Myessay Business Ebook

myEssay.
com Business School eBook

Business School Application Guide ......................................................................................................... 2
Application Strategy and Overview ........................................................................................................... 2
Know What You Want............................................................................................................................ 2
The Ideal Candidate............................................................................................................................... 2
The Application ...................................................................................................................................... 3
Strategy.................................................................................................................................................. 5
Application Time Line ................................................................................................................................ 6
When to Apply?...................................................................................................................................... 6
Guide to Recommendations...................................................................................................................... 8
What You Need...................................................................................................................................... 8
Elements of an Effective Recommendation........................................................................................... 9
Things to Consider................................................................................................................................. 9
Recommendation Check List .................................................................................................................. 10
Choosing Your Recommenders........................................................................................................... 10
Educate Your Recommenders............................................................................................................. 11
Do the Grunt Work ............................................................................................................................... 12
Guide to Interviews.................................................................................................................................. 12
The Basics ........................................................................................................................................... 12
What You Need to Know...................................................................................................................... 13
What to Expect..................................................................................................................................... 14
Focus on the Big Questions................................................................................................................. 14
More Questions.................................................................................................................................... 16
Dress for Success................................................................................................................................ 17
Business School Essay Guide ................................................................................................................ 18

Essay Overview....................................................................................................................................... 18
Things to Consider............................................................................................................................... 18
Strategy................................................................................................................................................ 18
Writing the Essays ............................................................................................................................... 20
Focus on the Questions ....................................................................................................................... 21
Guide to Introductions ............................................................................................................................. 22
10 Introduction Techniques ................................................................................................................. 22
Guide to Conclusions .............................................................................................................................. 24
Finishing the Essay.............................................................................................................................. 24
Final Touches Checklist .......................................................................................................................... 25
10 Sample Essays................................................................................................................................... 27
Five Essays with Comments................................................................................................................ 27
Five Sample Essays ............................................................................................................................ 34
Grammar Supplement................................................................................................................................. 40
Parts of Speech ................................................................................................................................... 40
The Basic Sentence............................................................................................................................. 42
Problem Sentences.............................................................................................................................. 43
General Concerns................................................................................................................................ 46
Punctuation .......................................................................................................................................... 48
Legal............................................................................................................................................................ 49
Disclaimer................................................................................................................................................ 49
Copyright ................................................................................................................................................. 49
Trademarks ............................................................................................................................................. 49
myEssay.com Business School eBook
Business School Application Guide
Application Strategy and Overview
Applying to business school is no easy task. Getting in is even tougher. This guide will help you navigate
the sometimes tricky and always demanding process of business school applications. In this guide,
myEssay.com tells you what schools look for in a candidate, where they find it, and how you can make
sure that they find it in your application.
KNOW WHAT YOU WANT
Before you throw yourself in front of an admissions committee, make sure that you’ve given some thought
to what your true motivations and objectives are. Why do you want an MBA? At first this may seem like a
silly question. You probably have a quick answer, or you wouldn’t be reading this. But in truth, the
answer to this question is the crux of your application. Throughout the application process you will
attempt to define for the admissions committee why you want a Masters of Business Administration. Your
reasons must be supported by your experience. You must demonstrate intellect and character and
establish your potential. But finally, you will need to have direction—it’s not enough to be merely
talented and accomplished. Business schools want to see that you have career goals and that an MBA is
a logical step to attain them. So, if you don’t really know where you are headed or why you are headed
there, you have a lot of thinking to do. But once you figure out what you want, it’s not so hard to figure
out what business schools want.
THE IDEAL CANDIDATE
Business schools are essentially looking for five attributes in candidates. Each candidate will present a
different combination of these attributes, with each applicant emphasizing certain attributes over others.
But all candidates will demonstrate at least some component of each of the following qualities:
Intellect
While business schools emphasize experience perhaps more than any other academic programs,
they are nonetheless academic programs. Business schools are interested in how smart you are,
and, in how good of a student you are. In your application, admissions officers will first look to
your GMAT score and your academic record to establish your intellect. Next, your
recommendations will offer evidence in support of your intellectual ability.
Character
Character is not so easily quantified as your intellect—there are no grades or test scores by
which you can be measured. This certainly does not mean that the quality of your character is
any less important. It does mean that it may be harder to establish. Your essays,
recommendations, and your interview will define the quality of your character in the eyes of the
admissions committee. It is up to you to make sure that these components of your application
accurately and fully depict you.
© Copyright 2001 myEssay.com Page 2 of 49

Potential
Sure you’ve accomplished a lot, but that’s not all the admissions staff is seeking. Business
schools want to be as certain as possible that your past successes are not just flukes. Every
business school wants their graduates to continue on to successful careers. How do they gauge
potential? Your recommendations will play a big part. Your recommendations will provide the
admissions staff with the opinions and perspectives of people who know you well. Where do
these people see you heading? Do their expectations of your future jive with your own? The
manner in which you present your experience can also indicate your potential for future success.
Remember the importance not only of what you have accomplished, but how your
accomplishments are presented.
Experience
Your experience will become the substance and framework of your entire application. It will set
you apart from the hordes of applicants, or make you disappear into the crowd. But when it
comes to the actual business school application, your experiences in-and-of-themselves are not
the real issue. Without a compelling narrative crafted out of your experiences, you will have a
difficult time distinguishing yourself; even the most sparkling résumé will not, on its own, get you
very far. If schools were interested only in the status of your accomplishments, a résumé would
make a sufficient application. But schools want to know how you’ve capitalized on your
opportunities. You must find the stories in your life that demonstrate the other four qualities—
intellect, character, potential, and direction—that the admissions office seeks. Primarily, you will
be relying on your professional experience, but you will also draw on your academic and personal
experiences throughout the application process. Your résumé is only the beginning when it
comes to conveying your experience to the admissions committee.
Direction
Arguably, this is the most important consideration for admissions officers. Of course, every
candidate must demonstrate all of the above attributes. An applicant may be a very impressive
person, but without direction is in all likelihood not a good MBA candidate. Career goals matter.
The bottom line is, you must know where you want to go and you must have a plan of how to get
there. An MBA should be a logical step in your course of action. You may see an MBA as an
opportunity to progress or a way to increase your earning power, and you would be correct.
Realistically, the desire to increase your earning potential is a completely legitimate motivation.
However, the most compelling applicants are not those merely in pursuit of a raise, but those in
pursuit of success.
THE APPLICATION
Academic Record
Admissions officers want to know that you will excel in business school. The best way to anticipate how
you will fare is to examine your previous experiences in academic settings. Your transcripts are
submitted because business schools are interested in you as a student. The quality and difficulty of your
coursework will be considered. A solid performance in past academic settings is expected. That said,
business schools recognize that people who succeed in business do not always excel in undergraduate
academic settings. Therefore, a less than stellar academic record does not eliminate you from

consideration at top schools. Ideally, your application will balance itself out—for example, if your
undergraduate GPA is low, your GMAT is high, and vice versa. If you are below average on both counts,
exceptional experience will be expected to compensate. Admissions officers will turn to your
recommendations as a secondary resource to establish your intellect. If your academic record is sub-par,
try to find a recommender who can speak to your intellectual prowess. Also keep in mind that the longer
you have been out of school, i.e. the more experience you have, the less important your academic record
is.
GMAT
Admission officers value the GMAT because it is seen as a good predictor of a candidate’s performance
in business school. Whether or not you agree is not the issue. Your GMAT score matters—the higher,
the better. If your GMAT score is low, do all that you can to raise it. Hard work usually pays off on
standardized tests. With practice, you can become more comfortable in test settings, more proficient in
the material tested, and more efficient at test taking. All of these things will help boost your score.
Recommendations
Recommendations may very well be the easiest part of your application, but that hardly means that there
is no work involved for you. On the contrary, you need to put a lot of thought into getting the best
recommendations possible. Recommendations flesh out your experience, corroborate your intellect and
character, identify your potential, and provide a valuable perspective for your application. Your
recommendations will speak volumes about you, for better or worse. Schools will not only be considering
the substance of what is said, they will also consider how well you have gauged your colleagues’ esteem
for you. The people you choose to recommend you should know you well. At least one of your
recommendations must be work-related. Those who are just a couple of years out of school may want to
have a professor write a recommendation. For a more detailed discussion of recommendations see the
myEssay.com Guide to Recommendations that is included in this eBook.
Essays
Like recommendations, essays give depth to your accomplishments. Your accomplishments must
permeate your application. While your résumé lists the major things you have done, your essays and
your recommendations will develop and give life to your experience. Nearly everything a business school
learns about you will be in the context of your experience. The challenge rests in conveying the
complexities and fullness of your accomplishments. A résumé does not accomplish this. You will need to
dissect your experiences. What are some themes of your professional and personal development? To do
this you’ll need specific, personal, detailed, anecdotes to present yourself to the admissions committee.
Don’t tell the admissions office that you love to travel. Instead, tell them about the time you spent an
evening as a guest in a secluded mosque watching whirling dervishes on the outskirts of Istanbul with the
friend you made in a teahouse. For a thorough discussion of essays see the myEssay.com Business
School Essay Guide.
Interview
The interview allows you to put a face on your application. Not all schools have the same interviewing
policies, but all interviews will be conducted with similar objectives. In an interview, business schools look
for the qualities you have presented in your application. This is your chance to verbalize everything that
you included in your application and more. It gives you a chance to show off your professional polish. It
is also the time when schools put you to the test to see how motivated you really are. Go in knowing as

much as you possibly can about the school. Go in prepared for what they will ask you. See the
myEssay.com Guide to Interviews for a detailed discussion of business school interviews.
STRATEGY
Reasons
You need to have a compelling reason—an argument—for why you are pursuing an MBA. Once you
have that, the rest of your application will fall into place. You can begin to frame your application along
thematic lines drawn from your experiences, which lead to your future goals. Once you have your
motivation identified, your entire application is devoted to the effective presentation of your argument for
admission to business school. This means the entire application works in harmony. It is up to you to
coordinate the various pieces. All of your essays should complement one another, without overlapping.
Your recommendations should reinforce the rest of your application while adding new material for
consideration.
Placement
In order to devise an effective strategy that maximizes your chances of being admitted to business
school, you must consider how you stack up against the competition. You must accurately place yourself
in the applicant pool. Know where you fall. Not only should you know how your GPA and GMAT score
compare to other applicants, you should also have an idea, through an examination of your work and
other experience, what biases the admissions officers are likely to have about you. In other words, know
your competition. When you apply to business school, you are not simply compared to every other
applicant. Business schools attempt to put together diverse classes— not necessarily of ethnicity, race,
or gender—but of experience. (Schools are interested in racial, ethnic, and gender diversity, but
minorities and women are under-represented at most business schools.) If you are a banker, know that
you will be stacked up against other bankers because no business school wants a class of bankers only.
It is imperative that you consider your peer group and devise a way to distinguish yourself within that
group. The way to do this is to present a consistent and cohesive argument about why you should be
admitted to business school, using your unique experiences as proof. Finally, each school emphasizes
slightly different things—for example, some focus on international business, others pride themselves on
teamwork. Tailor your application for each school to which you apply.
Timing
You will hear all sorts of advice about when you should submit your application. Your consideration
should be simple. There is really only one good reason not to turn in your application as early as
possible: if, in the time you withhold your application from submission, there will be significant
enhancement to your professional career (e.g. an important promotion), then you may be well advised to
wait. If you are not awaiting a major enhancement to your résumé, your application should go in as soon
as you can produce a finished, polished product. This means you should get moving with your
application as soon as possible. Don’t wait around. See the myEssay.com Time Line included in this
guide to help you navigate the application process.
Execution
The most important aspect of applying to business school is discipline. It takes discipline to maximize
your GMAT score. It takes discipline to evaluate yourself thoroughly and devise an application strategy.

