Does the MBA admissions committee need to know everything about you? Yes. And no. Find out what is the key to writing the best MBA essays.

 

Stacy Blackman performs admissions consulting services and helps MBA student candidates to get into business schools. In this video, she explains what to include and what to omit from your MBA essays in order to stand out from other prospective candidates.

Let’s say you have many diverse interests and you wish to incorporate all of them within your essays. For example, you play tennis and basketball, you enjoy travel and rock climbing and you volunteered in several different organisations. All these things are important to you and you wonder how to include all of them within a restricted word count.

Check out: 2017 Top European MBA Essays

When you prepare your MBA application your goal is to develop a much focused brand. That’s your goal when you market yourself to the admissions committee. You may be able to spread all these things throughout your application – in your data forms, resume, essays, letter of recommendation – but when it comes down to the core of your essays, you have to focus on two or three interesting stories and make them a unique part of your brand.

They don’t want people who are a quite talented at everything. However, they want specialists – the multilingual person, the traveller, the Olympic athlete. Find out what is unique about you and how you’re going to propel yourself with your application.

A quote from Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google reads: “I keep things focused on what we do best. A successful man is the average man focused.” Focus on your core competencies, develop your personal brand and that’s really what’s going to make you shine when you put yourself before the admissions committees!

Check out: How to Prepare Outstanding MBA Essays (Q&A)

Check out: Top MBA Admission Essay Requirements