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Essays
 

Wharton MBA essays review

Tradin's picture
AM
 
Points)
 on 9/10/12 at 10:33am

Any current or former Wharton MBA students on this board? I am applying in the upcoming weeks and looking for a little sanity check on my essays. I know I am basically asking one for you to do the job of an admissions consultant but unfortunately, I don’t have the $$$ for that. I’m just looking for someone who may at least be able to tell me that what I’ve got is going in the right direction. Thanks a lot and I appreciate anyone willing to help out.

Are MBA admission essays less important than ever before?

Derivatives's picture
ST
(Orangutan, 292
 
Points)
 on 7/25/12 at 4:08pm

From looking at this upcoming year's applications at various schools, a lot of programs have curtailed the number of questions or at the very least reduced word count. This seems to corroborate what I've thought for some time and what my friend who served on student adcom at a top 5 school told me. I guess adcom is realizing that too many applicants are using consultants to polish their essays? After all, gpa/gmat/where you worked at, can't be faked or glossed over. Will this lead to admission consultants' business drying up in the future? I personally think the whole "essays are critical" meme has done a lot of damage to applicants by giving them a false sense of hope.

Applying to HBS, Stanford GSB, and...

phantombanker's picture
(Gorilla, 591
 
Points)
 on 7/12/12 at 5:06pm
writing papers.jpg

It has been a while since I posted on here - the last 2 weeks have been really busy as I have been traveling and dealing with various situations that have been popping up.

I have not had a lot of time to work on my b-school apps, but I have made a couple of breakthroughs:

1. I got started on my first essay!

The one I chose to start on is HBS question #1- tell us about something you have done well. I basically just manned up, sat down one evening, and put my thoughts on paper. This exercise was very helpful and I plan on writing a first draft of each and every essay for round 1 as the next step in my process. This leads me to my next breakthrough:

2. I think I have decided which schools I want to apply to in the first round!

After multiple iterations, I am ~85% sure that in the first round I will apply to:

<<<<<<<<<< drum roll >>>>>>>>>>

B-School Applications: Stanford GSB and Columbia

phantombanker's picture
(Gorilla, 591
 
Points)
 on 6/7/12 at 4:30pm
1936_Columbia_vs_Stanford.jpg

With the release of essays by Columbia and Stanford, we are officially in the midst of b-school application season 2012. If you somehow missed the major essay releases, here they are for your viewing pleasure:

Columbia:

What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (200 characters maximum)

Why are you pursuing an MBA at this point in your career, and how do you plan to achieve your immediate and long term post-MBA professional goals? (Maximum 500 words)

B-School Application Season is Officially Upon Us!

phantombanker's picture
(Gorilla, 591
 
Points)
 on 5/22/12 at 8:30pm
start.jpg

With the release of the HBS application today, b-school application season has officially begun. There are some huge changes here, but I will let you see for yourself. Here is the application as presented by Dee Leopold, Director of Admissions:

Stage 1: Written Application

Demographic data, transcripts, GMAT/GRE scores, resume, signed acceptance of honor code, $250 application fee

Recommendations (3). Here are the questions for recommenders:

  • Please comment on the context of your interaction with the applicant. If applicable, briefly describe the applicant's role in your organization. (250 words)
  • How does the candidate's performance compare to other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? (250 words)

Re-applicants and career goals

Brady4MVP's picture
HF
(Neanderthal, 3,161
 
Points)
 on 1/4/12 at 10:36pm
apply.jpg

Most schools hold onto your applications for 2 years, and when you re-apply within that time frame they actively compare your app to your previous one.

Question: to what extent does one's career goals have to be consistent with those expressed in your previous application? If your career goals change rather drastically in 2 years, will that raise a red flag among adcom?

Essay assistance/advice

dkim1984's picture
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 12:43pm

one of the essay prompts is to describe my leadership achievements during my career

but I have few b/c I don't have a long work history

can I just talk about initiatives I started? only a few were implemented by my bosses

any advice on what i could fill out?

How Many People Lie On Their Essays?

WhizKid's picture
ST
 
Points)
 on 3/29/10 at 7:41pm

Anyone ever hear of people lying on their B-School essays, specifically the "Why do you need to go to B-School" essay?

For example, I'm talking about someone with unspectacular work experience but was a football player at college, and has volunteered extensively in football outside of work. Maybe he is a part-time coach for a pop warner squad or is a referee at junior high school football games. He wants to work at a HF or PE, but writes to HBS "I want to work in the NFL and revamp their drug testing policy, etc."

Basically, somebody who wants to go into X, but his background is in Y, and he leverages that to get into a top B-School, even though he has no intent of doing anything related to Y after graduation.