It takes discipline to craft a winning essay. It also takes discipline to excel in the business world. Put the
time and effort into your applications if you are serious about pursuing an MBA. Make a plan, and
execute it.
Application Time Line
Many applicants feel that they are held hostage by their scores, academic record, and experience. If
you’ve prepared yourself for business school, then you shouldn’t have these feelings. With some
planning, you can take charge of your application. You can bolster your GMAT score with preparation for
the test. You can maximize the appeal of your experience by refining your essays. There’s a lot you can
do, if you give yourself the time to do it. Plan ahead.
WHEN TO APPLY?
Remember, that the quality of your application is much more important than how early you submit it.
Never compromise quality to meet a deadline, unless it is the last possible submission deadline. We
recommend starting the process so early to maximize quality and minimize the impact of unanticipated
occurrences. Your application, then, should go in as soon as you have a finished product. There is really
only one good reason not to turn in your application as early as possible: if, in the time you withhold your
application from submission, there will be significant enhancement to your professional career (e.g. an
important promotion), then you may be well advised to wait. Otherwise, don’t wait around. Use this time
line to stay on top of things.
Summer: Fifteen Months Before Matriculation
• Research the GMAT. Explore your options for preparing for the test. Look into the logistics of
registering and taking the GMAT and/or TOEFL exams. Keep in mind you can improve your
GMAT score by studying and preparing for the test. Ideally, you will start preparing for the GMAT
in early summer and complete the exam by September. This ensures that if your results are not
great the first time, you will have time to retake the test later in the year. There are a number of
options available to you in your preparation. You can enroll in a test-prep class. You may opt for
a more affordable option—purchase the preparation materials and do on your own the same work
that you would cover in a class. Preparation requires discipline. If you can motivate yourself to
prepare on your own, don’t rush to sign up for a class. If you know you need the structure of a
weekly class, give it some thought. The GMAT is a very important part of the application.
• Research various schools. You probably have some predisposition to a few schools. Include
them on your list, but don’t limit yourself at this stage. There are a lot of good business schools.
Begin your research online. Find out as much as you can about the various MBA programs. The
more you know about schools, the easier it will be to apply in the coming months.
• Request a few applications from schools of interest. Even if the applications are for the previous
year, request them anyway. Read them over. This will introduce you to the MBA application and
give you a jump on what to expect when you receive the current applications. Business school
applications are tough. Most of them are unique as well, which means that you’ll have to really
put some work into every one. However, all of the applications will be looking for similar insights
into the applicant. Perusing old applications will start you thinking about the sorts of issues that
will come up in an application and will give you an idea of what completing an application
involves.

• Research online application options. For many applicants today, an online option did not exist
the last time they were applying to schools. The idea can be a bit disconcerting, and there is a
perceived security in the paper application. But there are numerous advantages to applying
online, and some schools prefer that you use the online application. Begin looking into the online
application in order to get yourself comfortable with the idea.
• Begin to think about the various components of your application. You’ll need to obtain transcripts
from all of the schools you attended. You will also need to get people to write you
recommendations. It’s still to early to begin your collection of these application materials, but
begin to lay out a plan of action. Give some thought about whom you will ask for
recommendations. It may take you a while to track down people, especially if you will be using a
former colleague or a professor from school.
• Log on to myEssay.com and take advantage of the many free services. You can register for the
Application Alert Tracker™, which will notify you via e-mail of application availability, deadlines,
and other pertinent information for the schools you indicate. This will reacquaint you with your
accomplishments, interests, and goals. If this step in the essay writing process is done
thoroughly, it will save you countless hours of work in the future when you actually have to write
the essays. Like the GMAT, the essays are one of the few aspects of the application still under
your influence. Leave as little of the application process to luck as possible. Great essays are
key.
September: Twelve Months Before Matriculation
• Request applications from each school you are considering. If you can, download the
applications from the schools’ websites to avoid having to deal with either the admissions office or
snail mail. Keep in mind that top schools receive thousands of requests for application materials
each year. Assuming that the school is perfect in both processing your request and execution, it
will still take a minimum three to four weeks for the application to arrive at your door. Download
the forms and they are available immediately.
• If you have not done so already, take the GMAT
• Finalize your list of schools
• Begin in earnest on your application. Start writing your essays—you need to allow yourself a lot of
time to ensure a great essay, so get to work early.
• Determine whom you will approach for recommendations
• Request transcripts from each academic institution that you attended
October/November: Ten Months Before Matriculation
• Request recommendations from your chosen recommenders. Keep in mind that the average
recommender is a very busy professional. It will usually take between three and five weeks to
complete the recommendations. Do not rush them; you want the recommenders to spend as
much time as they possibly can on your recommendation, so get them the forms as soon as you
can.
• If you were dissatisfied with your previous GMAT score, take the test again

• If interested, attend MBA fairs in your area. You may be able to talk to representatives from your
chosen schools. You might also discover a school you’ve left off of your list.
• Complete rough drafts of your application essays
• If you are well along in the process, consider submitting your applications as soon as you are
confident that they are ready to go
December/January: Eight Months Before Matriculation
• Submit your completed application. For your application to be considered, the admissions office
must have everything, including recommendations, transcripts, GMAT scores (submitted directly
by GMAC), essays, and application forms. Make sure that you have accounted for everything.
Keep copies of your application.
• Send thank you notes to your recommenders
• Prepare for the interview process. This includes ensuring that you have proper attire to wear to
the interview, being educated to the school’s unique programs, and knowing how you’ll respond
to the interviewer’s questions. For an in depth look at the interview, see the myEssay.com Guide
to Interviews included in this eBook.
February/March: Six Months Before Matriculation
• Each school will send you a card or note to tell you the status of your application. If you have not
received notification, contact the admissions office and inquire as to the status of your application.
It is possible that the schools did not receive a vital piece of your application. If so, take the
necessary action to complete the application.
• Interview at each school
Notification
• Take your acceptance or rejection in stride. Be sure to notify your recommenders of the outcome
of your applications
Guide to Recommendations
To a certain extent, your recommendations are out of your control—but not entirely so. Whom you
approach makes all the difference. And once you’ve selected your recommenders, you can do everything
in your power to make sure that they write you the best recommendation possible.
WHAT YOU NEED
You don’t just need recommendations—you need the right recommendations. Your recommendations
should complement the rest of your application. Consider your overall application strategy when deciding
whom to approach for recommendations. What are your stated career goals? How are you differentiating

yourself from the competition? What component of your application needs the most reinforcement? All of
these questions should be considered when selecting recommenders. For example, you may feel that
your undergraduate GPA or your GMAT scores are lower than average, or the admissions committee
might feel that your analytical abilities are sub-par for any other reason; in these cases, you might want to
get a recommendation from a professor that can attest to your intellectual ability. Keep in mind that most
schools require at least one professional recommendation. While the most obvious choice is your direct
supervisor, in some situations you may want to approach someone else. Sometimes applicants prefer not
to let their immediate supervisor know that they are applying to business school. Sometimes, the
applicant knows that the recommendation of the direct supervisor will not fit in with the overall application
strategy. In this case, consider previous direct supervisors, or even a peer that you have worked with
extensively.
ELEMENTS OF AN EFFECTIVE RECOMMENDATION
You’re not writing the recommendation, but you still need to know what’s involved. It’s up to you to
convey to the recommender what the recommendation needs to accomplish. Even if the recommender
knows you well and intends to write a glowing recommendation, this does not ensure that the end product
will be what you need it to be.
A great recommendation accomplishes the following:
• Demonstrates that the candidate has many qualifications
• Supports the major themes in your application, and is consistent with the other claims you make
throughout the application
• Includes specific, rich stories that demonstrate that the recommender knows you well
• Shows that you have a grasp on your colleagues’ perception of you, demonstrated by the fact
that you chose the correct individuals to write your recommendations
• Comments on your professional and/or personal growth
• Is not limited to information presented in other parts of the application
• Provides an outsider’s perspective on you and your application that reinforces your overall
application strategy
THINGS TO CONSIDER
Choose Carefully
Not only do you have to choose people that are able to strengthen your overall application strategy, you
need to choose recommenders who know you well. In order for recommendations to be powerful, your
recommender needs to know you and your work and should be able to illustrate your desirable traits by
recounting specific instances in which you demonstrated these traits. Do not pick someone who has a
fancy title or is well-known if they cannot speak personally about your qualities. You should choose
someone who either personally likes you and wants to help you get into business school, or someone
who has a vested interest in seeing you succeed. It is not necessary—though in some instances in may

help you—to have someone with an affiliation with the school write you a recommendation. Do not,
however, choose someone solely on this basis.
Educate Them
It is entirely up to you to educate the recommenders about the recommendation process and what you
will need from them in a recommendation. Your job does not end when the person agrees to write your
recommendation—it has only just begun. You need to give the recommender an idea of your application
strategy. In all likelihood, the person writing the recommendation can address numerous things about
you, in many different ways. Obviously, some things will complement your application more than others.
Unless you let the person know, you won’t have any idea how or if the recommendation will fit into your
application. Without question, you’ll need to provide your recommender with a copy of your résumé. But
that’s probably not enough. Give them a list of the schools to which you are applying. Consider providing
copies or drafts of your application essays. Also, make a list of your relevant accomplishments. For
example, if your supervisor is writing you a recommendation, chances are, they will not recall all of your
accomplishments or their details. Compile a list, with brief synopses of each item, so that the
recommender can use it to jog their memory. Sure, you did the work for them, under their supervision,
but give them the hints they’ll need to write a vivid recommendation. Finally, explain to the recommender
what you are seeking in the recommendation. Do you need them to address your analytical skills,
integrity, and work ethic? Or do they need to reinforce your direction and career goals? Don’t leave it to
chance, and besides, the recommender will appreciate your guidance—it only makes their job easier.
Practical Concerns—Make It Easy
You know that you have to educate your recommenders about the process and what you need from
them. This makes their job easier. But you also need to take care of some practical matters. Don’t
expect the person to run around looking for stamps, or to call you for your social security number that
should have been filled in at the top of the recommendation form. Your recommenders are probably busy
individuals. Make the whole process as easy as possible for them. First, be sure to allow them enough
time—don’t show up and ask for a recommendation by the end of the week. Second, take care of all of
the paperwork. Get the forms in order, and fill out all that you can. Keep copies of the blank forms in
case the recommender loses them. Third, sign the waiver that forfeits your right to read the
recommendation—show the recommender that you trust them. Fourth, let the recommender know the
deadlines for having the completed recommendations to the admissions offices. Fifth, supply envelopes
that have been addressed to each school, with postage already attached. Finally, make sure that the
recommender has all of your contact information, in case they need to reach you with questions.
Recommendation Check List
Don’t be lax about your recommendations. You can’t control the final outcome of the recommendation,
but you can definitely influence it. Use this checklist to ensure that you’ve done everything in your power
to get the best recommendations possible.
CHOOSING YOUR RECOMMENDERS
1) Review your application strategy
Before you ask anyone to write you a recommendation, you need to have an overall strategy for your
application. Your recommendations should fit into your strategy.

2) What’s missing?
Take a look at the big picture. What’s missing from your application? What needs emphasis and
reinforcement? Will your recommendations help?
3) Read the directions
Schools have different rules about recommendations. The number of recommendations required may
vary from one application to the next. Also, there are sometimes certain types of recommendations
required, e.g. academic, professional, etc.
4) Give it some thought
Remember, your recommendations should fit into the big picture. Also, your recommendations need to
be written by people that know you, or at least your work, well. Choose your recommenders carefully.
EDUCATE YOUR RECOMMENDERS
1) Explain the process
Perhaps the person writing your recommendation has written others in the past. But maybe your
recommender is a recommendation novice. Find out how much the person knows, and fill in the gaps for
them. Let them know how the application process works, and emphasize that the recommendations are
very important.
2) Let them know your plan
You should update the recommender on your future plans for two reasons. First, out of courtesy, since
they’ve agreed to help you. Second, your future plans are directly relevant to the recommendation. The
recommender needs to know your direction and objectives.
3) Tell them what you need
You need your recommendations to accomplish certain objectives in your application strategy. Let the
recommender know what you need. Explain your application to them, and where you see the
recommendations fitting in.
4) Provide a résumé
Give the recommender some help with remembering your background.
5) Provide your essays
If you have drafts available, let your recommenders have a look. This will help them better understand
your application strategy.
6) Provide a list of accomplishments
Help the recommender recall the details of your mutual experience. Remind them of the specifics of the
work you did for them, or under their supervision. This will jog their memory and help them write a vivid
recommendation.

