy. Coming up with quality content for a personal statement MBA essay entails an evaluation of your academic life thus far, a task that can be brain-draining and difficult for some.
A personal statement MBA essay, also known as an admission essay or statement of purpose, is one of the most vital requirements for getting into a graduate MBA school. It’s an application essay that includes the information by which Admissions Board members of business schools determine an applicant’s eligibility for acceptance to the MBA school. As compared to tests like GMAT where there are fixed answers to all the questions, a personal statement MBA essay is a kind of test wherein the right answers can be highly subjective. Just figuring out what to put and what not to put in your personal statement MBA essay already takes a lot of time and discernment. However, with the help of a quality checklist, you can ensure that the information in your personal statement MBA essay is clear, concise, and accurate.
First off, you need a hook, an interesting factoid about yourself, at the start of your personal statement MBA essay that shows your passion for the chosen major or specialization. Once you’ve accomplished this, you can craft a smooth segue into how you have the academic background, extracurricular skills, and skills needed to pursue a degree in that field. You can elaborate on this in your personal statement MBA essay by stating the course titles of the specific classes you’ve taken that are related to the field you’re applying for. You can also include names of well-known professors you’ve had, as well as published work (if any) and other academic accomplishments that relate to your desired field.
A personal statement MBA essay should also explain why you’ve chosen to pursue an MBA degree in that specific business school. You can do this by mentioning the specific features of your desired MBA program that sound appealing to you. Some even write personal statement MBA essays which include names of professors in that MBA school that they look up to and whose work they admire. It would help you write your personal statement MBA essay easily if you ask for writing and philosophical advice from friends and former professors. You can also ask them to proofread and copy-edit your personal statement MBA essay to make sure you didn’t overlook any errors in content. After you’ve done all this, read your application essay over and over until you can confidently cross out the elements of clarity, conciseness, and content accuracy on your checklist.
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Admission committee members are humans, not cyborgs. This is one fact that a lot of MBA-hopefuls tend to forget when they write their personal statement MBA essays. Most applicants tend to focus on their impressive grades and test scores in their personal statement MBA essays, rather than revealing aspects of their personality that would make them fit into an MBA school community. Remember, Admission Committee members read statistically impressive personal statement MBA essays on a regular basis. So if you want to get accepted into the MBA program, you have to go beyond the scores and awards, and include personal insights in your personal statement MBA essay to make you stand out among thousands of A-students and achievers.
There are no specific, tried and tested formulas in writing personal statement MBA essays to make them stand out. However, one of the things that committee members commonly look for in applicants’ personal statement MBA essays is the demonstrated ability to achieve a balance between academics and personal life. A lot of committee members place high value on applicants’ ability to work with a team, a community, of diverse interests and backgrounds, as reflected in their personal statement MBA essays. Committee members of most MBA schools are also interested in knowing how the applicant deals with criticism and adverse situations, and this is exactly what your personal statement MBA essay should reflect.
Natacha Keramidas, Admissions Director of University of Arizona-Eller School of Management, also agrees with this emphasis on the applicant’s sense of community, and personality. In BusinessWeek’s MBA insider, Natacha says of personal statement MBA essays, “Answer the question asked, instead of trying to adapt an essay based on another school’s question. We look to understand their drive and motivation, along with their personal qualities.” Personal statement MBA essays should provide committee members with insights on the kind of MBA student and community member you will be, should they admit you into the school.
In BusinessWeek’s interview with Isser Gallogly, Admissions Director of NYU-Stern School of Business, he says that they “want to see people who respond well to adversity, who work through it and grow from it.” This only goes to show that aside from high GMAT scores and impressive transcripts, your personal statement MBA essay should also tell of circumstances that demonstrate your resiliency and openness to criticism. In NYU Stern, one of the required personal statement MBA essays aims to know how applicants are outside of work. This allows them to gauge how the applicant will be able to fit in with the community. And in NYU Stern, Gallogly says they “…want cool, unique, diverse people.”
Among the other things that Admission Committee members look for in personal statement MBA essays are community and leadership skills, intellectual growth and vitality, and positive attitudes and goals in using their MBA degree to contribute to society.
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