Best Books for Writing an Essay

Hello everyone,

I am about to start writing an essay for my Msc application and seeking for some help from you.
Specifically, I would really appreciate if you could provide me a short list of books which have been useful in writing an essay.

Thanks in advance.

12 Comments
 

Read other good essayists on a subject you enjoy. John Gierach for fishing, David Halberstam for sports, etc etc. These guys will demonstrate that good writing is not about big words and fancy sentence structure, but about boiling down your message and conveying it in simple and easy to read language. Extra points if you can subtly deliver your message under the guise of a narrative - make your audience realize something without realizing it. After reading high quality writing for a while the natural flow and feel of a piece will hopefully become intuitive instead of the formulaic approach likely presented in instructional books.

 
Best Response

Agree, and its great to see such a thoughtful response. There are number of "how to write admissions essays" books on the market, and they are not bad, if you can get them for almost free or borrow from a friend. Just look Amazon and make sure that they are gearing toward graduate, not college essays.

But @"StJamesPark" is right in that it's a more personal experience. In any kind of professional admissions essay, you want to tell them something that they don't already know about you from the rest of your application. Sure, you can list all your accomplishments, but that would be boring reading and tells them nothing about you. You want to connect your experiences with your goals and desires -- someone once said it was like filling in the white spaces within your resume.

Stay far away from the essay models that look formulaic -- they are probably examples of someone else's experience, not yours.

Betsy Massar Come see me at my Q&A thread http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/b-school-qa-w-betsy-massar-of-master-admissions Ask away!
 

Hey, not necessarily a book, but there's a site called EssayScoop that applies data mining techniques to college admissions essays. They find what makes an essay successful on a per-school basis. I've found it to be more beneficial than what books have offered me.

 

During my studies, I had many problems with written works and their design. And when it was necessary to resubmit such a work, I took help from the paper writing service. And only thanks to her I managed to get the highest score and turn in the work on time.

 

Essay books can help students learn how to write essays. I once tried to study from such a book. I did not like that there was a lot of unnecessary information and it confused me. That's why I always chose them for myself nurse writing They always helped me qualitatively and quickly. They shared their life hacks.

 

Laboriosam dolorum distinctio voluptate. Enim vitae perferendis illum ea eaque ut et. Soluta ipsam ipsum aperiam vitae soluta voluptate. Minima est quod id magni voluptas. Molestiae reprehenderit fugiat mollitia corrupti eveniet temporibus et. Omnis quas explicabo maiores in.

Molestias autem est earum nihil quo eum architecto. Asperiores eius nesciunt est cum dolorem ipsam possimus. Quo tenetur assumenda qui omnis est quis facilis distinctio.

Quos fuga qui illo in. Vitae totam alias cupiditate molestias adipisci. Occaecati quo autem id ex reiciendis sapiente. Vel et recusandae dolor modi officiis ipsum omnis quis. Magnam sequi quis et id eos aut.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (50) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (26) $182
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”