DO THE GRUNT WORK
1) Give fair warning
Most people don’t live to write your recommendations—they have lives of their own. Give them time to
write the recommendation. Budget at least a month to allow ample time for their writing the
recommendations.
2) Fill out the forms
The student can and should fill out a lot of the basic information on recommendation forms.
3) Provide addressed and stamped envelopes
C’mon. This is a no-brainer. Make their job as easy as possible—and make sure that your
recommendation gets there.
4) Provide a list of deadlines
Sure, your recommender will know that they have to write recommendations for you by a certain date, but
give them a list to help them keep track of all the deadlines.
5) Make copies
Recommenders are often busy people. Sometimes they might “misplace” the recommendation forms.
Keep copies so that you don’t have to wait for them to clean their office.
6) Follow up
As the deadline approaches, check in with your recommenders. See if they need anything from you, and
subtly remind them of the deadline. Once you learn that the recommendations have been sent out, send
thank you notes to your recommenders.
Guide to Interviews
The interview can be the most intimidating aspect of your business school application. The discomfort
posed by an interview for business school is similar to the nerves you might feel in a job interview. But as
a business school applicant, chances are that you have some experience dealing with clients, customers,
or superiors in a formal business setting. On the job, your preparedness leads to confidence. Your
interview should be the same. With the myEssay.com Guide to Interviews you have what it takes to make
the right impression.
Some schools offer interviews to candidates, but do not require them. If offered an interview, you should
accept the invitation. Refusal to interview if invited screams “I’M NOT INTERESTED.” If logistical
circumstances prohibit a face-to-face meeting with the admissions committee, try to negotiate an alumni
interview, and if that fails, a phone interview.
THE BASICS
You should recognize that interview policies vary according to school. However, most schools follow one
of the following four procedures:
• All applicants are interviewed, regardless of qualifications or the content of the application

• Only those applicants that meet certain preliminary requirements such as a minimum
undergraduate GPA, and/or GMAT score are interviewed
• Only candidates with borderline credentials are interviewed. The interview is used as a deciding
factor for applicants that are on the line between acceptance and rejection
• No applicants are interviewed. The admissions committed makes a decision based on the
application materials alone
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The secret to success in a business school interview is preparation. With the myEssay.com Guide to
Interviews, you’ll have the guidance you need to succeed.
Know everything you can about the school and the program.
Be intimately familiar with the school’s admissions publications. Know what make the program unique.
This knowledge base is the bare minimum you should have before the interview. This can be achieved
by reading the website of the particular school, or requesting an information packet from the admissions
office. You can supplement your knowledge of the school by turning to independent publications, such as
books and periodicals, which discuss the school. If you have access to graduates, faculty, or current
students, speak with them about their experiences at the school. The more you know about the school,
the better off you will be in the interview.
Know the questions that the interviewer will most likely ask.
Some questions might catch you off-guard no matter how much you prepare for your interview. However,
you can predict a number of questions that will arise, and you should be able to prepare for all of the
topics that will be discussed, even if you can’t predict the exact questions. The sections below will help
you identify the questions you are most likely to face.
Know why you’re pursuing an MBA, why you’re a good fit at the school, and be able to articulate
it.
You probably know why you’re pursuing an MBA (if you don’t, why put yourself through the hassles of the
application process?). It’s harder to figure out why you’re a good fit at a particular school. It’s harder still
to articulate these things. The following sections will get you thinking and put you on the right track to
verbalizing the answers to the toughest questions.
Know several intelligent questions to ask the interviewer.
An interview will include more than your responses to the interviewer’s questions. You will have an
opportunity to ask questions of your own. Use this opportunity wisely.

WHAT TO EXPECT
Your interview will probably follow a standard format. Here’s what you can expect:
Introductions
Get off to a good start. Some people are slow to warm up, but you only get one shot at the
interview. Be confident from the start, introduce yourself, and expect some low key chit chat to
get things rolling. Remember, your interview is essentially a conversation. Granted, the
interviewer has the upper hand, and you’re the one in the hot-seat, but the objective is for the
school to learn more about you. Get comfortable and relax.
The Questions
Chances are, the interviewer will have your résumé in hand. The interview is in full-swing when
the conversation turns to your résumé. Often, the interviewer will pose questions that follow the
chronology of your resume, e.g., “Why did you choose to attend school X instead of school Y?”
The interview will then progress forward to the present moment, and the question “So, why do
want an MBA?” See the next two sections, Focus on the Big Questions and More Questions, for
an in depth discussion of questions that the interviewer may ask.
Your Turn
Don’t think you’re off the hook when you no longer have to field questions. You’ll have your
chance to return fire and you should have some questions for the interviewer. Often, applicants
treat this component of the interview without the respect it deserves. Don’t write off your
opportunity to quiz the interviewer—you should realize that your questions, like your answers in
the previous phase of the interview, will be scrutinized by the interviewer.
Good-Byes
Make a gracious exit. Regardless of how you feel about the interviewer or about your
performance in the interview, be sure to thank the interviewer for taking the time to meet with you.
Make certain that you have the contact information for your interviewer; you may need to contact
them in the future. You should also send a thank you note in which you reiterate your interest in
the school.
FOCUS ON THE BIG QUESTIONS
You may be asked these exact questions, or very similar variations. However, even if these questions do
not come up, the topics will. You should be able to articulate answers to the following questions:
Why do you want an MBA?
In that the training is similar and the final degree identical for all those going to business school,
there are a limited number of responses to this question. Everyone going to business school
expects to hone their management skills, learn new economic or business related material, and
make contacts. Your motivation for desiring these skills may vary from other applicants, but for
most of the people pursuing an MBA, motivations and objectives will be similar. If possible, try to
think of a unique reason for pursuing an MBA. Think about your personal motivations and goals.
Regardless of how “unique” you motivations are, make sure that you can articulate why in fact
you do want an MBA. You ability to express your motivations may be the primary thing that sets
you apart from other candidates.

Why do you want to attend this school?
By some accounts, this is the most important question that your interviewer asks. There are
three main reasons why schools view this as an important question. First, there is ego at work.
Every school wants to be the “top choice” of all candidates. Second, by forcing you to explain
why you prefer one school to the next, you will have to know a fair amount about the schools to
which you are applying. Your ability to answer this question well indicates that you have put a lot
of effort and thought into the decision to pursue an MBA. Third, it does matter to the school how
much you want to be there. Beyond all of the ego at work, business schools, like all schools, are
not just admitting a class, but are building a community. Your answer to this question helps the
school evaluate what place you might fill in the class. This question may be difficult for you to
answer because the school interviewing you may not be your first choice. If the school is your
first choice, let them know. If it’s your safety school, don’t tell them that. Be as enthusiastic as
you can. Let the interviewer know that you really want to attend the school. Some applicants
adopt the policy of telling every school that it’s their first choice. This tactic may get you into
trouble if you don’t come across as genuine. Make sure that whatever you tell your interviewer,
you’re convincing. Above all else, you should have some very good reasons why you want to
attend the specific school for which you are interviewing.
Why do you want to pursue an MBA now?
It is likely that you have answered this exact question, or a very similar one, in your written
application. Thus, you have probably already put some thought into an answer. Nonetheless,
make sure you are prepared to articulate an answer in an interview setting. It is an important
interview question.
What are your career goals?
Your ability to articulate future goals in a convincing manner will underscore, or undermine, your
answers to the previous questions. Without clear-cut goals for the future, your motivation to
obtain an MBA may fall suspect. Presumably, you’re not just going to business school to kill
some time and rack up debt—let the interviewer know that an MBA is the next logical step on
your career path. In your answer to this question, incorporate why the MBA will be useful, even
necessary, in order to achieve your goals. You may also want to use this question to discuss you
past accomplishments, how they lead to your career goals, and why the MBA comes next.
Tell me about yourself.
This question is almost a sure bet to come up in your interview. It is also the question for which
you arguably have the most latitude in how you choose to answer. It is easy to answer this
question, but not as easy to answer it well. Anyone can ramble on about what they have done
and what they hope to do. This question is an open ended opportunity for you to present
yourself—maybe the only one you will have at any time throughout the application process. How
do you want to present yourself? You can focus on your professional career. You may want to
focus on your academic career. Perhaps your personal life will add valuable insight to your
application. Probably, you will want to include a number of things in this open-ended question.
However, as with your essays, you don’t want to verbalize your résumé by inserting sentences
between each listing; your interviewer already has your résumé! If you don’t think about this
question before the interview, you probably will end up spitting out some version of your résumé.
Be prepared. Use some creativity. Do you have an interesting or funny story to tell about
yourself or your experience? Can you incorporate everything you want to say into the framework
of the story? Perhaps you love travel, highly value family, want to earn a lot of money, are fluent
in French, and frequently spend your weekends square-dancing. Give some thought to why
things are important to you. How do they all fit together? This question is really an opportunity to
set yourself apart from other candidates. When answering this question, your objective should

not be to have the most novel approach or to wow your interviewer with your creativity, but keep
in mind that the “how you say it” is as important as the “what you say.”
What value will you add to the incoming class?
This is a very tough question. It requires that you assess your own strengths and weaknesses,
and then compare them to the strengths and weaknesses of your future classmates. It’s a tricky
game. But the best way for you to approach this question, is to be prepared. Spend some time
thinking about your own strengths and weaknesses. Also think about the value you add to the
things which occupy your time—both work and personal endeavors.
Do you have any questions for me?
Capitalize on the opportunity to ask your interviewer questions. You may want to begin your
questions by probing the background of the interviewer. How did they get to where they are?
Have some questions about the program. Remember, the questions you ask will say a lot about
you. Asking no questions also says a lot about you. Imagine you are about to invest a large sum
of money in a company. You’ve done your research, but now you’re given a rare opportunity to
sit down with the CEO. Presumably, you would have some questions. Your business school
interview is similar; you are about to make a substantial commitment, with your money and time,
to pursuing an MBA. Make sure you have the answers you need to make the right investment.
MORE QUESTIONS
Below are a number of questions you might hear. Use them as guides—the questions might not be the
same in your interview, but the topics will be.
• Why did you choose to attend the college that you attended? (personal reasons, academic
reasons, athletic reasons?)
• Why did you choose your major in college?
• Are you glad that you went to your college? Why?
• Are you happy with your choice of major? Why?
• Are your grades an accurate reflection of your academic ability?
• If you could go back to senior year in high school, what would you change about your college
years?
• What was your favorite course in college? Why? What was your least favorite course in college?
Why?
• What were your main extracurricular activities and why did you choose them?
• How did you pay for college?
• Why did you choose your profession?
• Why did you choose your firm?
• Describe a typical work day.
• How much do you work?
• What is the best thing about your current job? Why? What is the worst thing about your current
job? Why?
• What has been your greatest accomplishment at the firm? What has been your greatest failure at
the firm?
• Describe the challenges you face on the job. Include managerial, operational, financial, technical,
and personal challenges
• What are your strengths in your current position? What are your weaknesses?
• If you could change one thing about your job, what would it be?

• Describe your salary progression. Does this match the rate at which you were promoted? How
quickly did you move up in the company compared to the others who joined at the same time you
did?
• Describe yourself in 5 years. 10 years. 25 years.
• What is your ultimate career goal?
• How will you respond if you are rejected from all the top schools?
DRESS FOR SUCCESS
Remember, this is an interview for BUSINESS school. You should wear proper business attire. When in
doubt, err on the conservative side. Your objective is not to “wow” the committee with your clothing. You
want the interviewer to concentrate on your message, not your flashy suit.
Below are some recommendations for your interview attire.
For men:
• A conservative charcoal gray or navy blue suit (with or without pinstripes.)

• A white long-sleeve dress shirt with either a button down or straight collar that has been recently
cleaned and starched by a professional
• A conservative tie that matches your outfit and extends to your belt buckle
• A pair of black dress shoes and black dress socks with a belt that matches your shoes
For women:
• A conservative navy blue or black skirt suit. Skirt should hang to about the knee. An alternative
would be a navy blue or black pant suit.
• A dress blouse
• Pantyhose, no matter what!
• No flat shoes. In general you will be safe with ¼ inch to 2 inch heel shoes that match your outfit
• A modest amount of tasteful jewelry (no nose rings or earrings anywhere except the lobe),
makeup, and a very small amount of perfume, if any.

Business School Essay Guide
Essay Overview
The essays are the most difficult part of the business school application. Most applications require
multiple essays. Some of the essays are very short—as few as 300 words. Others are long—over 1,000
words. Regardless of the length, you need to devote your full attention to each essay. Furthermore,
every school seems to add their own twist to at least one essay, meaning that you cannot recycle the
same essays for all of your applications. At times, the magnitude of the work can be discouraging and
will tempt you to cut corners. The secret to great business school essays is hard work. If you’re willing to
put in the effort, there is nothing to keep your essays from being top-notch. Budget yourself plenty of
time, and get an early start. You’re going to write a few drafts of each essay if you really want them to be
of the highest caliber.
The myEssay.com Essay Guide will help you write your best essays by telling you all you need to know
and consider. The Essay Guide is your best bet for making the most of your essay opportunity. And the
essays are an opportunity—make sure you capitalize on it.
THINGS TO CONSIDER
• The importance of your essays cannot be overstated. Your essays have the potential to set you
apart from the rest—or leave you undifferentiated from the pack.
• Experience, grades, and scores matter, but admissions officers aren’t reading thousands of
essays just for fun. Don’t misunderstand—experience, grades, and scores matter a lot, but
essays are a vital component of any application.
• Admissions officers will read your essays. In fact, you can expect that from one to five people will
read your essays. The essays are the only opportunity that admissions committees have to hear
your voice—and it’s your only opportunity to present yourself on your own terms.
• While there are no “right” answers to the essay questions, there are specific things that
admissions officers want to see in your essays.
STRATEGY
What they want
Business schools are looking for five attributes in candidates. You are applying to a school, so it only
stands to reason that admissions officers want to see intellect in an applicant. Your intellect assures
them that you will succeed in a school environment, but business schools also want candidates who will
become successful graduates, which is why your potential is evaluated. Admissions officers are building
a community, not just admitting a class, so your character is important as well. It is expected that you will
have proven that you possess the aforementioned qualities and have attained a level of maturity through
your experience. Finally, business schools want to see that you have direction—it’s not enough to be
merely talented and accomplished. Business schools want to see that you have career goals and that an
MBA is a logical step to attain them.

