10 Common Mistake in Writing MBA Applications Essays

Many MBA aspirants find writing their admissions essays to be quite a challenge. There is any number of intricate nuances and hidden pitfalls that can trip up even the most diligent of applicants.

Experts' Global's team of seasoned MBA admission consultants have worked with hundreds of MBA aspirants and have identified the ten mistakes most commonly found in MBA admission essays. Avoiding these mistakes is a crucial part of writing the best possible essays and securing admission to the B-school of your choice.

Let us take a look at the ten most common mistakes individuals make in their MBA application essays.

1) Lack of Cohesion

One prevalent issue in many MBA admission essays is that they tend to come across as disconnected bits of information rather than a cohesive essay. Experts' Global's MBA admissions consultants will help you present the information in your profile to form a compelling narrative that will succinctly weave the details of your academic and professional background, your need for an MBA, and how the same is in sync with your short-term goals and long term goals. Most importantly, these MBA admission consultants have a keen understanding of how to help you convey a clear career vision and the impact that you wish to leave on your functional area.

2) Lack of Takeaways

Another common mistake that Experts' Global's MBA admission consultants see is a failure to provide strong takeaways. An admission essay should not just recount facts; it must also tell the admissions committee who you are. The essays are your opportunity to highlight your best qualities. If an essay asks you to describe a situation where you displayed leadership the focus of the essay must be on describing your leadership skills not the situation.

3) Non-Convincing Career Goals

A critical part of your admissions essays is conveying that you have concrete career goals that you intend to pursue post-graduation. The goals that you suggest must be well thought out and convincing; avoid suggesting goals that come across as generic or wishy-washy. However, while your goals should be specific; they should not be too narrow either. Your essays must convey that you have concrete career goals in mind that are practical, specific, yet flexible, and in sync with the strengths of the program.

4) Lack of Reasons for Why MBA

As any professional admissions consultant will tell you admissions committees favour those candidates who can show that they have given their applications due consideration and are clear on their path forward. This means that you should be able to convey multiple, clear, and precise reasons why you wish to pursue an MBA.

5) Lack of Reasons for Why the Particular School

Your essays must illustrate that you have given ample thought to your decision to pursue an MBA, including why you wish to pursue an MBA from that particular school. Carefully research the strengths and offerings of whichever school you intend to apply to so that you can link them to your reasons for pursuing an MBA.

6) Not Understanding the Question

A critical error that many admissions consultants report seeing is misunderstanding what exactly a question is asking. Remember, the purpose of the essay questions is not to extract factual information but to gain insight into you. If a question asks you to describe how a particular event affected your opinion on a subject, do not spend too much time describing the incident; focus on your reaction to it.

7) Not Addressing Each Part of the Question

Experts' Global's admission consultants understand that it is vital to address every point raised by an essay question. Essay questions often ask you to include numerous distinct points of information and failing to address any one of them means that your essay will not be complete.

8) Lack of Flow

A lack of flow in the essay is one of the most nuanced and common problems in applicants' essays. An essay is said to lack flow when one thought does not lead into the next; an effective essay will have a clear progression of ideas. According to Experts' Global's admissions consultants, the best way to avoid this issue is to have a clear structure in mind, before you begin writing. Two good ways to ensure that your essay has a proper structure are writing in chronological order and clubbing similar information together. Approaching your essay in this manner will help you avoid going back and forth with the information, one of the most typical problems that MBA admissions consultants find themselves correcting.

The final two mistakes on this list are concerned with the style of writing employed in the essays. Style is an element of essay writing that can be quite difficult to evaluate, so pay close attention to the following two points and carefully consider them when you begin writing your essays.

9) Artificial Style

One point that MBA admission consultants frequently raise is that needlessly complicated language does not increase the quality of an essay. As the admission consultants put it, admissions committees prize authenticity, so an applicant will be best served by utilizing language that comes naturally to him or her. Applicants typically make the mistake of trying to employ unnecessarily flowery language out of the preconceived notion of what an MBA admissions essay should look like; Experts' Global's team of admissions consultants typically try to help their applicants understand that there are no fixed rules or styles to essay writing and utilizing a more natural style will help the essay stand out and give it a personal feel.

10) Mechanical Feel

As suggested in the last point, a good admissions essay should have a personal feel to it; avoid writing in a mechanical or technical style rather try to tell a story. An admissions essay should not come across like an extended resume; it should provide an in-depth and nuanced account of your journey. One piece of advice that MBA admissions consultants offer in this regard is to avoid weak and short sentences; you should try to add more depth and content to any sentence that comes across as too simple.

11) Bonus Point: Compromising on Ethics

It should go without saying that you absolutely should not engage in any unethical practices for writing your essays. Including incorrect information, working off of essays taken from previous students, utilizing templates, and listing fake certifications are all forbidden for reasons that are too obvious to elaborate upon. Remember, an MBA is not the end; it is only the means to the end.