5 MBA Essay Mistakes You Should Avoid
Most people understand that MBA essays are crucial for successful admission into a business school. The more time and effort you put into your essay, the better your chances of securing entry into your preferred schools might be, like Harvard, Texas McCombs, and Columbia Business School. You generally only get one shot, so don’t underestimate the importance of avoiding making some of these common MBA essay mistakes.
Not Researching Tips and Advice
If you’ve never written an MBA essay before, don’t be afraid to read MBA essay tips online to find out what professionals on this topic recommend. You can learn how to convey your uniqueness, distinguish your profile, and stand out among other applicants for the right reasons.
Every school seeks something different in a college application essay, so you’ll need to research what your preferred school is looking for to make the right impression. Failure to do so might mean you don’t make the impact you were hoping to.
Exaggerating or Lying
It’s only natural to want to make yourself look as interesting and exciting as possible to be accepted into your preferred business school. You might decide to embellish or fabricate a few details to do that.
Not only is this dishonest, but it might also ruin your chances of being accepted. Admissions committees perform fact-checks to verify any claims their serious candidates are making. Once your fabrications are realized, you might be automatically rejected, regardless of your suitability for a place in their school.
Not Answering the Question
You might have preconceived ideas about the information you want your preferred business school to know, but don’t include anything irrelevant or stray from the school’s questions. When you go off on a tangent in your essay, you risk missing the point of the question and not answering it altogether. Business schools can easily spot this, potentially impacting your chances of acceptance and causing you a great deal of stress in the process.
Ignoring the Word Count
Admissions committees have hundreds and sometimes thousands of applications to read. As a result, they put strict word counts in place to ensure they can give every applicant their full attention.
Some people struggle to write long essays, but others find it challenging to keep theirs short. As a result, it can be tempting to write as much as you want to get your point across in your essay. However, refrain from doing so. Admissions committees might take your inability to stick within the word count as showing that you can’t follow directions.
Trying Too Hard to Fit the Mold
During the research phase of preparing for your MBA essay, you might have read about the ‘perfect’ student that business schools are looking for. You might assume that by telling them that you have all the qualities they’re looking for, you stand a better chance of being accepted.
However, business school admission committees are looking for genuine students who are their authentic selves. That’s why they provide creative essay prompts so they can read through the lines and learn who you are and what you want to achieve in your life and career.
There are never any guarantees that your MBA essay will see you accepted by your preferred school. However, you might improve your chances of standing out for the right reasons by avoiding mistakes like those above.