What you need
• Before you can devise your essay strategy you need to determine your overall application
strategy. In order to do this, you will need to put a lot of thought into why you want an MBA, why
you want it at this school, how it fits into your stated career objectives, and your competition for a
spot in the class. See the myEssay.com Business School Application Guide for a detailed
discussion of the overall application strategy.
• You need to devise a clear strategy. Writing a number of good essays is not what you’re after.
You want to write a number of good essays that work together to make a complete argument in
favor of your acceptance to a specific school.
• In order to craft the best application, your essays need to complement each other. The business
school application is a study in efficiency. You need to include as much valuable information as
possible, without overlap, within the limits defined by the application. This means that every word
in your application should add value. Don’t waste words on things covered in other parts of your
application.
• Know the school. Each MBA program is different from the next. Have reasons why each school
is a good place for you. Somewhere in one of your essays you will probably need to articulate
your reasons.
Make it happen
• Rely on experience, not abstractions, in your essays. For example, it is not very convincing to
say in an essay, “I am a hard worker.” You need to show, not tell. Tell the story about the game
winning hit you had in your softball game—the game you relished as a break between your usual
day job and the long hours you put in at night trying to get your own Internet company off the
ground.
• There is one sure-fire way to bore the admissions staff out of their minds—and many applicants
do this every year. Admissions officers have a copy of your résumé—you don’t need to make it
into an essay. Often, applicants string together the various components of their résumé and pass
it off as an essay. The admissions committee will read your résumé, so don’t waste your time (or
theirs) with an awful résumé essay. You must find the stories in your life that demonstrate the
five qualities—intellect, character, potential, and direction—that the admissions office seeks.
Primarily, you will be relying on your professional experience, but you will also draw on your
academic and personal experiences throughout the application process. Your résumé is only the
beginning when it comes to conveying your experience to the admissions committee. Tell about
a specific event—your entire life is too much to fit into an application essay. The trick is to give
the admissions committee an accurate idea of what you are like by providing them with a series
of snapshots—you can’t provide them with the full-length video of your life from birth to the
present.
• Tailor your essays to the schools. Schools need to know that you are actually interested in their
program, not just in any program.
The bottom line
The purpose of the entire application, including the essays, can be boiled down to a single demand from
the admissions officer: “Tell me about yourself.” The latitude allowed in how you go about telling about

yourself will vary with each application. Some schools will ask you specific questions about your
experience. Others might ask about how you will fit in at their school, or why you are interested in their
school. The questions certainly are looking for answers, but the objective is still for you to tell the
admissions officer about yourself. How do you want to present yourself? Within the framework of the
questions you answer, you must incorporate the details of your life. Make your essays come alive—don’t
put the admissions officer to sleep with a boring essay. You can focus on your professional career. You
may want to focus on your academic career. Perhaps your personal life will add valuable insight to your
application. Remember, the admissions committee only knows what you tell them. You’ve provided them
with a résumé, now you need to provide the details and fill the gaps. Use some creativity. You don’t want
to turn to novelty or gimmicks, but do use creativity to write a compelling piece. Do you have an
interesting or funny story to tell about yourself or your experience? Can you incorporate everything you
want to say into the framework of the story? Your essays are your best opportunity to set yourself apart
from other candidates.
WRITING THE ESSAYS
As far as practical matters of writing go, the essays can be difficult for a number of reasons. There are
many ways you can go about writing an essay, but you’ll need to keep certain things in mind while writing
your essay.
Getting Started
• This can be the hardest part of your essay. First, think about your general application strategy
that incorporates your reasons for pursuing an MBA, your reasons for choosing this school, and
the ways in which you are unique compared to your competition. Next, consider the questions
posed in the application. With both your strategy and the questions in mind, begin to generate
lists. You should make two lists. The first should contain all of the qualities and characteristics
you want to emphasize in your application. The second should be a list of your important and
relevant experiences and accomplishments. Then, see which events naturally correspond to
which qualities. Begin thinking about how you can tell the story of the event in a way that
emphasizes the pertinent qualities.
• Sit down and write. Write about anything and everything. Try to stay on the subject of business
school, but don’t worry if you stray. You’ll end up throwing most of what you write into the trash,
but you may hit on something that’s worth developing into an essay.
• For cutting edge interactive help in generating essay ideas, visit www.myEssay.com and utilize
the myEssay.com Brainstormer.
Keep in mind
• Always be sure to answer the question. You are free to answer the question in any manner you
see fit, and in as roundabout manner as you like. They are, however, asking a question because
they want an answer.
• Since writing these admissions essays requires that you consider so many large, overarching
issues, you may let the little things slide. Always be sure to check and re-check your essay for
spelling and grammar mistakes—your final essays should be flawless.

• For a successful essay, show—don’t tell. Your essay should demonstrate, not dictate. Your
accomplishments must permeate your application. You need specific, personal, and detailed
anecdotes to present yourself to the admissions committee.
• Essays take work. This means drafts—probably three or four—to get your essay to where it
needs to be. Even great writers need to edit and revise. Don’t try to finish your essays in a single
sitting. Quality takes time.
FOCUS ON THE QUESTIONS
We could never cover all of the questions that might appear in an MBA application. Most questions,
however, are variations on similar themes. The key to all essay questions, is figuring out what the
admissions officers are really after. Once you do that, it’s much easier to answer in a productive manner.
Most questions or topics fall into one of four categories. Some questions combine aspects of multiple
categories.
Career goals
This type of essay asks you to answer questions such as: Why an MBA? Why now? What are your
career goals? What will you do if you are not accepted? Schools want to see that you have a plan and
that an MBA is a logical step. This is the most important essay. You need to understand the questions
and be able to articulate what you want and why. Also, this category of question is often combined with
questions from other categories. Work on this essay first. Don’t fall into the trap of listing the advantages
you will reap by acquiring an MBA, such as increased opportunity, increased pay, etc. Tell the
admissions office where you want to go with your career and explain why an MBA is essential. One
approach is to use a specific story in which your reasons became clear to you, or the first time you
realized that an MBA is what you need.
School-specific
This type of essay asks you to answer questions such as: Why have you applied to this school? Other
schools? School-specific questions are after two things. First, they want to see that you have put some
thought into the process—this is one way of confirming how serious you are about getting an MBA.
These types of questions are also another way for schools to get at the types of questions from the
Career goals category of questions. For these types of questions, your objective is similar to the Career
goals objective, but with a slightly different focus: explain why specific facets of the school to which you
are applying will help you achieve your career goals. Again, the use of specific stories will serve you well.
Don’t fill your essay with hollow praise for the schools. You need to have personal and substantive
reasons for wanting and MBA, and wanting it from the specific school.
Personal Focus
This type of essay asks you to answer questions such as: What would you contribute to this school?
What are your strengths and weaknesses? Describe a time that you have not succeeded. This essay
presents a dilemma. You need to talk about yourself and the great things you have done, but you don’t
want to sound arrogant. The question also presents another difficulty: Schools want to know how you are
unique from other applicants, but at the same time want you to explain why you will fit in at their school.
Whatever you do, don’t list standard qualities that the school expects of every applicant. You’re expected
to be an intelligent, hard working, team player with solid experience. For this type of essay you really

need to focus on your application strategy. What is it that makes you valuable as compared to the
competition you face? Again, find the stories and experiences that demonstrate the qualities you want to
emphasize.
Focus on Experience
This type of essay asks you to answer questions such as: Describe your work experience. Describe a
typical work day. Describe your job. How would you change it? There are many ways to tackle these
questions. Before you begin with the essay, make a list of the characteristics and responsibilities you
have had in your experience. For instance—managing a budget, participating in a team, analyzing
systems, etc. Pick the qualities that you think are important to describe for the admissions officers. Next,
list some specific stories that demonstrate the qualities. Can any of them be developed into an essay?
You don’t need to tell them everything you’ve done. You do want to cover the important skills you have.
Tell a story about yourself. Whatever you do, do NOT write a résumé essay.
Guide to Introductions
You cannot underestimate the importance of the opening to your essays. If your first few sentences do
not captivate the admissions officer, you will have missed an important opportunity. Admissions officers
read hundreds, sometimes thousands, of application essays each year. Most essays are relatively short;
you can’t afford a slow start. Grab the reader’s attention!
How can you do this? Here are 10 techniques with examples to consider:
10 INTRODUCTION TECHNIQUES
1. Make an enigmatic statement
A little mystery will prompt the reader’s curiosity. Let the reader wonder what you mean…but don’t keep
them guessing for too long.
Example: “It starts the same as it always has. I shudder in the December winds and stare
out at the wall that divides Central Park from the craziness that is Manhattan.
The other people waiting with me seem nice enough, and they’re all devoted.
One seems slightly strange, but as usual, I can’t put my finger on it. Then they
show up. I get excited, and suddenly it dawns on me why I’ve been feeling funny.
But, as always, it’s too late, and Mark David Chapman plugs five bullets into John
Lennon. And, as always, that’s when I wake up.”
2. Ask a question
The use of questions in an introduction can be effective because it piques the reader’s curiosity. To use
this effectively, be sure to 1) provide answers in the body of your essay for any questions that you pose
and 2) limit the number of questions to two or three. If you ask more, you run the risk of becoming
repetitive and boring.
Example: “Why do I work at McDonald’s? Certainly, I need the money. But, why do I insist
on hosting birthday parties instead of just flipping burgers all the time? I like
working with kids.”

3. Tell a narrative
The best essays are well told stories. Everyone enjoys a story. Write a compelling narrative and your
essay will probably be a success.
Example: “Every Tuesday and Thursday winter morning, I used to walk into Mrs. Pitt’s
kindergarten class with my stomach churning and my eyes full of worry. On those
icy mornings, I would push aside my pink comforter and reluctantly allow the
chilly air to come inside my toasty bed. That frosty air woke me up to the cold
dread of the upcoming day. Those afternoons, unlike my other classmates who
would go home to milk, cookies, and a blissful nap, I would go to the Lakeland
Hills YMCA.”
4. Make a reference to a familiar occasion
Your readers are likely to perk up when you mention an occasion or incident they recognize. The trick
with this technique is to draw the reader in with familiarity, but surprise them with the originality that
prompted the familiar.
Example: “My friends dream about playing in the National Basketball Association. It is a
dream my more down-to-earth parents choose to eschew and I prefer to
embrace. For it is my dream as well.”
5. Give facts or details
When details or facts are interesting they can do a good job of grabbing your reader’s attention. Keep in
mind, however, that too many facts or details can bore your readers or make them grow impatient as they
wait for you to show how the facts relate to the main point of your essay
Example: “On April 15, 1947, a man strode out to first base at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, a
black man wearing Dodger blue. This was Jackie Robinson, a significant figure
for a number of reasons, but the one that made him so special was his absolute
inequality. The inequity of his position in the arena of race set him apart, and his
superior abilities as a ball player placed him a rung above his contemporaries.”
6. Start with a paradox or irony
Paradoxes and ironies are intriguing. In order to reconcile the paradox or irony, the reader must keep
reading.
Example: “It is ironic that my toughest academic challenge arose as a direct result of my
most significant academic achievement.”
7. Start with a quote
If you can find an appropriate quotation to illustrate or lead into the main point of your essay, a quotation
can be an effective opening. Unfortunately, students pick quotes that are either unrelated to their topic or
just plain trite. Avoid popular quotations and quotations from famous people.
Example: “‘¡Que barbaridad!’ he exclaimed in the Spaniards’ quintessential expression of

disgust. I had braced myself for the forthcoming harangue as soon as O.J.’s
image flashed onto the television screen. I had become attuned to Pedro’s
mental process. How could the acknowledged leaders of the modern world allow
their own legal system to be so blatantly compromised? The jury system? The
courtroom cameras? I could see the words coming forth on his lips. He knew
that I had no answers and that he had finally trounced me.”

