An essay is any school’s Rorschach test when considering your candidacy. Whether you’re applying to business school, law school, or medical school, what you write says more about you than your GPA or test score.
Unlike the law or med school admissions processes, b-school admissions are unique in their request for many essays and their heavy weighting of those essays. Although grades and standardized tests are considered key benchmarks for admission, they function more as a threshold. Your stories are what close the deal one way or the other.
In b-school admissions, the essays tie all the pieces of your application together. They weave a narrative of who you are and why you belong in a particular program. They provide a framework for your personal and professional activities, highlighting your choices and attitudes as well as your analytical and communication skills. They also reveal your character and integrity. That’s because those onerous essay questions are designed to elicit thumbnail profiles of the real you, which is arguably the most heavily weighted criterion in the admissions process. For these reasons, the essays are invaluable screening tools.
At the top business schools, evaluating a candidate’s character, genuine accomplishments, and potential has always been pivotal. That’s because b-schools operate like micro-communities, and there is an expectation that you will work well and make connections within that community. Furthermore, the curriculum is designed so that you learn from your classmates. Therefore, each student’s perspective, experience, and behavior is vital. B-school learning is also team-oriented, so a cooperative spirit (or lack thereof) says a lot about whether you’re a strong fit for a particular program.
But perhaps most important, b-schools are a primary source of future business leaders. So attributes like honesty (yes, that includes what you put on your resume), leadership, and ethics matter. In the wake of Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, Lehman Brothers, and other corporate scandals, they matter more than ever. You can almost hear the collective b-school groan when the latest Wall Street violator turns out to be another MBA.
Figuring out whether you’ll one day prove to be a source of pride or an embarrassment to your alma mater and the business community is the gray zone in admissions. So how does a b-school attempt to get at your true character and determine your potential as a business leader?
While it may be almost impossible to make such a prediction, the essays are good indicators of character strengths and flaws. So as you compose your stories, know that you’re being looked at through many different lenses.
… and that’s exactly why we decided to produce this book.
The truth is, I’ve always been on the side of those pinning their dreams on getting into the most highly regarded program they can, wanting to make something of themselves by going to one of the “best” programs. In fact, I’ve always secretly identified with those applicants.
Perhaps it’s because admissions decisions can seem arbitrary, or because admissions boards wield such a degree of power in young lives. Who wouldn’t need a little guidance for such a daunting task?
I had other reasons for wanting to help candidates with their essays. As we mentioned earlier, b-schools are uniquely interested in nontest-score characteristics. High on their list is emotional maturity, self-awareness, leadership ability, creativity, teamwork potential, and morality. Even the venerable Harvard Business School has a stated mission to do no less than “educate leaders who make a difference in the world.” To screen for all these qualities, the schools rely on the essays. And herein lies the problem.
It may be difficult for an engineer who will one day launch a new product that will transform an industry to craft a compelling self-narrative. How many great business leaders might be disqualified from getting their MBA at a top school because their writing or storytelling skills are poor, or because at this young age they don’t know how to show self-awareness or articulate it in their essays?
In this way, the essays on b-school applications can be overreaching. But they’re imperfect in other areas as well. When you consider the questions posed by the most selective programs, you realize that it’s genuine frontline caretakers, like social and health care workers, who may best embody the value systems b-schools are looking for. It’s by virtue of their chosen profession that caretakers demonstrate such value systems. On the other hand, also by virtue of their chosen profession, such redeeming qualities in would-be MBAs are often less evident.
Ironically, success and financial reward are part of the b-school hype. Indeed, many schools are judged each year on their career placement statistics (translation: the number of grads who secure high-paying positions, and how quickly they do so), so they work hard to ensure that their statistics are competitive. But an applicant who articulates too much interest in the very pot of gold the MBA dangles may be penalized for lacking the softer skills b-schools desire these days.
The truth is that the negative aspect of the MBA stereotype might at times be true; many pre-MBAs are ambitiously preoccupied with success and financial reward. But why should that be considered unattractive? As you can see, these essay questions don’t necessarily play to a would-be MBA’s strengths. The essay writers of today need an advocate.
So how does one navigate between posturing as a sincere do-gooder and an ambitious future financial officer?
It’s a difficult challenge. The majority of b-school applicants are deeper than their stereotypes would suggest. As we said before, they are reflective, accountable, and morally sound. Finessing all that in a series of short stories with strict word limits is no easy task.