Lately I have been occupied helping a friend with his essays for his MBA applications. With the list of institutes amounting to 4 there are good about 12 odd essays to tackle. Till now I had not worked on this kind of project because of 2 main reasons. Firstly, none came my way and secondly I was too scared to try looking for them! :) yeah.. i don't know why but the thought that the person's career depended on these essays was enough to scare me off! But when this my friend approached me for help I could not say no and therefore took it as a shot to scare the thought off.
Working with these essays there were some main things which stood out:
1. The word limit! This can turn out to be the most excruciating part of the entire exercise as it is very difficult to round up such elaborate topics within the said word limit.
2. The aim of grabbing the attention of the reader right from the first sentence. I thought of the fact that the aim here is to grab the attention of the reader in the midst of thousands of odd applications and for the same it was required that it have a good start. Also an impactful ending which can leave the reader curious will increase the probability of your application being selected.
3. Not making the essay sound drab and mechanical. It is very important to make it feel personal and something which is right from the heart.
4. Refraining from using too many big words. It is best to make use of simple words and short sentences in your essays. An overdose of too many big words will make it sound very artificial.
5. Never exaggerate and spin tales in your essays. You have to remember that your interview will very much be based on your essays so it is important to stick to true facts.
6. Keep in mind to keep all your essays in the same flow and ensure that you do not end up disputing your own thoughts in your essays. They should all have a common theme revolving around them.
Since the essays have not been submitted I cannot show them here. So it is going to be some wait till I can put them here. It will be a great opportunity to showcase that rare "before" and "after" moment! :)
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