8. Make a confession
Allow the reader to feel as though you are sharing a secret. This creates an intimacy and rapport with the
reader. But remember, the content of your “confession” should be appropriate for an essay.
Example: “Going to the museum is not a routine part of my schedule. I am a man of

reason, and extreme logic. It is, generally, my belief that life should be based on
necessity, and utility. However, I sometimes wish that I could learn to appreciate
beauty, and decided one day that the Fine Arts Museum would be the perfect to
learn. I learned a little about beauty, but I learned a little more about life.
9. Make a gross generalization
By opening with a broad generalization, your reader will be interested to see 1) what prompts such a
sweeping statement, and 2) how you qualify your statement. Don’t wait too long to explain yourself or the
reader may misinterpret or misunderstand you.
Example: “Women will never succeed in the business world. At least, that is what people
used to say to my mother.”
10. Make an overly obvious statement
By starting off with a ridiculously obvious statement, you entice the reader to give you the benefit of the
doubt—why would anyone say something so obvious? The reader assumes that you must be going
somewhere with this.
Example: “Runway models are beautiful people. But Liz didn’t think that about herself. Liz
was a model for Donna Karan and someone who, two years ago, was admitted
into the same anorexia and bulimia rehabilitation clinic as I was.”
Guide to Conclusions
Many applicants think that an essay has an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. They’re right—but
only about expository essays. For your application, you are not writing an academic or expository essay.
Your essay is the part of the application where admissions officers get a sense of what you are really like.
The structure of the essay is up to you. Think of it more as a story or narrative. A good story has an
ending, not a conclusion.
If you write a good essay, you probably won’t need a conclusion. Application essays are short. You don’t
need to summarize at the end, because the end is so close to the beginning!
If you really think that your essay needs a conclusion, take another look at it. Does the essay really
work? How can you better tell your story, so that it doesn’t need a conclusion? If you get to the end of
your essay and it needs a conclusion, you may need to put some more work into the essay—not into a
conclusion. Remember, throughout your application the objective is to demonstrate and illustrate, not to
merely tell. Present your experiences in a way that let’s them speak for themselves—don’t rely on a
conclusion to convey the entirety of your message.
FINISHING THE ESSAY
In order to wrap up your essay, you need to consider three things:

1. Does the essay have a sense of closure or reconciliation?
Don’t leave the reader hanging. Your application is not a television serial—you can’t finish the story-line
next week. This is a feature film, with no sequels.
2. Have I answered all of the questions?
Essays that ask a question are looking for an answer. Do you provide one? Do you raise other questions
of your own? You should resolve all outstanding questions by the close of your essay.
3. Do I finish on a positive note?
The topic of your essay need not be happy-go-lucky. In fact it can be as serious, and as sad as you think
appropriate. But colleges are looking for young adults who recognize that most of their lives still lie
ahead—be an optimist! Whatever you write about, find the glimmer of hope, or positive lesson.
Final Touches Checklist
Now that you’ve written the essay, make sure that it’s ready to send out with the rest of your application.
Use the myEssay.com Final Touches Checklist to make sure that your essay is ready to go.
1. How does it read?
You don’t want a choppy essay. Make sure that one sentence leads to the next, and that one paragraph
flows into the following paragraph. Look carefully at your transition sentences.
2. Does it fit in with my application strategy?
Make sure that your essays fulfill their objectives within your application strategy. Writing a good essay is
not enough—it has to fit in with the rest of your application.
3. How does it sound?
Sound-test the essay. Is the tone appropriate? Be careful that you don’t sound arrogant—it’s a common
pitfall in applications.
4. Grammar counts
Make sure you’re using the proper grammar throughout your essay. While you’re at it, don’t forget to
check your spelling!
5. Ready. Set. Action!
Impress the reader with your thoughts and accomplishments. To do this you need to be active—and so
does your writing. Avoid using “to be” verbs (is, are, am, etc.) to convey action or events. Use verbs that
help tell your story.
6. Vary your style
Sometimes applicants use the same sentence structure—even the same words—throughout the essay.
Mix things up a little. Circle the first and last word of each sentence to see if you are repeating your
beginnings and endings.

7. What are you talking about?
Circle every pronoun and then determine if it is absolutely clear that the reader will know what the it, he,
she, they, them, him, her, or us actually refer to without having to read back more than a few phrases.
8. Don’t bite off more than you can chew
Don’t tackle too big of a subject. Don’t try to tell your whole life story. You’re not writing a book. You
only have a couple of pages—use them well.
9. You’re the star
Be sure the essay is about you. If it's about someone else or an idea that doesn't relate to your
experience, trash it and start again. This doesn’t mean that you can’t write about another person. It does
mean that you need to demonstrate why the person is important to you. Good essays that are about
someone else manage to tell the reader a lot about the writer by either incorporating personal details into
the essay, or by the tone and emotion of the essay.
10. Fresh eyes
After working on a piece of writing for a while, it’s hard to recognize mistakes. Find someone with fresh
eyes to look at your work. Have a skilled editor read the essay and check it for theme and content,
spelling, and punctuation.
11. The Big Picture
Take a step back from your essay. What’s it about? This should be an easy question to answer. If it’s
not, get back to work.
12. Tangents are bad
You don’t have a lot of space to dawdle. Make sure you stick to the point.
13. Show your colors
This isn’t academic or business writing. Your essay should have feeling and emotion. Are you letting your
personality show?
14. Be specific
A good essay uses telling details. Be vivid and descriptive. Use examples to demonstrate what you
mean.
15. Are you funny, or just trying to be?
If you're trying to be funny, have you tried your essay on someone else? If he or she doesn't laugh,
neither will the admissions officers.
16. Name and Number
Put your full name on each page. Also, number the pages.
17. Follow the guidelines
Schools are serious about length guidelines. Don’t worry if you exceed the limit by a little, but you really
should try to keep within the limits described in the application.

18. Final proofread
Once you’ve made all of your revisions, get someone to read your essay one last time.
10 Sample Essays
FIVE ESSAYS WITH COMMENTS
ESSAY 1
The opening of this essay is awful. It’s awkward and unoriginal. This essay does, however, manage to
keep the reader interested. The writer’s accomplishments are impressive in-and-of-themselves, if not
particularly unique. The introduction of a serious and difficult problem in the candidate’s professional
career comes as a shock. The shock value works and piques the reader’s interest. But the author
capitalizes and follows through by presenting a mature, honest, and thorough description of a difficult
situation and the course of action he chose to deal with it. The candidate demonstrates a number of
valuable qualities in this essay: work ethic, maturity, valuable experience, and character. The subject
matter chosen here perfectly addresses the questions asked. Luckily the substance of the essay is
enough to carry the candidate, because he is not a very good writer. Sentences are often awkward and
there are numerous grammatical mistakes. This essay could be dramatically better, without much work.
School: Michigan
Status: Accepted
Question: What has been your most significant professional achievement? What
has been your toughest professional challenge and how did you address it?
Growing Hamilton Management Resources, an entrepreneurial start-up, from under

$60,000 in revenues to over $700,000 in a year, then navigating through the
complications resulting from the founder’s personal trouble stands as both my most
significant professional accomplishment and toughest professional challenge to date.
Hamilton Management Resources created a software package that managed multiple
aspects of special education programming, planning, and reporting. Given my
entrepreneurial interests, I jumped at the chance to become Hamilton’s first employee.
I spent the first couple of months standardizing Hamilton’s operating procedures,

developing new marketing materials, and learning about special education. Shortly
thereafter, I began conducting sales presentations and software training workshops. In
January of 1998, I sent a one-page marketing letter to 400 special education directors in
New Jersey. From that letter, we received over 100 legitimate leads. Realizing the need
to rapidly ramp up the organization, I retained a consulting firm and, with their assistance,
wrote a business plan, performed a capital needs assessment, and mapped out the
ensuing 36 months. In closing 26 of the leads we developed over the next six months, I
helped fund our move to new offices and provide the necessary credibility to raise
additional capital.
I was thrilled! I was running the entire operation and planning its long-term growth. This
included orientating and managing eight new employees, outsourcing the re-engineering

of our software so that it would be accessible through the Internet, planning a regional-
national expansion, and cultivating potential investors. The entrepreneurial venture I had
been searching for had come to fruition!
In July of 1998, the founder pulled me aside to tell me he was going to be out of the office
for a few months due to a personal matter. I pressed him for more information, then
accepted his expression that it was nothing of consequence and he would return shortly.
In early November, I was shocked to learn that he had been found guilty of molesting two
children. This presented formidable professional and personal challenges. Should I
ignore the conviction because of our professional relationship and his continued
profession of innocence? Should I leave immediately? How would a continuing
professional association with him affect my professional reputation and credibility? I
sought advice from friends, family, and professionals, in addition to researching
pedophilia. Although I had no way of unequivocally knowing whether he committed the
crime or not, I was compelled to proceed based on the jury’s verdict.
I concluded that it would be prudent to continue on as the company’s operational leader

on a temporary basis and negotiate to buy out the founder’s interest in Hamilton. I
resolved that for me to continue in any capacity with Hamilton, I would have to be able to
honestly represent myself as having no further professional relationship with him. Upon
procuring the assistance of an attorney, an accountant, a consultant, and a public
relations firm and lining up the necessary financial resources, we reached an informal
agreement for the transfer of 100% of Hamilton’s assets to a limited liability company I
had formed. After a month of 100-hour workweeks and endless negotiations, Hamilton’s
founder returned to the bargaining table demanding a 30% gross royalty in perpetuity.
Since this would create a formal, perpetual relationship with him, and in effect constituted
an equity arrangement, it was untenable. Hence, the agreement fell apart and we began
negotiating his buyout of my accrued interest.
My circle of advisors has emphasized to me that my experiences at Hamilton allowed me

to mature in ways that would be otherwise impossible. After getting over the emotional
letdown of the deal falling through, I have come to realize how much I had learned in a
relatively short period of time. I developed the critical management and decision-making
skills indicative of those utilized by other successful entrepreneurs. I also acquired the
ability to successfully juggle multiple tasks by combining long-term, visionary goals with
short-term, pragmatic realities. Interpersonally, I learned a great deal about
communicating, managing, and negotiating with diverse individuals under atypical,
challenging circumstances. All in all, the experience that defines my most significant
professional accomplishment and toughest professional challenge is one in which I take
great pride and will bode me well in my future endeavors.
ESSAY 2
This essay provides something that many applicants neglect: insight into the personal life. Candidates
often focus almost entirely on their professional experience, or on experiences that are directly relevant to
business. But business schools are also interested in you as a person. They are curious to learn about
your character. This essay tackles a very difficult subject. We do learn about the candidate. But the
essay could be so much better. The opening paragraph relies on clichés—this is one of the worst things
to do in this type of essay. Clichés trivialize. But this essay describes what is perhaps the most important
lesson of the author’s life—clichés are wholly inappropriate. In addition, there are a number of things that
the writer could have done to make this essay more compelling. As it is, it relies on our sympathy. By re-
organizing the essay, perhaps using the experience of the daily duties required to care for the mother, the
author could present the entire essay within the much more compelling framework of a specific

experience. Also, the candidate lets pass a valuable opportunity to discuss how the learning experience
described here will impact future decisions, both personal and professional.
School: Columbia
Status: Wait-listed
Question: Describe a non-academic personal failure. In what way were you

disappointed in yourself? What did you learn from the experience?
In September 1991 my mother was diagnosed with cancer. Over the course of the
following year, I learned the meaning of the word courage. Courage is not, as some
believe, the absence of fear. Courage is admitting you are scared, embracing your fear,
and then staring it in the face and defeating it.
Although I knew with certainty that my mother was seriously ill, I refused to accept the
fact that she would never recover. I did not want to believe that she would soon be dead,
even after she was moved from the local hospital to a hospice facility (for terminally ill
patients). No one I knew closely had ever died before; I clung to the hope that despite the
incredible odds against her recovery, one day she would be healthy again.
I failed to confront her inevitable death because the truth was simply too painful, As a
result, I let the few remaining months that she was alive pass by me without spending
enough time with her. What I did not realize at the time was that in order to overcome
fear, you must first accept the fact that you are scared, One particular instance could
have opened my eyes to this fact. Periodically I would have to turn my mother over in bed
because she was incapable of doing it herself. This was the most dreaded moment of my
day. Although shifting her position in bed was beneficial to her long-term well being, the
actual movement caused her excruciating pain. To summon the strength it required to
move her, I had to accept the fact that she would scream and resist. I never lost the fear
that I felt before carrying out this task but because it was an obstacle that I had to
overcome to help my mother, I learned to accept this fear and conquer it.
I wish I had taken this experience and applied the lesson I learned from it to the broader
context of my mother’s illness. It wasn’t until months after her death that I would see the
situation clearly. By then it was too late. I have learned that problems are best dealt with
earlier rather than later. In some cases, you may not get more than one chance to do the
right thing. I now readily accept fear. Through this acceptance, I am able to confront my
fears and defeat them.
ESSAY 3
This is a solid essay. It is relatively well written, though there are some obvious grammatical mistakes.
The applicant addresses the questions with appropriate material, but fails to answer the final component
of the question. The author tells us that he is “ready to bet on himself,” as opposed to the stock market.
This is a clever closing, but the candidate never lets the reader know what that means. The essay could
be much more compelling without significant changes. It seems that the author does not want to admit
his failure as an independent trader. Surely the personal financial loss involved must have been
traumatic. It’s OK to let the reader know this. In fact, it would make the emergence from the trauma all
the more impressive.
School: Michigan
Status: Accepted

Question: What has been your most significant professional achievement? What
has been your toughest professional challenge and how did you address it?
It is ironic that my toughest professional challenge arose as a direct result of my most

significant professional achievement. In November of 1997 I took a huge step forward in
my career by de-registering from Datek Securities and starting my own trading operation.
This step forward symbolized not only my financial capability to do so, but also the skill
level I had reached in trading. The toughest professional challenge of my career was
waiting for me, however, during the first few months of self-employment.
I had originally joined Datek with the goal of eventually becoming self-employed.
Achieving this was my greatest success; it allowed me to concentrate solely on perfecting
my trading style, thus increasing my trading profits and account size. I felt that as long as
I could make a living trading that I could continue to improve my skills. In addition, I would
gain experience in all aspects of running my own business.
My first few months of self-employment presented me with the biggest challenge of my

career. The most significant adjustment I was forced to make was getting used to trading
with roughly half of the buying power I enjoyed as a Registered Principal. Primarily I
traded financial services stocks. Most of these stocks traded on light volume, were
relatively illiquid, and had huge bid/ask spreads. Simply stated, once a position is
established in one of these stocks, it takes time to close the position. As a result, I had to
adapt my trading style so that I would always have capital handy to take advantage of
opportunities that arose in the market.
On top of adjusting to a smaller account value, Datek mandated a 50 trade per day
minimum. As a Registered Principal, with more than $1.1 million to trade with and the
market booming, this was never a problem. When I was forced to cut this buying power in
half, however, it was difficult for me to meet this quota, especially when the market had
taken a turn for the worse.
I was required to make all of these adjustments to succeed as a self-employed trader. To

exacerbate the situation, November 1997 was a miserable month in the market. The
market was still reeling from the huge set-back that we suffered in late October. The
global economic crises abroad were beginning to affect the United States. The market
trickled down to stayed flat all month long. A rule put in place by the NASD made my job
harder during periods of decreasing markets. It prevents the sale of a stock to get short
on any down ticks in the market.
Through this experience I came to realize that I needed to develop more skills. I might
have been able to claw my way out of the hole that I dug and make a decent living day
trading. However, I figured that it was in my best long-term interest to start building a
foundation now. I simply felt more comfortable betting on myself rather than on the stock
market.
ESSAY 4
Ugggh. Try to read this essay from start to finish. There is nothing incorrect said in the essay, but it’s
nonetheless wrong from start to finish. Just because you are responding to a hypothetical situation, does
not give you license to bore the reader out of his mind. Hypothetical scenarios are tough. You need to
answer the question posed, but you also need to tell a story about yourself. We learn almost nothing
about the author of this essay. When tackling a hypothetical situation, incorporate anecdotes from your
own experience to justify your proposed plan of action.

School: New York University (Stern)

Status: Denied
Question: After 6 months an employee continues to underperform. What course

of action do you take?
In most cases, six months does not allow an accurate judgment of an employee’s
potential for success at a company. Therefore, a more systematic process needs to be
followed to resolve the situation. Step one is perhaps the most important in this process.
If the problem with the employee’s performance is not pinpointed, further steps cannot be
taken to remedy the situation. It is possible that through observing the employee’s activity
and interacting with him/her day to day, I would know without further investigation, the
specific aspects of his/her work that require improvement. If this is not the case, however,
additional inquiry must be made. It would be helpful to go back and review specific
projects and assignments that were assigned to him/her and identify areas of weakness.
This research would also equip me with concrete examples to show the
employee when explaining his/her areas of weakness later in the process. At the end of
step one, I would possess not only very specific knowledge of the employee’s
performance history, but specific documented examples to use when confronting him/her
and formulating a solution.
After I understood the superficial aspects of his/her underperformance, I would set out to
determine the underlying reasons for this deficiency. It is possible that the employee’s
performance is unacceptable as the result of a detrimental relationship with a colleague.
This kind of relationship can be most bothersome when it exists between the employee
and his/her direct supervisor. If he/she seems to get along well with everyone in the
company, perhaps he/she is experiencing personal problems outside the office that
he/she carries with him to work. Still another possibility is that he/she is underperforming
as a result of a lack of academic background in certain key areas.
Once the underlying reasons for the employee’s underperformance are known, it is
usually easy to map out a course of action that will remedy the problem. First, I would
assess alternative corrective actions given the nature and seriousness of the problem. I
would take into account employee competencies versus other contributing factors such
as work assignments, training and interpersonal relations. I would consider the pros and
cons of various courses of action including effort versus potential for success and arrive
at a solution. Sometimes the solution can be as simple and straightforward as assigning
the employee to a new supervisor or transferring his/her location. Enrolling the employee
in continuing education classes at the local college or, if the company is large, scheduling
courses through human resources could also solve the problem. In the cases where the
employee is suffering from a personal problem, I could arrange for counseling through
the company or outside channels.
Once I decided on a course of action, I would conduct a formal performance discussion

with the employee. In this discussion I would clarify and reconfirm company performance
expectations, employee deficiencies and potential consequences. We would reach an
understanding on the factors contributing to underperformance and necessary corrective
actions. Of course, before any of these courses of action are carried through it is
essential to have the commitment of all parties involved. This commitment has to consist
not only of the course of action but also a time-line within which to accomplish the goals.
This framework prevents long, drawn-out and ineffectual rehabilitation processes and
ensures a date of resolution. If, at the end of the allotted time, the employee is still
deficient, I would proceed with termination. It may be that this option is in the long-term
interest of both the employer and employee.

The reasons an effort must be put forth to retain employees are simple. First, both the
hiring and firing processes are very costly. Second, displaying dedication to your
employees fosters a sense of loyalty among all the workers. Lastly, in many companies,
every employee is a potential customer. A price can not be placed on positive sentiment
and good will among customers of the company. The company is compensated for the
effort put forth in this situation in the form of a strong and healthy corporate culture.
However, it is important to ensure that the effort put forth to retain these employees does
not distract management from other prosperous employees or from the business.
ESSAY 5
This essay starts off strong, but then drags on for a while. The clear strength of the essay is the
candidate’s sense of direction. The reader knows where the applicant is headed, and how the plan to get
there. The candidate also does a good job of explaining how Fuqua fits into the grand scheme. But the
author tells the reader much more than he shows. The only details of an experience are in the first
paragraph. Never do we see the adult candidate in action—we only hear about the actions later,
packaged and generalized for the application.
School: Fuqua (Duke University)

Status: Wait-listed
Question: Please discuss your professional experiences, your long-term career

goals and the role the MBA will play in those plans. What do you hope your
contribution will be to an MBA environment? If you are interested in the Health
Sector Management concentration or a joint degree program, you should address
that in this essay.
I was seven years old the first time I visited my father’s office at a small community
hospital. I remember walking from the parking lot, looking up at a tall, thin chimney stack
and red brick office buildings. But most of all I remember a sense of community spirit and
cooperation. I was too young to understand the various complexities that existed within
hospitals -- only that doctors, nurses, my dad, and many other caring people worked at
the hospital to help sick people feel better. Now, twenty years later, I look back on this
visit as the beginning of my interest in healthcare – and the beginning of my questions.
How do all of the many aspects of the system work in concert? How do other countries
deliver and finance healthcare? How do today’s decisions affect tomorrow’s quality?
How can I contribute?
My first position after graduating from Villanova had nothing to do with healthcare. As a
financial consultant with Peterson Consulting, a litigation consulting firm, I concentrated in
the insurance area. I worked with former producers of asbestos, to develop models that
allocated personal injury claim dollars and legal defense costs to their insurance
coverage. Together with a team of consultants, I pooled costs incurred by companies
named in class-action lawsuits and allocated these dollars to individual insurance
companies based on court settlements. I organized standard methods for the team to
apply the court’s rulings into our allocation model. I quickly earned a leadership role and
began to manage three other consultants. While I gained business fundamentals such
as project management and financial analysis, I felt too far removed from the end result
of my work. At the end of the day, I wanted to do more than produce reports. I needed
to see the effects my work had on other people. Using the skills I gained at Peterson
Consulting as a foundation, I decided to pursue my interest in healthcare at Ernst &
Young.

My first engagement at Ernst & Young exposed me to both financial and operational
aspects of the healthcare industry and serves as an appropriate example of my
experiences. As the youngest member of a six-person team conducting physician
practice valuations, I independently interviewed physicians and their support staff to
assess their operations. Additionally, I developed a financial-statement model which
quantified the financial value of the practices. This was the experience I wanted! I saw
the results of my work and appreciated its use by other people. It was an opportunity to
enhance my business skills while contributing to an evolving healthcare industry.
While at Ernst & Young, I have facilitated teams of hospital employees to implement cost-
saving initiatives, quantified the impact of changing Medicare reimbursement, and
assessed financial and operational implications of hospital mergers. As a result, I have
gained broad, practical exposure to strategy, operations, marketing, and finance of the
modern healthcare industry.
As a consultant, I have learned how to prioritize my time among multiple projects and
evaluate my client’s expectations while remaining focused on the overall project
objectives. I was promoted after beginning as a staff consultant in the Healthcare
Consulting practice, and now manage other staff members. From world-renown medical
centers in Boston and Cleveland to a small community hospital in rural Pennsylvania
(whose parking lot included a post where visitor’s horses are tied) my exposure to the
challenges and opportunities in healthcare have focused my career aspirations.
Today, America’s healthcare frontier is very different from the community hospital I visited
twenty years ago. Although the structure of healthcare is becoming more competitive, I
strive to make practical decisions within the modern framework of joint ventures and
managed care that retain that same sense of community that I felt twenty years ago
walking through the hospital with my father. The Fuqua School’s Health Services
Management program will allow me to continue this quest in an advanced, leadership
role. I look to the program to enhance my understanding of the interrelationships of
business’s functional areas and to provide me with formal training in general
management techniques that will compliment my experiences as a consultant.
My interests also include the comparison of the American healthcare system to those
around the world. There are tremendous opportunities for the American healthcare
system to share its knowledge with, as well as learn from international communities.
Leading American hospital systems are currently attracting international patients who are
desperate to find quality care, often at any cost. At the same time, diverse populations
such as those in Singapore and Chile are actively seeking to import managed care
techniques while raising expectations of quality. The near future of healthcare demands
a strong appreciation for what makes the American system work, in addition to how it can
effectively import and export elements of its system to the international community.
Ultimately, I want to perform strategy consulting for American and international

healthcare systems. Fuqua’s Business Study Tours, and more importantly, exposure to
classmates from around the globe will allow me to study and participate in international
healthcare issues. The integrated approach and flexible curriculum will allow me to study
general management areas as well as to take classes in other related schools within
Duke University such as the School of Law and the Stanford Institute of Public Policy.
After reviewing the admission’s brochure for the past two years and speaking with recent
Fuqua graduates, I anticipated seeing a strong sense of community and an emphasis on
teamwork during my recent visit to campus. Yet, I was still overwhelmed by the
cooperation and spirit that encompasses all aspects of daily Fuqua life. Everywhere I
looked, from the stacks of canned food for the MBA “Food Fight,” to the eagerness to
involve me, as a prospective student, into the accounting class I visited, I saw the type of

environment that fits me. In this environment, I can continue the campus and community
volunteer activities I have enjoyed during my undergraduate and professional
experiences.
I am excited to contribute the analytical and team skills which I’ve gained as a consultant.
Many of my consulting engagements are similar to the case study teaching technique. I
am often asked to present an overview of a client’s challenges and to present
suggestions for the client’s improvement opportunities. I am anxious to test my
consulting concepts in the mix of both case and lecture teaching environments at Fuqua.
In conclusion, healthcare attracted my interest because of the way in which it touches all
people. It has retained my interest because of its complexity and future opportunities.
There is so much to understand, and to challenge. I can think of no more worthwhile way
to serve other people and no more rewarding place to prepare for my future than the
Fuqua School of Business.
FIVE SAMPLE ESSAYS
ESSAY 6

Status: Denied
Question: Tell us about the most challenging team experience you’ve had to date.
What role did you play? What factors made it a challenge for you? How did you
and the group address these issues? What did you learn?
My most challenging team experience occurred when I joined a project team of fourteen
consultants who designed and implemented cost-reduction ideas at a large urban
hospital. I joined this team after the project had been ongoing for about one year. At this
stage of the project, many of the largest cost-reduction ideas had been implemented, yet
the hospital’s management was frustrated because overall costs had not decreased.
My role on the team was to create and implement a productivity management system that
would make employees accountable to these cost-reduction initiatives already in place,
so that hospital management would begin to see the results of cost-reduction program on
the “bottom line.” I developed a system for each hospital department which compared
current staffing resources within each department against industry standards. The
purpose of the system was to foster a spirit of continuous improvement which would
provide hospital management with specific performance measurements to encourage
adherence to the cost-cutting ideas. The success of the system relied largely on my
ability to establish strong relationships with hospital department managers. Ideally, with
the use of the productivity system, each department would be empowered to gage their
own contribution to the overall hospital cost-reduction effort.
Two elements of my responsibilities on this team made it challenging. First, I had never
been a part of such a large project team. Until now most of my consulting teams had
been comprised of only two to four people. I had succeeded with smaller teams where I
controlled the pace and quality of my responsibilities. In this larger team, I was
challenged to rely on other team members for their opinions and input and to build
consensus within the team. The team was relying on me to assess quickly the standards
used to measure hospital departments and to establish ownership by the often reluctant
hospital managers.

The second challenge was my unfamiliarity with the personnel and daily operations of
individual hospital departments. Because I had no prior hospital work experience, the
task was intimidating. However, I was contributing to the hospital’s success and I was
seeing directly the complexities of modern healthcare that I couldn’t appreciate as a
young boy. This was such an exciting project - I was determined to succeed!
My position on the team was a highly visible one. Both the Ernst & Young (E&Y) and the
hospital project members were counting on me to establish accountability from the
department managers while avoiding political pitfalls. I needed to overcome my
unfamiliarity with large project teams and the sensitivities of the hospital managers with
whom I would be meeting. I addressed these concerns by being open with my fellow
E&Y teammates. I made verbal “contracts” with the team, whereby they would be
responsible for preparing me for my meetings with hospital managers and I would agree
to represent their ideas in the construction of the productivity management system.
While implementing the productivity management system, I learned that working with a
large team requires constant planning and communication. In addition, I learned that
managing a project entails explaining expectations of others and reminding them of the
project objectives. This “contract” proved to be an effective way of introducing myself to
the E&Y team and understanding their expectations of me in the project. It helped to
define and coordinate my responsibilities and keep my participation aligned with the
overall objectives of the engagement. In the end, the team’s cooperation and
communication produced a successful productivity system which allowed the hospital to
better manage its cost reduction goals.
ESSAY 7

Status: Accepted
Question: Describe a failure or setback in your life. How did you overcome this
setback? What, if anything, would you do differently if confronted with this
situation again?
One of the toughest challenges I have faced has been making my professional
relationship with my father productive. My father has been an owner of my family’s
business for twenty-eight years, and he is a valuable asset to the business’ operation, but
he can be closed minded and extremely stubborn. He also has a tendency to lose his
focus and become sidetracked. These two traits of his personality make working with
him to achieve progress in a business setting difficult.
Compelling my father to focus on the task at hand has brought me close to the limit of my
composure on many occasions. For example, my first assignment when I started
working at the business was to build new facilities for the customers. I had completed
engineering and design, and had the design approved by the Board of Directors, but
when I presented my father with documents to begin construction that required his
signature, he put the brakes on. He became sidetracked with coming up with ideas for a
completely different design, and started drawing his new design while I became more and
more frustrated at the tangent we were going off on. He then became distracted by
phone calls, and finally left for a meeting, leaving me with no signature, no progress, and
one less day until my deadline for having the project completed. The next day I tried a
different approach. First, I asked him to meet with me outside the office to discuss the
project. Next, I reiterated the fact that my design had already been approved, showed
him my schedule to help explain that there was no time to begin the engineering and

design phase all over again, and implored him to sign the documents so I would not fall
behind. He conceded, and I went ahead with the project as planned. I have learned that
in order to gain someone’s undivided attention, I must remove him or her from an area
where distractions occur, then completely explain the situation before I ask them to act.
In another situation, our differing opinions resulted in a significant delay in the

achievement of a business goal. The goal was to have the premises aesthetically
pleasing and without environmental liabilities, thereby presenting a better image to our
customers and financiers. In order to achieve the goal, it was necessary to dispose a
large quantity of items that my father had saved over the course of many years; these
items would never be used by the business, had no resale value, and were taking up
space that could be used to generate revenues. I called a carting agency to pickup the
items, but when the truck arrived, my father sent it away, claiming that we could sell the
items. We diligently searched, but could not find a buyer for the items. For several
months thereafter I conferred with my father on the subject, but was not able to convince
him to let me dispose of the items. Realizing my father had an irrational attachment to
the items, I recruited assistance from the Board of Directors, and we concluded that my
father would not be upset if he did not have to view the items leaving. Consequently,
when my father went on vacation, we performed the cleanup. Our psychological analysis
of how he would react was correct. Upon his return, he commented on how good things
looked and was happy. Thus, I achieved the goal of the business and maintained a
positive business relationship with my father. If I am faced with this type of situation in
the future, I will use psychology earlier in my persuasion efforts, and again use third
parties if it is necessary to gain more leverage in my favor.
ESSAY 8
School: Michigan
Status: Accepted
In November of 1997 I launched my own trading company. The first two weeks trading
my own money were challenging, to say the least. November 1997 was a miserable
month for the stock market, as investors digested news from Asia. The effects of
struggling foreign economies surfaced in the United States, causing stress in the market.
In addition to poor market conditions, I struggled to adjust to trading an account that was
half the size of my former account. I quickly lost 25% of my equity. This further
exacerbated an already difficult situation. The more money I lost, the smaller my account
became, and the harder it became to trade in the manner to which I was accustomed.
Over the course of the following months, it became apparent that I had been digging
myself into a hole from which I could not immediately emerge. I decided that my career
as a self-employed trader would have to be placed on hold.
Through trading, I learned that compared to how much knowledge exists about financial
markets, I know very little. I have taken three crucial steps to remedy this situation. First, I
accepted a position working with the Global Markets desk at Citibank. Through this
position, I have expanded my knowledge base to include such varying financial
instruments as interest rate products and fixed income securities. I have also been
exposed to many different markets around the world. This has heightened my awareness
of the increasingly close-knit nature of world economies. Second, I have enrolled myself
in the Chartered Financial Analyst program and am scheduled to take the Level I test in
June of 1999. And third, I have put in an application to Michigan.
My experiences since joining Citibank helped me to realize what I really want. I want to
lead my own investment company. While I realize I may not achieve this until later in my

career, I look forward to first leading a team on a multinational firm’s global markets desk.
In order to perform my best in competitive markets, preparation is essential. I need to
shore up my foundation in accounting, finance, and economics and develop the
managerial skills that I began to develop through my position as Registered Principal at
Datek. I believe Michigan can provide the opportunity for me to grow in these ways.
Michigan provides an ideal mix of the components that I require. It offers the coursework I
am interested in, and an emphasis on the real-world application of each component in a
business education. The MAP program proves this emphasis by promising students a
full-time involvement with a participating company, where knowledge is put to the test. In
addition, I can choose to focus my education on global finance at Michigan. I plan to take
advantage of the opportunity to study abroad by spending a semester at London
Business School. The combination of these will help me develop a truly global business
perspective and prepare me for my career.
ESSAY 9
School: Michigan
Status: Accepted
Question: If there is any other information that you believe is important to our
assessment of your candidacy, feel free to add it to your application.
A Word on My Academic Record as an Indicator of my Aptitude

I spent a clear majority of time in college pursuing activities outside of the classroom.
While in and of itself, this does not excuse the absence of outstanding academic
achievement evidenced by my transcript, it does help to explain an academic record that
is significantly below my aptitude. While my university grades show a general trend of
improvement, I was focused on achieving as a student leader and as a musician instead
of as a student. This focus led to many life-learning experiences and achievements,
which have proved invaluable, both professionally and personally.
Although I would not trade my collegiate extracurricular activities for anything, academic
achievement would be a very high priority if I had the opportunity to start college over
again. More than ever, I have come to realize the value of a well-versed educational
foundation, and, I am, at this point, undividedly focused on excelling academically at the
University of Michigan Business School. It is this maturity and realization, in concert with
my track record of achievement within the business activities I have focused on, which
inspires my confidence that I will excel in Michigan’s academic environment.
ESSAY 10
School: Michigan
Status: Accepted
Question: Describe your post-graduate career plans. How will your education,
experience and development to date support those plans? How will a MBA from
the University of Michigan Business School help you attain those goals?
The Future

I want to start my own company and/or help others strategize and plan their
organization’s growth, particularly in the flourishing Internet, high-technology arena.
These interests are the culmination of my experiences and provide the primary impetus
for my pursuit of a Michigan MBA.
My Development to Date
Upon entering college, I pursued campus leadership roles with vigor and was elected to
offices in student government and in a fraternity. Through these activities, I developed
essential leadership, analytical, and communication skills. In addition, these endeavors
positively influenced my organizational maturity and cultivated the many diverse interests
that define who I am.
My campus leadership activities led to an internship with the Department of Alumni

Relations for Rutgers University in Newark, which, in turn, led to a staff position there
upon graduation. My time at Rutgers, besides providing numerous applications for my
generalist skill set, allowed me to grow as an individual. This growth led me to pursue
opportunities with a strong entrepreneurial dynamic.
Upon returning to my hometown in Southern New Jersey, I joined Princeton

Entrepreneurial Resources (PER), a niche consulting firm that recommended and
implemented strategy for organizations. To do this, PER utilized a combination of
strategy consulting and temporary executive management. Staff consultants would
evaluate the situation at hand and develop strategic solutions. An expert who had
fulfilled those solutions under similar conditions in the past would then be brought in on a
temporary basis, with PER facilitating the entire process. I was a junior member of the
team, performing various supporting operations, marketing, and research. PER helped
me to improve my general business acumen, especially in the areas of strategic planning,
analysis, and corporate communications.
PER’s database designer had been pursuing me for some time to help him launch a
start-up software and consulting company. In August of 1997, I decided to do just that
and joined Hamilton Management Resources (an experience I discuss in more detail in
essay #1).
When I parted ways with Hamilton, the opportunity to pursue the management education
I desired was presented. Knowing that my goal was to enter a full-time MBA program in
the fall, I decided to continue my professional development during the interim period by
pursuing independent consulting projects. To date, I have secured two of them and am
excitedly pursuing a third.
Why Michigan?
I view the Michigan MBA as much more than a stepping stone to a high salary. In
choosing an MBA program, I am determined to be in an intellectually stimulating
environment; an environment that will improve my finance and accounting skills while
inculcating my existing entrepreneurial spirit with sound general management education.
Michigan’s strong general management focus and its educational mixture of case,
lecture, and projects are aptly suited to these academic interests. In speaking with
current Michigan students and those involved with the Michigan community, I have
observed tremendous camaraderie, cooperation, and teamwork. Moreover, Michigan’s
entrepreneurial offerings and penchant for innovative programming are certain to provide
an education uniquely geared to the preparation of 21st Century leaders. Being an
individual who functions best when engaged and challenged, I feel strongly that
Michigan’s culture and academic rigors are perfectly matched with my personality,

intellectual focus, and aptitude. In summary, I am confident that the University of

Michigan Business School will further hone the skills I need to be a truly exceptional
leader in an exciting, challenging, and innovative environment.

Grammar Supplement
The myEssay.com GRAMMAR SUPPLEMENT provides a quick review of grammar terminology and
issues that may assist you in writing your essay. In addition, a review of some of the most common
mistakes made by applicants is included.
The GRAMMAR SUPPLEMENT is by no means exhaustive. If you need more extensive discussion of
grammar, myEssay.com recommends heading to the library or bookstore—there are numerous books
and manuals that can help. Texts you should consider include On Writing Well, by William Zinsser, and
The Elements of Style, by William Strunk and E.B. White
PARTS OF SPEECH
The parts of speech reviewed below should be familiar to you.
Nouns name persons, places, things, or ideas (Mary, New York, computer, happiness, clarity)
Pronouns take the place of nouns (I, you, he, she, we, they, this, that, which, who, himself)
Verbs express action or existence (run, is, become)
Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns (blue, fast, helpless)
Adverbs modify verbs or adjectives (quickly, knowingly)
Prepositions connect nouns or pronouns to the rest of a sentence (through, for, up, in, at, to)
Conjunctions connect words or phrases (and, or, but, also, nor)
Focus on Nouns
Nouns name things, people, places, and ideas. Nouns can be singular or plural. Plural nouns
are usually constructed by adding an “s” or “es” to the end of the singular noun. Nouns that end
with a “y,” drop the “y” and end with “ies.”
Singular vs. Plural

dog dogs
boss bosses
city cities
Some nouns have irregular plural forms.
Singular vs. Plural

child children
goose geese
sheep sheep
Proper nouns name specific people, places, ideas, or things. Proper nouns are capitalized. Titles
of books, movies, newspapers, magazines, and other publications, should be underlined or
italicized.

Proper Nouns
George Washington
St. Louis
Elm Street
February
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Focus on Verbs
Verbs usually express action (study, write). Sometimes they explain a state of being (seem, be).
Verbs can also describe an occurrence (happen, become).
The thing to keep in mind with verbs is that they can change form. Past tense forms of verbs
usually include the suffix –ed. However, some verbs are irregular. If the subject of a verb is a
singular noun, the verb usually includes the suffix –s or –es.
Present Tense Past Tense Singular Subject Plural Subject

jump jumped she jumps they jump
graduate graduated he graduates we graduate
apply applied she applies we apply
run ran he runs they run
write wrote she writes they write
Focus on Adjectives and Adverbs
Adjectives modify only nouns (and pronouns). Adverbs modify everything else.
Most adverbs are formed by adding –ly to adjectives.
Adjectives vs. Adverbs

strange strangely
bad badly
Cheerful cheerfully
happy happily
ethical ethically
good well
Failure to distinguish between adjectives and adverbs can lead not only to mistakes, but to
confusion. For example:
She feels very strong.
The above sentence literally means: she feels like she is very strong. However, many students
write the above sentence when they actually mean: She feels very strongly (about something).
Good vs. Well

Be careful with the irregular adjective and adverb pair: good and well.
He writes good essays. (Adjective—describes the essays)

He also writes them well. (Adverb—describes how the essays are written)
Well almost always functions as an adverb. But just to make sure that things don’t get too easy
for you, well sometimes is an adjective. When speaking about health, well functions as an
adjective.
For example:
Shari looks well. (She looks healthy.)

vs.
Shari looks good. (She looks attractive.)
Focus on Prepositions
Prepositions connect words. Words like in, at, out, through, and between are prepositions. They
do not change form.
The following is a grade school trick for identifying prepositions:
The squirrel ran the tree.
Any word that fits in the blank, is probably a preposition. (Some prepositions make the sentence
absurd, but still fit.)
Usually, prepositions naturally come before their objects. However, sometimes, idiomatic or
informal usage places a preposition after its object. So what? Well, those who are sticklers for
traditional English do not want to see sentences end in prepositions.
For example:
He picked the pencil up.
“Up” is a preposition. While the above sentence is quite normal in spoken English, in formal
writing, the sentence should be phrased differently:
He picked up the pencil.
Pick up any newspaper or magazine and you will see sentences ending in prepositions. So what
should you do? myEssay.com advises you to avoid ending sentences with prepositions
whenever you can. Even though many respectable writers disregard this rule, there is little to be
gained by risking what may be considered a grammatical error to some admissions officers.
However, when revising sentences to avoid ending with a preposition, you need to keep the
sentence from becoming awkward. Sometimes you will need to do more than change the word
order.
THE BASIC SENTENCE

A sentence must have a subject and a verb. An incomplete sentence is called a fragment. Except in
special situations—usually for emphasis or in dialogue—there should not be any sentence fragments in
your essay. As a general policy, use only complete sentences in your essays.
There are 5 basic sentence types:
1) (The day) (arrived.) = (subject) (intransitive verb)
2) (Jane) (took) (the test.) = (subject) (transitive verb) (direct object)
3) (The test) (was) (hard.) = (subject) (linking verb) (subject complement—noun or

adjective)
4) (The teacher) (told) (Jane) (her score.) = (subject) (transitive verb) (indirect object) (direct
object)
5) (Jane) (considered) (the test) (a success.) = (subject) (transitive verb) (direct object)
(object complement—noun or adjective)
As words and phrases are added, sentences become more complex. However, they typically follow one
of the above formats, or a combination of the above formats.
PROBLEM SENTENCES
Agreement
The subjects and verbs in sentences must have the same form—they must agree. Plural
subjects must have corresponding plural forms of verbs.
For example:
Jenny write her essay. The teachers reads it.
The sentences should read:
Jenny writes her essay. The teachers read it.
Shifts
In order for sentences to work, they need to be consistent. Consistency means that there are no
shifts in the person, number, or tense. The reader needs to be able to keep track of what you
mean—this is difficult if your sentences shift.
Look at the following examples:
Shift in person:
If a person tries hard enough, you can get into the school of your choice.
The revised sentence:

If you try hard enough, you can get into the school of your choice.
Shift in number:
When an applicant writes a great essay, they improve their chances of admission.
When applicants write great essays, they improve their chances of admission.
Shift in tense:
You will write your essay after you filled in your application.
You will write your essay after you fill in your application (or, after you have filled in your
application.)
Note that shifts in tense can occur between sentences. If you use more than one
sentence to describe a single event, the tense should be the same in both sentences.
Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers can trip up even the best of writers. The best way to explain
these tricky aspects of English is by example.
1) What is confusing about the following sentence?:
Jack cooked hot dogs for the guests on the grill.
For whom is Jack cooking? The guests, or the guests on the grill? It’s common sense that the
guests are not on the grill—the hotdogs are—but the sentence is unclear. A less confusing way
to write the sentence might read:
Jack cooked hotdogs on the grill for the guests.
2) What is unclear about the following sentence?:
The essay that she thought would succeed completely annoyed the admissions
committee.
What’s going on? Did she think the essay would completely succeed? Or did it annoy the
admissions committee completely?
Often, as in the cases above, dangling modifiers are more confusing than they are incorrect.
They render thoughts and statements unclear. Word order matters, so be careful!
3) Some mistakes are not just confusing, they are incorrect. Look at the following sentence:
Walking through the grocery store, the carrots looked good to Suzy.
What?! Can the carrots really be walking through the grocery store? Of course not, but that’s
what the sentence says. The implied subject of the verb (walking) in the first part of the sentence
is carrots.

A correct version of the sentence might read:
As Suzy walked through the grocery store, the carrots looked good.
In most cases, dangling participles introduce a sentence, include a verb, but do not explicitly
include the subject. The subject is only implied, so it’s easy to lose track of what verb goes with
it. Avoid dangling participles by finding the subject of the verb you use. If you can’t find it, figure
out what the implied subject is. Always be particularly careful when there are numerous words
between your verb and your subject. Sentences that begin with adverbial phrases (like Walking
through the grocery store) demand scrutiny.
Parallelism
As sentences grow with added phrases, they become more complicated. Sentence structure is
important because it helps the reader follow the logic of your writing.
Below are two examples of unnecessarily awkward sentences:
1) For a college application the student needs to take the SAT, recommendations
from teachers, a transcript, and to write an essay.
2) Students spend a lot of time worrying about college, but little time to write their
essay.
The sentences above have the same problem: they are not parallel in structure. Parallel means
using the same form for lists and comparisons. Look at the revised versions of the awkward
sentences:
1a) For a college application the student needs an SAT score, recommendations
from teachers, a transcript, and an essay. (Notice that all of the items on the list
are nouns: SAT score, recommendations, transcript, essay.)
1b) For a college application the student needs to take the SAT, to ask for
recommendations from teachers, to provide a transcript, and to write an essay.
(Notice that all of the items on the list are verbs: to take, to ask, to provide, to
write. Also note that the verbs are in the same form, in this case, the infinitive;
see 2a and 2b below.)
2a) Students spend a lot of time worrying about college, but little time writing their
essay. (Notice that the verbs are in the same form, worrying and writing.)
2b) Students take a lot of time to worry about college, but little time to write their
essay. (Notice that the verbs are in the same form, to worry and to write.)
Comma Splice/Fused Sentences
You probably remember learning about run-on sentences. Well, comma splices and fused
sentences are fancy words for run-on sentences. Just as in grade school, run-on sentences are
still wrong.

Independent clauses demand strong punctuation (usually a period, sometimes a semi-colon).

You can’t leave out the punctuation; commas are not sufficient to separate independent clauses
unless a conjunction is included.
Look at the following examples:
Juan studied all day he is tired.

or
Juan studied all day, he is tired.
Both of the above are incorrect. Both are run-on sentences. (The first example is a fused
sentence. The second is a comma splice.)
Below are correct versions of the sentences:
Juan studied all day. He is tired.

or
Juan studied all day and he is tired.
or
Juan studied all day; he is tired.
or
Juan studied all day: he is tired.
Usually, you will correct your sentences by breaking them apart (with a period) or by adding a
conjunction. Occasionally, when sentences are tied very closely in theme, you can use a
semicolon. Very occasionally, a colon is appropriate when the second sentence explains the first.
GENERAL CONCERNS
Active vs. Passive Voice
Many essay writers lapse into the passive voice and allow it to become their predominant
narrative style. This is unfortunate because such writing saps the energy of the essay. Active
sentences can better present you as an active person with an active mind.
In a passive sentence, a transitive verb in passive tense is coupled with a form of the verb to be.
The subject of the sentence is the object of action and the indirect or direct object is the recipient
of the action. Forms of the verb to be include:
was is were am are
An example of a passive sentence:
The essay was written by Mohammed.
A revised, active version of the same sentence would read:
Mohammed wrote the essay.
In the active sentence we know that Mohammed is a writer. In the passive sentence, Mohammed
is a detail which provides more information about the written essay.

Why does it matter? It matters because you are presenting yourself to the admissions
committee. They are not looking for people who do not make things happen, who are inactive.
(Nor are they looking for people who can only write using one verb (to be)!) The verbs you
choose give life to your essay; and it is your essay that gives life to you, the applicant, in the eyes
of the admissions committee.
The passive voice is useful because it allows you to tell the reader things in a simple and clear
way. Sometimes the passive voice is the best choice. However, a good essay demonstrates
who you are, it does not merely tell. A comedian doesn’t stand in front of the audience saying, “I
am funny.” A comedian tells jokes. Don’t tell the admissions committee that you are a good
candidate, show them! Use an active voice and you are on the right path.
Split Infinitives
The infinitive form of the verb couples “to” with the simple form of the verb.
For example:
to write
to work
to succeed
In traditional English, the infinitive should not be split. Why? Well, to be honest, there is no good
reason, and, as with the rule against ending sentences with prepositions, many respectable
writers choose to break it as they see fit.
In fact, some split infinitives seem more natural. Did the writers of Star Trek make a mistake
when the wrote “To boldly go where no man has gone before,” or were they consciously
disregarding grammatical rules? “To boldly go…” is a split infinitive (and if that’s not enough,
“before” is a preposition). In proper English it should read, “to go boldly.”
What should you do? To avoid controversy, don’t split your infinitives if you can avoid it.
Sometimes it won’t feel quite right, but wait until you’re accepted to start breaking the rules.
Clichés
Clichés are phrases that have been used again and again until they’re all washed up, until they’ve
run their course, until they just don’t have what it takes. You recognize them because you’ve
heard them since the day you were born. Using them is like beating a dead horse. Or maybe like
being as hungry as one…
You may have become so used to hearing some clichés that they do not even register as the
canned descriptions that they are. You may ask yourself, why, if everyone knows exactly what I
mean when I use clichés, should I avoid using them?
Well, since there’s no such thing as a stupid question, I’ll be straight with you. If you use
descriptions that have lost the force of their meaning from being overused, the power of what you
are trying to convey is diminished. Furthermore, clichés are descriptions that someone else—not
you—created. The admissions office is interested in what you think, in what you have to say.
So step up to the plate, swing for the fences, reach for the sky, give it your all, go for the gold, just
do it…BUT DO IT IN YOUR OWN WORDS!

(Can you find all of the clichés in this section?)
PUNCTUATION
Possessives
Possession, or ownership, is indicated by the addition of an apostrophe and an s for all singular
nouns and for plural nouns which do not end with an s. Just an apostrophe is added to plural
nouns that do end with an s.
For Example:
Is it Jack’s book or is it Chris’s book? (Singular)
It is the children’s book. (Plural)
It is the students’ book. (Plural ending with an s)

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Business School Essay Guide ................................................................................................................ 18

Business School Application Guide

Application Strategy and Overview

KNOW WHAT YOU WANT

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

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Application Time Line

Summer: Fifteen Months Before Matriculation

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September: Twelve Months Before Matriculation

• If you have not done so already, take the GMAT

• Finalize your list of schools

• Determine whom you will approach for recommendations

• Request transcripts from each academic institution that you attended

October/November: Ten Months Before Matriculation

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• Complete rough drafts of your application essays

December/January: Eight Months Before Matriculation

• Send thank you notes to your recommenders

February/March: Six Months Before Matriculation

• Interview at each school

WHAT YOU NEED

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ELEMENTS OF AN EFFECTIVE RECOMMENDATION

A great recommendation accomplishes the following:

• Demonstrates that the candidate has many qualifications

• Comments on your professional and/or personal growth

• Is not limited to information presented in other parts of the application

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Practical Concerns—Make It Easy

Recommendation Check List

CHOOSING YOUR RECOMMENDERS

1) Review your application strategy

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3) Read the directions

4) Give it some thought

EDUCATE YOUR RECOMMENDERS

1) Explain the process

2) Let them know your plan

3) Tell them what you need

Give the recommender some help with remembering your background.

5) Provide your essays

6) Provide a list of accomplishments

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DO THE GRUNT WORK

1) Give fair warning

2) Fill out the forms

3) Provide addressed and stamped envelopes

4) Provide a list of deadlines

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Know several intelligent questions to ask the interviewer.

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FOCUS ON THE BIG QUESTIONS

Why do you want an MBA?

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Why do you want to attend this school?